The essential thing is not government but what government serves, which preexists and causes it: before we can have a proper government, we need a proper mind, heart, and conscience—those things in which the principles of government exist.
The Weakness of Caesar and the Power of the Cross
Christianity has always redeemed politics by surpassing it, fulfilling it beyond itself. It defeats violence through peace and not with more powerful violence. This is not to say that Christianity leaves the tyrannies of the world alone. When I say it defeats them, I mean that literally, concretely—Christianity brings tyrants to their knees.
