Origins of the Christian 'Just War' Tradition in Augustine's Anti-Manichean Works I Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Religion &Amp; Spirituality, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

Fr. Andrew Hofer explores the origins of the Christian just war tradition through Augustine’s anti-Manichean writings, examining the theological debates around violence, authority, and moral law within early Christianity.

This lecture was given on June 11th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancient languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies where he serves as the director of the doctoral program. He authored Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford University Press, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (Catholic University of America, 2023). He co-authored A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life (Vianney Vocations, 2019). Editor-in-chief of the academic journal The Thomist, Hofer is editor or co-editor of several volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Deification, The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, and Thomas Aquinas and the Greek Fathers. He enjoys speaking with students about their theological and spiritual questions.

Keywords: Augustine of Hippo, Augustinian Ethics, Christian Just War Tradition, Ethics of Violence, Against Faustus, Manichaeism, Moral Law, Pacifism, De Libero Arbitrio, Theology

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Tumistic Institute podcast.
0:06.0	Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:12.3	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Tumistic Institute chapters around the world.
0:18.3	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at
0:21.7	Thomistic Institute.org. I'd like for us to begin by hearing from Exodus chapter 17, beginning
0:30.5	with verse 8. At Raphidim, Amalek came and waged war against Israel.
0:38.3	Moses, therefore, said to Joshua,
0:41.3	pick out certain men and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle.
0:45.3	I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
0:49.3	So Joshua did, as Moses told him.
0:52.3	He engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and her. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight. But when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses's hands, however, grew tired, so they put a rock in place for him to sit
1:12.9	on. Meanwhile, Aaron and her supported his hands one on one side and one on the other so that his
1:19.6	hands remained steady till sunset, and Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the
1:25.7	sword.
1:36.3	This talk is titled Origins of the Christian Just War Tradition in Augustine's Anti-Manichian Works.
1:43.9	And I began with this passage from Exodus Chapter 17 because this is just such a passage that the Manichaeans protested.
1:45.0	The Manichians followed a particular tradition that rejected the Old Testament.
1:51.0	And why do I say that they followed a tradition?
1:54.0	You can go back to the second century, and there was a man by the name of Marcian.
1:58.0	Morseon came from an area near the Black Sea.
2:01.6	He went to Rome.
2:02.6	He was very wealthy.
	...

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