Book Excerpt: Chapter 1, The Generalship of the Soul: Sun Tzu’s Strategy in the Modern Catholic Interior Life

I’ve read The Art of War a half-dozen times over the past 30 years, and the work and research I’ve been doing have forced me to ask:

“Can we apply the martial teachings of Sun Tzu to our faith journey?”

I think we can…

From: The Layman’s Reconnaissance Report: The Armor of Strategy: Sun Tzu’s Art of War in the Modern Catholic Interior Life

Introduction: The New Apostolic Moment

We find ourselves today in what Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted calls a "New Apostolic Moment." It is a time characterized not by the comfort of a culturally Christian society, but by the rigors of a "field hospital" and the discipline of a "battle college" (Into the Breach, 5). The modern disciple, whether a convert finding their footing, a revert returning to the fold, or a seasoned disciple seeking deeper waters, must recognize a stark reality: the interior life is not a sanctuary of passive sentiment. It is the primary theater of operation.

In this asymmetric conflict, the "soil" of our Judeo-Christian framework is under siege by what might be termed the "termites" of secularism—the slow, often invisible corruption of half-truths and the erosion of moral certainty (Olmsted, 4). To navigate this landscape, we must reclaim a sense of strategic rigor. By synthesizing the ancient wisdom of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War with the perennial depth of Catholic theology—from the "City of God" of St. Augustine to the "Summa" of St. Thomas Aquinas—we can develop a "Generalship of the Soul." This is the exercise of the will, sustained by Divine Grace, to govern the passions and the intellect with the same discipline required to command an empire.

As Scripture reminds us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12)....