Socialism – Thinking Accurately Education

The Bible, Christianity & American Government, Chapter 9

Make us a king to judge us like all the (other) nations.”
1 Samuel 8:5

There’s a famous quote making it’s way around the Internet, about Benjamin Franklin being asked what kind of government the United States was founded to be. It is said that he replied:

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Our founding fathers knew that the history of republics was not good, and that they often tended to end in tyranny.

For example, the once very successful Dutch Republic, formed in 1588, had declined and decayed until it had all but disintegrated by the time of the American founding. And in their own history, their ancestors had formed a republic named the English Commonwealth, in 1649, but it had only lasted for 11 years, until 1660.

But the primary example that the founding fathers looked to – which had been the model for all later republics – was the Roman Republic, which lasted 482 years, but it ended tragically in 60 years of civil wars and the rise of the dictator, Julius Caesar.

Why do republics fail?

In pondering this question, I was drawn back once again to a study of the world’s very first tyrant, Nimrod (first referenced in Genesis 10:8).

“Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.” (the Hebrew word used here is “gibôr“).
Genesis 10:8

Gibor = "strong, mighty, impetuous" (Genesius' Hebrew Lexicon)

Impetuous = "acting or done quickly and without thought or care," (Bing) marked by impulsive vehemence or passion (or) by force and violence.." (Merriam-Webster)

God had commanded mankind to spread out and take dominion over the earth, but instead the people congregated together in a city and started dominating each other, and Nimrod was the worst of them.

So, why do people follow tyrants?

An article in Psychology Today claims that people hunger for “strong parental figures,” and that they are afraid to take responsibility for their own lives, preferring instead to stay on the sidelines, and “let someone else run the show,” even though the people they follow are often “narcissistic,” “calculating,” and “cruel.”

Do you think that is true? That people are afraid to take responsibility for their own lives, and that they would rather follow the directions of someone else, even if they have demonstrated themselves to be narcissistic and cruel?

That’s exactly what the Bible says that the ancient people of Israel did, although they were warned against it.

“‘This is how a king will reign over you,’ Samuel said… ‘He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage… He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves…'”
1 Samuel 8:11-18

When told that George Washington had turned down an offer to become America’s first king, King George III of England said: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

But the people who rule our country today have little resemblance to George Washington.

The Psychology Today article goes on to say this about tyrants:

“They tend to have a blend of narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder traits such as a lack of empathy, grandiosity, thirst for power and control, lying and deceit, indifference to conventional laws or rules or morality, and more.”
Psychology Today, February 2, 2017

It remind us of a warning by one of the Founding Fathers, James Wilson of Pennsylvania:

“Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power, and the love of money. Separately each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men, a post of honour that shall be at the same time a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it… And of what kind are the men that will strive for this profitable pre- eminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters? It will not be the wise and moderate; the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust. It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will thrust themselves into your Government and be your rulers.”
James Wilson, Constitutional Convention of 1787

In Chapter 3 of our book, we talked about God’s plan for self-government, and the wise advice for doing so from Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville, and William Penn.

Back in the 1970’s and 80’s there was an old album cover that was pretty popular.

The artwork on the cover of the album depicts the scene where Haman, the Prime Minister of the Persian Empire is passing by, and everyone is bowing down to him – everyone but one man named Mordecai, and Haman tried to have him killed.

Some years earlier, another man named Daniel, had to disobey the king of his day, and his political enemies tried to have him killed.

And when that same king went to throw them into a fiery furnace, Daniel’s three friends replied:

“If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, Daniel 3:17-18

William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, once said:

“Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.”

And in our third chapter, we quoted from Thomas Jefferson’s 1787 Notes on the State of Virginia, where he wrote:

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.”

What is venality?

venality = "openness to bribery or corruption" (dictionary.com)

One thing that Mordecai, Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego definitely had in common is that they were not open to corruption. They were incorruptible, in the same way that George Washington was incorruptible. If we want to be able to stand against tyranny, and against manipulation – even when your government is telling you otherwise, we have to take responsibility for our own lives.

Second Chronicles 7:14 says:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

God is ready to heal our land. Are we ready to do our part?

The Bible, Christianity & American Government, Chapter 5:

“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: ‘Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke. Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good. Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.'”
Genesis 41:17-24

“Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do…'” (Genesis 41:25)

“The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.“
Genesis 41:26-32

God knew that a famine was coming upon Egypt, and God warned Pharaoh ahead of time.

Why do you think He did that?

In the New Testament–in 2 Peter 3:9–God tells us that He is “not willing that any should perish…”

In fact, in another place, it tells us:

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Matthew 6:26

And the apostle Paul, quoting from a classic Greek poem, Phaenomena, by the Greek poet Aratus, alluded to the “Father-heart” of God:

“For we are also His offspring.”
Acts 17:28

The Bible characterizes the relationship between our Father in heaven and Economic Theory here on earth in this way:

“God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1

And as we have illustrated in previous chapters, this was the Economic worldview of William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson–in fact it was part of the Judeo-Christian tradition that our country was built on (see our book, Let’s Think Together [available on Amazon], p. 14).

Moses on the U.S. Supreme Court building

Yet, today, some people are trying to move our country away from this tradition. Today, some people want to move, instead, toward creating a Secular State. And they want to build this Secular State upon the Doctrine of Socialism, which may be considered–like the movements that led to it (Unitarianism and Transcendentalism)–to be a Christian heresy.

heresy = "belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious  doctrine (especially Christian)." (Bing)

Some people today claim that, “The ideas of early American socialism evolved out of Christian thought.” But that is very much a misunderstanding of Biblical Teaching.

There is no question that Jesus cared about the poor. He began His earthly ministry by quoting from the book of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…”
Luke 4:18

And later, He taught:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3

And:

‘“When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Luke 14:12-14

Jesus obviously taught that we should take care of the least among us (Matthew 25:40).

But nowhere did He indicate that we are under some kind of compulsion–religious or governmental–to give to others. In fact, He taught the opposite:

“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?”
Matthew 20:15

And the apostle Paul confirmed this:

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Second Corinthians 9:7

A wonderful illustration of this is found in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

At first, Ebenezer Scrooge is described as:

“A tight-fisted hand at the grindstone… A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1843, 165th Anniversary Edition, p. 3

And when two philanthropic business men stop by his office to ask for a charitable donation for the poor and destitute, Scrooge responds:

“Are there no prisons? …And the Union workhouses? …Are they still in operation?

And when they they reluctantly agree that they are, Scrooge goes on to say:

…Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course… I am very glad to hear it.”
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1843, 165th Anniversary Edition, p. 3

There is no question that Scrooge started out as a hard man. Yet at the end of the story, the much-changed Scrooge is described this way:

“To Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world… And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge…”
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1843, 165th Anniversary Edition, p. 11

Did a government program change Scrooge? Did the Home Office or the Metropolitan Police have to force him to change his ways?

Take a look at another, similar example from the Bible:

“Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.”
Luke 19:1-2

And when he met Jesus, he changed–very much like Ebenezer Scrooge.

The Bible says:

“Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.'”
Luke 19:8

No one had to coerce Zacchaeus. An experience with Jesus changed his heart. And he didn’t need a government to “redistribute” his wealth. He did it himself, and he did it willingly.

About three hundred years ago, a minister named Jonathan Edwards, commonly referred to as “America’s greatest theologian,” preached his way through the “Great Awakening” in colonial America. His preaching is known to have resulted in “faintings, uncontrollable weeping, and screaming,” and a number of people reacted against it by separating themselves from what they called “revivalist emotionalism.” Alternatively, they established what became “the liberal wing of Christianity,” which morphed, first, into Unitarianism, and then, Transcendentalism. This is where the modern understanding of “Political Liberalism” (in the sense of social reform) began.

Early socialist experiments were Brook Farm (1841), New Harmony (1825), The Rappite Community (1815), and the Oneida Community (1841). All failed. But the Utopian Socialist dream is still alive, and Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are representatives of it.

American citizens are free to support their ideas if they so choose. But, let us not try to justify it with any half-baked nonsense about attributing such notions to the Bible or to Christ Himself. That they are not free to do.

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Category: Socialism

“A Republic, if you care to keep it.”

Christianity, Christmas & Capitalism