In a recent post in Dagen Espen Ottosen writes that being a Christian does not mean adhering to a political ideology. He argues that Christians should be guided by a Christian view of humanity, but that this does not necessarily provide clear guidelines for politics.
I largely agree with Ottosen: Christian faith cannot be reduced to party politics. Nevertheless, I believe there is a need to nuance the presentation. Because the Christian view of life is not ideologically neutral. It provides a holistic understanding of reality – about human beings, society, truth and law – which also provides implicit guidelines for how society should be shaped. In that sense, Christian faith is a political ideology in a deeper sense.
This insight became even clearer to me when I recently read The Revenge of Conscience: Politics and the Fall of Man by Professor J. Budziszewski. In the book he shows how modern ideologies may indeed contain fragments of truth, but in their basic structure are based on notions about human beings, freedom and community that violate Christian faith. For example:
Budziszewski claims – rightly – that it is the Christian understanding of reality that provides the most holistic and true vision for building society. Christian faith is not party-political, but it is political at its core. Faith obliges us to build society in accordance with the true and good – what Budziszewski, Augustine and Aquinas refer to as order of love, the right order of love.
This order simply means that love has an order. We are not only called to love, but to love rightly: God first, then our loved ones, and then others, based on the responsibility we actually have. This applies not only to personal life, but also says something about how society should be built.
Based on this, faith gives us some clear guidelines for how different parts of society should be organized. Let me give some examples:
Family policy: The family is the first and most fundamental community in the order of love. Therefore, it must be protected and strengthened, not undermined by ideological individualism or state overreach.
Education: Education should be shaped by love of truth, goodness, and beauty—not just by utility and efficiency. The goal is to form the whole person, not just prepare for the workplace.
Tax policy: Taxes should support the weak and the community, but not be so high that they weaken responsibility and initiative in the family, church and local community. When the state takes over too much, natural communities lose their role – and we lose something of the right order of love.
Immigration: We have the greatest responsibility for those closest to us – family, community and nation – but we are also called to show justice towards the stranger. Helping people in need is important, but our first and foremost responsibility is to contribute where they already live, where the help can be most effective and sustainable.
Legislation: The law should be based on objective right and wrong, rooted in truth and human dignity – not just in the will of the majority. But the state should not prohibit everything that is sinful. The law should promote justice and protect the common good, not attempt to impose all moral virtue by force.
Christian faith therefore does not simply provide values that can be added to various political ideologies. It provides a comprehensive framework for how a just society should be shaped – in accordance with human nature and God’s order of creation. Therefore, it is insufficient to claim that Christian faith can only be «combined» with various ideologies. Rather, it must serve as a benchmark to judge and correct them.
Christian faith obliges. Not only morally, but politically. We must dare to stand for that – also in the face of modern ideologies.
Marianne Brattgjerd
Academic Director, Health and Research, Kristent Ressurssenter
