Christianity and Sovereignty

Abstract

Abstract This chapter surveys the meaning of sovereignty in both Christian theology and modern jurisprudence and, on the basis of that inquiry, considers what might be right and what might be wrong about the idea. The chapter explains how early Christian theology insisted upon the integral simplicity of the divine nature, such that attributes like God’s power were never abstracted from the other attributes of the divine nature, such as God’s goodness, justice, and mercy. Under the influence of this theology, the human exercise of sovereignty was understood to be limited and ministerial. However, when theologians began to distinguish an aspect of divine sovereignty that they regarded as absolute, the way was opened to an attribution of a similarly absolute power to human institutions, unlimited by law and justice. The absolutely free creative power of God was thus attributed to human lawmakers.