Joustra, in his editorial manifesto, describes the space shuttle program as one example of public policy being FOR something, rather than only against instances of evil and suffering.

This image struck a chord with me, since I remember the excitement I had watching the space shuttle Atlantis take off at night in 1985.

As amazing as it was, I was not aware then that maybe it could help me understand something about “public justice.”

To understand public justice, we need to be able to recognize that those gathered on the beach to watch the launch were still members of churches, families, clubs, labor unions and the like. But at that moment they were gathered there to watch the shuttle which qualified their gathering as a public.

The people standing on the beaches were a group of people assembled as a “public”. Watching the space shuttle provided some good or “tribute” to this “public” that was consistent with what a public is due.

Family

business

Church

“Public”

What is the public, how is it formed, and what

is it due?

Fueled

my

Imaginati

on

Is that a “public” good?

A Visual Exploration by Sean Purcell

Space Shuttle AtlantisSTS-61b

For me, as a boy, much of the good I received was a symbolic good. However, I could only receive that “tribute” as a result of a particular legal order and a particular public policy that made the shuttle launch possible.

Copyright ©2018. All Rights Reserved.

Public engagement is supported and formed by our

practices in other institutions.

“public”

Advocates of public justice need to be clear about what is meant by public and what the public is due. Without clarity about what kind of relation(s) and functions constitute the “public,” then the “realm” of the public has the potential to dissolve many other societal relations and institutions.

This tradition, which affirms the irreducible kinds of social relations and institutions, originates from the Dutch theologian and Prime Minister, Abraham Kuyper. He described these distinct social institutions as spheres, each having its own “sphere sovereignty” in order to fulfill its unique role and functions within human society.

Wh

at is

a “pub

lic”?

ChurchSchool

Business

FamilyLaborUnion

PoliticalParty

Church

Family

School

Business

Media

Abraham Kuyper1837-1920

Public justice begins with an affirmation of the goodness of creation in all of its richness and diversity, including not only the “things” of creation, but also all of its ways of functioning. This means that we affirm the goodness of political structures and political organizations as irreducible parts of God’s good cosmos .

Herman Dooyeweerd1894-1977

It is these ways in which humans function in relation to each other that form the contours of these irreducible kinds of societal relations and institutions.

In light of all the plurality in creation, societal flourishing requires a robust recognition of the diversity of individuals, structures and aspects that exist. The public justice tradition affirms that societal flourishing requires a legal order that can maintain the “space” or “realm” in which the variety of individuals, institutions and societal relations can function in their unique ways. The public sphere as a space within that legal order is a space shaped by a variety of relations and institutions.

Boundary1

Arrangement3

Coordination2The principle of social institutions having irreducible “spheres” of functioning and authority emerges out of the recognition that all of creation, including individual humans, has a plurality of functions (or ways of being) that need to be acknowledged and accounted for in the pursuit of public justice.

physical biotic

psychic logical historical

lingual social

economic aesthetic juridical ethical

faith

kinematicphysicalbioticpsychic

logicalhistorical

lingual social economic

aesthetic juridical ethical

faith

kinematic

Ways of FunctioningW

ays

of F

unct

ioning

In addition to maintaining the boundaries1 of the realm in which the variety of individuals and institutions operate, we need a legal order that is able to coordinate2 (like a stoplight or a space program) how these relations operate. The legal order also needs to be able to arrange3 the space(s) in which these unique and irreducible societal relations and institutions function. The legal order will always be a bit unwieldy as it seeks to “harmonize” and “balance” the variety of societal relations and interests at play in any public policy issue.**

spatialnumeric

Family

Founding Functio

nChurch

School

Club

Business

PoliticalParty

Qua

lifying Function

“ethical”

“biotic”

God’s

Good Cosmos

Copyright ©2018. All Rights Reserved. Jonathan Chaplin

The plurality of ways that things (including humans) function creates the pathways on which humans relate to each other and to other things. Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd describes these ways of functioning as aspects of the ways in which things exist. For Dooyeweerd, these aspects allow him to identify the uniqueness of each social relation or institution by identifying what he calls the founding function and qualifying function of each institution. “The qualifying function...can be seen as that function which exercises what we might call a leadership role among the various functions of an existent, directing them in a structured way towards its specific ‘destination.’ The foundational function, on the other hand, furnishes the indispensable support making such destination realizable.”* - J. Chaplin

The public rests on a network of institutions, functions and individuals. But the public is also a space or a boundary created by a legal order that is informed by the network that fills its.

Is it only a collection of individuals?

What are the role of other institutions and relations?

The social spheres rest on the ways of functioning that both found and qualify each one.

Qualifying Function

Founding Function

Note: I am indebted to the work of Jonathan Chaplin, especially his book Herman Dooyeweerd: Christian Philosopher of the State and Civil Society. Many of the insights that I try to capture in this visual exploration have roots in his work. * Ibid., 66. ** Ibid., 201.

The Reign of Christ

The Empty Tomb

The Cross

See Al Wolters’ Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview for more on the difference between the structures of creation and their direction.

Resurrection affirms the goodness of the structures of creation, not their misdirection.

Structure

Working out public policy is challenging. As Christians, we act politically in light of the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus. The crucifixion allowed Jesus to suffer at the hands of a particular state, and the resurrection declared that the power of that state was not ultimate. The resurrection of Jesus affirms the goodness of Creation by restoring the body of Jesus. The empty tomb declares that all of creation and its structures matter, whether they are the structure of the human person or the structures of public legal orders, ie: states. No one structure is ultimate, but they are still God’s.

Political institutions and public policy are part of God’s good world. The public justice tradition provides us with some tools to be able to do public policy that accounts for the plurality of individuals and institutions that make up society. We may not always agree with a particular public policy, like the shuttle program, but we all are called to do our best to wrestle with what public policy should be FOR in our particular time and place.

Structure

Finally, the ascension of Christ reminds us that Christ is King and that political orders are now under his reign.

The cross, resurrection and ascension of Jesus ended the period of one nation (ie.: public legal order) being the people of God. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus anoints Christ as the one King of his Kingdom. In light of that turn in history, every other public legal order (ie.: state) is relativized and placed under that reign. This frees any particular state from equating itself with the kingdom of God.

Copyright ©2018. All Rights Reserved.

“Footprintsin the

Snow”*

Calvin Seerveld

Acknowledgments All of us are “primed for action” by the traditions that have shaped us. These traditions are like “footprints in the snow” that inform and guide our actions and thinking. This page is my effort to make the traces that I am following more explicit. I need to begin these acknowledgments by recognizing the work of Calvin Seerveld. His work has left deep marks on my thinking, and hopefully, my living. Those familiar with his work may recognize the influence of his “tin-can” human person in this project. No one thinker has helped me understand the rich Kuyperian-Dooyeweerdian-Vollenhovian philosophical tradition more than Seerveld. His Rainbows for the Fallen World is a must read. In addition, Jonathan Chaplin, Gideon Strauss, Al Wolters and Lambert Zuidervaart have all helped me understand this rich tradition.

I need to thank Robert Joustra for inviting me to participate in this conversation about public justice. It is an honor to join the likes of Richard Mouw and others.

Further Reading:- James Skillen, The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical and Contemporary Introduction- Jonathan Chaplin, Herman Dooyeweerd: Christian Philosopher of State and Civil Society- James K.A. Smith, Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology- David Koyzis, Political Visions and Illustrations: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies- Richard Mouw, When the Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem- Lambert Zuidervaart, Art in Public: Politics, Economics and a Democratic Culture

All of these books can be ordered from Hearts and Minds books (www.heartsandmindsbooks.com)

* This is the title of a fantastic essay by Seerveld. This essay can be found in Seerveld’s Cultural Education and History Writing.

Naming the

that I am following