Peace Ethics

This article offers an overview of how “peace” is understood, perceived, and conceptualized as an ethical task within the Christian tradition. Focusing on the Protestant tradition, it first defines the discipline of Christian peace ethics and introduces its range of tasks. This is followed by an overview of the genesis of Christian peace ethics that concentrates on central developments in the history of theology, discourses, and textual sources. The outline of contemporary threats to peace that follows demonstrates the real-world relevance of Christian peace ethics and its orientation toward concrete problems and reality. The fourth section sketches theological perspectives that can guide an ethical approach to the theme of peace.