I’m always on the lookout for new blogs that deal with political issues within a Christian framework. It has to be said that good ones are hard to find. You can find the odd good post on Cranmer, which is probably the best known political blog in the UK. However, Cranmer’s main motivation seems to be to express his own political views and not to examine issues in a thoroughgoing biblical fashion, which is a shame. When I want Conservative party apologetics in a blog, I’d rather read Iain Dale.
I’ve just come across Soul Politics, which is from the other end of the political spectrum to Cranmer. In the side bar, it describes itself in this way.
Soul Politics is a blog dedicated to unearthing the spiritual and political roots of Westminster’s rumblings, advocating communitarian politics based on traditional Christian values and moderate-socialist economics. Particularly of concern is the lack of vision articulated by all three major political parties – “where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18).
So far, I’m impressed with the way in which the blog views the political themes in a biblical light. Today’s piece on democracy is an excellent example of its type:
It strikes me that the Bible doesn’t offer much of a positive affirmation of any governing system. The three main systems of government we see in the Bible are monarchy, eldership governance or Emperorship. The commendations or condemnations of these setups are overwhelmingly related to the outcomes of the specific regimes, rather than generic constitutional assertions.
I suspect this lack of positive affirmation is due to the fact that while God very much cares about Earth’s happenings He wants us to place our hopes in Him, not in political systems. Placing excessive hope in governments quickly leads to idolatrous utopianism and distracts from the main reason we exist – to bring glory to God through joyfully worshipping Him in all realms of life.
So, with this lack of a direct endorsement of a governing system, are there any general, extrapolatable (I do make up words all the time – someone has to) biblical principles that we can apply to governance issues? Yes, at least three spring to mind.
Firstly, as has already been touched on, the fact that God will judge all means that first and foremost any governance structure must be more concerned with outcomes than process. This is uncomfortable to contemporary democratic ears, but when we read again and again in the Old Testament that God’s concern is for justice, to give freedom to the oppressed, food to the hungry and for humble and moral living it is fairly incontrovertable. (read more)
Let me hasten to add, that I don’t believe in a party-political God. I see weaknesses and strengths in both the right and left of politics (and the centre, too, come to think of it) and I want to continue reading from a range of sources; those I agree with and those I disagree with.