Friedrich Hayek & the Decentralized Canon
It is not unusual for one discipline to borrow a concept from another. For example, after Darwin’s theory revolutionized biology, …
Tag: church history
God And Human Governments
Originally written by David Lipscomb God and Human Governments. We have received a pamphlet from the author, E.R. Craven, entitled, …
History and Relationship of Early Christians to Civil Government
This article was originally written by David Lipscomb for the Gospel Advocate in two parts in 1867 and 1868. While …
Reparations: Good or Bad?
Slavery is offensive and incompatible with the principles of freedom and freedom minded people, but it is a part of US and world history. Wrestling with this history and deciding what to do has many perspectives. One perspective involves paying reparations: monetary compensation for damage caused. This review is not a comment on the legitimacy of reparations, rather it is a review of the book, authored by Kwon and Thompson, which strives to call the church in America to repent for its part and participation in the slave trade.
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 …
Does God Take Part in Wars?
The article below was written in January 1866 by David Lipscomb, an important figure in the Churches of Christ in …
How Private Generosity Embarrassed the Greatest Empire of the West
It was the early 360s CE. Emperor Julian (361-363) paced the floor nervously amidst his secretaries. There was a fresh …
Joseph Judson Taylor, Man of Peace
Since the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, two words that have rarely been seen together are “Baptist” and “pacifist.” We have instead been subject to things like high-profile Baptist leader Jerry Falwell writing a defense of the Iraq war titled “God Is Pro-War” …
The Great and (Un)Holy War
One would think that if there is any group of people that would be opposed to war it would be Christians. After all, they claim to worship the Prince of Peace. But such is not the case now, and such was not the case 100 years ago during the Great War that we now call World War I.
Christians and the Communist Boogeyman
David E. Settje, Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars (NYU Press, 2011), xi + 233 …
Erasmus on the Just War
“The most just of wars brings with it a train of evils—if indeed any war can really be called just.” …
Erasmus on Soldiers
“Who could possibly tell how many hardships these idiots of soldiers put up with in their camps? And they deserve …
Erasmus on Christianity and War: Christian War Fever
“I simply admit that I have written some rather distasteful things for the purpose of frightening Christians away from the …
Erasmus on the Evils of War
“Since we see that there is hardly ever any respite from wars, which normally arise from the ambition or anger …
Alexander Campbell, Tolbert Fanning, David Lipscomb: A Nineteenth-Century Anti-War Triumvirate
A shorter version of this essay was presented at the 2013 Austrian Economics Research Conference at the Mises Institute. Alexander …
Are there any notable Christian libertarian scholars?
At the Christian libertarian FAQ page, J. asks: Are there any notable 20th century Christian libertarian scholars or philosophers? After …