Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
The speaker claims Augustine’s adoption of Cicero’s restraints and his call to “defend the social order” made Christian participation in government and war seem “better”; what assumptions about God’s kingdom and the world are embedded in “keeping things functioning well,” and where do you hear the same logic in modern Christian political engagement?
Another way to ask: What beliefs about God’s kingdom and the world are behind the idea that Christians should help “keep society running well,” even through government and war? Where do you hear the same idea in Christian politics today?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests Augustine assumed Christians must help preserve societal order, even through defensive force, because the world needs to be kept from chaos. That embeds the idea that maintaining the present social order is a Christian responsibility, which resembles modern arguments that believers should use government power “to keep things functioning well.”
- The speaker says the early church was “non-resistant” and also “not willing to participate in government,” but this shifted as church and state moved together.
- He calls Augustine “the most important person” in shifting away from nonresistance.
- Augustine drew from Cicero’s “just war” restraints (e.g., “Don’t harm non-combatants… don’t destroy farms”).
- Augustine added Christian framing: “if we have to fight, we have to do it in love.”
- Augustine argued “we have to defend the order, the social order,” and war was “meant to be defensive.”
- This made it look “better if we actually are Christian and participate in the government.”