ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the key factors that contribute to an understanding of the role of institutions within civil society. It looks at two major ways of understanding social pluralism within society in the Christian tradition. The subsidiarity model, a keystone of Catholic social teaching, offers a way of seeing social differentiation as an important element of a just society. The covenantal model, more associated with Protestantism, both converges with and diverges from the subsidiarity model in important ways. After considering these two models, turns in the section to consider how the church exists within society both as a civil institution, functioning as other institutions within civil society, and as a theological entity, existing in the service of the Christian missionary project. Both of these identities will become important for understanding the church's public role in modern society. The chapter discusses the support emerges from the church's role as a mediating institution.
