The War Discourses of William Ellery Channing: Pacifism and Just War in Antebellum American Religious Liberalism

Abstract

William Ellery Channing, one of the most important theological figures of early nineteenth century America, produced a remarkable body of writings on war. These writings, spanning more than three decades, epitomize the moral and theological struggles of early progressive Christians around issues of peace and war. This paper argues that Channing's war writings are both a reflection of their time and ahead of their time. They are rooted in the social and political realities of antebellum America and in the early liberal theology that Channing himself helped to define, yet they anticipate several late twentieth-century developments in just war thinking and foreshadow many of the strategies advocated by contemporary proponents of the emerging “just peacekeeping” paradigm.