One of the most common mistakes that people make when reading the scriptures has to do with what they think it says about government. For example, most people read the stories of Saul, David, Solomon, and the succeeding kings of Judah and Ephraim as some divine endorsement of monarchy or, more generally, statism. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. All the kings of the Israelites were absolute disasters and everything after 1 Samuel 8 is the fulfillment of a warning God gives the Israelites that choosing the rule of men over His rule would be nothing but a disaster. The Old Testament is deeply anti-monarchist and anti-statist. This brings up an important question though: If God didn’t endorse kings (or the state more generally) then what kind of government does He support? What does it look like when you have God as your King? Here I answer this question while laying out what modern forms of government most closely match or best allow for God’s government to be established among His people.
Tag: Max Weber
What Is The Government And How Does It Work?
Government is one of those subjects that most people know woefully little about. And no, I don’t mean the byzantine systems of law creation or frankly mind numbing committee meetings, though those are often much more important than is typically understood. What I mean is most people have no understanding about the ideas that government is based upon and how those ideas create much of the violence and corruption we see in the world today. Here I address the ideas of government, what beliefs most modern nations are founded upon, and the alternative that would help decrease the violence in the world and create a place of greater liberty, prosperity, and equality for all peoples.