This post is part of a series walking through the third volume of Abraham Kuyper’s Common Grace05
Kuyper has been clear that God reveals things to us through common grace. But how does this work? It’s not as if there’s a “Common Grace Bible” we can read. As Christians we tend to default to the assumption government [or the whole unbelieving world, for that matter] must in some indirect way ultimately get its wisdom from Scripture. Sometimes we believe this so much that we ignore nature and start to think that only Christians may be government officials. This was the Roman Catholic position prior to the Reformation, and occasionally was the position of the Reformers and their followers as well. Yet, this was an inappropriate blending of political and religious positions, and eventually fell away from common Christian thought.
And that is a good thing, because this was not how government was to work (and never reflected reality anyway). Yes, government should consider Scripture, but Scripture is not the basis of government–if it were, there would be no legitimate government prior to the 1st Century AD. Even without Scripture, government has “some form of light.” (79) But what is this light?
To answer this question, there are two parts which require attention:
- “Governments’ care for the people”
- “Maintenance of justice and righteousness” (79)
In terms of the former, the requirement that governments care for their people is clearly taught by nature. War, agriculture, commerce, etc are all outside of Scriptures details–the Bible even tells us this is the case (cf Isaiah 28:24-29) In fact, government must account for nature’s teachings in these areas. “Any governing ruler fails in his duty or exceeds his authority if he either does not take the teaching of nature into account or obstructs it… And precisely for this reason, it is so necessary for him to consult with reality…” (80)
Unlike the instincts of animals, we learn “gradually, through trial and error via the path of experience.” (81) Government that ignores this moves “backwards instead of forward.” (81) So even Christian politicians must pay attention to what’s going on in the world and to developments in science and to all the other things that governments need to be aware of. Their own personal holiness does not affect this requirement–for them to do otherwise would be to deny providence and cede politics to the unbelieving world.
In terms of the latter part, “maintenance of justice and righteousness,” this is bigger and is a (but not the only) reason government “is the servant of God.” (81) Where does this light come from? All governments have some light here, even if some are higher and others lower–even in the worst nations some idea of justice remains. But where does this idea originate? Two places:
- Our inner senses of justice and honesty;
- Our inborn deference to authority.
We all have a sense of justice–even “gamblers and rogues.” (82) Likewise we are all aware of the need for authority, even if we disagree about applications. This is born out of our inequality. If we were all equal, no government would be needed. Since the majority are weak, we turn to government for the authoritative resolution of conflict. This grows and reinforces the place of authority in our lives.
These senses of justice and authority, in turn, are “reinforced through tradition, history, and genius.” (83) In each we see the path for government unfolded providentially in the natural world.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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