Christian Response to Islam

The Christian Response to Islam:

Charity, Justice, and the Defense of Christendom

 

Table of contents

 

Introduction  

1. The Catholic doctrine on Islam as a religion  
2. The charity owed to every person  
3. The natural right of individual self-defense and the protection of others  
4. The responsibilities of public authority and just war  
5. The example of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion  
6. The historical context of Islamic expansion, the Battle of Tours, and the First Crusade  
7. The preaching of the faith and the work for conversion  
8. Civil relations with peaceful Muslims  
9. Terrorism distinguished from classical war  
10. The application of these principles today  

Conclusion  

List of sources

 

Introduction

The Catholic Faith teaches two principles that must never be confused: the duty of charity toward every individual person and the right of legitimate public defense against unjust aggression. Many apparent contradictions disappear once these two principles are properly distinguished according to the traditional doctrine of the Church. It is further necessary carefully to distinguish Islam as a religious doctrine, individual Muslims, states or armies under Muslim rulers, jihadist or terrorist organizations, and peaceful citizens who undertake no aggression.

 

1. The Catholic doctrine on Islam as a religion

 

According to traditional Catholic doctrine, Islam is a false religion. It denies central truths of divine revelation, notably the Most Holy Trinity, the divinity and eternal Sonship of Jesus Christ, the Incarnation, the redemptive death on the Cross, the Resurrection as confessed by the Church, the divine authority of the Church, the sacraments, and the Catholic priesthood. These denials are clearly affirmed in the Islamic texts themselves. This objective assessment of doctrinal error must be immediately distinguished from the subjective culpability of each individual Muslim. Not all possess the same knowledge, the same intention, or the same responsibility.

 

2. The charity owed to every person

 

Every human being, including every Muslim, is created in the image of God and possesses an immortal soul. Christians must never hate persons because of their religion or ethnic origin. Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). He also declared: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

 

When Christians suffer insults, persecution, or injustice on a personal level, they are called to imitate Christ by practicing patience, forgiveness, and charity. The first martyr, Saint Stephen, prayed for those who were stoning him: “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60). Christians should always pray for the conversion and eternal salvation of those who persecute them.

 

3. The natural right of individual self-defense and the protection of others

 

The natural right of self-defense remains. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, II-II, question 64, article 7), one and the same act of defense can have two effects: the preservation of one’s own life and the death of the aggressor. The defense is lawful when the first effect is intended and the violence employed does not exceed what is necessary. He who uses violence greater than what is required acts unlawfully.

 

It is necessary to distinguish: a private person may defend himself; he may defend another innocent person; he may sometimes have the duty to defend others, especially when children, the helpless, or persons entrusted to his care are in danger. He may not exercise punishment or vengeance once the immediate danger has passed. One may renounce the defense of one’s own life, but not necessarily the defense of those toward whom one has a grave duty of protection.

 

4. The responsibilities of public authority and just war

 

When the danger concerns a people or a civilization, public authority has responsibilities that private individuals do not possess. Rulers must protect the innocent, maintain public order, and defend the common good. They have obligations toward the Church, families, women, children, and society.

 

Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, II-II, question 40, article 1) sets forth three conditions necessary for a war to be just: the authority of the sovereign, a just cause, and a right intention. Catholic tradition develops these principles through practical distinctions: the war must be waged by legitimate authority (a private person or movement cannot declare war on its own authority); a real and serious wrong must exist; reasonably effective peaceful means must in principle have been tried, unless immediate action is necessary; the means employed must be proportionate to the evil to be prevented; there must be a reasonable possibility that the defense will achieve its legitimate end; non-combatants must not be directly targeted; prisoners, the wounded, and those who surrender remain human persons and may not be killed out of vengeance; the right intention must aim at peace and the restoration of justice, not hatred, plunder, territorial conquest, or extermination.

 

5. The example of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion

 

Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion found themselves confronted with a command contrary to the law of God. They were bound to refuse obedience. As subordinate soldiers, they possessed no public authority of their own to wage war or armed revolt against the Roman Empire. Insofar as the matter concerned principally their own lives, they were not obliged to defend themselves by violence. They could therefore freely accept martyrdom without cowardice and give heroic witness to Christ.

 

The ancient sources do not explicitly state that Saint Maurice chose martyrdom because no Christian civilization yet existed. This conclusion follows from the circumstances examined in the light of Catholic principles concerning the refusal of sin, personal self-defense, and public authority. A person may renounce the defense of his own life. A legitimate ruler cannot so freely abandon the innocent entrusted to his protection.

 

At that time there existed no organized Christian state nor any Christendom of which they would have been, as holders of legitimate authority, charged with defending the population, the ecclesiastical institutions, and the common good. Their acceptance of martyrdom was therefore not cowardice but a heroic confession of the faith. Even when a Christian society exists, not every individual Christian or soldier is personally authorized or obliged to initiate an armed struggle on his own authority. The obligation to defend others depends on office, authority, responsibility, available means, and the concrete possibility of offering real protection.

 

According to the Passio martyrum Acaunensium reported by Saint Eucherius of Lyons in the fifth century and received in Catholic tradition, the legion, composed of Christians, was massacred about the year 287 at Agaunum by order of Maximian for having refused to sacrifice to idols and to fight against Christians.

 

6. The historical context of Islamic expansion, the Battle of Tours, and the First Crusade

 

From the seventh century onward, armies under Muslim rulers expanded by military conquest. Christian territories in the Middle East, North Africa, and a large part of the Mediterranean world were conquered. Jerusalem and many of the Holy Places passed under Muslim rule. Under certain rulers and during particular periods, Christian pilgrims suffered restrictions, extortion, violence, or serious danger; the precise conditions varied according to time and place.

 

Their westward advance into Europe suffered a defeat at the Battle of Tours (or Poitiers) in 732 under Charles Martel. The Latin chronicles of the eighth and ninth centuries, notably the Continuations of the Chronicle of Fredegar and the Mozarabic Chronicle of 754, attest to this event. This battle is not the direct continuation of the same campaigns as the later Crusades, nor a definitive end to all expansion. The Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula, the First Crusade in the Near East, and the later wars against Turkish powers are distinct historical processes. After the Crusades, Turkish expansion continued; Constantinople fell in 1453 and Ottoman armies later advanced into southeastern and central Europe. These were therefore defenses, rollbacks, or temporary delays.

 

In this context, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095 at the Council of Clermont. The versions of the speech preserved by Fulcher of Chartres and Robert the Monk (the latter writing about twenty-five years later) connect the call with aid to the Eastern Christians and the Byzantine Empire against the Seljuks, the situation of Christians and churches in the East, the journey to Jerusalem, and the protection or recovery of the Holy Places. These versions are not stenographic records; they differ among themselves. The original cause and general object of the First Crusade must be distinguished from every later expedition and from every act committed by individual crusaders. The First Crusade contained a defensive element (aid to threatened Eastern Christians) and a military enterprise aimed at recovering territories and holy places. Later Crusades, such as the Fourth and the sack of Constantinople, cannot simply be placed under the same justification.

 

Recognition of the legitimacy of the original objective does not imply that every action committed during the Crusades was morally justified. Individual crusaders sometimes committed crimes or grave sins. Catholic moral theology has always distinguished between the justice of the war itself and the morality of particular acts.

 

7. The preaching of the faith and the work for conversion

 

The Christian response is not only peaceful coexistence and defense. It includes the duty to proclaim the truth and to work for the conversion of Muslims. Faith cannot be imposed by physical force. A forced external profession of faith is not a true act of faith. The Church may condemn error and protect Catholic society without compelling anyone to baptism. A Muslim who sincerely seeks the truth must be instructed with patience, proofs, and charity.

 

8. Civil relations with peaceful Muslims

 

Christians may trade honestly, conclude civil agreements, collaborate peacefully for truly good temporal ends, assist a Muslim in need, and protect his life and property against injustice. This does not imply that all religions are equivalent, that common worship is lawful, that one may pronounce Islamic professions of faith, that one must treat Islamic religious propaganda as true or salutary, or that one may, out of false politeness, conceal or deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.

 

9. Terrorism distinguished from classical war

 

Terrorist attacks are not simply to be identified with classical war between states. It is necessary to distinguish the terrorist who directly prepares or carries out an attack, his helpers and financiers, persons who share only the same religion or ethnic origin, and innocent citizens. Only those who truly participate in the aggression may be treated as perpetrators or accomplices. There is no collective guilt of all Muslims for every attack committed under Islamic slogans.

 

10. The application of these principles today

 

Christians must never cultivate hatred toward Muslims as persons. Every Muslim must be treated with justice, honesty, charity, and respect for his human dignity. Christians should desire above all the conversion of Muslims to Jesus Christ and pray for their salvation.

 

If an ideology, a political movement, an army, or an organization attempts to destroy Christian society through violence, terrorism, military conquest, or coercion, legitimate governments possess the right to protect their citizens and preserve the common good. Such defense is directed against unjust aggression, not against persons merely because of their religious affiliation.

 

Conclusion

 

The Christian response consists of complementary duties. Toward individual persons: charity, justice, patience, forgiveness, and prayer for conversion. Toward unjust aggression: legitimate self-defense. Toward organized attacks against society: defense by legitimate public authorities according to justice and proportionality. Toward doctrinal error: proclamation of the truth without compulsion of faith.

 

There is no contradiction between Christ’s command to love one’s enemies and the defense of Christendom. Personal forgiveness concerns the interior disposition. Public defense concerns the responsibility of rulers to protect the innocent and the common good. These principles complement one another.

 

The ultimate goal is the glory of God, the salvation of souls, the protection of the innocent, the preservation of justice, and, as far as possible, the conversion of those who were once enemies of Christ and His Church.

 

List of sources

 

The Holy Bible, Vulgate text and traditional French translations prior to 1964 (for example the Crampon version).

 

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae, quaestio 40, articulus 1 and quaestio 64, articulus 7, Editio Leonina, Romae, Typographia Polyglotta S. C. de Propaganda Fide (and corresponding volumes of the Leonine edition).

 

Saint Augustine, texts cited by Saint Thomas (notably Contra Faustum and questions on the Heptateuch).

 

Mershman, F., “St. Maurice,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 10, New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

 

Passio martyrum Acaunensium, reported by Saint Eucherius of Lyons (fifth century).

 

Continuations of the Chronicle of Fredegar; Mozarabic Chronicle of 754.

 

Fulcher of Chartres, Chronicle of the First Crusade, traditional English translations (notably Martha E. McGinty, Fulcher of Chartres: Chronicle of the First Crusade, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press / London, Oxford University Press, 1941).

 

Robert the Monk, Historia Iherosolimitana (traditional editions in the Recueil des historiens des croisades, Paris, 1866).

 

Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar Holmes McNeal (eds.), A Source Book for Medieval History, New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1905 (for versions of Urban II’s speech).

 

August C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1921.

 

The doctrinal principles concerning charity, legitimate authority, and just war belong to the certainty of the traditional teaching of the Church. The call of Urban II at Clermont in 1095 is historically certain. The exact words of his speech, transmitted by chroniclers, are not certain to the same degree.