本文以美國聯邦政治理念為討論對象，通過回溯自由主義、共和主義和聯邦主義的論證邏輯與進路，指出前兩者未能充分解釋作為美國立國根基的政治理念之源頭，後者雖然找到了美國聯邦體制與猶太–基督教傳統之間存在的親緣關係，卻忽略了近代清教中盟約神學的政治維度。為此，本文提出了第三種進路的修正方案來探究聯邦主義理念的宗教起源。我們認為，在個體層面，由於信徒堅信自己具有了基於盟約的天國選民身分，使得他會努力培植一種追求不斷自我完善的動力和義務感，而對這種信念的承認與尊重構成了個體自治的前提；在集體層面，與上帝立約的身分要求信徒遵從耶穌登山寶訓中的教導，其核心是「愛人如己」，在實踐中體現為力求善用各樣上帝的恩賜以服侍眾人，在此基礎上一種功能性的配搭與合作機制得以在基督徒社群中建立起來。簡言之，「自我管理」（自治）與「共同管理」（共治）二者共同形成了聯邦政治理念真正的源泉。

This article explores the origin of the political idea of American federalism. By reviewing the distinctive approaches of Liberalism, Republicanism, and contemporary Federalism, we argued that the first two cannot offer a sufficient account. While the third approach properly identifies the kinship between federalism and the Judaeo-Christian tradition, it neglects the political dimension of the Puritans’ covenant theory. This article thus proposes to refine the third approach in order to explore the religious origin of federalism. It is argued that, in term of individuals, since a believer was convinced of his covenantal identity as the chosen people, he could pursue self-improvement and responsibility which is the presupposition of personal autonomy. In terms of community, believers’ identity within the covenantal relationship with God requires them to follow Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with the core command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and to serve people with various gifts from God. It is on such bases a functionally cooperative Christian community could be established. In brief, a combination of self-governance and joint-governance becomes the real origin of the political idea of federalism.