War Inconsistent with the Religion of Jesus Christ

David Low Dodge's 1812 treatise stands as one of the earliest sustained American arguments against war from a Christian perspective. Dodge, a Connecticut merchant who would go on to found the New York Peace Society, builds his case from scripture and reason, contending that violence fundamentally contradicts the teachings of Christ. He argues that war hardens hearts, oppresses the poor, and inflicts suffering on both humans and animals in ways that violate the gospel's core message of love and reconciliation. The work traces war's moral and social costs, examining how armed conflict degrades both those who wage it and the societies that sanction it. What gives the treatise its lasting power is not merely its philosophical rigor but its urgent moral witness. Dodge writes as someone genuinely haunted by the human cost of war, and his lament for that suffering animates every page. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of American pacifism, the development of Christian peace theology, or the long tradition of conscience-driven resistance to military violence.