Life at the Crossroads: Perspectives on Some Areas of Public Life Politics

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Life at the Crossroads Perspectives on Some
Areas of Public LifePolitics

• Living at the Crossroads
• Chapter 9

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Institution of Government

• Part of Gods creational intention?
• Gods response to fallen situation?

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Government Rooted in creation or fall?

• Government as Gods creational intention
  Ordering society justly
• Government as Gods response to sin Arbitrating
  conflict

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Old Testament Israel and Today

• God shaped Israels political authority to
  facilitate Gods rule over his people
• Yet enormous difference between Israel and church
• Israel was theocracy
• Church scattered among nations
• Nations among whom church lives are not
  theocracies

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Romans 131-7

• Gods agent to punish and reward
• God ordained institution for maintaining justice
• Church is to have positive approach toward state
• Church to be good tax-paying citizens

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Honoring Unjust Government?

• Does Romans 13 legitimate unjust political
  authority?
• Often used in this way
• Text speaks of government as Gods servant
• Serve Gods justice

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Civil Disobedience?

• Exodus 117-22 Midwives honored for resisting
  Pharaohs unjust commands
• Acts 4 We must obey God rather than man

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• We obey God first.
• We respect the authorities that rule,
• for they are established by God.
• We pray for our rulers,
• and we work to influence governments resisting
  them only when Christ and conscience demand.
• (Our World Belongs to God, 52)

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• We call on all governments to do public justice
• and to protect the rights and freedoms
• of individuals, groups, and institutions
• so that each may do their tasks.
• We urge governments and pledge ourselves
• to safeguard children and the elderly
• from abuse and exploitation,
• to bring justice to the poor and oppressed,
• and to promote the freedom
• to speak, work, worship, and associate.
• (Contemporary Testimony, 53)

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Biblical directives

• Government has been instituted by God for our
  good and must conform to Gods design
• Its role is to maintain public justice in
  society, and it is entitled to use force to do so
  
• Yet governments can be corrupted by various
  idolatries and ideologies
• Christians should be model citizens and should
  honor and respect government
• They can never give uncritical allegiance to any
  human government, since their first loyalty is to
  Jesus, the Son of Man.

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Two horizons Biblical and contemporary

• Indwell the biblical story
• And relate that story to our very different
  situation today
• Very difficult and complex

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Key elements to faithful approach

• Take biblical clues seriously
• Become familiar with long Christian tradition of
  political reflection
• Know the story of how our political institutions
  developed
• Understand ideologies/idolatries that shape
  political authority

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Political Ideologies Reductionist and
totalitarian

• Ideologies attempt to offer a total explanation
  for the world and its history and thus all
  ideologies contain totalitarian elements. They
  read the whole of reality through a single idea .
  . . It is a short step from ideology to
  totalitarianism, which not only interprets the
  world through a single idea but also attempts to
  mold it in accordance with its inexorable logic
  (Koyzis, Political Visions and Illusions, 20).

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Political Ideologies Insights and idolatries
(Koyzis)

• Liberalism Sovereignty of the individual
• Conservatism History as source of norms
• Nationalism Nation deified
• Democracy Voice of the people is the voice of
  God
• Socialism Common ownership as salvific

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Key elements to faithful approach

• Take biblical clues seriously
• Become familiar with long Christian tradition of
  political reflection
• Know the story of how our political institutions
  developed
• Understand ideologies/idolatries that shape
  political authority
• Need Christians in politics, scholarship, and
  civic leaders