Augustine’s ‘ordo Amoris’ And Immigration Policy

Medieval Catholic theology and contemporary politics seem to be strange bedfellows according to a recent Associated Press report. The report covered a social media post Vice President JD Vance made invoking the concept of the ordo amoris (or “order of love”) to defend the current administration’s immigration policies and actions.

Let’s consider what the ordo amoris is and why it’s relevant to the present debates about immigration policy.

Order of Love

Historically, Christians have used the concept to help them determine how to love the people in their lives. The ordo amoris is a term perhaps unknown by most Protestants because of a general unfamiliarity with the theology of the early church.The ordo amoris is attributed to the great North African theologian Augustine of Hippo (354–430). Augustine explains, “All people should be loved equally. But you cannot do good to all people equally, so you should take particular thought for those who, as if by lot, happen to be particularly close to you in terms of place, time, or any other circumstances.”

A series of concentric circles surrounds each individual: self, family, community, nation, and world. Augustine observes that while the Bible commands us to love all people, we’re finite creatures with limited resources and time and so must be selective.

A series of concentric circles  surrounds each individual: self, family, community, nation, and world.

Augustine presents a hypothetical situation: Imagine you have enough food for one person, but two people are in need. Both people have the same need, and they’re equally relationally close to you (i.e., they’re your cousins). To whom do you give the food? You choose by lot.

In another situation where you don’t have equal relationships, you shouldn’t choose to help them randomly by lot. Rather, you should favor “the one who happens to be more closely associated with you in temporal affairs.” In this case, you may decide to give the food to your child rather than your cousin.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy comes to mind: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). Paul also gives this counsel: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). Scripture confirms an order of love—a series of concentric circles concerning care for our kin, communities, and countries.

This is why other theologians such as Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) also promoted the concept in his Summa Theologica. And although he does not invoke the specific phrase, John Calvin (1509-64) echoes Augustine when he argues that God commands us to love our neighbor (Matt. 22:37), meaning that we should not restrict our love solely to our families and friends. Nevertheless, he writes in his Institutes: “I do not deny, that the more closely any person is united to us, the greater claim he has to the assistance of our kind office. For the condition of humanity requires, that men should perform more acts of kindness to each other, in proportion to the closeness of the bonds by which they are connected, whether of relationship, or acquaintance, or vicinity” (2.8.55). More recently, some, such as Kevin DeYoung, have employed a similar concept of moral proximity to make similar points. So, while some may associate the ordo amoris as being strictly Roman Catholic, it is a catholic (or universal) teaching common to Roman Catholics and Protestants alike.

Immigration Policy

Is the order of love relevant to the present debates about immigration? In short, yes. A nation doesn’t have unlimited resources, thus it has to decide whom should receive its supplies.

But just because a theological principle is relevant to a present debate doesn’t automatically settle the issue. We can invoke the principle of the order of love, but there’s a distinction between a theological principle and political policy. The Scriptures are crystal clear: We must pay taxes to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:5–7). Paying taxes is the theological principle. In many contemporary nations, however, the exact tax rate is debatable even among Christians.

Likewise, a nation must decide how to order its love. Should a nation under any and all circumstances prioritize its citizens? Or are there any circumstances when a nation should prioritize noncitizens? A host of economic, political, moral, and national issues feed into answering such questions. We have no immediate, pat answers.

Political Dialogue

What does Vance’s invocation of the order of love mean for the present state of political dialogue in the United States? Some might object and see it as a thin theological veneer for bad policy. I, however, see this as potential ray of hope in an otherwise cloudy and overcast political scene.

For the last several decades, politics has become a battle of sound bites; more recently, our nation has undone 400 years of literacy by plying cultural memes as an engine of political and cultural warfare. In an otherwise bleak landscape, Vance’s invocation of Augustine’s order of love means that, whether right or wrong, he has appealed to a substantive idea rather than a sound bite or meme. Christians can take this meaty theological claim and engage it with deep, scriptural thought.

Christians can take this meaty theological claim and engage it with deep, scriptural thought.

Invoking the order of love may indicate how political discourse in our nation could turn toward substantive dialogue. Fresh winds of deep theological thought may yet dispel the stale air of political partisanship and rancor.