Letters to Companions in Christ

This book is the second collection of Mr. Jungers' e-mails sent to a group of ex-Jesuits, who have banded together on the internet to exchange ideas on a variety of subjects. The title, "Letters to Companions in Christ" was inspired by the name the west-coast group calls itself, "Westcoast Companions." The name, "Companions," ultimately derives from the original name of the Jesuits, which was, "The Company of Jesus," founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534. As this book was being written, a firefight in Fallujah was being fought by the Marines from Camp Pendelton, just one-half hour north of where Mr. Jungers lives in California. The latter chapters deal with the theory of a just war as initially fashioned by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. This collections of "Letters" attempts to build an ethic for pre-emption against the asymmetric threats of international terrorists in the present age. The dialogue among this group of ex-Jesuits is brisk and sometimes brutal; no one gets a free ride on any idea put forward. So, Mr. Jungers has taken pains to document the citations from other writers upon whom he relies. Besides the four Evangelists, his frequent recourse is to Paul, Augustine, and Aquinas, the three main men of Western Christianity.