{"id":9237,"date":"2022-06-28T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T14:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?p=9237"},"modified":"2022-06-26T17:56:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T23:56:25","slug":"common-grace-3-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/06\/common-grace-3-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Grace, 3.8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This post is part of a series walking through the third volume of Abraham Kuyper\u2019s Common\u00a0Grace<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment,\u201d Kuyper\u2019s chapter title tells us, \u201cis the servant of God.\u201d Just because common grace is for the state and particular grace is for the church doesn\u2019t mean that these separate institutions don\u2019t also benefit from each other\u2019s kind of grace. The main point to remembering here is that the fundamental basis of the state is common grace and of the church particular grace. Before we get to the church and state in Christian countries, we must look at it in purely pagan ones.<\/p>\n

The light of common grace \u201chas varied greatly in\u00a0time\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0location<\/em>.\u201d (60-61) Time<\/em> must be measured since the Ark. People have more or less fall from whatever revelation Noah had, but all retain some vestigial memory\u2013as myths and legends show us. For example, the Egyptians knew about the judgment and resurrection\u2013though this knowledge grew more corrupt over time.<\/p>\n

Location<\/em> accounts for other differences\u2013including forgetting our origins in Noah. New nations and peoples form as humanity spread out. It seems that the farther the spread, the weaker the memory of Noah. [And here Kuyper gives us some of his racial reflections\u2013which are definitely not attuned to modern sensibilities.]<\/p>\n

Yet, even distant from Noah, governments still formed. This shows that there\u2019s something in humanity that induces us to \u201cobey the mystique of government.\u201d (62) Obviously government comes in various forms\u2013at times arbitrary and brutal ones, and at other times orderly and just. The hierarchy of governments is broad, with tyranny on the bottom. Even in such governments, we see something true generally about government. Namely we see government\u2019s unique authority is what we see. Even the worst tyrants still rule by God\u2019s authority. This authority is tied neither to strength nor to morality. Governments authority does not reside either in government\u2019s actions or in the consent of the people.<\/p>\n

At this point, Kuyper makes two points:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Good and bad governments are both punishments and blessings. [Kuyper then argues that these are often tied to the character of the people they govern, which he then goes on to tie to race and culture, again running counter to modern beliefs.]<\/li>\n
  2. Much depends on how active the citizen body is in civic offices, as opposed to those who \u201cwithdraw selfishly into their domestic and business affairs.\u201d (64-65) More popular involvement tends to equal more restrained government, while less popular involvement tends to equal more tyranny. Again, Kuyper notes the relationship between the character of the people and tyranny. This time, however, he notes the connection between violent egoism and tyranny.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With all that said, even the \u2018lower\u2019 forms of government are the servants of God, just as bad human beings are still human beings. In the same way bad governments are still governments.<\/p>\n

    So we now look at government 1) as a blessing fundamental to all peoples; and 2) as a form with better or worse degrees. A government need not acknowledge or honor God in order to be a legitimate government\u2013as we see when Paul talks about Rome in Romans 13. Likewise, government may fulfill its task \u201cwithout the knowledge of God.\u201d (67)\u00a0 Knowing God\u2019s plan enriches\/adorns government, but does not create its \u2018essence.\u2019<\/p>\n

    So we must judge government by its base (common grace), not its add-ons (anything beyond that). Especially today we must do this, when there are so few believers in public office.<\/p>\n

    Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the\u00a0City of Man Podcast<\/a> an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Profess<\/em>or of Political Science at\u00a0Southwest Baptist University<\/a>\u00a0in Bolivar, MO<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This post is part of a series walking through the third volume of Abraham Kuyper\u2019s Common\u00a0Grace \u201cGovernment,\u201d Kuyper\u2019s chapter title tells us, \u201cis the servant of God.\u201d Just because common grace is for the state and particular grace is for the church doesn\u2019t mean that these separate institutions don\u2019t also benefit from each other\u2019s kind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1469,"featured_media":9085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,6,115],"tags":[942,1128],"class_list":["post-9237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-christian","category-classics","category-philosophy","tag-abraham-kuyper","tag-common-grace"],"yoast_head":"\nCommon Grace, 3.8<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post is part of a series walking through the third volume 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