The Christian

Prince
Buddy Hanson
Putting "Civil" Back into Civil
Government
Excerpt From Chapter Five
Which Vision Is Guiding Your
Lifestyle and Legislation?
Those who have caused trouble all over the
world have now come here. They are all defying
Caesar's decrees saying that there is another
king, one called Jesus. Acts 17.6-7
It will be necessary to adjust the Christian
dogma to the ideas which we National Socialists
represent. ~ d o l p h Hitler
Scroll through the annals of history, and as you
stop along the way to look at a particular society's
culture, you will see that if they were living
according to God's rules things were probably
going well, and if they were living according to
their rules, things probably weren't going well.
The reason the word "probably" is used in the
preceding sentence is because God doesn't usually
reward or punish us immediately for our decisions
and actions. This means that sometimes a society
that is living according to non-Christian principles
may not be cursed immediately because of the
blessings that have accrued from the obedience
of previous generations. Sooner or later, however,
disobedient societies will fill up God's cup of wrath
and will receive His perfect justice.
One constant throughout all societies and all
generations is the all-out war (either ideological
6 The Counsel of Chalcedon
or physical) over whether God's will or man's will
sets the oultural agenda. Statists strive to eliminate
Christianity because they see themselves as god.
In Mussolini's words: "The state is God ,valking on
earth." Mussolini's contemporary, Adolph Hitler,
stated his oontempt for thc triuno God of the Bible
by telling the uncompromising and internationally
renovl'll.ed Pastor Martin NienlOeller,
The religions are all alike, no matter ,"vhat
they call themselves. They have no future-certainly
none for the Germans. 1
God invented civil
govenunent and it is only
as we govern ourselves
acoording to God's inerrant
HT01d that we will be govenwd
in a Hcivil" 1nannel:
bringing about hell on earth.
Those v;,rho believe
that man, apart
from God, is fully
capable of bringing
about a heaven
on earth are
called utopians,
and history
proves that while
utopians always
fail to bring about
"heaven on earth,"
they succeed in
Machiavelli's The Prince is the most famous book on
civil government, but it is neither the best, nor the
first, sinoe the Bible holds those distinctions. Just as
the Bible provides specific guidelines on how to carry
out the functions of the God-appOinted self-governing
spheres (individual, family and church), so does the
Bible provide speoific guidelines on how we should
govern ourselves. It should oome as a surprise that
the methods of our perfectly holy God are a great
deal different from the methods of perfectly unholy
and non-redeemed man. Paul puts it like this:
FOT though we live in the world, we do not wage
war as the woTld does. The weapons wefight with
are not the weapons Qf the world. On the contral)',
they have divine power to demolish strongholds. lVe
denwlish argu1rwnts and eVel)' pretension that sets
itself up against the hnowledge oj God, and we tahe
captive eVe1)' thought to mahe it obedient to Christ.
2 CoTinthians 10.4-5
Each of God's four appointed self-governing spheres
is assigned specific duties, and no sphere should
usurp the responsibilities of another. The chart below
illustrates four areas that today are being governed
very unsuccessfully by the state. Man, "the state,"
wants to predestine all outcomes for life on earth,
but that is not God's plan, so the result is that man's
plans are frustrated. The only way we can turn the
world "rightside up" is to follow God's instructions.
Fig 1 (page 23)
Pastor Joe Morecraft explains why we are
commanded to declare Christ's lordship in the
Mahing the Nations Christ's Disciples
political arena:
Christ's comprehensive and unlimited lordship is of
particular importance for the political realm. Since
He is the unrivaled Monarch of the politioal process
of the United States, Christians have the duty to
declare His lordship in the American political arena;
and we should not rest until His divine rights and
absolute authority are recognized and voluntarily
submitted to in the executive, legislative and judicial
branches of our oivil government at the national,
state, county, munioipal and individual levels. For a
Christian to seek anything less is to act as if Christ is
something less than ,vhat He is in fact: ~ K i n g of kings
and Lord of lords." 2
God's vision of civil government is contrasted
with man's vision in the following chart. 'Vhile
not intended to be a oomplete compilation of the
hvo opposing views, it nevertheless shows the
uncompromising nature of both forms of governing.
Ultimately, both have a ('take no prisoners" attitude,
since Christ will not Imver the standards of His
Kingdom, and man will not elevate his.
Fig 2 (page 24)
The Bible is not difficult to understand, and indeed
was written in a manner so it could be understood by
the general population. However,
Once God's clear'Vord is cast aside, ethics become
very murky as we begin to look for rationalizations to
justify our sinful behavior.
The most direct route would be to declare that there
is no such thing as absolute truth, thereby making
the principles in our Constitution "relative" to the
times in which we live. For example, non-Christians
may present this argument:
Our founders were living in the midst of an agrarian
oulture, and we are living in a sophisticated high-tech
culture, so surely our ethics have to be looked at
in a manner different from theirs.
Some judges and justices shy mvay from making
such an obviously unbiblical statement and resort to
playing word games, since they consider themselves
as our intellectual superiors and can't imagine that
we will be able to see through their ethical shell
game. The height of this arrogance was reached
when Supreme Court Justice 'Villiam O. Douglas
proclaimed that "prenumbras formed by emanations"
justified his decision to overlook some specific
guarantees of the Bill of Rights. A penumbra is a
partial shadow between regions of complete darkness
and complete illumination, as in an eclipse, and
v.rhatever "illumination" Justice Douglas received was
very clearly not from God.
Other justices, not liking the clear intentions of the
Continued on Page 23
7
The Christian Prince (continuedfrom page 7)
absolute principles contained in our Constitution, If language is not correct, then what is said is not
----------;O;s=uggesrturningtOtne laws oroEner counffies:-vVn"'e=n------=w=hat 1,S meant; ifWhat 1,S saul 1,S not wnat 1,"'s:-c;m=-O:;:e=a=n-rt,-------
they come to a particular case with their decision then what ought to be done remains undone; if'this
in mind, and can't find specific words, or even, remains undone, morals and art deteriorate; if
"prenumbras formed by emanations" they search the morals and art deteriorate, justice 'LlDill go astray;
laws of other countries until they find one, then cite if justice goes astray, the people will stand about
that as justification for their ruling! For Christians,
this is absolutely insane behavior, but for a person in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no
who doesn't believe that Christ is the incarnation of arbitrariness in what is said. Confucius
God's 'Word, they have no respect for His clear Word.
They would probably repeat Pontius Pilate's query to
Jesus: "vVhat is truth?" 3 So instead of viewing words
as clear means of communicating our intents, they
distort and abuse
If judges can read into the Constitution "rights"
that are not there they can also read out of the
Constitution rights that are there.
them in order to
change culture
according to their
self-centered
agenda. In other
words, they view
The Purposes of "Government"
themselves as
gods!
In the 18th
century the
second President
of America, John
Adams, remarked,
Our Constitution
was made only
for a moral and
religious people.
It is wholly
inadequate for the
government of any
other.
The Issue
To protect citizens from invasion,
and to keep communities safe for
people to live, work and play
To take care of people who can't
take care of themselves
To educate the children
To protect the environment
vVhen President Adams made this statement the
word "religion" was synonymous with "Christianity."
His meaning was that without a people who believed
in absolute truths,a constitution wasn't worth
the paper it was written on, because judges and
legislators would attach their personal meanings to
it. The U.S. Constitution (and each of the original
State Constitutions) was written to provide personal
liberty for self-governing citizens and protection from
a tyrannical civil government. In Patrick Henry's
words,
The Constitution is not an instrumentfor
the government to restrain the people, it is
an instrttmentfor the people to restrain the
government-lest it come to dominate our lives and
interests.
It is all too obvious that today's judicial branch has
turned Patrick Henry's words on their ear by refusing
to attach absolute meanings to the words we use.
Even Confucius, the 6th century B.C. non-Christian
Chinese philosopher. recognized the importance of
the absolute meaning of words.
Making the Nations Christ's Disciples
The Responsibility
MAN SAYS
Civil Government
Civil Government
Civil Government
Civil Government
GOD SAYS
Civil Government
Family/Church
Private/Personal
Charity
Family
Individual
Fig 1
This points up the critical importance of not only
electing Christian civil rulers (legislators and
judges), but doing what we can to make certain they
know how to "connect their Spiritual Dots" to their
legislative and judicial decisions. Otherwise, we will
have whatwe have now: Christians civil rulers who
behave as though they are merely "conservative" in
their approach to governing. It has been said that
a conservative is a person who has grown fond of
the order which liberals have forced on him. Such a
person is obviously not the kind of ally we need in
order to help turn our culture around.
"He that rules over men must bejust,
ruling in thefear of God." 2 Samuel2J.J
Researcher George Barna admonishes each of us to
get serious about serving in Christ's Kingdom. Living
as t h o l ~ h we are capable of determining truth on our
own is wholly incompatible with repeatedly affirming
that "God's Word" is truth.
Is God's moral truth an obsession with you? It
ought to be, for every follower of Christ. After all,
our decisions are influenced by the accuracy of the
23
The Ch1'istian P1"ince
perspectives we bring to every point of decision; we
cannot make great choices if \ve are working with
faulty information. And if our purpose is to love God,
and we do so by honoring Him and respecting His
laws and principles, then we must gracefully
and gratefully bow to His revelation of truth in order
to do what is right and appropriate in His eyes. 4
Paul instructs us that God gave us His inerrant
"'ord in order that \ve may "be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work" 5
Christian, Conservative or Deist ...
Which Does Your Lifestyle
Say You Are?
Deists don't allow for anyon-going communications
with God, we could make up \vays to worship Him
one day a week, then push Him completely out of our
minds during the rest of the week, while \ve attend
to our "real \vorId" obligations. The separation of the
church and state takes on a completely ne\v meaning
for Deists.
According to Christianity, as \ve have seen, God
assigns both of these spheres specific responsibilities,
and the state should not usurp the responsibilities
of the church, nor Vice-versa. Both, ho\vever,
are accountable to operate according to biblical
principles. On the other hand, Deists have no such
guidelines, so they can live like hell on earth and
imagine that they will go to heaven \vhen they die.
Talk about the best of both \vorlds!
As the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than
\vords." So the question each of us needs to answer
"'hile deists can't see that theirs is a false religion,
the scales from our eyes have mercifully been
removed so we can correctly see
Fig 2 the truth. 6 'Ve know that dod is

and \ve kno\v that we have been
24
GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO GOD called to transform our culture into
one that reflects His will. 7 And
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
'Ve know that before we begin our
godly attack on culture, we need
to attack ourselves, and get our
worldview and lifestyle squared
away.
James 2.12
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14.34
And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Matthew 22.21
'Ve also have confidence our
godly walk will help transform
our culture because God gives us
His 'Vord that evil will eventually
perish.
8
GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO MAN
.( There is no transcendent standard of government outside of man .
.( Whatever serves the state is "moral" and is considered "truth."
.( The state gains its "mandate to govern" either by popular vote, or, failing that,
by court rulings that Imaginatively interpret the plain written words of the law
according to subjective "penumbras formed by emanations"* instead of an
objective reading of the U.S. Constitution.
The Difference between
Conservative and
Christian Civil Rulers
is: "Does our lifestyle reflect that we are a Christian,
or a non-Christian?" Since this book is aimed at
Christians, a more useful question might be: "Do
our daily decisions (whether in the legislature, in the
courthouse, the home, or another vocation) testify to
those around us that we are a Christian or a Deist?
"'ere I not, by God's grace, a Christian, I probably
would be a deist. From a non-Christian viewpoint,
there are a couple of good reasons to be a deist. First,
this explains the orderliness in creation that cannot
be explained by a totally chance and random "Big
Bang" theory. Second, imagining that God created
the universe (and us) and is now sitting idly by
watching us "do our thing" is compatible with the
non-Christians' self-centered point of view because it
doesn't hold them accountable for their actions. Since
At any moment we are either
imaging Christ (keeping His or Satan (breaking
Christ's laws by living according to a different set of
rules). Approaching your legislative duties fro111 an
exclusively Christian perspective (imaging Christ)
may seem an ovenvhelming task. And \/{ell it \vould
be without the Creator God's help. The thought
of having the Creator God in your corner, \vatching
over you and directing your every move through His
revealed "'ord should more than offset any "peer
pressure" to image Satan. The difference being a
Christian makes is that we have God guiding us,
blessing our obedience!
Ho\v can we expect to improve on God's \vill by
living according to our ideas?
Since the Triune God has brought us out
The Counsel of Chalcedon
of darkness and into light, ,vhy are ,ve more
ooncerned about how people will respond to His
truth, than we are about how He will respond to
our compromising His truth?
There is no biblical 'varrant for religious pluralism.
The ultimate question is, "Under \vhich ideas
shall we live: true or false ones?" To compromise with
the proponents of false ideas is to agree that society's
problems are not inside us (a sinful heart), but are
outside us (bad family or social environment, bad
education). Such a position leads to dealing only with
the symptoms of what ails society. The results are:
more civil goveTrt1nent programs
higher taxes, and
the continuation Qf the problems
Scripture teaches that God is primarily
concerned 'vith a society's ethics. \Ve live in an
orderly universe ,vhere predictable results follow our
actions (including legislative decisions). This means
that good (or godly) legislation will produce good
results. \Vhy, then, leave God out of your strategy
to govern? Your duty is to be Biblically correct, not
politically correct.
Do )'our best to present yourself to God as one
appTOved, a wodw1an who does not need to be
asham,ed and who c01Tectly handles the word of
truth. 2 Timothy 2.15
Ten Questions
That Only the Bible
Correctly Answers
Jesus does not command us to transform the culture
of the world to His Father's principles and then leave
us on our mvn to figure out hov\T to do it. He knows
too well that if He did, we ,vould, with the best of
intentions, mess things up royally. The purpose of
The Christian Prince is to describe the biblical frame
of mind from which civil rulers should approach
their vocation. In-depth explanations to the following
questions can be found in such works as Buddy
Hanson's Choose This Day: God's Instructions' on
HO\v to Select Leaders, and The Christian Civil
Ruler's Handbook. 9 For our purposes, the follOWing
questions will help solidify your thinking:
1. How should we goveTr/, ourselves?
2. A1"e there any limits to civil government?
3. lVhat cTiteTia should civil rulers use for
legislating, and governing?
4. Should politicalluwwledge 1"est 011,
Alahing the Nations Christ's Disciples
The Clwistian Prince
expeTience and man's reason, or upon the
instructions OU1" Creator has given to us?
5. Does the Bible give any support for the state's
educating our children?
6. What hinds qf services a1e we currentl.y
paying thTOUgh our taxes, that should be
handled by the individual, the family, 01" the
church?
7. lVhat hinds Qf civil laws are and
which are Ilevil" and should be ove1"turned?
8. lVhat hinds Qfwars are IYust?"
9. What's 11W1"e impfwtant: pee?" acceptance, or
God's acceptance? Staying in Q[fi.ce, or staying
in the good graces Qf our IJonl, Savi01" and
King?
10. Is our political goal to bTing down the
other party's principles, 01' to honor Christ's
p1"inciples by governing om"selves accm"ding to
His will? Your stance f01" Godly principles will
automaticall.y lib ring down" )'our opposition's
principles; but if YOU1" priority is to l1wrel:v
contrast YOU1" IIconservative' principles with
their Illiberal" principles, you will SOOne1" 01'
lateT lose esteem, not only with voteTs but with
God. . ,
A Christian legislator's biggest mistake is to believe
he is representing someone other than Jesus Christ.
It is true that our constituents vote us into office
and we owe them our best representation, but
such representation must be based upon biblical
principles, not just the latest public opinion poll.
"Te must guard against Christianity's becoming just
another religious alternative, or simply a custom
from bygone days. As Christians, we know that
Christianity is the one, true religion, but knowing
that does not fulfill our commitment to God. It is
incumbent upon us to provide a daily demonstration
of its superiority over all false religious vie\vs,
including the religious view of the state! As a
Christian legislator, you must be like Issachar "who
understood the times ,vith the knowledge of what
[you] should do." 10
The following statement from Martin Luther is as
familiar as it is famous. Until now you may have
never considered its applications to civil government.
Luther, after all, was a theologian, but the underlying
premise of The Christian Prince is that all vocations
are godly and to be sllccessful, must incorporate
biblical principles into their daily duties. To see how
explicitly Luther's admonitions apply to civil rulers,
read his \vords as though they were yours.
25
The Christian Prince
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest
exposition every portion of the truth of God
------e=-=x=c=-=e::--cpOLt:-:p=-=r=ec=ci'sely tnat Uffle pomt wlUch----nie worIa
26
and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am
not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be
professing Christ. "Where the battle rages, there the
loyalty of the soldier is proved. He is disgraced if he
flinches at that point. Martin Luther
As a legislator or a judge, you are always going to be
dealing with "hot button" cultural issues. When you
do, will you be hesitant to present the biblical reasons
for supporting or opposing certain issues? As a judge
will you make your rulings based strictly upon the
written words of the law? Luther tells us that we find
out the worth of the soldier in the heat of the battle.
As a legislator are you flinching at that point because
a biblical stand may be too controversial? Or, as a
judge, if public sentiment opposes a decision based
upon the law, will you be faithful to stand on the law
instead of public opinion? If not, how do you plan to
present your reasons for "bailing out" on your Lord,
Savior and King, Jesus Christ when you see Him on
Judgment Day?
Is God's Rule Limited To The Cozy
Confines Of Our Churches and
Homes?
vVe are commanded not to serve two masters.
This means that it is not enough to "love" Christ
inside our Churches and homes, while we "hate
(or "despise") Him by obeying ungodly laws in the
workplace, the State House, the school, and in our
day-to-day activities. The purpose of God's Word is to
show us how to live and govern ourselves. It gives us
direction. When God's laws are taken away, so is the
true meaning of life.
Any law that violates the law of God is no law at all.
William Blackstone - Commentaries, Volume 1, 1765
To keep God's truths on the sidelines of life and to
not advocate and promote His principles, is to live
as if His vVord is irrelevant to day-to-day activities,
and to imply that man's will is superior to God's. The
following verses testify that God's will is
superior to ours, and that He is in complete control
of His creation and doesn't need any help from our
"wisdom."
For the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over
the nations. Psalm 22.28
By Me kings reign, and rulers decree justice.
Proverbs 8.15
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like
the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He
'(vishes.
Proverbs 21.2
For a society to succeed it must follow God's
instructions, for "God is not mocked." 11 Our goal, as
Christians, and your goal as a Christian civil ruler, is
to live according to "every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God." 12 These words, as revealed in
Scripture, reflect God's will for our life, and in order
to effect His will "on earth as it is in heaven," 13 we
have no other option but to conduct our personal and
public actions according to His Word. Nowhere in
Scripture does God instruct us that His laws
are no longer the best way to conduct our
civil affairs. This means that for a society to
imagine it is smarter than God is to insult
its Creator, Lord, Savior and King!
Nowhere does Scripture teach that God's
principles for living are intended to be applied
exclusively to the private aspects of our lives.
As king Solomon proclaims, "Righteousness exalts
a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." 14
It should not be forgotten that the non-Jewish
city of Sodom was destroyed for breaking an Old
Testament case law, 15 and the non-Jewish city
of Nineveh was spared destruction because it
repented and began living in obedience to God's
Word. 16 Any nation can be assured that unless it
does its best to follow God's laws, it will perish. 17
Old habits do die hard, but as the 14th Century
Catholic writer Thomas a Kempis notes,
"Habit is overcome by habit," and the Biblical
Legislative Checklist is presented to help you
replace any non-Christian approaches to your
legislative duties with Christian ones.
The Counsel of Chalcedon