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Give to Caesar What is Caesar’s
Focus SEEK 2013
Michael Matheson Miller
Lecture Outline
I. Introduction: Historical Influence of Christianity and Government
II. Key Elements of a Christian Vision of Government
a. The State is not Divine
b. Human Freedom
c. Human Flourishing and the Social Nature of the Person
d. The Reality of Sin
e. Family
f. Justice and Rule of Law
g. Private Property
h. Free Association
i. Free Exchange
j. Avoid Utopianism
III. Principles for Application
a. Common Good
b. Solidarity
c. Subsidiarity
d. Morality and the Limits of Law
IV. Conclusions and Questions for Reflection
Part I: Historical Influence of Christianity on Limited Government
The Church limits the State: “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s.”
–Matthew 22:21
The state derives its authority from God, and is subject to God:
• “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God,
and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. . . . –Rom. 13:1-6
• “Honor the Emperor.” –1 Peter 2: 13-17
Totalitarianism sees Christianity as obstacle and Christianity—by definition—repudiates totalitarianism:
• “Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State . . . however necessary
and honourable be their function in worldly things - whoever raises these notions above their standard
value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned
and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God. (MBS no.8)” –Pope Pius XI
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Part II: Key Elements of a Christian Vision of Government
The Christian Vision of Government is rooted in the Christian understanding of the Good Life and the
nature of the human person created for human flourishing and with an eternal destiny. The
Government is neither God nor is it a necessary evil. The purpose of government is to help create the
space and conditions for individuals and families to live out their freedom and responsibilities—to “live
well and die holy.”
State is not Divine
 Christians regard the state as custodian of social order
 The state to be the source of truth and law.
Human Freedom
God made us free and the ordering of the state should recognize this reality
Human Flourishing and the Social Nature of the Person
Humans are Social Beings and we need others to flourish and to live a life of virtue:
 “It is not possible for one man to arrive at knowledge of all these things by his own individual reason.
It is therefore necessary for man to live in a multitude so that each one may assist his fellows, and
different men may be occupied in seeking, by their reason, to make different discoveries—one, for
example, in medicine, one in this, another in that.” –St. Thomas Aquinas
Reality of Sin
 Humans are good but fallen.
 There is a need for coercion.
 As a form of deterrence or punishment
 Means of implementing justice,
 Coercion is legitimate to prevent murder, theft, fraud…
There must be limits on the rulers:
 “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” –Lord Acton
 In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in
this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to
control itself. –James Madison, Federalist Paper #51
Human Perfectibility: Key difference between Christian and most modern visions of government and society
Family
The Family is the fundamental unit of society. The family is a natural community and pre-political unit. It is
not merely a construct of society but reflects the social nature of the human person and is a reflection of the
Holy Trinity.
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Justice and Natural Law
Natural Law makes it evident that some things are intrinsically evil
 The State is bound by the Same Moral Laws as Individuals
 Positive Law must be subordinate to the natural law
 Neither positive law, nor consensus equals truth.
 Law must be in accord with Right Reason
 Aquinas and Augustine: An unjust law is no law all.
 Christianity rebukes Thrasymachus/Nietzsche and the ideas that justice is the rule of the stronger or
will of the ubermensch
 Natural Law also deals with Principles of Natural Justice: E.g. Rule of Law and Due Process
Rule of Law
•
•
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Rule of Law v. “rule of men.”
Law is Not Arbitrary
Due Process
 Accuser can’t also be judge and jury
Enforcement of Contracts
Consistency: Applies Equally and Predictable
 Important for Long-Term Investment and Markets
Private Property
 Private Property is not an absolute right like the right to life.
 Property is deeply connected to the family because it helps create the space and opportunity for
families to live out their freedom and responsibilities.
 The right to own private property is in many ways the material foundation of freedom
Free Association
 The right to free association derives from the social nature of man.
 Man is called to live in communion with others and is able develop intellectually, spiritually,
physically in community.
 Freedom of association allows people to join together for things to meet their needs and the needs of
other and to benefit the common good.
 There is not a right to join together to do evil. E.g., “Den of Theives”
 Right of association is foundation for civil society and a diversity of institutions and layers of
authority within society
 E.g., universities, religious orders, unions, business, mutual aid societies, non-profits.
Civil society plays two essential roles
.1. It allows for human flourishing
.2. It limits the state, combats individualism, and creates a buffer between the state and the
individual
Free Exchange
Related to Free Association—people should have freedom to buy and sell without undue burden or
confiscation of profits. We see this developed in the medieval period and especially by theologians in the late
scholastic /early modern period.
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See Alejandro Chafuen: Faith and Liberty, Lexington Press
Anti-Utopian
“Within this human history of ours the absolutely ideal situation will never exist and a perfected ordering of
freedom will never be achieved. An ordering of things that is simply ideal; that is all around right and just will
never exist. Wherever such a claim is made, truth is not being spoken. Belief in progress is not false in every
respect. But the myth of the liberated world of the future in which everything is different and everything will
be good is false. We can only ever construct relative social orders which can only ever be relatively right and
just. Yet this very same closest possible approach to true right and justice is what we must strive to attain.
Everything else, every eschatological promise within history fails to liberate us, rather it disappoints and
therefore enslaves us.” –Joseph Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance
It is not the task of the state to create mankind’s happiness, nor is it the task of the state to create new
men. It is not the task of the state to change the world into Paradise. Nor Can it do so…If it behaves
as if were God…this makes it the beast from the abyss, the power of the Antichrist.”
“What is Truth, The Significance of Religious and Ethical Values in a Pluralist Society
PART III. Application: How do we apply the principles?
In any sophisticated society, there are a lot of possible alternatives and there is going to be conflict between
mutually exclusive reasonable choices. How do we decide between reasonable alternatives and address
problems arising from unreasonable choices? Even in a completely Christian society—good Christians will
disagree—how do we make prudential decisions?
• How do we make sure that these institutions behave justly?
• How do we ensure that these institutions don’t pursue their own agendas?
 Public Choice Problem
• How do we decide which institutions carry out which functions?
 Who helps the poor
 Who is charge of education
 What is the role for the government in the economy...
• How do we ensure that each institution does not usurp the functions of others?
 Not only checks and balances within government—but checks and balances within society as
a whole
• JPII: In Poland Communists took away the freedom of people to live out their responsibilities.
Common Good
“The Sum Total of Social Conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their
fulfillment more fully and more easily."
• Intrinsically Related to the Social Nature of Man
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•
•
•
•

The Final End of the Person: Salvation of his Soul
Some Foundational Conditions: Life, Freedom to Worship…
Some Shifting Conditions—Prudential: Economic or Foreign Policy…
Common Good Does NOT mean the State should do everything
Problem of Knowledge—Beware of the “Fatal Conceit”
•
KEY Take Away: The Common Good ≠ Efficiency
—Not Utilitarian Calculus
 Example of Raising Children
Solidarity
 Solidarity is the Gospel call to Christian Brotherhood
 “Solidarity... is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many
people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit
oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are
all really responsible for all.
 Solidarity is a Christian virtue. It seeks to go beyond itself to total gratuity, forgiveness, and
reconciliation. It leads to a new vision of the unity of humankind, a reflection of God's triune intimate
life;(#40)
 Solidarity helps us to see the 'other' –whether a person, people or nation-not just as some kind of
instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited at low cost and then discarded
when no longer useful, but as our 'neighbor,' a 'helper' to be made a sharer on a par with ourselves in
the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God.(#39)
John Paul II Solicitudo Rei Socialis
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is found in Catholic Social Teaching
 “It is contrary to the proper character of the state’s government to impede people from acting
according to their responsibilities—except in emergencies.” –St. Thomas Aquinas

“…a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower
order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”
–John Paul II, Centesimus Annus
Morality and the Limits of Law
• How Far Should the Law Go?
• Should the Law Forbid All Evil?
 Not Condone, Not Encourage
 But Tolerate
• “There are many things the government cannot do – many good purposes it must renounce. It must
leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It
cannot convert the people.” –Lord Acton
IV. Conclusions
“Love—caritas—will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State
so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to
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eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will
always be loneliness…The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would
ultimately become…incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which…every person—needs: namely, loving
personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in
accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from
the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need…” –Benedict XVI, Deus
Caritas Est
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