UNITED STATES – During a Fox News interview on January 29, Vice President JD Vance made a controversial statement, “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
Vance’s comments respond to those criticizing Trump’s focused deportation efforts. The administration has also pushed hard to secure the border after a significant immigration surge in past years. Many celebrities and politicians have made their outrage known, from Selena Gomez’s tear-filled monologue on TikTok to protesters illegally blocking a major freeway in Los Angeles.
One such dissenter to the Trump-Vance doctrine is Rory Stewart, professor at Yale, who responded to Vance’s comments on X, “A bizarre take on John 15:12-13 - less Christian and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love…”
JD Vance quickly countered, “Just google ‘ordo amoris.’ Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?”
The doctrine of ordo amoris is deeply Christian. It teaches that virtue requires a properly ordered love. Some have responded to Vance that ordo amoris is not a Christian doctrine, or if it is, it is a later development of the Medieval age and Thomistic thought. But the doctrine is thoroughly Biblical1 and an early Christian teaching. In fact, St. Augustine defines virtue itself as “rightly ordered love,”
For we must observe right order even in our love for the very love by which we love rightly what we ought to love. Otherwise, the virtue by which life is lived rightly will not be in us. Thus it seems to me that a brief and true definition of virtue is “rightly ordered love.”2
Ordo amoris is a way to prioritize the many goods Christians have been given. To Augustine, the Christian’s primary love is God. He is the summum bonum, or the highest good for which all must strive. Secondly, the Christian loves his neighbor. Thirdly, the Christian loves himself. The priority for caring for material goods comes last after God, neighbor, and self.3
God in His providence has placed each person in his family, community, church, and nation. Each person, then, has a certain stewardship to each one of these constructs. When there is a moral conflict, virtue dictates that he should choose the higher love.
All people, as images of God, are equally worthy of love and are valued in the sight of God. Yet, we cannot show all people the same priority of love. We are limited creatures. That is why Augustine writes,
Further, all men are to be loved equally. But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.4
The idea of “rightly ordered love” is not just a Christian concept. Yes, ordo amoris is biblical, but it is also observable—it naturally follows from observing God’s providence in creation. Philosophers like Aristotle, Hierocles, and Cicero recognized the virtue of prioritizing those within one’s own sphere of influence. Other religions have similar doctrines as well.
However, the Christian understanding of ordo amoris is distinct from ancient philosophy and other religions in its love for all people. The Christian who follows Church teaching rightly prioritizes those in his direct sphere, but he does not stop there. He loves even those outside his community, recognizing every person as an image of God.
Ordo amoris must not become an excuse to love only those close to us while neglecting those beyond our immediate circles. God loved us when we were far off.
It is true that the Bible and Church teaching, from the Fathers to today, clearly emphasize love and hospitality for the traveler and the immigrant. However, that love is not to be so prioritized as to neglect the responsibility the Christian has to higher loves.
A Christian nation should love the immigrant, but not at the expense of its own citizens’ health and well-being. If the motive is mere wealth hoarding, ordo amoris may not grant a moral right to bar entry. Many immigrants come to America in good faith, and there should be a process to recognize and welcome them. Christians, when able, should seek to show them hospitality, even at personal cost.
But no one can deny the reality of violent immigrants involved in drug and human trafficking, rape, and murder. Fentanyl floods both impoverished and suburban streets, while foreign gangs take root in cities across America. A government that allows this to continue without serious action is guilty of imbalanced love—prioritizing criminal immigrants over its own citizens.
Origen would subscribe (maybe?)…
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A nation, like an individual, must exercise virtue by rightly ordering its loves. It cannot claim to love the stranger while failing to prioritize its own people. The Christian response to immigration must be neither reckless allowance nor cold indifference. A correct understanding of ordo amoris can help to prioritize justice and mercy in their proper places.
The state bears the sword to punish evil and protect its citizens. When it comes to immigrants, it has a moral duty to welcome them in a way that does not compromise the common good. When these loves are properly ordered, a nation can be both just and compassionate, protecting its citizens while extending hospitality to those who truly seek refuge.
Mark 12:30-31; Gal. 6:10; 1 Tim. 5:4, 8; 1 John 4:20
Saint Augustine, The City of God, ed. Boniface Ramsey, trans. William Babcock, vol. 7, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2012–2013), 173.
Eric Osborn, “Ethics,” in Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, ed. Angelo Di Berardino and James Hoover, trans. Joseph T. Papa, Erik A. Koenke, and Eric E. Hewett (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic; InterVarsity Press, 2014), 849.
Augustine of Hippo, “On Christian Doctrine,” in St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. J. F. Shaw, vol. 2, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 530.
I think the heart of the matter is in how the debate is framed. You mention the word “immigrant” numerous times throughout this piece. We are talking mainly about “illegal immigrants,” people that have crossed our borders illegally in an effort to immigrate here. Primarily these immigrants are from China, Russia, Mexico and other countries- which you will notice, some on this list are countries that are openly hostile to our nation. The Christian’s duty is to care for his neighbor yes, but there is no category for illegal immigration in Scripture. All immigrants did so without legal ramifications beyond challenging the sovereignty of borders, which in the case of the ANE and Hellenistic contexts, the powers of the day (Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome) owned most of the known world anyways.
The fact that the word “Illegal” is left out of these discussions is disheartening. It disenfranchises those following the proper channels of immigrating to this country. Is that process easy? No it is not, and reform should happen to make it easier, which President Trump and Vice President Vance have stated their desire to do so for those wanting to immigrate here and make our nation a better place. Otherwise, the majority of immigrants are here illegally and by definition have broken laws and threatened the sovereignty of our boarders.
What is worse, in the cities where deportations are being protested, millions of American citizens sleep in the street, are impacted by human trafficking and drugs and drug trade, and yet the Church and Government has done next to nothing for them. Can we focus on our own people for a bit and get that right?
Just some thoughts. Thank you for the article- It was well written
Great insights here Joshua! Honestly I knew a little bit on the "ordo amoris" principle, but you helped give depth to my understanding on its origination. I loved how you said its not only "biblical, but observable."