The Person and His Society
By Edmund Opitz, originally published in the January 1981 edition of The Freeman. He is the author of The Libertarian …
Christian Worldview
Can Christians Serve Two Masters?
“No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). The fine print at the bottom of the website where I signed …
When Christians Love Political Power More Than People
… the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of …
Postmodernist deconstruction and the “New Thing”
Isaiah 43:19: Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will …
Three Reasons To Thank God For Globalization
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and …
Who Is My Brother’s Keeper?
“The day when we decide that the Government is our brother’s keeper, that is the day the spirit of compassion …
Is Jesus killing America? No, Jesus is life.
Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles …
Turning the Other Cheek — Matthew 5:38-42
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, …
Jesus was an Anti-Nationalist
One of the more overlooked ways in which Jesus brought God’s ethical ideal into full bloom — or as Matthew …
Violence Will Not Save Us
As I have previously written, the early Christian virtue of patience (and therefore non-violence) and the libertarian Non-Aggression Principle are …
Government and Political Authority
In my experience, many Christians fail to carefully define their terms when talking about government and political authority—and this leads …
Where Christian Libertarians Part Ways with Ayn Rand
Christian theology begins with a creative process, which God himself executes and deems good. From there, filling and subduing his …
God And Money: Three Radical Ideas
Jesus Christ enjoyed the greatest privilege imaginable, and yet he did not hoard it for himself. Instead, he lovingly sacrificed …
Jesus Shows Us What a Truly Free Human Looks Like
Scottish theologian Stephen Neill was excited and challenged by the story Christianity told about humanity. As a missionary, he spent …
The Reason You Hate Politics
I’m prompted to write about this because of a blog post I’ve seen passed around my circles on Facebook. It’s …
Ministers, Submission, and Partisanship
“There is not a word of intimation in the Sacred Scriptures that indicate that it is the duty of any Christians to support, maintain, or defend any institution or organization of man, farther than a quiet, passive, but conscientious and faithful submission to its requirements, may have a tendency to sustain it. That submission he must render, not as a duty he owes to government on account of any virtue or merit it possesses, but as a solemn duty he owes to his Maker. This sense of duty to God connects him with all the governments and powers of the earth just alike. It permits him to become the partisan of none.”
“Give Us a King”
This article continues a series of weekly posts originally authored by David Lipscomb, an important figure in the Churches of …
The Seen and Unseen Kingdoms
In this entry, Lipscomb continues his thesis that ordinances of God are not all intended to be carried out by his set-apart people, the Church, using the examples of heaven and hell.
The Cruelty of Quarantine: A Response to Tim Challies
Tim Challies is a reformed pastor and longtime blogger based in Canada. He recently published an article lamenting the quarantine …
Are States the Ministers of God?
A common objection to the idea that the state is founded in rebellion against God is the language of the Bible describing various kings and leaders as “God’s servants” or “ministers”. Romans 13 can be included as one of these texts. But do such verses justify their actions?
Does Romans 13 Justify Nero, Pharoah, or Nimrod?
Lipscomb approaches the issue with a new tact this time around, and brings up Romans 13 in the process. He suggests that if Romans 13 is the justifying scripture for allowing Christians to participate in bloodshed, then “Nimrod and Abraham, Pharaoh and Moses, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, Paul and Nero, stand precisely upon the same footing as approved and accepted subjects [of God].” Of course, he says this is illogical, and we must reject the former premise.
Recovering Christianity’s Lost Habit of Thinking about Politics
The human heart has a natural orientation toward liberty. We are built this way, regardless of our religion or ethnicity; …
David Lipscomb Against Union Conscription
This article continues a series of weekly posts originally authored by David Lipscomb, an important figure in the Churches of …
David Lipscomb Against Confederate Conscription Acts
Notable in this piece is the way in which Lipscomb and his co-authors argue for their firm non-violent stance. They are to “submit quietly” to the government save where submission would require violation of God’s law. Their view, of course, is that joining an army to kill would be a violation of God’s law. Would only Christians today see the wisdom in such a firm belief?
The Spirit of the Church and of the World-Powers
Having stridently argued for the position that the kingdoms of the world are not of God through both Old and New Testaments, Lipscomb now seeks to differentiate the particular spirit of the Church versus the world-powers.