Review: The Sourcebook for Christian Political Thought

Second Quarter 2000

Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, together at Oxford University, have produced a wonderful book titled, From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought (Eerdmans, 1999; 838pp.; cloth—$70; paper—$45). It covers roughly the first 1,600 years of the Christian era, with substantial excerpts from the works of more than 50 authors. You won't be surprised to see the names of Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin. But have you ever read anything by Paulus Orosius, Honorius Augustodunensis, Nikephoros Blemmydes, and John Ponet? There is no adequate way to review a volume like this, which includes ample introductions to each of five sections and to the excerpted texts from each author. We have chosen simply to sample from the comments on Romans 13—the apostle Paul's oft-quoted words on government—made by ten of the authors. —Ed.]

John Chrysostom (about 349-407)

[From a sermon by this renowned preacher]—"What?" you ask Paul. "Is every ruler appointed by God?" "That is not my meaning," he replies. "I am not talking about each ruler individually, but about the institution of government. That there should be structures of government, that some should govern and others be governed, that things should not drift haphazard and at random, with whole populations tossed like waves to and fro: this, I say, is the achievement of God's wisdom." That is why the text does not say, "there is no ruler except from God," but, speaking of the institution: "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Augustine (356-430)

[From a letter to Macedonius, provincial governor of Africa]—There is good, then, in your severity which works to secure our tranquillity, and there is good in our intercession which works to restrain your severity. Do not be displeased at being petitioned by the good, because the good are not displeased that you are feared by the wicked. . . . [The] words of the Apostle (Rom. 13:1-8) show the usefulness of your severity. Thus, as those who fear are ordered to render love to those who cause them fear, so those who cause fear are ordered to render love to those who fear. Let nothing be done through desire of hurting, but all through love of helping, and nothing will be done cruelly, inhumanly. Thus, the sentence of the judge will be feared, but not so as to cause the religious motive of the intercessor to be scorned, because it is only by yielding and pardoning that the good effect of amending a man's life is produced.

Sedulius Scottus (wrote between 840 and 860)

[From an essay, On Christian Rulers]—As soon as a Christian ruler has received the royal sceptre and the government of the kingdom, it is fitting that he first return acts of thanksgiving and suitable honors to God and to Holy Church. . . . For indeed, a king is notably raised to the summit of temporal rule when he devotes himself with pious zeal to the Almighty King's glory and honor. And so, let the pious ruler fervently strive to obey the will and holy commands of the Supreme Master of all things by whose divine will and ordination he does not doubt himself to have risen to the summit of authority. This is affirmed by the apostle who says: "There is no authority unless it be from God; moreover, all the authorities which exist have been established by God" (Rom. 13:1).

Honorius Augustodunensis (about 1080 to about 1156)

[From a treatise, Summa Gloria]—If [a king] is a cleric, then he is either a door-keeper, a reader, an exorcist, an acolyte, a sub-deacon, a priest, or a bishop. If he is not a member of these orders, then he is not a cleric. Furthermore, if he is neither a lay-person nor a cleric, then he is a monk; but his wife and his sword deny that he is a monk: "For he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the avenger of God's wrath, established for this very purpose" (Rom. 13:4). Neither a monk nor even a cleric is allowed to carry weapons. Therefore, since on this clear evidence the king is a lay-person, and since a priest through his office has been set over all laity, the king must be wholly subject in matters of divinity to the highest priest, inasmuch as he is subject to the head of the Church. On the other hand, the highest priest, along with all the clergy, is subject to this same king, as to a superior, in secular affairs. So it is that these two princes of the people come before each other in turn; and both, firmly adhering to Christ the King and Priest, shall reign eternally with him.

Thomas Aquinas (about 1225-1274)

[From the Summa Theologiae]—For a war to be just three conditions are necessary. First, the authority of the ruler within whose competence it lies to declare war. A private individual may not declare war . . . . But since responsibility for public affairs is entrusted to the rulers, it is they who are charged with the defence of the city, realm, or province, subject to them. And just as in the punishment of criminals they rightly defend the state against all internal disturbance with the civil arm; as the Apostle says (Rom. 13:4): "He beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God's minister: an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil." So also they have the duty of defending the state with the weapons of war against external enemies. . . .

Secondly, there is required a just cause: that is that those who are attacked for some offence merit such treatment. . . .

Thirdly, there is required a right intention on the part of the belligerents; either of some achieving some good object or of avoiding some evil.

John of Paris (about 1250-1306)

[From the treatise, On Royal and Papal Power]—If the pope has secular power directly from God and the secular ruler its exercise directly from the pope, then the secular ruler is the minister of the pope, just as the pope is the minister of Christ. But this seems to go against the canon of Scripture. For the Apostle says of the king and prince in Romans 13:4-6: "If thou do that which is evil, fear; for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God's minister: an avenger to execute wrath etc." and again, later: "Therefore also you pay tribute." He is the minister of God, then; the Apostle does not say, minister of the pope, but minister of God: "For in this do they serve him" . . . . Again, royal power existed in its own right in both principle and practice before papal power and there were kings before there were any Christians in France. Therefore in neither principle nor practice does the royal power there come from the pope but from God and the people who choose a king . . . .

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

[From Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed]—Why does Paul say to all Christians in Romans 13:1: "Let all souls be subject to the governing authority" . . . .? Answer: I have just said that Christians, among themselves and by and for themselves, need no law nor sword, since it is neither necessary nor useful for them. Since a true Christian lives and labors on earth not for himself alone but for his neighbor, he does by the very nature of his spirit even what he himself has no need of, but is needful and useful to his neighbor. Because the sword is most beneficial and necessary for the whole world in order to preserve peace, punish sin, and restrain the wicked, the Christian submits most willingly to the rule of the sword, pays his taxes, honors those in authority, serves, helps, and does all he can to assist the governing authority, that it may continue to function and be held in honor and fear.

John Calvin (1509-1564)

[From the Institutes of the Christian Religion]—When we hear that the assistance of the magistrate is a sacred gift from God, we ought the more carefully to beware of polluting it by our fault. . . . Let those who distinctly condemn all judicial distinction know that they repudiate the holy ordinance of God . . . . There is nothing contrary to this in the prohibition which binds all Christians to refrain from revenge, a feeling which we drive far away from all Christian tribunals. For whether the action be of civil nature, he only takes the right course who, with innocuous simplicity, commits his cause to the judge as the public protector, without any thought of returning evil for evil . . . . But they are not only forbidden to thirst for revenge, they are also enjoined to wait for the hand of the Lord, who promises that he will be the avenger of the oppressed and afflicted. "But those who call upon the magistrate to give assistance to themselves or others anticipate the vengeance of the heavenly Judge." By no means, for we are to consider that the vengeance of the magistrate is the vengeance not of men but of God, which, as Paul says, he exercises by the ministry of man for our good (Rom. 13:4).

Hugo Grotius (1583-1646)

[From The Right of War and Peace]—Taken together with what we said at the outset, this will serve as an answer to those who think that Christians are forbidden categorically either to punish at all or to impose the death penalty. The opposite is implied by the apostle's teaching, which not only mentions the use of the sword enacting divine vengeance as part of the function of kings (Rom. 13:4), but then urges us elsewhere to pray that kings may become Christians and use their office to protect the innocent (I Tim. 2:2-4) . . . . Such is the wickedness of a great part of humankind even in this age of Gospel proclamation, that this cannot be done unless the death of some serves to restrain the outrageousness of others. Even so, with all these gallows and executions for the guilty, the innocent are still not afforded sufficient protection.