CHRISTIANS AND GOVERNMENT: A Biblical Point of View

This very important book is a must read at this time when the democratic West is intent on building governments based on some form of a Godless utopia, where morals are decided by those in power related to a loose consensus of a population largely no longer practicing Christianity. The first section includes the ‘Christian view of Government,’ and the necessity of law making. There continues a discussion which makes clear the Christian and Biblical foundation of the origin of the United States and the writing of the Constitution. In section two, these ideas are revisited in considerable more detail. He discusses the Amendments to the Constitution with perhaps the First Amendment being of most interest at the present time. The important Federalist papers are also discussed in detail. Interesting is the foresight of the constitutionalists who understood the need to separate powers to prevent misuse of power. This is, of course, an issue at the present time. Judeo-Christianity brought into the world the concept of true freedom and human worth. The complex story of slavery at the time when the constitutionalists where extolling freedom and human worth is not discussed here, but might have been. Very interesting is the discussion about separation of church and state in chapter seven. He discusses three scenarios – complete separation, sponsorship and accommodation, with sponsorship being his favoured position. These ideas are discussed in detail. This is the area where some readers may disagree with the author. Although this is an important and informative book for all interested in the relationship between Christianity and government at the present time, there is a slightly annoying aspect that the book has apparently been constructed from a number of previously published papers. It requires more editing to get rid of unnecessary repetitions throughout the text. Otherwise it is a good buy and thoroughly recommended.