Sphere Sovereignty: the Christian view of Society

Writing in 1897 after editing De Standaard for twenty-five years, Dr Kuyper wrote this:

“One desire has been the ruling passion of my life. One high motive has acted like a spur upon my mind and soul. And sooner than that I should seek escape from the sacred necessity that is laid upon me, let the breath of life fail me. It is this: That in spite of all worldly opposition, God’s holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the State for the good of the people; to carve as it were into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, to which Bible and Creation bear witness, until the nation pays homage again to God.”

___________________________________________

 

We should all be most concerned with the meaning of reality and with the coherence of meaning in the created works of God. One essential undertaking is to seek to view each separate part of reality in its connection with all the others and in relation to the whole. There is a coherence between the different spheres placed in creation by God and everyone is subject to those laws God has established within creation itself for its own existence and preservation.

The sovereignty of each sphere is derived from God’s order for creation and expounded in Scripture. God created all things according to their nature, including societal relationships. The Scriptures therefore contain the basic principles for all aspects of human society, but they do not charge the Church with establishing internal norms for the family, State or economic life. In Israel the offices of prophet, priest and king were sharply delineated. The Lord Jesus when on earth refused to act as a legal judge in the case of the woman caught in adultery. Apostles could not be involved in matters of State by virtue of their office. They were to proclaim the Word of God.

Sphere sovereignty is inherent in the created structure of all things and is evident in the description and ordering of things as found in the Word of God. Such a wide distribution of authority is an expression of God’s absolute authority and sovereignty over His creation in Christ. Sphere sovereignty is how God maintains His sovereignty over the world He created, in particular through the authority granted to Christ. This order placed by God within creation restrains the influence of sin. The distribution of power in so many independent forms prevents a concentration of power leading to abuse. The ordinances within creation are not simply despotic commands for the lower area of nature to be to be obeyed only externally. They are holy, wise and perfectly good ordinances of the Highest Majesty without whom the created cosmos would fall apart in utter chaos.

Reading the Scriptures will bring us to an awareness of an organization of society rooted in creation in a self-evident harmony. The God-given order revealed in Scripture is threatened today largely by the antagonism of the State, but also others in the economic world, whichever it is that is elevated above all the others. As each of us stand before God on the same level, so it is with the different spheres. When one lifts itself up above others, it proposes to put itself in the place of God.

The concept of sphere law is basic to Christian teaching and has a much older historical and theological origin than is commonly acknowledged. In essence sphere sovereignty as a basic biblical principle was certainly understood by Calvin and it is inherent in his teaching with respect to the temporal Church and its independence from the State.

The Christian world and life view, illumined by the revealed Word of God, posits sphere-sovereignty of the temporal spheres over against pagan totalitarianism.

Sphere sovereignty is not particularly Calvinistic. It is implied in the writings of many who are simply reflecting what they find in the Scriptures. Other views are not tied into the Scriptures in quite the same way and reject the idea of sphere-sovereignty. As a rule, they do so because they have already compromised with pagan philosophy and therefore should not really be counted as Christian views at all. There is only one genuinely Christian view concerning human relationships, only one that takes seriously and without compromise the principle of the Kingdom of God. The written Scriptures are the very Word of God and authoritative for all men and for all of life. Nothing is exempt from its divine authority.

The seventeenth century Calvinistic German jurist, Johannes Althusius (1563-1638), orientated his social teaching to this principle. In the first chapter of his book Politica, long out of print, we find this:
“Every type of social relationships has its proper laws peculiar to it, whereby it is ruled. And these lawsare different and divergent in each kind of social relationship, according to the requirement of the inner nature of each of them.”
Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) rightly says of Althusius:
“This utterance may be considered the first modern formulation of the principle of internal sphere-sovereignty in societal relationships.” (A New Critique of Theoretical Thought, Vols. III – IV, p.663)

The idea of sphere sovereignty is usually attributed to Dutch Reformed theologian, Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) and its further development to Herman Dooyeweerd. Kuyper outlined what he understood as sphere sovereignty in an address on 20th October 1880 to inaugurate the Free University of Amsterdam, a project that had long been his vision. It was published as Souvereiniteit in Eigen Kring (lit. Sovereignty in Own Circle). He was at the height of his powers and the speech contains one of his most well-known statements: “…there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!” It is inherent in the Scriptures and therefore it is hardly surprising to find it implicit in the writings of others such as Johannes Althusius and even Richard Baxter (1615-1691) of Kidderminster whose works were widely influential among the settlers in New World.

The observation can be made that the theory of ‘sphere sovereignty’ does not appear in Scripture. The answer must always be that neither do many other terms used in systematic theology, as for example the word ‘trinity’. Despite this, the truths they represent are based on sound biblical exegesis and form an important element in truly biblical theology. An understanding of the world in which we live, including the society of which we find ourselves a part, can only be based on an interpretation of reality as given in Scripture. Without this we cannot even begin to ask any intelligent questions. The organic nature of the human personality demands that we have a unified knowledge of biblical teaching. If we do not see biblical truth as a system, the result will be that we become one-sided, paying attention only to that which appeals to us. Seeing the teaching of the Bible as systematic keeps us spiritually well balanced.

There are many different kinds of societal relationships: schools, State, Church, business, family. In the pages of the Scripture, we find principles and laws that apply to all these different relationships and their interrelations. Sphere sovereignty provides the only viable alternative to the current tyrannical hierarchical and collective society. Although every sphere of society is governed by its own structural principles inherent in the created order, there are many different ways in which we interact with others. One and the same person will be a member of a family and at the same time a citizen, a Church member, a friend, a neighbour, a customer, a salesman, a teacher. We move within an extremely complicated network of social contacts and relationships and they are experienced in a wide range of different spheres. The principle of sphere sovereignty clearly contradicts all political ideas that mix the political with the ecclesiastical scene.

Every sphere is always defined and limited by the nature of the activity it jointly performs. Each person functions within that group without any loss of personal identity. Personal identity is not merged in any single relationship or totality of relationships. No one exists exclusively for the sake of any single aspect of society. Within the bounds of a relationship, we share a common task. Affairs must be regulated, order maintained, to the end that authority is instituted.
“For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” (1 Timothy 2:2)
Paul ordains elders.
“And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” (Acts 14:23)

All authority comes from God. No one enjoys any authority for any reason within themselves. Nor are they necessarily the link between the source of their charge and subordinates. An office is occupied in order that in a qualified co-operation or communal life, men may come to the fulfillment of their function and calling in a direct free responsibility to God who calls them into His service. This is key to the principle of authority and freedom, a balance. Leadership in each sphere belongs to the created structure of all communities and groups. Leadership will have power established as a delegation of Christ’s authority. The authority of one sphere cannot be transferred to another. It cannot rightly regulate another sphere. For example, the family stands on its own and is not to be regulated by the State, nor the State by the Church and so forth.

Christianity proclaims a total rule of God over all He has made, opposing the pagan idea of the total State, just as light opposes darkness. All temporal societal relationships each after his own divine structure must be an expression, even if an imperfect one, of the rule of Christ. This is the only possible ground for any idea of a Christian State.

The rule of God is directly opposed to the apostate view of temporal society: to a self-willed rational society that construes the mutual relations and deeper unity of temporal societal bonds as one part of the whole, of one total State of which all societal relationships are but its component parts. Not marriage nor family, not blood-relation nor free types of social existence can be considered as part of the all-embracing State. Every societal relationship, whatever it is, has received from God its own structure and law of life, sovereign in its own sphere and answerable directly to God as are we all. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12)

Authority within a given sphere is not derived from another sphere such as the Church or the State, but exists according to its own nature from Him who is absolute sovereign, Christ, to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). On earth there is no higher power, no unlimited, absolutely independent authority. Christ distributes authority to office bearers in the various spheres of life and each one is directly responsible to Him. That authority is valid only within that sphere with which they are connected. Prime ministers, parents, educationalists of all kinds, believing or otherwise, are all directly answerable to Christ, deny it though they will. One day they must stand before Him and give account of what they have done. ‘Sovereignty’ in this context is to be understood as derivative authority, right, duty and power to break and avenge any resistance it encounters. No authority on earth is the highest power from which other forms are deduced or derived, not State nor Church.

No individual part of the created world stands or exists on its own. Each part is indissolubly connected with all the rest according to the will and purpose of God who created all things. We cannot look at one particular aspect without examining the relationship it has with all the other parts. All point to one origin and one end in God. All things are from Him and through Him.

Thus, social relationships exist together on a basis of equality; one is not subordinate to another, having control over them. Subjection to authority exists only within a relationship. Each relationship, each sphere, stands in a co-ordinate relation to one another, not in a preferred or subordinate position. The struggle against totalitarianism and tyranny can only be waged with any prospect of success when fought from this position.

We can only speak of sovereignty because in the final analysis all norms and laws valid for creation derive their validity directly from God Himself. It is, therefore, a derivative rather than an absolute sovereignty. It is also a relative sovereignty because it is limited to its own particular sphere. Within its borders only laws pertaining to that sphere are valid; the laws of other spheres do not pertain. Where the sovereignty of each sphere is overlooked, confusion and tyranny follow. Every attempt to enforce the laws of one sphere on another results in enslavement not liberation.

The mark of God’s ownership is imprinted within creation in such a way that it is undeniable and leaves all men without excuse.
“The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.” (Psalm 24:1-2)
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20)

The competences of one sphere may not be appropriated by another. Government has been instituted by God to exercise justice and maintain peace. It is not within its competence to intervene in the internal affairs of Church or family. It cannot relieve parents of the responsibility they have for the health, well-being, education and raising of their children. Equally, the Church should not have a voice in the affairs of State. This is a biblical principle running right through Scripture, something of which we must take account. God has given specific laws to each sphere the validity of which does not exceed its own limits. For example, a government has authority in as much as its subjects are citizens, but it has no right of control over economic activity or enterprises that are rightly subject to the owner. Interference by one in the affairs of the other is a recipe for disaster. The Church has authority over the congregation of its members, but not over other forms of association even if all concerned are Church members.

Where the State is the highest organ of society, there will be no limits to its interference. There can be no reason for it then to respect co-ordinate authority within the different aspects of society. The way to totalitarianism is to relinquish the independence of societal relationships in favour of the State in the name of community or on some other pretext. To avoid totalitarian tyranny, the State must be kept co-ordinate to all other spheres of society. Every sphere must obey its own laws after its own kind.

However, sphere sovereignty is not to be understood as giving that sphere total independence and self-sufficiency. This would be to deify something created and open up deep rifts between the various spheres and deprive them of their unique meaning. Creation is not in any sense self-sufficient. It does not exist within itself, but either moves towards God the Creator and Christ or moves away from Him. Each one points beyond their own meaning towards all the others and the renewed human heart directed towards Christ and the Triune God, where lies the origin of all things.

The sovereignty of each sphere is such that it recognises the coherence of all law spheres. The boundaries between each are not deep clefts. Nevertheless, it is impossible for one sphere to exist apart from all the others, they hang together inseparably. Each sphere points to every other. This makes it sometimes difficult to apply the principle of autonomy. The cosmos is a unity, a universe, because it was created thus by God.

Freedom exists essentially in the independence of the different societal relationships against any totalitarian one. This corresponds to the inner liberty of the individual, which is untouchable from without and guaranteed by spheres of society. When this structure crumbles, the dictator need fear no resistance from anywhere because subordination is then already a fact.

Between the various spheres there is an independence in terms of human authority, but also interdependence in life and activity. Every area has its own powers as well as its God-imposed restraints. Each law sphere enjoys its own integrity. We move continually between one sphere to another. Civil and ecclesiastical totalitarianism claims in essence institutional divinity and authority.

David W. Norris

 

_____________________________________________