President Trump, Nursing Father?
Practical Uses of State Power to Protect the Church
In the American revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1788) civil magistrates are called “nursing fathers,” given the duty by God “to protect the church of our common Lord” (23.3). The phrase “nursing fathers,” which comes from Isaiah 49:23, was not found in the original Confession written in 1647, though it has a long history in Protestant and early American political thought. The phrase had come to be a shorthand way of explaining the civil magistrate’s responsibility to protect the church from harm and to be broadly supportive of the church’s mission in the world without meddling in the church’s internal governance. Isaiah’s striking juxtaposition of fathers and nursing was understood to clarify the posture the civil magistrate should take toward the church: paternal strength and protection combined with maternal care and love. Even though the American version of the Westminster Confession toned down the state’s mandate regarding the church, specifically with regard to preserving true doctrine and worship, it did not take this mean that the state had no significant duties toward the church. The state is, in fact, “to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth” (23.2).
What might this look like today? There are many examples that could be listed, from tax breaks for pastors and churches, to security for church buildings, to ensuring that there is no restriction on the public proclamation of the gospel. This week at the seminary where I teach I heard of an example of just how important is the last of these examples. A Christian pastor and his wife in India were beaten up for preaching the gospel in public. When the police intervened they arrested—not anyone from the violent crowd—but the pastor and his wife, for violating an anti-proselytizing law.
I’ve been struck with how successful President Trump’s tariff threats have been in a variety of cases. Mexico, for example, in response to a promised tariff, agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. border to help stem the tide of illegal border crossings. I recognize that the civil magistrate’s responsibility is primarily for the people of his own country, and I don’t find it wise for America to play the role of the world’s policeman, but a tariff threat against a nation with laws banning the proclamation of the gospel could indeed be an excellent way in which our President could fulfill his duty as a nursing father to the church in the broadest sense. It might not even require that level of intervention. Perhaps simply a pointed conversation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be sufficient. Most nations, such as India, desire to be on good terms with the President and America. Undoubtedly, they see their anti-proselytizing laws as preserving the religious culture of their nation. Nonetheless, no law preventing the proclamation of the gospel can be just.
In the end, the most relevant application of the nursing fathers concept is likely closer to home. President Trump has recently pardoned many pro-life protestors who were jailed (with quite extreme sentencing) simply for protesting in front of abortion clinics. The President was absolutely right to do so, and one can hope that his recently constituted task force on anti-Christian bias will continue to do good work in this area, that it will, as the Westminster Confession says, “protect the church of our common Lord . . . in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. ”
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