The Case for Christian Nationalism

by Stephen Wolfe

Only God can bind the conscience; fellow man cannot, except by divine sanction, command you to do this or that particular thing. Man, as a moral being, is bound only by the natural law (or God’s moral law) as the rule for his action. But the natural law in itself does not prescribe specific action—it must be applied. Applications are necessary in every sphere of life: the civil sphere, the family, and the individual. For the civil sphere, God ordained civil power as a mediator of divine civil rule, authorizing civil rulers to determine applications of natural law for the public good. This was necessary because individuals cannot always determine appropriate public action for the common good. Civil leaders, having the whole in view, determine suitable public action. Being mediators of God’s civil rule, civil rulers issue civil commands—expressed and promulgated as civil law—that are ordinances of God and bind the conscience, though only when they are just (viz., follow rationally from natural law). Thus, the true power of civil rulers is limited by justice, and any commanded injustice is not an ordinance of God and therefore does not bind the conscience. This becomes more relevant when I get to the chapter on revolution.

Natural Law