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Bible and Government: Public Policy from a Christian Perspective
This book provides an analysis of the Christian's relation to government and public policy. The task is undertaken by using both economic analysis and biblical exegesis that lead to both scientific or logical conclusions as well as advocacy ones. Dr. Cobin would like to warn the reader in advance that this book conforms to neither mainstream Evangelical thought about government nor theonomy (Christian Reconstructionism). On the contrary, it challenges received statist orthodoxy and often revered cherished state institutions. The book provides the necessary basis for both doing economics and public policy work as well as providing an fundamental understanding for Christians dealing with their relationship to civil government. At times the book is polemic and advocacy-oriented. At other times it is objective and scientific. A few excerpts from the "Biblical doctrine is not dependent on political boundaries. Its truth was the same in Rome in AD57, the Ukraine in AD1945
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Published March 1, 2003
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August 28, 2017
This is a very good book. Cobin does a good job of pointing out many of the evils of the state, including things that seemingly should be obvious (but aren't) for even the average apolitical Christian. The state has a way of distorting our view on the world and this book draws clear distinctions between the actions of the state that perhaps could be justified, and those things that we've become accustomed to, but aren't justified.
I must say, I don't always completely agree with Cobin. For one thing, he's a huge proponent of minarchy. I on the other hand, thanks to Hoppe, think that minarchy can't - due entirely to the nature of the state - stay minarchy. In other words, minarchy has always and will always evolve into the very thing that it ostensibly sets out to protect people from--a predator. To me, the state must go in its entirety.
I must say, I don't always completely agree with Cobin. For one thing, he's a huge proponent of minarchy. I on the other hand, thanks to Hoppe, think that minarchy can't - due entirely to the nature of the state - stay minarchy. In other words, minarchy has always and will always evolve into the very thing that it ostensibly sets out to protect people from--a predator. To me, the state must go in its entirety.
October 31, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
November 17, 2012
This is an excellent critique of government from a biblical perspective. If you read some of Cobin's other writings you'll find that it's not so much that he's against government, but against what government invariably becomes: the State, which is always a disaster for the people as a whole. Cobin believes that small government or even min-archy is preferable to the State. Well hey, isn't that what our founders believed? His interpretation of Romans 13:1-7 and related verses is quite thought-provoking. I thought his criticism of Joseph in the book of Genesis and the method this patriarch used for saving up grain for the 7 years of famine was a bit over the top, but overall a very good critique of government and the destructive force into which it almost always mutates.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews