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In his 1981 article in the Journal of Presbyterian History, "A Presbyterian Witness on War and Peace: An Historical Interpretation," Robert F. Smylie writes: "The Presbyterian tradition reflects the flow of American history....As wars-and the quest for lasting peace-have been part of that history, so has the church been caught up, torn, chastened, tortured, changed by those wars...." This was especially true of America's twentieth-century wars, three of which had lasting impact on the church.

In 1918 the PCUSA General Assembly described the First World War as "both just and necessary, for the securing of the liberties, the inalienable rights, and righteous peace, not only of the U.S. and the allied nations, but of all nations." Although President Woodrow Wilson, a Presbyterian, had tried to keep the country out of the war, he made American involvement into a crusade supported by many in the church. Robert Speer, secretary of the PCUSA Board of Foreign Missions, chaired the Federal Council of Churches' wartime commission which coordinated Protestant efforts during the war. The General Assembly of the southern church (PCUS) organized a War Work Council to minister to soldiers in training camps and prayed "that God's blessing may rest upon our boys serving under the colors."

After the troops came home, the church shared the nation's disillusionment with war. The PCUSA 1932 General Assembly supported "Repudiation of war, reduction of armaments, [and] participation in international agencies for peaceable settlement of debatable questions." Even in the more conservative PCUS, the 1929 General Assembly declared, "the Church should never again bless a war, or be used as an instrument in the promotion of war." In 1937 and 1938 northern and southern presbyteries defeated by small margins an amendment to the Westminster Confession to eliminate the words that permitted the waging of war "upon just and necessary occasions."

But when the attack on Pearl Harbor came in 1941, the church supported the country's entry into World War II. The 1942 PCUSA General Assembly noted that "the cause for which our nation is at war is just and righteous and...our freedom, culture, and our historic faith are dependent upon the outcome of this conflict." The 1942 PCUS General Assembly similarly stated that "our hopes for a just world order, the continuance of the democratic way of life, and the very freedom of the Church to continue her world mission are definitely at stake," but warned against hatred and self-righteousness. The PCUSA Wartime Services Commission and the PCUS Defense Service Council each coordinated the work of several units and boards. Some ministered to the large numbers of Americans who left their homes and churches to find work in defense industries. National and local ministries addressed the spiritual and recreational needs of American service personnel during and following the war. The church worked with refugees from Hitler's Europe and with interned Japanese-Americans, and throughout the war the northern and southern denominations emphasized the need for a more just international order in the postwar world.

The Vietnam War created a moral divide in the church, as in the country. For the first time the church emphasized the morality of dissent as the lifeblood of democracy. Conscientious objection was a major topic of debate. In 1969 the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. established the Emergency Ministry on Conscience and War to increase education about war, peace, and conscience. The PCUS General Assembly in 1968 narrowly defeated a resolution supporting selective conscientious objection, but approved it the next year. As opposition to the war grew in the church and nation, the 1968 UPCUSA General Assembly expressed concern that "United States intervention in Vietnam is of questionable legality" and recommended "deliberate de-escalation" of the war. The 1970 GA used stronger words: "How many more Americans, both the neglected poor and the conscripted G.I.s, must be sacrificed to national 'honor?'" The 1971 PCUS assembly declared, "The continuation of this war cannot be morally justified. The killing must be stopped." Antiwar dissent had reached its high point in twentieth-century America.

Throughout America's wars, the Presbyterian Church has tried to balance duty to God and to Caesar: to minister to the troops, pray for their safety, and support action in the cause of justice and freedom while opposing the countless evils that war brings to soldier and civilian alike. As the church faces the first war of the twenty-first century, the war on terrorism, what may it learn from the church's past actions?