Christianity & Liberal Democracy

Course Description

This course introduces students to Christian political thought and is focused on the relation between the church and secular governing authorities. Christianity’s central confession that “Christ is Lord” implied that Caesar was not, and Christians have traditionally believed that the human person created in God’s image belongs first to God, and only secondarily to the political milieu. Christians have also sought to reflect God’s coming kingdom by modeling the new humanity accomplished in Christ within secular society, remaining “in” the political world, but not “of” it. Christian reflection on politics has thus been framed both by the biblical command to “submit to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1-7), but also by the command that one must “obey God rather than human authority” (Acts 5:29). This course will introduce students to some of the most mature ancient and modern Christian reflections on politics and society. Moreover, the course aims to reflect on the concern, recently voiced by secular and religious commentators alike, that modern liberal democracy is endangered by social and technological developments. Students will be invited to consider the question of whether modern liberal democracy is–in principle–an “evangelical” form of governance that is perhaps deserving of Christian support and defense.

Offered	2026 Winter
Dates	Jan 13 - Apr 14
Days	Tue, 01:30PM - 04:30PM
Format	Onsite Only
Credit Hours	3
Audit Hours	3
Room Number	Rm 010

Teaching Faculty

Craig M. Gay

Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies

Craig M. Gay lectures in the area of Christianity, Society, and Culture and is the Secretary of Regent's Anglican Studies Program. He has written widely on the subjects of modernity, secularization, economic ethics, and technology.

Jens Zimmermann

J.I. Packer Professor of Theology

Dr. Jens Zimmermann was born and raised in Germany. He studied at the University of British Columbia, earning his first PhD in Comparative Literature in 1997. He taught at UBC briefly before moving on to Trinity Western University, where he held the Canada Research Chair of Interpretation, Religion and Culture from 2006 to 2016. In 2010, Jens earned a second PhD in Philosophy from the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. While continuing at TWU, he also served as Visiting Professor of Philosophy, Literature & Theology at Regent College from 2016 to 2019. He was also a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall, 2017–2018), and a British Academy Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford (Christ Church College, 2018–2019). He is currently Visiting Fellow at the Center for Theology and Modern European Thought at The University of Oxford.