Quotes from David T. Koyzis

The church is not a political society and will never be one, but its mission is to point to one peculiar and ultimate political society: a kingdom of citizens who freely obey and follow their King, who live in a city of which their Lord is the light.

Authority, I say, is held by a person or persons who lead humans to a fuller exercise of their freedom to accomplish human tasks.

If social authority aims at united action, epistemic authority aims at the truth, which is as necessary to human flourishing as social authority.

Because the rituals of the larger culture play a formative role in fashioning our affections, it must be recognized that idolatry is not merely an individual sin but is embedded in the very patterns of civilizations where they take on a systemic character.

Authority," argues Molnar, "is the guarantee that man is not totally subordinated to authority," or, better, to a single overreaching authority that would extinguish all others.

The most basic office we hold is indeed that of divine image. Respect for authority must begin with this authoritative office, in which all the other offices find their focus and point of origin. This indeed is the grain of truth to be found in the contemporary ideology of human rights, as manifested in both practical jurisprudence and popular culture.

As Sir Bernard Crick puts it, "No state has the capacity to ensure that men are happy; but all states have the capacity to ensure that men are unhappy.