God and Government: Chapter 2

This is the second chapter of God and Government. The summary of the first chapter is here. The second chapter is titled "The nature and role of government in the Bible". It is written by Julian Rivers, who is a professor of Jurisprudence at Bristol University.

The Bible is ambivalent about government. Jesus says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's". But what is Caesar's and what is God's? The answer is not clear. But what is clear is that God is the ruler of all; and government is the product of human activity, as the previous chapter underscored. 1 Peter 2:13-17 and Rom 13:1-7 make it clear that government has legitimacy and therefore one must submit to government's authority. Of course this does not mean that the government is the ultimate authority and that whatever government says is good. There are clear examples when what government says is bad. But the point is established that government has legitimate authority upon people.

The government authority, however, is limited. It is so because there are other parallel authorities. Other authorities like the church, family and the individual's autonomy limit government's authority.

There are four areas in which the government's authority is limited. "equality, legality, diffusion and accountability". What do they mean?

Bible underscores equality of all humans. The Bible thus talks about equal distribution of land and other resources. But does it endorse an egalitarian distribution? The Bible provides a devastating critique against hoarding of material possession by the rich at the expense of the extreme poor, but does not provide answer how equal distribution could be realised. There is practical room for government not to enforce egalitarian distribution of wealth. After all such a government is not really feasibly, so to speak.

Government does not function independent of its own law. It is subject to law. This way its authority is limited.

Government also diffuse powers to local institutions. This limits government's authority. Israel was a tribal federation, not an absolute monarchy. The prophets were able to critique the king because they were not co-opted into the king's court though there were prophets who are patronised by the king. Too much of centralisation of power should be limited.

Government should be accountable. This is to be achieved by different departments being accountable to one another. Judiciary, executive and so on should be able accountable to one another.