THE BIBLIST PAPERS: 1

In the seven articles I have thus far written for Critical Mass, I have been sniping at the issue of human government in the hopes of bringing a Biblical perspective to it, but I have come to the conclusion that it is far better (and more necessary) to strike at the heart of this beast that threatens to so soon devour us.  To this end I now begin a long series of articles meant to bring the idea of government back within its Scriptural limits, and so with all due apology to Messieurs Hamilton, Jay and Madison, who so articulately argued for the limited federalism of our U.S. Constitution in what came to be known as the Federalist Papers, I shall call these articles the Biblist Papers, for there is a Divine Constitution for human government to be found within the pages of the Bible.

If it seems strange that a pastor should devote so much of his writing to the issue of government, let me now try to explain my position.  The affairs of Earth are clearly the affairs of humanity (Genesis 1:26).  Since Christians fully qualify as human beings, this means that the affairs of Earth are our business as much as they are anyone’s, and since few things affect the affairs of Earth more than the issue of human government, Christians are to be as involved in government as they can possibly be.  Furthermore, it is inconceivable that something as important to the human condition as is the idea of government would be passed over in silence by God, especially when you consider that the very hairs of our head are numbered by Him (Matthew 10:30).  It is therefore logical and appropriate that we should look to the Scriptures for the principles needed for good human governance, for they are indeed to be found there.

We are truly living in precipitous times, for the world is perhaps a single generation or two from being fully enveloped by Hellish ideologies, and it is my view that we have but a decade left (and possibly less) to stay the hegemony of evil upon our planet.  If we do not, Earth will see its darkest times since before the Flood.  On one front an Islamic caliphate seeks to dominate our planet from pole to pole, and wherever it finds itself in power it always resorts to the tyranny of Shariah law.  Its secular counterpart is the growing totalitarian trend of Communism, whose slightly fairer sister Socialism is rapidly leading most of the West into ruin and consequent totalitarianism.  That great bulwark of freedom – Judeo-Christian thought – is soon to fail us, and with it all things noble will perish.  We must therefore get off of our hind ends and raise the banner of truth once again upon this world, or our grandchildren will know only slavery.

Let me now answer some of the objections that are bound to come our way as we prepare to subject our respective governments to Biblical principles.  The first is as old and tired as it can be, and is known as the separation of church and state argument.  There is simply no truth to the notion that the U.S. Constitution contains such a clause or even such an attitude – it is simply wishful thinking by secularists, humanists and Marxists (who usually are one and the same), and who want the issue of government to be devoid of Biblical principles so that they may remake it as they see fit.

I will be the first person in line to sign any petition separating church government from civil government (for they should be separate things), but we must not give in to the current darkened thinking that human government must be devoid of Biblical thought or precept.  As we shall see in the coming days, the very idea of human government is owned by God, which means that proper human government can only exist in concert with His Divine nature.  Government divorced from His nature is therefore the worst form of it, and is why Communism’s short stay upon Earth has destroyed more of human freedom, life and dignity than any other form of government during the same timeframe.  It is the worst imaginable concept of it.

The other argument most often levied against Believers by the secularists is that we can’t legislate morality, which is simply one of the most absurd ideas I have ever heard.  All legislation is morality, for it tells us that one thing is better than another, which by definition is a moral judgment.  What the secularists want is to be able to legislate their morality without hindrance by Biblical morality.  For instance, legislating abortion on demand is a moral issue, for it tells us that it is moral to end the young life growing in a woman’s womb if that is her desire, and that it is immoral to deny a woman this desire.  So we see that the issue of government is not an issue of morality vs. non-morality; it is an issue of whose morality will triumph over another’s.

Having now set the stage, let us venture into the pages of Scripture to find the morality which is best suited for the idea of human government.  We will find here things sometimes strange and shocking, for our thinking has grown far afield of God’s wisdom in this arena, but we must return to such thought if we are to stay the tide of evil that so clearly threatens our world.  I invite you to put off the old and tired terms by which we have so long identified ourselves (Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, etc.) and to put on the new term Biblist, for if all who profess love for God and allegiance to His Word unite and legislate according to Biblical principles, we will fully own this government within two complete election cycles.  We are simply too numerous and powerful to be stopped.

The most important concept to grasp is that no true understanding of human government can begin without an understanding of the human condition, which is plagued by the corruption of the sinful nature (Romans 7-8), something that naturally leads all of humanity away from God and into the waiting arms of evil.  God’s first revelation regarding the issue of human government was therefore to show humanity that they could not exist without it, for prior to the Flood humanity was allowed to live in a state of true anarchy (existence without government).  The results were truly fantastic: So utterly and rapidly did humanity descend into complete depravity (Genesis 6:5) that God had to hit the reset button on planet Earth in less than 1700 years (Genesis 5; 7:6).  That was bad.

When the eight survivors of the Flood exited the Ark to view the newly-decimated planet once so beautiful to behold, God commanded the institution of human government (Genesis 9:6), and never again would humanity be allowed to exist without it, for the sinful nature had proven too dangerous to leave unsupervised.  But the nature of that supervision shall have to wait until next time.  See you then.