Ep 15: Can Christian Civil Government Be Theocratic?

April 20, 2023
Reformed Libertarians Podcast

Summary – Can Christian Civil Government Be Theocratic?

A discussion of whether a Reformed Christian view of civil governance is compatible with theocracy. We explain how the term “theocratic” has been used, and two key elements of a theocratic view (namely, the monopoly state and civil establishment of religion) that must be rejected in a genuinely Christian view of civil governance. We also touch on how some who support a theocratic view go wrong in their eschatology.

https://reformedlibertarians.com/015

Main Points of Discussion

00:00	Introduction
00:32	Episode description
01:27	About the history of the term “theocracy“
02:22	All of life, and so all politics, is ultimately guided by central religious commitments
04:45	The objectionable sense of “theocratic” is not entailed by the universality of central religious commitments and their ultimate guidance of all of life
05:28	Two key elements of theocracy are “a monopoly state” and “civil establishment of religion”; Monopoly explained
07:41	Just and unjust uses of coercion; The obligation of non-aggression; The illegitimacy of all states
12:13	A simple analogy
15:12	Establishmentarianism explained
16:46	The unique, symbolic, and temporary (now obsolete) old Mosaic covenant theocracy involved suspension of the common grace order; It was a temporary symbolic-intrusion of final judgment and the kingdom of God, now inaugurated in the new covenant institutional church, and yet to be consummated in the New Heavens and Earth
19:59	While the old covenant was in effect, it was not a violation of non-aggression (See Episode 2); Now, in the new covenant era, the normal operation of the common grace order has resumed; This entails prohibition of establishmentarianism and monopoly, enacting either is antichrist
22:03	Genuinely limited governance, required by God’s ultimate sovereignty, according to a consistent Christian view, entails non-monopoly and non-establishment
24:17	Recap
25:10	The under-realization of inaugurated eschatology in the new covenant by postmillennialism and so-called optimism that often accompanies a theocratic view

Additional Resources

More about the temporary suspension of the normal operation of common grace and the eschatological-intrusion within the old covenant theocracy : The Biblical Anarchy Podcast, Episode 14 – Does the Conquest of Canaan Conflict With Anarchism?
More about sphere sovereignty :
Episode 09
Episode 12
More about the underrealization of inaugurated eschatology in the new covenant as held by a postmil view (Gaffin refers to postmil’s de-eschatologizing) : Theonomy and Eschatology: Some Reflections On Postmillennialism [pdf]

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