Category: Biblical Principles

What are the general truths that should guide our thinking in all areas of life? Here are some possibilities.

Principle: A Biblical Form of Government (Part II)

  

As Samuel the prophet was stepping down from his role as judge in Israel, the people demanded a change in the government’s structure. They didn’t trust Samuel’s sons to judge righteously, so they asked instead for a king. We’re told of this episode in I Samuel 8:4-22, and it is quite a remarkable account of how to destroy a God-given governmental system. The elders of Israel came to Samuel and said, “Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all… Read more »

Principle: A Biblical Form of Government (Part I)

  

I believe God is interested in how we govern. Since He is the Creator of all things, perhaps we ought to pay attention to what He has said about it. We must start with a defintion. What do we mean by a “form” of government? A form is a manner or system, a stated method or practice, or an appropriate arrangement of parts. What then is a Biblical form? Substitute those words for “form” and we have: A Biblical manner of system… Read more »

Principle: Unity & Union (Part II)

  

Building on the concept that unions must be voluntary and that there must be internal unity before an external union can be successful, we can look at examples in certain nations. Remember the old Soviet Union? The official name was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—one of the most dishonest names imaginable. First, it wasn’t a true republic—that would have required representation and the protection of inalienable rights, ideas foreign to its government. Neither was it a true union as understood by this… Read more »

Principle: Unity & Union (Part I)

  

In politics, we are always hearing appeals for “bipartisanship.” That’s great in theory, but overlooks a basic reality. A Biblical prinicple that I call “unity and union” helps explain. Those two words—unity and union—are not the same. Unity is an internal voluntary agreement; union is the external joining of two or more things into one. External unions should be built on internal unity. They really need to be voluntary unions for them to succeed. Forced unions that lack unity will ultimately… Read more »

Principle: Property–Christian Communism? (Part II)

  

Some Biblical interpreters note a particular incident in the early church that, they say, indicates God is in favor of communism. They refer to the Ananias and Sapphira story. As believers were voluntarily selling property and giving the proceeds to the apostles to help the needy (see the previous post for a fuller explanation of this), one couple, Ananias and Sapphira, came up with a little scheme. They sold some property and brought part of the profit to the Apostle Peter,… Read more »

Principle: Property–Christian Communism? (Part I)

  

Is God’s design that the church model communism? Some point to the example of the early church in Jerusalem in the book of Acts where we are told, All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had…. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales… Read more »

Principle: Property–The Intangibles

  

Mention property, and nearly everyone will focus on material possessions. We naturally think in terms of money, land, homes, etc., as being the essence of property. Yet those are merely the external forms of property–the things we can see or touch. There are other properties that are more significant, and which form the basis for the external properties. God has given us internal properties: a mind with which to think; emotions with which we can interact with the world and… Read more »