War, the mass killing of human beings, and everything associated with the war spirit so obviously contradicts the spirit of the gospel that the two - the spirit of war and the spirit of Christ- tolerate each other like fire and water. There has always been a debate on the ethics of war by the Christian church. According to the Catholic church it is sometimes permissible for a nation to go to war at least in defense of its existence and basic rights, when this is the only measure left for its protection. But advancements in technology in cases like the Atomic bomb and the Hydrogen bomb have given man so much power that the thought of using this technology against another nation has been deemed wrong by Religious leaders all over the world. Technological man lives in a state of fear. He is afraid because he now has such forces that could cause cosmic catastrophes. Man through technology and technology through man have now acquired the power to destroy wholly or in part the earth and its inhabitants.
Howard Thurman in his essay "Two Options" wrote.
"For the first time in human history, the possibility of the biological discontinuity of the human is a factor with which man has to deal with. Always, in the past, the probability of a surviving remnant to any armed conflict between nations has provided a ground of optimism concerning the future and its possibilities for human weal. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the concept of the remnant has persisted as a door of hope for the human race and as a reminder of the grace of God that cushions weakness, error and sin. Whatever the destruction called down upon mankind because of war, the notion of a surviving remnant remained". 5
This notion is no longer relevant because of the recent developments in the technology of war
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5 Thurman, Howard Two Options Ed. Donald Keys God and the H-bomb
(the H-bomb). There is within the power of at least two nations of the earth, the ability to destroy all living things on the planet. Thus we are faced with the real possibility of the discontinuity not merely of civilization but of man as a biological animal.
New York Bell meadows Press 1961 pg 109