The fourth criterion for a just war is legitimate authority. A war without government declaration is not a just war, but a petty one. When an American citizen decides to join an enemy line, such as ISIS, they are not following the governing authority placed over them, and are, therefore, urging on a war that is unjustifiable (Land). Though the biblical example of Isaac and Ishmael is not a war itself, the outcome of Abraham taking a situation into his own hands has led to numerous wars and terrorism that will endure until the Second Coming of Christ (“What Does the Bible Say about War?”). During the Vietnam War, the soldiers who thought that the war was unjust – though they may have been correct – and hopped the border to Canada in order
