n Noah Webster’s 1828, one definition of “government” includes “...the government of our conduct. Control; restraint” including “the exercise of authority in the family, civil government.” What can we learn from this? First, civil or political government evidently used to be understood as one amongst other century Dutch theologian and former prime minister, Abraham Kuyper, noted that all human authority was delegated from God, and no human or human institution had authority in every area. This is the idea of sphere sovereignty, where each sphere (individual, family, church, civil government) has its own distinct responsibility and authority and stands equal to other spheres. Romans 13 designates and limits the authority of civil governing authorities to bearing the sword, thus, to protect the life and property of its citizens. Civil government does not raise children (family authority) nor is it the source of moral authority (this belongs to church government).
