Includes index.

Claims, definitions, and confessions -- The immanentist-cosmological war myth and military ethic -- Huitzilopochtli's feast: sacramental warfare in ancient Mexico -- The dharma of the kshatriya: the celebration of military violence in Hinduism -- Martial play in the Christian world -- The gentleman warrior: ritual warfare in ancient China -- Mysticism and the martial arts: the meaning of bushidō in Tokugawa Japan -- The transcendent-historical war myth and military ethic -- Divine transcendence: the ancient Hebraic military ethic -- The Islamic jihad -- The Protestant ethic and the spirit of violence -- Holy war and the question of ethics.