46. The connection between monotheism and peace
46. The connection between monotheism and peace
What practical difference does it make to the world, and specifically to world peace, that there is one God, not many?
We must of necessity say that the world is governed by one.
For since the end of the government of the world is . . . the greatest good, the government of the world must be the best kind of government.
Now the best government is government by one.
The reason for this is that government is nothing but the directing of the things governed to the end, which consists in some good. But unity belongs to the idea of goodness . . . as all things desire good, so do they desire unity, without which they would cease to exist. For a thing so far exists as it is one. Whence we observe that things resist division as far as they can, and the dissolution of a thing arises from some defect therein (e.g., disease, death, civil war).
Therefore the intention of a ruler over a multitude is unity, or peace.
Now the proper cause of unity is one. For it is clear that several cannot be the cause of unity or concord except so far as they are united. . .
From this it follows that the government of the world, being the best form of government, must be by one (I,103,3).
If we have many gods, we cannot have peace, whether these gods are supernatural (like Zeus) or natural (like money, sex, or power), because peace comes only from unity, and unity comes from rule, and rule comes from God or gods.
Let’s go through that again, step by step.
Augustine defines peace as “the tranquility of order.”
Order requires unity in diversity, a unified whole of many diverse parts, a uni-verse.
In every one-and-many order, the one governs the many. This is true in every work of art, including yourself. Your soul governs your body. Your heart governs your blood circulation. Your DNA governs your cell growth. Your reason governs your passions. All of this manyness is governed by one “you”, one “I”. You have two eyes but not two I’s.
Heaven is perfect peace because it is perfect unity.
It is perfect unity because it is governed by one God.
Earth gets closer to Heaven, and to peace, and to unity, in so far as it worships the one God, freely chooses to be governed by the one God.
Therefore missionaries and evangelists are the most important causes of world peace.
And therefore religious wars are the most scandalous of all wars, and religious divisions the most scandalous of all divisions. How does the one God feel, how does our Father feel, when He sees His beloved children hating and murdering each other? How do you feel? Does He care less than you do?
He has told us how He feels: “Whatever you do to one of the least of these [My family], you do to Me” (Mt 25:40). He never exaggerated. He meant that literally. He didn’t say “it is as if you did it to Me.”
Saints don’t start wars. They end them. To end wars, stockpile the most powerful of weapons: saints. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Mt 5:9). The children of God make peace because that is God’s nature, and “like Father, like son.” The children of the Devil make wars because that is their nature and the nature of their father.
We have one power that even God does not have: we can choose our own nature. For we get our nature from our father, and we can choose our own supernatural father, God or the Devil (Jn 8:44).