It stems true to say that on the matter of war all Christians travel acommon path-—a pith recognizing the sacredness the high value of life andthe awfulness of life-taking—until they come to a fork in that road with oneroute being pacifism and the other being thf acceptance of war as asometimes just act. The essential meaning of Just War theory is portrayed bythe second path it is in assertion that under some circumstances war mil bea justifiable enterprise for the Christian. To say that war's justice orlack there of cannot be known a priori but only after theexamination of the values at stake and an assessment of circumstances andthereby to place war along with other classes of human action under theaegis of prudence—that is the basis of the Just War position.