Where do government and politics in our fallen world fit into God’s purposes? In the context of the current recession and the MPs’ expenses scandal one might be tempted to anticipate a negative answer. Nick Spencer and Jonathan Chaplin have brought together eight leading Christian thinkers who would beg to differ. They are drawn from a variety of Christian traditions and schools of thought but differ less than this reader expected on what is the proper function of government.
The first four essays – by Nigel Wright, Julian Rivers, Tom Wright and David McIlroy – examine the biblical and theological foundations for Christian political thinking. They point the reader away from ‘naïve, cynical or idolatrous views of government’ but show just how political the Bible is. If Jesus is Lord, Caesar cannot be. If God is sovereign, then popular clichés about national sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people have to be rethought. Tom Wright shows how John’s Gospel displays two types of kingdom: Caesar’s and Jesus’. In the former, truth is relative to power, whereas Jesus’ kingdom is not derived from this world but is designed for it by its creator. He argues that the synoptic Gospels and the epistles carry much the same message, and both Nigel Wright and Julian Rivers seem to agree.
The consensus of the first four chapters is that God wants good government but that government is limited, accountable and exists for the public good. David McIlroy adds that the task of government is ‘the wise execution of just judgement’. He cites Oliver O’Donovan’s view that ‘Government action is only required if, were government to do nothing, some injustice, some public wrong would occur.’ The expectation is that if government did less it would leave room for others – families, local communities, and the voluntary sector – to do more.
The second four chapters outline some concepts for the role of government. Three of them, by Nick Townsend, Philip Booth and Clifford Longley, draw heavily on Catholic social teaching, which understandably dominated the early thinking on political theology. Booth explores the concepts of solidarity and subsidiarity which are highly relevant to debate about what government does and does not do. Longley focuses on what it means to serve the common good.
Andrew Bradstock, former director of the Christian Socialist Movement, majors on equality because we are created equal in God’s eyes. He rejects both a soviet type command economy and a dependence on philanthropy and argues that all government policies should be assessed by whether they decrease inequality.
Nick Spencer helpfully introduces the symposium and Jonathan Chaplin pulls the threads together in a conclusion that is as insightful as the preceding chapters. This is a serious book. It will not suit those who look for quick and easy answers. Nor will it please people who say that Christians should have nothing to do with politics, but I earnestly wish they would read the book.
A general election is imminent. Christian voters will be thinking and praying about how to cast their votes. What are the biblical values that should inform our choices? God and Government will help those who want to take St Paul’s advice ‘to be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God’.
HIGH: Julian Rivers’ chapter on the nature and role of government in the Bible is a brilliant extended Bible study that every pastor would profit from reading.
LOW: The book would have been even more helpful if one or two practising politicians had been asked to contribute the ‘yes but’ perspectives from their experiences of government.
