John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, On Civil Government, IV.XX (John T. McNeill ed., Ford Lewis Battles trans., Westminster Press 1960) (1559).
Book 4, Chapter 20 explores Calvin’s thoughts on who and what Civil Government is, or ought to be, and the interaction between it and the Church. For example, Calvin addresses topics like lawsuits among Christians, and the obligation to submit to civil authority.
Note that Institutes is available online here.
The Lord’s calling a basis of our way of life
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Lord’s calling a basis of our way of life, III.X.6 (John T. McNeill ed., Ford Lewis Battles trans., Westminster Press 1960) (1559).
Chapter X, section 6 is a classic formulation of the Protestant idea of “calling.” Note that Institutes is available online here.
Chapter X, section 6 is a classic formulation of the Protestant idea of “calling.” Note that Institutes is available online here.
Kingdoms in Conflict
Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict (1987).
From the publisher:
This bestseller tackles the question: “What does the Bible say, and what do learn from history about the proper relationship between faith and culture?”
Note: This book was updated as God and Government (2007) for a post-911 audience.
From the publisher:
This bestseller tackles the question: “What does the Bible say, and what do learn from history about the proper relationship between faith and culture?”
Note: This book was updated as God and Government (2007) for a post-911 audience.
We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition
John Courtney Murray, We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (Sheed and Ward 1960).
From the publisher: Murray's...disarmingly lucid and accessible prose has caused his book to be widely cited and celebrated, but it still is not well understood. He wanted to show how distinctively Catholic thought could illuminate the authentic American idea of liberty. . . . We Hold These Truths at least offers the hope that Catholic natural-law thinking can bring together the religious devotion and moral concerns of the evangelicals with the devotion to reason and concern for scientific truth of the secular humanists. It offers the hope of getting Americans really arguing again, of holding again the truth that they are capable of engaging in the dialogue about the human good that is the foundation of any civil and civilized moral and political life.
Note: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. published a new edition of this book in 2005.
From the publisher: Murray's...disarmingly lucid and accessible prose has caused his book to be widely cited and celebrated, but it still is not well understood. He wanted to show how distinctively Catholic thought could illuminate the authentic American idea of liberty. . . . We Hold These Truths at least offers the hope that Catholic natural-law thinking can bring together the religious devotion and moral concerns of the evangelicals with the devotion to reason and concern for scientific truth of the secular humanists. It offers the hope of getting Americans really arguing again, of holding again the truth that they are capable of engaging in the dialogue about the human good that is the foundation of any civil and civilized moral and political life.
Note: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. published a new edition of this book in 2005.
A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword
David M. Smolin, A House Divided? Anabaptist and Lutheran Perspectives on the Sword, 47 J. Legal Educ. 28 (1997).
From Smolin’s introduction:
“Christian law teachers deal with one question that would be no different if we taught history or sociology: what does Jerusalem (our religious faith) have to do with Athens (the academy)? But, because we are law teachers, there is an additional question we must answer: what does Jerusalem have to do with Rome (the state)? . . . We are children of the notion that an entire civilization--including the sword, including government, including force and war--can be Christian, even though we worship a Lord who declined a political kingdom and went to die on the cross. Many theological traditions have wrestled with this dilemma; I will emphasize here the Lutheran and Anabaptist perspectives, and then compare them to Roman Catholic and Calvinistic approaches."
From Smolin’s introduction:
“Christian law teachers deal with one question that would be no different if we taught history or sociology: what does Jerusalem (our religious faith) have to do with Athens (the academy)? But, because we are law teachers, there is an additional question we must answer: what does Jerusalem have to do with Rome (the state)? . . . We are children of the notion that an entire civilization--including the sword, including government, including force and war--can be Christian, even though we worship a Lord who declined a political kingdom and went to die on the cross. Many theological traditions have wrestled with this dilemma; I will emphasize here the Lutheran and Anabaptist perspectives, and then compare them to Roman Catholic and Calvinistic approaches."
Subsidiarity: The “Other” Ground for Limited Government
Christopher Wolfe, Subsidiarity: The “Other” Ground for Limited Government, in Catholicism, Liberalism, and Communitarianism: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Moral Foundations of Democracy 81-96 (Grasso, Bradley, and Hunt eds., 1995).
From the review written by Charles J. Reid, Jr. in the Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 16, No. 2 (2001), pp. 793-796 (review on p. 794): Christopher Wolfe, in Subsidiarity: The ‘Other’ Ground of Limited Government, questions the soundness of Lockean/libertarian notions of limited government and proposes the Catholic idea of subsidiarity—the principle that centralized power should not take from smaller associations those tasks that can be performed by the smaller groups—can provide a more satisfactory grounding for theories of governmental restraint.
Available from JSTOR.
From the review written by Charles J. Reid, Jr. in the Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 16, No. 2 (2001), pp. 793-796 (review on p. 794): Christopher Wolfe, in Subsidiarity: The ‘Other’ Ground of Limited Government, questions the soundness of Lockean/libertarian notions of limited government and proposes the Catholic idea of subsidiarity—the principle that centralized power should not take from smaller associations those tasks that can be performed by the smaller groups—can provide a more satisfactory grounding for theories of governmental restraint.
Available from JSTOR.
Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics
Doug Bandow, Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (1988).
From the back cover: Beyond Good Intentions brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the question of how Christianity and politics interrelate. Author Doug Bandow believes the key lies in the correct use of the Bible in addressing public policy issues. Too often Christians either ignore or misapply the Bible in the political arena. Beyond Good Intentions is a much-needed corrective which takes the Bible seriously yet avoids proof-texting and questionable interpretive methods.
From the back cover: Beyond Good Intentions brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the question of how Christianity and politics interrelate. Author Doug Bandow believes the key lies in the correct use of the Bible in addressing public policy issues. Too often Christians either ignore or misapply the Bible in the political arena. Beyond Good Intentions is a much-needed corrective which takes the Bible seriously yet avoids proof-texting and questionable interpretive methods.
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