Sphere Sovereignty is the doctrine that God has ordered human life into distinct spheres — family, church, civil government, education, commerce, arts — and each sphere has its own proper authority, purpose, and accountability directly to God. The family governs itself under God; the church governs itself under God; the state governs itself under God. None of these may invade the others. When the state tries to take over the family (as in totalitarian regimes), or the family tries to become a church (as in some cults), or the church tries to become the state (as in theocratic tyranny), God's creational order is violated. Kuyper famously declared: "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" Sphere Sovereignty is the alternative both to statism (which absorbs everything into politics) and to individualism (which denies any legitimate communal authority). It undergirds religious liberty, parental rights, church autonomy, and the separation of powers. Each sphere answers to Christ; none answers ultimately to any other sphere.