Religion, Political Theory, Constitutional and Liberal Democracy

1. Religion, Political Theory, Constitutional and Liberal Democracy • Genevan Reformation or Scottish Enlightenment: What’s the Debate? • Scottish Enlightenment and Contractarianism (mid-17th century to late 18th) – Theory says that modern constitutionalism and liberal democracy were basically products of progressive Enlightenment and Humanist thinkers (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu). Rousseau - “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in ___________ [social; not political].” We are encumbered by moral/civic/social ties we have not chosen. • Reaction to religious wars follow Reformation (Which church to establish?); goal = ____________ basis political order; humans were basically good if left to their natural state of disconnected individual autonomy; capable of self-government; government originates among men as a social contract in order to protect/liberate us from bonds of those who would violate our “natural rights” of life, liberty, property and individual autonomy; gov’t power must be limited and divided to prevent tyranny; did not stress need for religion in society (sometimes quite hostile to it, especially when Enlightenment thought united with Humanism which developed soon thereafter and deified human happiness, wisdom, ability, etc.). Individuality is ___________ to social arrangements in state of nature. People freely and autonomously consent to a social contract (unlike other social institutions).

2. Key point: Civil society is based not on moral ideals derived from religion, but strictly from natural, biological instinct of self-preservation. • The contract is the only social bond that allows individuals to retain their autonomy (their terms/conditions). Result: Liberation! Foreshadow: American political thought has usually embraced the “_____________” view of society (basic unit is the autonomous individual rather than groups or structures; contrast with subsidiarity and sphere sovereignty). Compare briefly to Christian social theory: • Creation? Dependence in Trinity/Eden vs Independence in State of _____________ • Fall? Adam’s sin and consequent distortion of creation vs “chains” of civilization (family, church, workplace, marriage) • Redemption? Lordship of Christ (Restoration) vs State via Contract among Men (back to autonomy) “Each citizen would then be completely independent of all his fellow men, and absolutely dependent on the state.” Rousseau B. Genevan Reformation – Theory that liberal and constitutional democracy originated from the Scriptures and in the minds of Christian, especially Protestant Calvinist-Reformation era, thinkers. “After religious ____________ is overthrown, civil despotism cannot long continue.” - Boettner

3. II. Theology of the State as It Evolved in Church History: • Constantine – converted in 312; first Roman Emperor to explicitly profess Christian faith; 313 toleration for Christianity is first act; gave $/land back to persecuted Christians; public aid to Roman Church; decreed civil actions to follow church discipline; confused leadership of church and state; church changed from ____________ to established; Non-believers?; required church membership but debate surrounding degree of ruthlessness. • Augustine – Viewed gov’t as neither inherently evil or good; saw fall of Roman Empire as instance of God’s providence “bringing princes to naught and reducing rulers to nothing” especially when gov’t pursues power instead of its only legitimate function, justice (Rom. 13). Gov’t is necessary evil; traced not to created order of God, but is a gracious consequence of the Fall. Closest to what was eventually adopted in most Europe. • Aquinas - Duties of a king: promote common good; promote piety and virtue and prohibit impiety and vice so far as he can. Idea was shared b all through Reformation (except Anabaptists). No discussion of ____________________ or rights here. Promoting common good may and can result in violating human rights. • Medieval Christian political theology – more or less went the route of Aquinas. Membership in the church and membership in the state were considered synonymous (baptized into both).

4. Commentary: Though the notion of inherent human rights and freedom which is the foundation of liberal democracy was present prior to the Reformation, primarily in religious theology, its introduction in political theology did not emerge until afterwards. Augustine came the closest. III. Enlightenment and Reformation: Reactions to Christendom A. First generation reformers and limited government (Luther and Calvin) – stressed the sovereignty of God in salvation, the church, and then the state (over against Rome). Anti-Absolutism (whether Pope or King). Tenants of Calvin’s political thought: Only God has _____________________; The Fall justifies gov’t existence; Authority of rulers over other men is always bound by what God permits in revelation. In short, Calvinism “built a dam across the absolutistic stream, not by appealing to popular force (Enlightenment), nor to the hallucination of human greatness (Humanism), but by deducing those rights and liberties of social life from the same source from which the high authority of government flows – even the absolute sovereignty of God.” – Abraham Kuyper. B. Second generation reformers on Freedom, Resistance to Tyrants, Covenantalism (Bucer, Beza, Buchanan, Mornay, Althusias, Rutherford, Puritans in general):

5. 1. Beza (1574) and Mornay (1579) – No king is above The King. Beza: When obedience to the king (state) offends the King of kings, people (or lower magistrates) have right, duty, to resist; Mornay: people as a whole are ___________ the king because they are the first covenant partners with God (radical for this time); a king’s relationship to people is covenantal and people have right to depose the king when terms of covenant are violated by king; advocated a “federalistic-democratic” idea; when law of God (one or both tables of the Decalogue) are violated by king, people/magistrates may resist. • George Buchanan (1579 book) – argued for the preeminence of law (nation of _______ ,not men). “It is much safer to trust liberties to laws than to kings…confine them to narrow bounds, and thrust them, as it were, into cells of law…circumscribe [them] within a close prison…The law then is paramount to the king, and serves to direct and moderate his passions and actions.” 3. Johannes Althusius (1557-1638) – has been identified as the most important Political Scientist of the Reformation period. His work Politica argued explicitly for a federal political system, which he argued first appears in the ____________________ with Jews. • He argued that societies were divided into various divinely created spheres (church, family, nations, provinces, cities, professional associations). Government is simply a ___________________ of these smaller social units and may not interfere with the authority of these.

6. The civil law is toothless/shaky without a transcendent ground. • The 10 commandments provides that ground and serves a basis for civility and order in society (p. 206 Hall). He applied both tables to the state, which meant that the state had a duty to protect society against false doctrine/religion (i.e., 1st table as civil law; consistent with others to this point; discuss options here!). • Advocated the creation of a council of “____________” (independent supervisors) who reviewed the work of the civil authorities. They would be chosen by consent of the people as public/constitutional custodians (trustees). They can depose the king by supermajority vote. “The supreme magistrate exercises as much authority as had been explicitly conceded to him by the associated members or bodies of the realm. And what has not been given to him must be considered to have been left under the control of the people or universal association. Such is the nature of the contractual mandate…Absolute power…cannot be given to the supreme magistrate.”

7. 3. Rutherford, Puritans and Covenantalism and Liberty of Conscience In Lex Rex (1644, means Law is King), Rutherford set forth the most challenging work yet regarding the absolute power of the King. He reasoned that the king’s power is derived from the people whose authority is derived from God. The king, then, rules always and only ___________ (legal/constitutional conditions set forth by people and God). Further, Parliament is ___________ to king (very controversial for time). He argued that the people’s law is above the king, and the people cannot sign over their liberty/sovereignty to any king. No king is king by nature, but by law/vote. The Puritans, comprised of many separatists or noncomformists, began to argue that people had the right to worship the true God according to the dictates of their ____________ without interference from the state. The most respected Puritan Confession of faith stated this explicitly. It asserted that in matters of docrine and discipline, the state is not to interfere with church; state should refrain from violating freedom of religious expression for individuals subject to Christ and His Word (Westminster CF 23 and 30). Not always perfectly honored by Puritans when in power (e.g., New World).

8. III. Summary: Reformers of both generations articulated a political philosophy based upon Scripture which denied the absolute authority of the state (or people); considered rulers and subjects as equally valuable (same as in church); placed the people and law above the king, generally called for a federal-democratic, divided, political system; called for a constitution which mirrored Biblical covenants where divine law (10 commandments) serves as a transcendent ground of civil law; acknowledged right of people to resist and depose a king who violates the terms of covenant; we do not form government based on self-interest or ideals that we ourselves determine. Note on church government – the most common forms of church government (decision making structure) among the Reformers was congregational (democratic) or presbyterian (federal-republican). Clearly, many reformers came to believe that their view of how church gov’t should be structured came to influence how civil government should be structured (“Presbytery agreeth with monarchy like God with the devil”)

9. Reformation Political Thought Political Sovereignty rests with God  people  state Ground of Human value/rights = Imago Deo (originates with God) Justification for Gov’t = ordained by God at least to suppress evil (original sin), promote common good including proliferation of true religion (more communitarian) Constitution = morally-informed pact between people having independent/equal status based upon voluntary consent and established by promises made before God. Implications – Reformation political thought led more to republicanism, with divine law and God as supreme (Glorious Revolution, English Civil War) Enlightenment Political Thought People  State HR ground = State of Nature, mutual and unanimous consent, virtue of being human (originates with humans) Why gov’t? Self-interest, protect natural rights (life, liberty, property); return individuals to natural state of autonomy; more individualistic Constitution is a legal contract among people to form gov’t for sake of self-interest, limited gov’t, and binds all (posterity and immigrants) Implications - Enlightenment thought led more to democracy, with human law and the majority as supreme (French Revolution)

10. Points of agreement: Need for government People come before (in time) gov’t, so gov’t rests upon people. Humans have inherent worth/dignity/value/rights Civil rulers must be checked legally/constitutionally (divided government, federalism, etc.) No divine right of kings Development of liberal democracy (including freedom of worship). Product of Christian political thought? Where did freedom come from? Some critics of liberal democracy contend that it produces ______________ people and a secular, even anti-religious, state. Confusion for many American Christians (hate it here, want to spread it abroad). Liberal theorists (e.g., John Rawls) have argued that liberal democracy is ___________ a product of the Enlightenment and is and was built on non-religious grounds. Nicholas Wolterstorff argues that both are wrong because both falsely attribute liberal democracy merely to Enlightenment. Instead, he contends that liberal democracy is rooted in Christian thought: salvific equality, freedom of worship/conscience, functional separation of church and state.

11. Argues that tolerance for religious freedom and pluralism was granted _____ because of a desire for a __________ state, but because the cost (lives and dollars) of enforcing religious compliance was too great and self-destructive. • So, they arrived at do what you can for common good and to make me good (Aquinas), but not violate their human dignity/worth/rights (life, liberty property). Departure from Aquinas. • Political theology had ______________ with Christian religious theology all based on the Imago Deo concept often expressed as Natural Rights (also Augustine’s Two Kingdom distinction). Man = “just a little lower than the angels” in terms of worth. Read Locke quote next slide. • Argues further that the Bible calls for Christian liberal democracy which allows for religious pluralism and freedom but honoring God-given human rights, where all religious perspectives/people are welcome in the public square (Dutch Calvinistic political theory) for debate and voting (unlike Rawls).

12. “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions: for men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent, and infinitely wise maker; all the servants of one sovereign master, sent into the world by his order, and about his business; they are his property, whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another's pleasure: and being furnished with like faculties, sharing all in one community of nature, there cannot be supposed any such subordination among us, that may authorize us to destroy one another, as if we were made for one another's uses, as the inferior ranks of creatures are for our's. Every one, as he is bound to preserve himself, and not to quit his station wilfully, so by the like reason, when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.” – John Locke