So...What's Wrong with a Theocracy?

What's wrong with theocracy? For the Baptist, it violates the distinctive of Separation of Church and State.

We as a nation were founded upon, among other things, the value of religious liberty. When the state starts dictating your religion, then your own religions liberty has been compromised, even if the State's religion coincides with your own.

 

What's wrong with a theocracy is that God is not currently participating in direct rule. The Law Duet 8 refers to was the Law of hte nation of Israel. It is not the Law for anyone else. God is nto working in that way right now. There will be a theocracy one day when Christ returns to fulfill the promises of God and set up his rule on earth. Until then, there can be no theocracy.

 

I agree, Monergist, with your comments re: separation of church & state vs separation of God and state. However, there are too many Christians who are unable to discern between the two.

As far as the State submitting to God's law, this brings up the catch 22: to what extreem should we require the State to enforce God's law? Should we make infant baptism illegal? Should we make it illegal not give 10% to your church? Should we make it illegal not to rest on the Sabbath? If so, which sabbath? Should we make it illegal for a Jew, Mormon, Muslim, or, some will say, a Roman Catholic ro hold public office?

How far does one go? No, thanks, give me a secular state which refuses to acknowlege my religion, but guarantees my religious liberty.

 

This was the troubles the Puritans had. Can you impose worship upon a non believer. Even if we were to use the Scripture as our rule, who would give the interpretation? We saw during the election how some prominate politicians misquoted scipture. Do we leave it up to them to lead acording to God's Word? It's a great idea, but too tough to implement.

 

A Theocracy is not a Democracy. You have to choose whether you want to force your beliefs on everyone else or create an environment in which everyone is free to choose their own religion.

America was founded as a free democracy (actually a Republic). I think this is the best form of government in the world. That's why, even as a Christian, I do not support forcing Christianity upon everyone (prayer in the schools, Ten Commandments at the courthouse, etc.).

 

EXCELLENT post!

So...What's wrong with a Theocracy? Look no further than the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 

Or for that matter, the theocratic nature of the English government when the Puritans left.

 

Bible claims democracy is the worst form of govt - every man doing what is right in his own eyes.

 

Where is that? The book of Hezekiah?? For that matter, if it's so counter to scripture, what are you doing living in one???

If that were true, then theocracy is much worse: every man thinking he's the sole scriptural interpreter, and making everyone else do what he thinks scripture says in his own eyes.

Out of those two, only one allows for religious liberty, and it ain't the theocracy. The only theocracy I would ever live under is one where God is the ruler. Since that day is likely years away, give me democracy.

 

HA, billwald, you are right. Book of Deuteronomy, LOL.

 

Theocracy is great...if I get to be leader.

If not, then Theocracy is bad.

We are no longer in the days of the prophets, when God communicated His laws directly to the people through a chosen vessel, i.e. Moses, Joshua, etc.

Without His direct say-so in matters, then we can only go with what the head honcho, or honchos, interprets as Biblical Law. We can not all even agree on every scripture with each other at our own churches, much less with the whole nation.

I'm inclined to lean towards the government acknowledgment that God is the Supreme Being, as it has for the last 200 years, and leave the rest of the matters of God to the respective churches.

A Theocracy with God as the head would be great, but such an one with man as the head can only fail.

 

Ironically, it was a letter from the Danbury Baptists to Thomas Jefferson that elicited his "wall of separation" statement. Baptists in those days were a minority everywhere, and didn't want established religion.

 

Amen. I was born in the wrong century.

 

Unless you happened to believe something Cromwell didn't.

Then you burned.

 

Some points:-

1. It's Judges where the 'every man did as he saw fit in his own eyes' comes from - in several places. I know because I've just been studying the book in my daily devotions

2. If you want a theocracy, on who's theo-logy do you want to base your theo-cracy? The Islamic Republic has already been mentioned. OK, you say, but I meant a Christian theocracy. Point taken. But whose form of Christianity do we take as the basis for that theocracy and by what right? The Pope's (been tried, that one , doesn't work)? The Lutheran Missouri Synod's ("don't like them, they're liberals")? 'Huntingdon Congregationalist Church's' (been tried, not very popular -see Galatian's Cromwell reference)? ECUSA's ("don't like them, they're even more liberal than the LMS"; also been tried in England with moderate degrees of success but pretty much an irrelevance now)? The Evangelical Lutheran Church (see second comment re ECUSA but substitute Germany for England)?

3. Theocracy is OT, not NT, and is therefore not Scripturally supported for our current age/dispensation/epoch/era/whatever-other-word-you-want-to-use). The message of the NT, particularly the teachings of Jesus and Paul is that (a) civil government is put in place bu God, even one we don't particularly agree with and don't think is very 'Godly' (TM) and (b) don't rock the boat, keep your head down and be a good little citizen.

Yours in Christ

Matt