Imperial Pilgrims
A Theological Account of Augustine, Empire, and the “Just War on Terror”
- Theology
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
This book is an Augustinian interrogation of contemporary Christian accounts of empire, just war, and terrorism. Though Augustine's voice has guided much of the Christian discourse in these conjoined arenas, it has not shielded his work from being misappropriated to serve ends that are inimical to his own. The US "war on terror" is the most recent and egregious example of violence that many theologians have unjustly baptized as "Augustinian." By reading Augustine pastorally rather than merely polemically, this work offers a counter-narrative and an alternative praxis for the American Christian trying to reconcile her baptism with her citizenship.
Endorsements (2)
“Augustine of Hippo thought empires always end up fighting endless wars. Shawn Aghajan, the son of an Iranian immigrant to the United States as well as the Prince of Peace, shows us how devastating it is that American defenders of Augustine’s political theology have ignored this insight. American Christians today must no longer evade asking how Christians come to defend and even love the violence endemic to being the ‘greatest nation on earth.’”
“Shawn Aghajan gives us a new, insightful discussion of how to be Christian and also American. He offers new readings of St. Augustine that remind us: God alone is good, so no ‘side’ of American imperialism is going to create the promised land. Rather, Aghajan suggests that we take seriously Augustinian theology and practices that show a way to be Christian even in the midst of an imperial age.”
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