“The lessons of July 1, 1535, are relevant to the project that the Fathers of Confederation began here on July 1, 1867. Representative democracy, our heritage of liberty and the rule of law—all this depends upon a correct understanding of the proper spheres of authority and the limited competencies of state authority.
Saint Thomas More suffered martyrdom because he insisted that there was a limit to the King’s lawful authority, namely that he had to respect the freedom of the Church, guaranteed by the very nature of the State and the nature of the Church. These ancient principles were recognized in the first article of the Magna Carta, which guaranteed the Church’s freedom. When Henry VIII’s Parliament voted him Head of the Church, it exceeded its competence. It was a law, but not lawful, for it violated justice. It did not give to the Church its due, and granted to the King what was not his due.
A State cannot endure in ‘all peaceable freedom and tranquility’ if it does not recognize the due limits to its power. We have seen repeatedly in our own time that states that claim unlimited power over all spheres of common life by that very fact limit, sometimes in brutal ways, the liberty, prosperity and peace enjoyed by their citizens.”
Can you guess who spoke these words? This was a speech delivered by Jason Kenney (pictured above) in 2014. You can read the entire speech here: https://www.convivium.ca/articles/conscience-versus-the-spirit-of-the-age/
Ironically, under Kenney’s leadership as the Premier of Alberta, in 2021, several pastors went to jail—myself included—for not ceding to the state what properly belongs to the church. The state has no jurisdiction to dictate the terms of worship or regulate the assembly of God’s people. Period.
For years governments around the world vainly attempted to stop a virus. While they failed to stop that spread, they did succeed in spreading something much more dangerous—totalitarianism.
By totalitarianism, I do not mean to directly equate socialist Canada’s ruling elites with non-democratic dictators. By totalitarianism I mean a government which believes it rules the totality of life, from economics, education, worship, and the family. For sure, in Canada, we have a softer totalitarianism than past examples. But is this more or less dangerous? It’s not as deadly, but it is more virulent! Is democratic, socialistic totalitarianism just a more polite way to swallow up every sphere of life? Any form of totalitarianism will harm society since it is a disorder of God’s intended design.
God has entrusted authority to fathers, to elders, and to the magistrates. These three basic spheres of the family, the church, and the state must submit themselves to our Lord Jesus Christ and understand their jurisdiction and the limits of their authority. (Christian, you should have this all down pat by now.)
You may ask, what gives me the right to instruct rulers in this regard? Shouldn’t I mind my business and stay in my lane? Pastors have forgotten something here. The church, of which I am called as an elder, is given the responsibility to speak the word of God directing the family and the state to honor the Son. The church has no power of coercion—it is the state that wields the sword—but the church has power of persuasion. It is my prayer that Kenney and others learn from the past—whether because of Thomas More, the Magna Carta, or COVID-19—and submit to the Lordship of Christ and his design for society.
—Tim Stephens
P.S. Pastors, let us not allow Jordan Peterson or Tucker Carlson be the main voice of sanity. Pastors must exercise their prophetic voice and be the public intellectuals to call the world to believe the gospel and obey Christ.