Public Education I

I. Defining Government

If you take the time to read the CP’s platform you will immediately notice that we seem to want to get rid of a lot of things: public education, government welfare, wage and price controls, ect… For many people this is a cause of bewilderment. Who could be against education? Or who would fight against the care of the poor? These questions illustrate an important point that must be understood before we can really understand the CP’s platform. At the root of a lot of our beliefs is a high view of limited government. This value is rooted in an assumption, the assumption that there are certain, predetermined institutions and that these institutions have certain exclusive functions.

Gary DeMar in his book, God and Government Volume I, illustrates this point well when he says: “What is government? When this question is asked, most people respond by equating government solely with a centralized state. Even our language reflects the confusion: “Government? It’s in Washington,” or “The government will take care of its citizens through its many programs.” Both of these statements reflect a misunderstanding of the true nature of government. They portray the idea that the only governing institution is a political one.”(2)

However government is so much more than just the Civil government. While this is certainly a legitimate form of government it is only one of several that God has ordained. On p. 21 of the book I mentioned above Gary DeMar has a diagram illustrating this point:

GOD

Independent, Autonomous, and Unlimited Governing Authority

(Isaiah 9:6-7)

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MAN AND HUMAN INSTITUTIONS

(Colossians 1:16-17 and Romans 13:1-4)

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Bible

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Family Church Civil

(Self-Government) (Self-Government) (Self-Government)

As you can see all authority comes from God, the only autonomous form of authority. Each of the Human institutions are ordained by God and governed by the Bible. While there are obviously some overlaps between these three governments, (especially between Family and Church.) For the most part each is self-governing and independent. Each of them has their own unique areas of responsibility that only they can perform. For example, while most Americans would embrace the ideals of a democratic republic and many Christians would defend it as the best form of government, few would defend enacting it in the home. In the home the biblical view is a dictatorship, in a sense, where the father is the head of the household and the parents are always to be obeyed. We’ll talk more about the responsibilities of these different governments in point five. However I hope this explains why we can support things like education and fighting poverty and still be against the government doing it. An illustration that I like to use is of a man with a broken arm and a man with a clogged sink. Both are in need of help, however it is clear that the doctor is needed to fix the arm, and the plumber to fix the sink. No one would protest to this distinction in roles as each has his own area of expertise and responsibility.

Before we move on to the second point I want to qualify my terms. In light of the distinctions made above when I refer to the civil form of government I am going to use the term State. Please do not confuse this with the 50 states of America. If I am talking about civil government I will capitalize the word and say State.