Bible and government by Dr. John Cobin - a review - part 3

In this post, I hope to finish the rest of the book that I started with this post and this post.

In chapters 3 and 4 Dr. Cobin gives us his view of popular Biblical views of government. His key premise is that,

With few exceptions over the course of human civilization, civil government has been relatively evil insofar as mankind’s temporal well being is concerned. Furthermore, in an individualistic sense, civil government is always evil to someone. Certainly, Uriah would not have thought King David’s treatment of him to be a nice or a good thing (II Sam. 11:4, 15).

Wow. Quite a statement for a Christian to assimilate.

But wait there’s more.

Popular thinking that government is always a lesser evil than the extreme case of political anarchy is mistaken. Proponents of such thinking fail to reckon with the brutal record of civil government.

Bet that got your attention.

He gives an example of

those who have faced extermination at the hands of communists might not agree that the tyrannical government that dominated and oppressed them was better than anarchy.

Perhaps, but that wouldn’t mean that all civil government is evil all the time. Even the communists might have done something good.

He may be correct that “the existence of anarchy does not imply that society has neither rules nor order” but that does not mean it would work in this day and age. He believes the market would provide order, but that is too much to hope for that anyone but the most fervent believer in free markets to accept.

There is a danger of power which is why we must be vigilant.

We see an example in Revelation, where government is used by Satan to persecute the faithful remaining on the earth.

But wait there’s more. Joseph, an Old Testament hero seen as a picture of Christ, is criticized by Cobin for

bad, proactive economic policies where people were effectively swindled out of their land by the state (Gen 41:33-44). The state profited handsomely by the craftiness of Joseph.

Whew. This will be more than most Bible believing Christians can accept completely.

His solution? Christians should not actively participate in government.

The Appendix to Chapter 3 purportedly lists all policies of governments in the Bible and classifies them as good ambiguous or evil.

Chapter 4 continues looking at the Bible and government, looking at three key passages, Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17 and Titus 3:1-2. Let’s just say that he practically reverses the commonly held view and does so unconvincingly.

Dr. Cobin believes that good government is the exception rather than the rule. He also feels that Christians are under no compulsion to obey every law. He spends most of Chapter 5 dealing with that. I would agree as long as the Christian is prepared to face the consequences, something Dr. Cobin appears unwilling to do.

Chapter 6 gives a policy analysis of the Christian and American public school. Suffice it to say that he believes

The public school has at once been both the greatest, most pernicious threat to liberty and American Christianity.

Few conservatives would disagree, hence the popularity of parochial and home schools.

The final chapter sums it up and gives a table of issues and how Christians should react.

I’ll have one more post on the book, or more correctly, on the author and my reaction.

Review of Bible and Government - part 2

Continuing my review of the book Bible and Government by Dr. John M. Cobin, we move into the first few chapters.

Dr. Cobin recognizes two rights, positive and negative. Negative rights are natural rights. Positive rights are those rights guaranteed by the government that people do not have naturally.

Dr. Cobin then sets out four categories of public policy.

1. Reactive policy which is “action by government which is designed to provide a social service that the market cannot provide well.” The “pure” reactive policies he sets forth are national defense, legal rules based on the law of property, contract and tort, and criminal justice.
2. Policies of inefficient public provision wherein, government provides a genuine good or service normally provided by the market.
3. Proactive policy aimed at changing behavior (Big Brother or Nanny state policies).
4. Proactive policy aimed at fostering redistribution wealth in conjunction with a social goal.

He then rails against two examples of #4, Social Security and student loans.

In Chapter 2,  he discusses modern public policy from a Biblical perspective.

First he says that “the Bible never suggests that the institution of government is in and of itself good.” This may come as a surprise to many Bible believers, as it did to me, whose view of government is conditioned by teaching on Romans 13:1-7. He further suggests that nationalism has no place for Christians, which I can agree with.

He spends a lot of time discussing Sept. 11, especially some of the talk of wanting to bomb or even nuke  Arab or Muslim population centers in retaliation.

Dr. Cobin contends that any non-reactive policy (i.e., other than #1 above) would be difficult to justify Biblically, even to go so far that a Christian should not voluntary benefit from those policies, and any such benefit would be sin.

He states that, from the Biblical record, “it seems that the main purpose for government is to serve as God’s minister for judgment.”

And he says, “It is the officials in civil government who usually become the greatest beneficiaries of the welfare state or rent seeking society–at the expense of their constituents.”

Strong words.

Review of Bible and Government - part 1

Written by Dr. John M. Cobin, an investment adviser and Visiting Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Bible and Government(subtitled Public Policy from a Christian Perspective) gives a view of government from a Christian perspective most Christians would probably be surprised to read.

This is not Mike Huckabee government, folks.

And he doesn’t wait till chapter one to get started. In the introduction he asks four basic questions (p. 5):

1. What kind of government should Bible-believing Christians support?
2. What public policy must be obeyed?
3. When, if ever, should Christians revolt?
4. To what extent is the Christian’s submission to the state qualified?

These questions Dr. Cobin seeks to answer in his book.

He then discusses three dominant philosophies of biblical public policy that have emerged (p. 7-9).

…theonomists (or Christian Reconstruction) would tend to allow civil government action that assists in the establishment of the postmillennial golden age. …Anabaptists… advocate non-participation in most civil government offices. [ed.-in some cases, this leads them to pacifism]. …Still a third perspective,…seems to offer a revitalized vision of the divine right of kings….if God ordains the state, then nearly all of what it decrees must be obeyed as if God Himself had issued the order.

Reformed Christians (like Huckabee) see civil government as “a redeemable and, hence, potentially useful institution that may be placed in the service of God’s kingdom as a restraint against evil.” This is what most evangelicals mean by Cobin proposes that at least part of civil government is beyond the pale of transformation.

What might surprise some Christians is Dr. Cobin’s interpretation of 1 Samuel 8:4-20. Israel is asking for a king and Samuel is trying to tell them what a king will mean, especially in the area of taxation.

Another of Cobin’s premises is that civil government is, in fact, a lethal institution. He quotes extensively from a speech that includes data that can be found on this website.

Well, that’s the introduction, there’s more to come.

More on Adams vs. Jefferson

About half the book deals with events leading up to the election of 1800. The personalities that played a part, the relationship between Adams and Jefferson, getting the new national system (the Constitution) up and running, the last few years of Washington’s second term, the election of 1796, and “the partisan inferno” preceeding the mid-term elections in 1798.

The rest of the book deals with the election and the last chapter is the epilogue entitled “The Revolution of 1800.”

A couple more quotes from the book,

Both parties engaged in what now would be termed negative campaigning, an assault on their adversary’s program and leadership rather than an emphasis on their own platform. Federalists, for instance, left no stone unturned in their attempts to link the Republicans with the bloody excesses of the French Revolution. Jefferson and his adherents, they charged, embraced the same “cant of jacobinical illiberality” as their radical friends in France;… (page 151)

Is this what Burkee and Walz refer to in their Pact (fixed the link, my apologies)? How about this?

Jefferson was subjected to ceaseless obloquy. As a young attorney he was said to have gulled his clients. His wartime conduct after 1776 had been deplorable. While others sacrificed, he had lived comfortably, “secure in his retreat . . . from the fangs of a blood-thirsty foe.” Or so he had thought. When the enemy approached Monticello in 1781, he had run like a jack-rabbit, abandoning his post as governor in the great emergency.

And that’s not all. The founding fathers seem to be a lot more like candidates today, it seems.

In conclusion, the election of 1800 was a pivotal point in American history. Jefferson and Adams were adversaries during a passionate decade. Politics is a full contact sport and anyone entering should know that in advance.

Book review: Adams vs. Jefferson; the Tumultuous Election of 1800

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. History, politics, election intrigue and the founding fathers’ recorded thoughts all appealed to me.

The author John Ferling is a professor emeritus of history at the State University of West Georgia. He’s written several other books, all about persons involved in the creation and development of the American republic, including biographies of John Adams and George Washington and the first three presidents in the American Revolution.

Published in 2004, one interesting note was that the author used “blogger” in reference to pamphleteers in early America. A short preface, fourteen short chapters, 215 pages makes this a very readable book. I finished it on my vacation this year and still had time to start my Andrew Jackson biography. The book also has a list of abbreviations, end notes and an index.

The author’s statement in the preface is the same reason I was drawn to this book,

But one thing above all pulled me toward writing this book. The prevailing sense for some time has been that politics in the eighteenth century was substantively different than modern politics. Supposedly, public officials were different as well, tending to be more detached and disinterested, more above the fray. That was not what I found…. (page xviii)

Indeed, the partisanship I found was quite surprising. Bitter invective, innuendo, outright falsehoods, propagated in the hope of gaining election. Again from the preface,

Politicians then, as now, were driven by personal ambition. They represented interest groups. They used the same tactics as today, sometimes taking the high road, but often traveling the low road, which led them to ridicule and even smear their foes, to search for scandal in the behavior of their adversaries, and to play on raw emotions.

I wonder what Burkee and Walz would say to that.

One other thing I want to touch on in this post is the author’s sense of the passion of the time.

Indeed, the 1790s was one of America’s most passionate decades. It was kindred in warmth and fervor, and especially in rage, to the 1770s, 1850s, 1930s, and 1960s, for activists of all persuasions understood that colossal choices in foreign relations were to be made that would dramatically shape the nation, if in fact the infant republic survived those choices.

More later because I think this book is instructive for today’s politics. In fact I would add this decade to the ones the author enumerated above. Both sides in today’s debates believe the stakes are high.

“The Bourne Ultimatum”

I’ve been a fan of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne for many years. The Bourne Identity (Wikipedia summary), The Bourne Supremacy (Wikipedia summary), and The Bourne Ultimatum (Wikipedia summary) were all page turners. Eric Lustbader has written two more, but I didn’t like the only book I read by Lustbader so I have not taken a look at those books.

Then there was the mini-series, The Bourne Identity which starred Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith. This simplified the novel, excluding a couple of sub-plots.

Finally there is the movie trilogy with names as the books (Wikipedia summaries here, here and here). The movies have little of the books in them except for the names of the characters. Nevertheless all three are fine action packed tense thrillers. They are noted for their hand-to-hand combat scenes as well as the chase scenes.

The acting also is superb, in my opinion.

Ultimatum is along the same lines. The writing is concise with even some chuckle lines, like the other two. Take this one (from the trailer, so I’m not giving anything away),

Noah Vosen: [in car, on cell phone] Perhaps we can arrange a meet.
Jason Bourne: Where are you now?
Noah Vosen: I’m sitting in my office.
Jason Bourne: I doubt that.
Noah Vosen: Why would you doubt that?
Jason Bourne: If you were in your office right now we’d be having this conversation face-to-face.
[Bourne hangs up]

Heartily recommended. I will be getting the DVD to put on my shelf alongside Identity and Supremacy.

Reflections on vacation part three

Books I acquired while on vacation. Yeah, there’s a lot on the “To Read” list already.

Thomas Paine, Apostle of Freedon

The Life of Andrew Jackson by Robert V. Remini, an abridgement of his 3 volume work (I’m reading this one now).

An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America

The D-Day Companion

A Presidential Legacy and The Warren Commission

Conspiracy: History’s Greatest Plots, Collusions and Cover-Ups

Bible and Government: Public Policy from a Christian Perspective

Why I Am a Reagan Conservative Michael Deaver, editor

The Last of the Mohicans

Vietnam: A Complete Photographic History

Blog by HughHewitt

The Everything Blogging Book: Publish Your Ideas, Get Feedback, And Create Your Own Worldwide Network

And one to keep the ole mind sharp 303 Perplexing Chess Puzzles