Is there a Christian political philosophy?

The real problem is people in general. Even the holiest of us will be imperfect relative to God. So some degree of corruption or compromise will always prevail here on this earth. But does that mean we should just give up and isolate ourselves?

Humans are both individual and social beings. Our relationship with God is individual but also corporate as the Body, with a unity, also yet imperfect in this life, that we were created to have.

So do we ignore injustice in this world, or, alternatively, simply depend on the goodwill of believers to somehow prevent or rectify injustices? Or, instead, does a just socieity unite together under some model of government and legislate against immoral behavior such as, say murder? Or against the excesses that capitalists might go to maximize profits, including the exploitation of labor, creation of monopolies, etc? Anyway, as long as people are involved there can be no perfect political or governmental system; they're all compromises that we must nonetheless use in order to promote the common good, hopefully guided by Christian principles to the best we can.

fhansen said:

The real problem is people in general. Even the holiest of us will be imperfect relative to God. So some degree of corruption or compromise will always prevail here on this earth. But does that mean we should just give up and isolate ourselves?

Humans are both individual and social beings. Our relationship with God is individual but also corporate as the Body, with a unity, also yet imperfect in this life, that we were created to have.

So do we ignore injustice in this world, or, alternatively, simply depend on the goodwill of believers to somehow prevent or rectify injustices? Or, instead, does a just socieity unite together under some model of government and legislate against immoral behavior such as, say murder? Or against the excesses that capitalists might go to maximize profits, including the exploitation of labor, creation of monopolies, etc? Anyway, as long as people are involved there can be no perfect political or governmental system; they're all compromises that we must nonetheless use in order to promote the common good, hopefully guided by Christian principles to the best we can.

Click to expand...

Well again, since Christ did say to give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, then that’s how I expect Christians to solve politics. Of course there is some confusion as to who is actually Caesar, but that’s just coming from ignorance.

Real Christian William Wilberforce before Karl Marx set the slaves free via petitions and elections. He worked with William Pitt... He part invented the RSPCA. I think they were somewhere behind free education and reforms in India on disposing of unwanted babies and burning of widows. And tried to handle pornography.

Wilberforce was part of the Clapham Sect, a Christian-social reform group whose legacy includes:

• Abolition of slavery in the empire
• Early welfare reforms
• Prison reform
• Education expansion
• The RSPCA
• Campaigns against prostitution and obscene materials
• Major missionary and humanitarian work abroad

In many ways, they pioneered social-activism movements later seen in both liberal and Christian ethics — long before Marxist political theory existed.

Wilberforce is author of, Real Christianity.

linux.poet said:

Pretty sure that’s the Christian political philosophy, right there. Authorities, whether Christian or not, are tasked with the unenviable matter of containing and controlling sinful people so they do not unduly harm one another.

Click to expand...

The problem here is your use of the word "sin."

I don't think Paul had any intention of implying that Emperor Nero respected the concept of "sin" as Paul himself did.

"Sin" is a term that is effectively meaningful only to Christians. Non-believers are condemned by their unbelief...their actions, whether good or bad or right or wrong has no effect on their salvation. They are condemned by their non-belief. Paul tells us that unbelievers can't help but be in opposition to God. So, "sin" in terms of specific, individual actions is only meaningful to Christians.

So, the actions Paul's warning against in Romans and that Peter speaks of in 1 Peter are acts against orderly society that the emperor will quell to maintain social order...not "sins" as Paul would caution believers against.

And not "sins" that the Body of Christ should expect worldly governments to punish.

The Body of Christ is Heaven's Diplomatic Corps to the kingdoms of the world. Like the diplomats of earthly nations, we are assigned to foreign posts (foreign to our own home kingdom) to represent our King.

Like diplomats, we observe the laws of the nations to which we're posted, but we still keep the laws of our own kingdom. We accept asylum-seekers, people who want to defect to our kingdom, but it is not our job to overthrow these early nations. But we are sowing seeds of dissent, preparing the battlefield for the future coming our our King Himself.

1 Peter is an important Field Manual for our role as diplomats. The first chapters outline how we were all once stateless, aliens everywhere and anywhere, without a nation. But the Lord created a nation for us, shaped us to fit it, and gave us citizenship in it.

1 Peter, as our Field Manual, details how we are to relate at each level as diplomats to the people of these various nations. It sounds something like Ephesians. But Ephesians is about how believers relate to believers; 1 Peter is about how believers relate to unbelievers.

Citizen of Heaven, currently deployed to the US -- 1 Peter 1:1

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather works to please his commanding officer. -- 2 Timothy 2:4

Obedience to Command -- John 14:15
Mission Focus -- Philippians 3:14; Hebrews 12:1
Service Before Self -- Philippians 2:3
Esprit de Corps -- Romans 12:5

RDKirk said:

The problem here is your use of the word "sin."

I don't think Paul had any intention of implying that Emperor Nero respected the concept of "sin" as Paul himself did.

Click to expand...

No one is above the Word. Emperor Nero would do good to keep the commandments.

RDKirk said:

And not "sins" that the Body of Christ should expect worldly governments to punish.

Click to expand...

The concept of a worldly, or secular government, was foreign at the time. This grew out of the Reformation, where one first started to question the definition of Caesar, and then culminated in the French Revolution I guess, where the concept of Caesar didn’t even matter anymore and could just mean any government at all, and especially that of wicked men governing themselves.

There is no authority that is not from God means just that, if the authority is not from God then it is not an authority. We do not have an obligation to follow the whims of wicked men. Honor to whom honor is due.