A legal expert once asked Jesus this in Luke 10:25-29, Luke 10:30-37. From it came the famous story of the Good Samaritan. Today, this question still stirs debate, especially with immigration issues shaping political narratives.
Recently, I watched a clip of Vice President J.D. Vance. His perseverance in Hillbilly Elegy impressed me. However, in a Fox interview, he stated:
“There is this old school, and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the way. You love your family, and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. After that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”
At first, this “Christian” idea seems harmless. However, on closer look, no biblical text supports it. This concept comes from thinkers within Christianity, not from Scripture itself.
St. Augustine’s Thought
Ordo amoris is a Latin phrase meaning “the order of love.”
In De Civitate Dei (The City of God), Augustine argues that love must be rightly ordered. God should be loved above all, and everything else in relation to Him. Disordered love, where lesser things take priority, leads to sin and chaos.
However, J.D. Vance was not referring to this idea. His view aligned more with subsidiarity in love or ordered charity. This concept prioritizes love in a structured way, starting with those closest and extending outward. St. Thomas Aquinas developed this philosophy. His ordo caritatis (order of charity) explains the hierarchy of love in Christian thought.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Thought
In De Caritate (On Charity), Aquinas argues that charity regards God as the principal object. A neighbour is loved because of God. He teaches that love should be properly ordered by proximity, relationship, and shared goodness.
Hierarchy of Love According to Aquinas
- Love for God – The highest priority.
The supreme goal of man is the vision of God (Visio Dei). As Creator, God gives objects their meaning, matter its form, and brings both into existence together. His Wisdom is revealed in the intricate, organic, and reciprocal nature of all things in relation to one another. - Love for Oneself
- Love for Family (Closest Relationships First)
- Love for Close Friends and Those in Faith
- Love for Community and Country
- Love for Strangers and Humanity
In the Summa Theologica, Aquinas explores love in thirteen articles, addressing key questions:
- Should God be loved more than neighbour and self?
- Should a person love themselves and their body more than their neighbour?
- Should one neighbour be loved more than another?
- Should those with close ties be loved more?
- Should a mother be loved more than a father? A wife more than parents?
- Should a benefactor be loved more than the one benefitted?
Final Thought
Who is my neighbour? The best way to answer this question is by looking at Jesus in the Gospels. Love is irrational—nowhere is this more evident than at the cross of Christ, which stands as the ultimate testimony to sacrificial love.
When we seek to justify our actions by measuring them against a standard, we risk breaking the first commandment—placing something above God and, in doing so, creating an idol. As St. Paul reminds us, breaking one law is breaking them all.
We live in a world that desperately needs Jesus, yet accepting Him remains a deeply personal choice. These are difficult and uncertain times, but as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas taught, when we keep God as our highest priority, everything else falls into place.
