The Calvinist InternationalThe Reformation doctrine in right perspective
It seems to me that Christian advocates of an über-Jeffersonian separationism with respect to “church” and “state,” which usually in such a view are taken to mean not quite “church” and “state,” but something more like “religion” and “political order,” need to be able to answer coherently the following syllogism: P1. Man’s chief temporal end is […]
I was going to let this pass, but…who am I kidding, there was never any chance of that. I’m not going to comment on all of it; just some of the Augustine bits. And I’m going to do it in the style of a HOTT TAKE, because it’s Thursday and I need something to spice […]
It is well known (though not as well known–or at least accounted for–as it should be, especially in some conservative Protestant circles) that Augustine had high praise for the Christian emperors Constantine and Theodosius at the end of Book 5 of City of God, which indicates that “political Augustinianism”–whatever that is–does not imply or logically lead […]
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that there is another day, so close to Reformation Day, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, of importance in the history of Christendom. And that day is today. Today marks the 1703rd anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, at which […]
Are all lawful vocations (even so-called “common” ones) holy before the Lord? Yes. Does this mean that there is a “Christian” version of everything (e.g., Christian math, Christian bicycle repair, Christian spelling)? No. Well, mostly no, and sort of yes, in a way. Niels Hemmingsen gives a good summation of the Reformational view of the […]
In The Desire of the Nations, Oliver O’Donovan argues that, after the resurrection and ascension, all the rulers of the earth are under the judgment of the gospel: either they will submit themselves to Christ’s kingship or they will wage war against it. There is no via media. What he argues is basically an expansion upon and […]
It is a commonplace of the classical and Christian traditions of natural law that unjust laws do not have the force of law and therefore do not compel obedience from subjects, and perhaps at the present time this old locus communis is worth revisiting. When philosophers and theologians make statements like the one I just made, […]
Althusius’ two kingdoms doctrine, as outlined in chapter XXVIII of the his Politca methodice digestica, has further knock-on effects for his political science than what I discussed in my previous post. Immediately following the instructions about the civil magistrate and freedom of conscience, Althusius explains that the prudent ruler will ‘abstain from persecutions’ of sects which […]
In his Politca methodice digestica Johannes Althusius makes the following observation about the spiritual nature of faith, warning the civil magistrate not to assume control over what is solely God’s jurisdiction: A magistrate in whose realm the true worship of God does not thrive should take care that he not claim imperium over that area of the […]
In chapter 25.4 of De Civitate Dei, Augustine says the following about the the different but related goods of the two cities of God and Man: It would be incorrect to say that the goods which this city [the City of Man] desires are not goods, since even that city is better, in its own human […]