Our Answer to Aristotle
I have counsel and sound wisdom;
I have insight; I have strength.
By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
by me princes rule,
and nobles, all who govern justly. (Prov 8.14-16)
In these verses, “Wisdom” speaks, and she speaks specifically about government. Note the five subjects (vv. 15, 16): “kings,” “rulers,” “princes,” “nobles,” “all who govern.”
As the election-year rhetoric heats up, we might wish it weren’t so (!), but government is necessary. It was said of the Reformers in Geneva (and of American patriots 200 years later) that they established “a government without a king.” Yes, but it was still a system of rule through rulers. Indeed, John Calvin himself (in Geneva) considered it “perfect barbarism to think of exterminating [government]” (Institutes, 2.652). “Government” of any sort will always fall short of the ideal, but the only alternative is anarchy.
Aristotle said long ago that “politics” must exist because every polis (Greek for “city”) must determine (a) the way of life best for it, and (b) how best to promote that way of life. Much earlier still, Solomon had an answer for Aristotle. The “best way of life?” Wisdom says, “By me . . . rulers decree what is just.” And again, by wisdom, those who govern, govern “justly.” Here in a word is the whole teaching of the Bible about civil government. It exists, under God, to do “justice.” Nothing less.
And nothing more. Government exists to do “justice,” not to conduct social experiments or try to create heaven on earth. The recent California Supreme Court decision striking down the state’s marriage law shows us how easily this principle can get out of whack. By a 4-3 vote, the “justices” set aside the will of the people to define “marriage” exclusively as the union of a man and a woman. One of the dissenting justices called it “legal jujitsu.” A “bare majority,” he said, has not only violated “our society’s most basic shared premise-the People’s general right . . . to decide fundamental issues of public policy for themselves,” but has claimed a right it “simply does not have . . . to erase, then recast, the age-old definition of marriage, as virtually all societies have understood it, in order to satisfy its own contemporary notions of equality and justice” (p. 134).
How best to promote the best way of life? In a word, “Wisdom”-”by me [wisdom] . . . rulers decree what is just.” In other words, the only guarantee of real justice in the world is biblical wisdom in the halls of power.
Yeah, like that’s gonna’ happen! True enough, but as God’s people, we must never lose sight of the principle, even if the whole world laughs it out of court. We must, God helping us, do all in our power to promote biblical wisdom in the public square. For the good of all persons (that’s justice), and for the glory of God. That’s our answer to Aristotle. You are loved.
Your Pastor,
Richard Wells
Tags: Aristotle, Christianity, Gay marriage, Proverbs
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