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Systematic theologyWhat does it teach as a whole?

Public, political and social theology

What is public, political and social theology?

Public, political and social theology is the study of faith in public life, the state and society. It asks what Scripture and the churches teach on justice, authority and the vulnerable. It also sets out where traditions divide: on church and state, force, the economy, the death penalty, migration, climate, nationalism, AI and civil law on life and marriage.

  • 89Sources
  • 17Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 15Minutes

Study v1.1, 6 November 2026

Public, political and social theology

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

Faith in public life: justice, the state and society. Most traditions distinguish spiritual and civil authority, and many churches' social teaching names dignity, the common good and the poor.

What the study found

The law, prophets, Jesus and apostles shape Christian teaching on justice, authority and the vulnerable; most traditions distinguish spiritual and civil authority, and many churches' social teaching names dignity, the common good and the poor.

Where traditions divide

Traditions, and groups within them, divide on church and state, force, the economy, the death penalty, migration, climate, nationalism, AI, and civil law on life and marriage.

How the traditions compare

  • Public theology (Marty and Stackhouse)

    Speaks theologically about matters of common concern in terms others can examine, addressing civil society in shared terms.

    Max L. Stackhouse founded the Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology at Princeton. David Tracy named the three publics a theologian addresses: society, academy and church.

    Sources1–3

  • New political theology (Metz and Moltmann)

    Speaks from the memory of suffering and the hope of the kingdom.

    Johann Baptist Metz gave political theology a theological meaning in 1968, as a task that corrects the privatizing of faith, distinct from the jurist Carl Schmitt's use of the term in 1922: the two lines share a name, not a program. Jürgen Moltmann tied political theology to hope and public action, and Miroslav Volf recalls that he "certainly was" a political theologian and also a champion of the church.

    Sources4–7

  • Oliver O'Donovan

    Reaches back to patristic, medieval and Reformation political thought and offers a defense of "Christendom" that, in T. Murphey's review, need not mean compulsory establishment.

    Sources8

  • Stanley Hauerwas

    Stresses the church itself as the community that shows a different politics.

    Sources9

  • Luke Bretherton

    Works on democracy, poverty and broad-based community organizing.

    Sources10

  • Catholic Church

    Holds the most systematic body of social teaching, running from Rerum novarum (1891) to Leo XIV's Magnifica humanitas (2026).

    The US bishops teach seven themes, from the life and dignity of the human person to care for God's creation, and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says the Church is "not bound to any political system". Dignitatis humanae (1965) holds that "the human person has a right to religious freedom", and accepts that a constitution may give one community special recognition only if the religious freedom of all is effective in practice.

    Sources11–15

  • Russian Orthodox Church

    The Bases of the Social Concept, adopted by the Council of Bishops in Moscow in August 2000, include chapters on Church and nation, Church and state, Church and politics, and War and peace, and are "called to serve as a guide" for church institutions.

    A 2024 study reads the text as allowing civil disobedience when the state compels sin, and argues that the Moscow Patriarchate later became dependent on the authoritarian state, contrary to its own concept; that is a scholar's judgment. Patriarch Kirill said in November 2024 that the Church neither condemns nor endorses capital punishment when legally administered.

    Sources16–19

  • Ecumenical Patriarchate

    For the Life of the World (2020), prepared by a commission of theologians appointed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, speaks of "the special democratic genius of the modern age" and holds that "Orthodox Christians should support the language of human rights".

    It presents itself as an ethos, not a binding social doctrine, and differs in tone on democracy and rights from the Russian Orthodox Bases.

    Sources20

  • Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (Crete, 2016)

    Recalled the council of 1872 that condemned "ethno-phyletism as an ecclesiological heresy", opposed "the extremes of nationalism" and taught that the roots of the ecological crisis are "spiritual and ethical".

    Sources21

  • Lutheran

    The Augsburg Confession (1530) holds that "the power of the Church and the civil power must not be confounded", calls lawful civil ordinances good works of God and allows Christians to serve in just wars.

    The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopts social statements: in 1991 it objected to the death penalty "because it is not used fairly", and its 1991 statement on abortion seeks to move beyond the usual pro-life versus pro-choice language.

    Sources22–25

  • Reformed and neo-Calvinist

    Calvin holds that magistrates "have a commission from God" and allows that popular magistrates may restrain kings, while private men are not to resist.

    Abraham Kuyper's sphere sovereignty holds that family, church, school and state each have their own God-given authority. The Accra Confession, adopted in 2004 by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, responds to the economic and ecological injustice of the global economy by "looking through the eyes of powerless and suffering people".

    Sources26–28

  • Church of England

    Its bishops have opposed the assisted-dying bill before Parliament: on 20 June 2025 Sarah Mullally, the lead bishop for health and social care, called it "unworkable and unsafe" and called for investment in palliative care.

    It offers Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples without changing its doctrine of Holy Matrimony, and same-sex couples cannot marry in its churches.

    Sources29–30

  • United Methodist Church

    Adopted revised Social Principles at its 2024 General Conference; they state the church's public positions and are not church law.

    They affirm marriage as a covenant that brings "two people of faith", an adult man and woman or two adult persons of consenting age, into union.

    Sources31

  • Evangelical (Lausanne Movement)

    The Lausanne Covenant (1974) holds that "evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty", while denying that social action is evangelism.

    The Cape Town Commitment (2010) calls creation care "a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ", links poverty with "excessive wealth and greed" and encourages Christians to engage in government and public life.

    Sources32–33

  • Southern Baptist Convention

    In 1995 it apologized to African Americans "for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime".

    In 2000 it supported "the fair and equitable use of capital punishment by civil magistrates" for murder. In 2023 it asked officials to "prioritize measures that secure our borders" while affirming "the inherent dignity and value of immigrants and refugees". In June 2025 it called for overturning laws and court rulings "including Obergefell v. Hodges".

    Sources34–37

  • Anabaptist and Mennonite

    The Schleitheim Confession (1527) calls for a separation from the evil of the world, places the sword "outside the perfection of Christ" and forbids oaths.

    The Anabaptist and Baptist line rejects establishment, and Schleitheim's separation is its origin. Mennonite Church USA's Confession of Faith states: "As disciples of Christ, we do not prepare for war, or participate in war or military service".

    Sources38–39

  • Pentecostals (Pew survey, 2006)

    Pew's ten-country survey found that in nine of the ten countries at least half said religious groups should weigh in on social and political questions, and that in seven a majority or plurality favored separating church and state.

    In the US 52 percent of Pentecostals, against 25 percent of Christians overall, wanted government to take steps to make the country Christian; the data date from 2006.

    Sources40

How the field developed

  1. Late antiquity
    494

    Pope Gelasius I writes to the Emperor Anastasius that the world is chiefly ruled by two means, the sacred authority of the priests and the royal power. Later writers used the letter for papal supremacy and for royal autonomy alike.41

  2. Medieval
    18 November 1302

    Boniface VIII's bull Unam Sanctam holds that in the Church and in its power are two swords, the spiritual and the temporal: the high point of the papal claim.42

  3. Reformation
    1530

    The Augsburg Confession, the Lutheran confession, states that "the power of the Church and the civil power must not be confounded" (Article XXVIII). Article XVI holds that when Christians are commanded to sin they must "obey God rather than men".2223

  4. Modern
    1880

    Abraham Kuyper founds the Free University of Amsterdam and gives the inaugural address "Sphere Sovereignty", the source of his saying that there is not a square inch of human existence over which Christ does not cry "Mine!". One translation renders "square inch" as "thumb's breadth".4327

  5. Modern
    15 May 1891

    Leo XIII's Rerum novarum, on capital and labor, asks for wages that support "a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner" and rejects socialism's "community of goods". Magnifica humanitas later calls it "a milestone in the development of the Church's social teaching".1211

  6. Modern
    1907

    Walter Rauschenbusch, the leading US voice of the Social Gospel, publishes Christianity and the Social Crisis; the Social Gospel held that faith must address social and economic injustice as well as personal salvation.44

  7. Modern
    1922

    The jurist Carl Schmitt publishes Political Theology, opening with "Sovereign is he who decides on the exception" and arguing that all significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts.454

  8. Modern
    29 to 31 May 1934

    The Barmen Declaration of the Confessing Church rejects the idea that there are areas of life in which Christians do not belong to Jesus Christ. It holds that the state has by divine appointment "the task of providing for justice and peace", while rejecting the totalitarian state.46

  9. Modern
    7 December 1965

    The Second Vatican Council declares in Dignitatis humanae that "the human person has a right to religious freedom", meaning that all are to be immune from coercion in religious matters. The same day, Gaudium et spes defines the common good as "the sum of those conditions of social life".4715

  10. Modern
    1968

    Johann Baptist Metz gives political theology a theological meaning in his Harvard Theological Review essay. At Medellín the Latin American bishops describe structures that leave whole populations in deprivation as a situation that "puede llamarse de violencia institucionalizada".448

  11. Modern
    1974

    Martin Marty calls Reinhold Niebuhr a "public theologian" in the Journal of Religion, and is credited with coining the term. The Lausanne Covenant holds that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both Christian duty.132

  12. Modern
    August 1982

    At its General Council in Ottawa the World Alliance of Reformed Churches declares a status confessionis against the theological and moral justification of apartheid and suspends the Dutch Reformed Church and the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika. Allan Boesak, who urged the declaration, is elected president; the Dutch Reformed Church was readmitted to the Alliance in 1998.4950

  13. Modern
    1985 to 1986

    The Kairos Document, its preface dated 25 September 1985, distinguishes State Theology, Church Theology and Prophetic Theology. The Belhar Confession, drafted in 1982 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, is adopted in 1986 and confesses that God is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged.515253

  14. Modern
    13 to 16 August 2000

    The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church adopts the Bases of the Social Concept in Moscow, in sixteen chapters.1617

  15. Modern
    2007

    The Global Network for Public Theology is formally founded in Princeton, after a preparatory meeting in Edinburgh in 2005, and the International Journal of Public Theology begins with volume 1, number 1.5455

  16. Modern
    15 May 2026

    Leo XIV signs his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, on the human person in the time of artificial intelligence; it is published on 25 May. It records that it took eighteen centuries for slavery's full incompatibility with human dignity to be explicitly recognized, and asks pardon in the name of the Church; it also calls the "just war" theory outdated while preserving the right of self-defense "in the strictest sense".12565758

How to study public, political and social theology

The questions it asks

  • How do Christians read the command to submit to the governing authorities beside the apostles' reply, We must obey God rather than men?5960
  • Where should the church stand in public life: addressing civil society in shared terms, speaking from the memory of suffering and the hope of the kingdom, or showing a different politics as a community of its own?
  • How should spiritual and civil authority be related: a prevailing or established church, strict separation, non-establishment with free exercise, or cooperation with equal freedom?
  • Can the use of force be justified, and under what conditions?
  • How should market and state be weighed in the economy?
  • What should churches ask of the civil law on life and marriage, as distinct from what they teach and practice?

Its method

Start

  1. Open the primary texts first: Scripture, church documents, confessions and statutes, then research center and survey reports, university and journal pages, and reference pages for dates.

  2. Read together the biblical texts that sit beneath opposed positions, such as Romans 13 with Acts 5 and Revelation 13, or Genesis 1:28 with 2:155960616263.

  3. Give the range of positions, each in its holders' own words and with who holds it.

  4. Note the kind and standing of each text: the Russian Orthodox Bases are "called to serve as a guide", For the Life of the World presents itself as an ethos rather than a binding social doctrine, and the United Methodist Social Principles are not church law172031.

  5. Keep apart what a church teaches, what it practices and what it asks of the civil law; euthanasia, assisted dying, palliative care and withdrawal of treatment are distinct questions.

  6. Quote the paragraph rather than summarize it, since lines such as those of Centesimus annus are cited by Catholics on both sides of economic debate64.

  7. Date survey data and give the definition behind every figure: Open Doors defines persecution as "any hostility experienced as a result of one's identification with Christ"4065.

  8. Report a scholar's judgment as a scholar's judgment18.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • The Torah's social law, the prophets, and Jesus at Nazareth, anointed to preach good news to the poor666768697071.
  • Romans 13, Acts 5:29 and Revelation 13, the classic test case on obedience and resistance596061.
  • Augustine's City of God, the letter of Gelasius (494) and Boniface VIII's Unam Sanctam (1302)724142.
  • The Augsburg Confession, Calvin's Institutes IV.20 and the Schleitheim Confession222638.
  • The Barmen Declaration (1934), the Belhar Confession (1986) and the Accra Confession (2004)465328.
  • The documents of Catholic social teaching, from Rerum novarum (1891) to Magnifica humanitas (2026)1112.
  • Orthodox social texts: the Russian Orthodox Bases of the Social Concept (2000), For the Life of the World (2020) and the encyclical of the Council of Crete (2016)162021.
  • Protestant social statements and resolutions, such as those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, with the Lausanne Covenant and the Cape Town Commitment2431353233.
  • The Kairos Document (1985), the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the South African Council of Churches' Unburdening Panel report (2017)517374.
  • Constitutions and statutes, among them those of Greece, France (1905), the United States and South Africa75767778.
  • Surveys and indices, each with its own method: PRRI, the Pew Research Center and the Open Doors World Watch List79804065.

Standard reference works

  • The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004), from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace14.
  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church, on war and on the death penalty as revised in 20188182.
  • The US bishops' Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching13.
  • The International Journal of Public Theology, published quarterly by Brill since 200755.
  • Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project, which teaches that religions are "internally diverse" and that they "evolve and change"83.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 1922Political TheologyCarl SchmittPolitical Theology (1922)Carl Schmitt (1888 to 1985)Sources445
  • 1964Theology of HopeJürgen MoltmannTheology of Hope (1964)Jürgen Moltmann (1926 to 3 June 2024)Sources5
  • 1974Reinhold Niebuhr: Public Theology and the American ExperienceMartin E. MartyReinhold Niebuhr: Public Theology and the American Experience (1974)Martin E. Marty (1928 to 25 February 2025)Sources184
  • 1981The Analogical ImaginationDavid TracyThe Analogical Imagination (1981)David Tracy (1939 to 29 April 2025)Sources3
  • 1996The Desire of the NationsOliver O'DonovanThe Desire of the Nations (1996)Oliver O'DonovanSources8
  • 2010Christianity and Contemporary PoliticsLuke BrethertonChristianity and Contemporary Politics (2010)Luke BrethertonSources10
  • 2011War and the American DifferenceStanley HauerwasWar and the American Difference (2011)Stanley HauerwasSources9

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

The attempt to speak theologically about matters of common concern in terms others can examine; Martin Marty is credited with coining the term in 19741.

A name with two lines: the jurist Carl Schmitt's argument (1922) that the significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts, and Johann Baptist Metz's theological task (1968) of correcting the privatizing of faith454.

Also called Christian social ethics: the study of the structures of economy, work and society in the light of faith, called social teaching or the social doctrine of the Church in Catholic usage, and social statements or social principles in many Protestant churches.

Augustine's account of the earthly city, formed by love of self, and the heavenly city, formed by love of God; on pilgrimage the heavenly city obeys the earthly city's laws that maintain the necessities of mortal life7285.

Abraham Kuyper's teaching that family, church, school and state each have their own God-given authority27.

In Gaudium et spes (1965), "the sum of those conditions of social life"47.

The teaching that force may be used only under strict conditions; the Catechism names grave, lasting and certain damage, other means ineffective, a serious prospect of success, and no graver evils81. Magnifica humanitas (2026) calls the theory outdated while preserving strict self-defense, and readers divide on how it relates to the Catechism58.

Strict separation of church and state, as in France, whose law of 9 December 1905 says the Republic "ne reconnaît, ne salarie ni ne subventionne aucun culte"76.

In the Cape Town Commitment (2010), "the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel"33.

The Kairos Document's name for "the theological justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totalitarianism", set against Church Theology and Prophetic Theology51.

Where it sits

Builds on

Public, political and social theology

Questions people ask

Martin Marty wrote that he called Reinhold Niebuhr a "public theologian" in a 1974 article in the Journal of Religion, on the basis of which he is credited with inventing the category184. The term is therefore credited to him rather than proved to be his first use1. David Tracy, in The Analogical Imagination (1981), named the three publics a theologian addresses: society, academy and church3.

Romans 13:1 reads Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, while in Acts 5:29 the apostles reply We must obey God rather than men, and Revelation 13 pictures a beast permitted to wage war against the saints596061. Churches that stress order read Romans 13 first, and churches under persecution or resisting injustice often read Revelation 13 with it. Jesus' saying Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's is read as a charter for two spheres, as a limit on Caesar's claims, or as a call to see that everything belongs to God86.

No. The Catholic Church teaches, in the Catechism as revised in 2018, that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person"82. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America objects to it because it is not used fairly (1991), while the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 supported its fair and equitable use for murder2435. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said in November 2024 that the Church neither condemns nor endorses it when legally administered19.

The term is used in different senses. Christians Against Christian Nationalism, a campaign of the Baptist Joint Committee, defines it as an ideology that "seeks to merge Christian and American identities"87. PRRI's 2023 American Values Atlas, measuring agreement with five statements, classes about 10 percent of Americans as adherents and 20 percent as sympathizers79. Pew found in 2022 that 45 percent say the US should be a Christian nation, but that 48 percent of those mean a society guided by Christian values and only 6 percent mean laws based on Christianity80.

Edinburgh's Centre for Theology and Public Issues, founded in 1984, describes itself as the world's first center for reflection and research on public theology88. The Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at Stellenbosch University was launched on 21 November 200289. The Global Network for Public Theology, founded in Princeton in 2007, sponsors the International Journal of Public Theology, published quarterly by Brill5455.

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  1. 1Niebuhr and the Situation (Sightings, University of Chicago Divinity School)https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/niebuhr-and-situation (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Max L. Stackhouse papers (Princeton Theological Seminary Library Special Collections)https://princetonseminaryarchives.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/14 (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3David Tracy (America: The Jesuit Review)https://www.americamagazine.org/?p=198814 (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Carl Schmitt and the True German Origins of Political Theology (The New Polis)https://thenewpolis.com/2018/09/11/carl-schmitt-and-the-true-german-origins-of-political-theology-jonathan-cole/ (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Obituary: Professor Jürgen Moltmann (Church Times)https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/7-june/gazette/obituaries/obituary-professor-juergen-moltmann (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6In Memoriam: Jürgen Moltmann (Yale Center for Faith and Culture)https://faith.yale.edu/media/in-memoriam-jurgen-moltmann-1926-2024 (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7Life (Johann Baptist Metz website)https://johannbaptistmetz.com/life/ (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8Review of The Ways of Judgment and The Desire of the Nations (The Cresset, Valparaiso University)https://www.valpo.edu/cresset/2006/Murphey_T2006.html (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9Stanley Hauerwas (Duke Divinity School)https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/stanley-hauerwas (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10Luke Bretherton (Duke Divinity School)https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/luke-bretherton (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11Rerum novarum (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12Magnifica humanitas (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching (opens in a new tab)
  14. 14Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  15. 15Dignitatis humanae (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  16. 16Les fondements de la conception sociale de l'Église orthodoxe russe (University of Fribourg)https://www.unifr.ch/orthodoxia/de/assets/public/Lehre/HS2020%20-%20Ostkirchen-F/Conception-sociale-russe_2000.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  17. 17The Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, index (Russian Orthodox Church in Canada)https://russianorthodoxchurch.ca/en/social-concepts-index (opens in a new tab)
  18. 18Article on political hesychasm and the Fundamentals of the Social Concept (Elpis, University of Białystok)https://elpis.uwb.edu.pl/index.php/Elpis/article/download/563/558/1497 (opens in a new tab)
  19. 19Capital punishment neither rejected nor embraced by Church, says Patriarch Kirill (OrthoChristian.com)https://orthochristian.com/164416.html (opens in a new tab)
  20. 20For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church (Pan-Orthodox Synod blog)https://panorthodoxsynod.blogspot.com/2020/03/for-life-of-world-toward-social-ethos.html (opens in a new tab)
  21. 21Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (Holy and Great Council)https://www.holycouncil.org/encyclical-holy-council (opens in a new tab)
  22. 22Augsburg Confession, Article XXVIII (Book of Concord)https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/article-xxviii/ (opens in a new tab)
  23. 23Augsburg Confession, Article XVI (Book of Concord)https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/article-xvi/ (opens in a new tab)
  24. 24Death Penalty, social statement (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)https://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-Statements/Death-Penalty (opens in a new tab)
  25. 25Abortion, social statement (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)https://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-Statements/Abortion (opens in a new tab)
  26. 26Institutes of the Christian Religion IV.20 (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.vi.xxi.html (opens in a new tab)
  27. 27What is the source of Abraham Kuyper's slogan on Christ's lordship? (The Banner, Christian Reformed Church in North America)https://thebanner.org/es/node/17794 (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28The Accra Confession (World Communion of Reformed Churches)https://wcrc.ch/accra (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29Reduced majority for assisted suicide bill reflects mounting safety concerns, says Bishop of London (Church of England)https://www.churchofengland.org/news/reduced-majority-assisted-suicide-bill-reflects-mounting-safety-concerns-bishop-london (opens in a new tab)
  30. 30Living in Love and Faith proposals and Prayers of Love and Faith, press release (Church of England)https://www.churchofengland.org/node/46124/printable/print (opens in a new tab)
  31. 31The phrase that haunted United Methodists for 52 years is gone (Baptist News Global)https://baptistnews.com/article/the-phrase-that-haunted-united-methodists-for-52-years-is-gone/ (opens in a new tab)
  32. 32The Lausanne Covenant (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/lausanne-covenant (opens in a new tab)
  33. 33The Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement)https://lausanne.org/statement/ctcommitment (opens in a new tab)
  34. 34Resolution on Racial Reconciliation on the 150th Anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention)https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-racial-reconciliation-on-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-southern-baptist-convention/ (opens in a new tab)
  35. 35On Capital Punishment (Southern Baptist Convention)https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-capital-punishment/ (opens in a new tab)
  36. 36On Wisely Engaging Immigration (Southern Baptist Convention)https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-wisely-engaging-immigration/ (opens in a new tab)
  37. 375 Takeaways from Dallas: SBC Seeks Same-Sex Marriage Reversal and More (Religion Unplugged)https://religionunplugged.com/news/2025/06/13/southern-baptist-convention-dallas-five-takeaways-gby8r (opens in a new tab)
  38. 38The Schleitheim Confession (University of Washington)https://courses.washington.edu/hist112/SCHLEITHEIM%20CONFESSION%20OF%20FAITH.htm (opens in a new tab)
  39. 39Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance (Mennonite Church USA)https://www.mennoniteusa.org/who-are-mennonites/what-we-believe/confession-of-faith/peace-justice-and-nonresistance/ (opens in a new tab)
  40. 40Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2006/10/05/spirit-and-power/ (opens in a new tab)
  41. 41Letter of Pope Gelasius to Anastasius Augustus, translated by John S. Ott (Portland State University)https://web.pdx.edu/~ott/Gelasius/ (opens in a new tab)
  42. 42Unam Sanctam (Papal Encyclicals Online)https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm (opens in a new tab)
  43. 43Abraham Kuyper (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Kuyper (opens in a new tab)
  44. 44Walter Rauschenbusch (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Rauschenbusch (opens in a new tab)
  45. 45Carl Schmitt (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Schmitt (opens in a new tab)
  46. 46The Barmen Declaration (Evangelical Church in Germany)https://www.ekd.de/en/The-Barmen-Declaration-303.htm (opens in a new tab)
  47. 47Gaudium et spes (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  48. 48Documentos finales de Medellín (CELAM)https://www.celam.org/documentos/Documento_Conclusivo_Medellin.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Dutch Reformed Church and a status confessionis against the theological and moral justification of apartheid (AOSIS)https://library.aosis.co.za/index.php/record/view/3679 (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50What convinced the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1998 and World Council of Churches in 2015 to readmit the Dutch Reformed Church as a full member? (Acta Theologica)https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/download/3476/3308/6542 (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51The Kairos Document: Challenge to the Church (South African History Online)https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/challenge-church-theological-comment-political-crisis-south-africa-kairos-document-1985 (opens in a new tab)
  52. 52The Belhar Confession (Reformed Church in America)https://www.rca.org/about/theology/creeds-and-confessions/the-belhar-confession/ (opens in a new tab)
  53. 53Confession of Belhar, English text with footnotes (Christian Reformed Church in North America)https://c-7118-20160429-www-crcna-org.i.icims.com/sites/default/files/confession_of_belhar-english-with_footnotes-pf.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Mission and History (Global Network for Public Theology)https://gnpublictheology.net/about (opens in a new tab)
  55. 55International journal of public theology (Wellcome Collection)https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xhvmb2x5 (opens in a new tab)
  56. 56Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, to be published on 25 May (Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales)https://www.cbcew.org.uk/pope-leo-xivs-first-encyclical-magnifica-humanitas-to-be-published-on-25-may/ (opens in a new tab)
  57. 57The apology and thank you in Magnifica Humanitas, full quotes (Aleteia)https://aleteia.org/2026/05/26/the-apology-and-thank-you-in-magnifica-humanitas-full-quotes/ (opens in a new tab)
  58. 58Did Pope Leo actually reject just war theory? (America: The Jesuit Review)https://www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-reason/2026/06/08/pope-leo-just-war-theory-magnifica-humanitas/ (opens in a new tab)
  59. 59Romans 13 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/romans/13.htm (opens in a new tab)
  60. 60Acts 5 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/acts/5.htm (opens in a new tab)
  61. 61Revelation 13 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/revelation/13.htm (opens in a new tab)
  62. 62Genesis 1 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/1.htm (opens in a new tab)
  63. 63Genesis 2 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/2.htm (opens in a new tab)
  64. 64Centesimus annus (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html (opens in a new tab)
  65. 65World Watch List methodology (Open Doors US)https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/methodology/ (opens in a new tab)
  66. 66Exodus 22 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/exodus/22.htm (opens in a new tab)
  67. 67Deuteronomy 15 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/deuteronomy/15.htm (opens in a new tab)
  68. 68Leviticus 25 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/leviticus/25.htm (opens in a new tab)
  69. 69Amos 5 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/amos/5.htm (opens in a new tab)
  70. 70Micah 6 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/micah/6.htm (opens in a new tab)
  71. 71Luke 4 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/4.htm (opens in a new tab)
  72. 72The City of God XIV.28, translated by Marcus Dods (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XIV.28.html (opens in a new tab)
  73. 73Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, Volume 4 (Department of Justice)https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%204.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  74. 74Report to the Church Public on the Unburdening Panel Process (South African Council of Churches)https://sacc.org.za/sacc-report-to-the-church-public-on-the-unburdening-panel-process-regina-mundi-church-soweto-may-18-2017/ (opens in a new tab)
  75. 75Constitution of Greece, English translation (Hellenic Parliament)https://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/f3c70a23-7696-49db-9148-f24dce6a27c8/001-156%20aggliko.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  76. 76Loi du 9 décembre 1905 concernant la séparation des Églises et de l'État (Légifrance)https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/LEGITEXT000006070169/ (opens in a new tab)
  77. 77The Bill of Rights: A Transcription (National Archives)https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript (opens in a new tab)
  78. 78Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Chapter 2, Bill of Rights (gov.za)https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights (opens in a new tab)
  79. 79Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States (PRRI)https://www.prri.org/research/support-for-christian-nationalism-in-all-50-states/ (opens in a new tab)
  80. 8045% of Americans Say U.S. Should Be a 'Christian Nation' (Pew Research Center)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/10/27/45-of-americans-say-u-s-should-be-a-christian-nation/ (opens in a new tab)
  81. 81Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2302 to 2317 (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P81.HTM (opens in a new tab)
  82. 82Rescript on the new revision of no. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Holy See Press Office)https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/08/02/180802a.html (opens in a new tab)
  83. 83Our Approach (Religious Literacy Project, Harvard Divinity School)https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/our-approach (opens in a new tab)
  84. 84In memoriam: Martin E. Marty (Living Lutheran)https://www.livinglutheran.org/?p=65162 (opens in a new tab)
  85. 85The City of God XIX.17, translated by Marcus Dods (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XIX.17.html (opens in a new tab)
  86. 86Mark 12 (Berean Standard Bible, Bible Hub)https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/12.htm (opens in a new tab)
  87. 87Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Statement (BJC)https://bjconline.org/christians-against-christian-nationalism/statement/ (opens in a new tab)
  88. 88About us (Centre for Theology and Public Issues, University of Edinburgh)https://divinity.ed.ac.uk/ctpi/about-us (opens in a new tab)
  89. 89History, Vision and Aims (Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology, Stellenbosch University)https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/theology/bnc/about-us/vision-aims-history (opens in a new tab)

Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.1, 6 November 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 9 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.1.