The book explores the role of religion in war and peace through nine original contributions that examine a range of case studies from different historical periods. Religion, the volume suggests, is typically not the cause of human conflict, but rather the product of actions by the state and the legal system.

Acknowledgments; Contributors; Introduction by Bryan S. Turner; WAR: Chapter 1: Sacred Memory and the Secular World: The Poland Narratives – Alisse Waterston; Chapter 2: A Messianic Multiple: West Papua, July 1998 – Eben Kirksey; Chapter 3: Lincoln, the Ministers of Religion and the American Jeremiad – Jonathan Keller; Chapter 4: Spiritual Violence: Max Weber and Norbert Elias on Religion and Civilization – Bryan S. Turner; PEACE: Chapter 5: Quakers, the Origins of the Peace Testimony and Resistance to War Taxes – Ana M. Acosta; Chapter 6: A Sacred Ground for Peace: Violence, Tourism and Sanctification in Hiroshima 1960–1970 – Ran Zwigenberg; Chapter 7: The Sectarian as a Category of Secular Power: Sectarian Tensions and Judicial Authority in Lebanon – Raja Abillama; Chapter 8: The Commodification of Love: Gandhi, King and 1960s Counterculture – Alexander Bacha and Manu Bhagavan; Chapter 9: The Religion of Brotherly Love: Leo Tolstoy and Max Weber – Bryan S. Turner; Chapter 10: Conclusion: War and Peace – Bryan S. Turner