Second Semester Unit A: Principles of Government

 How is government defined?  What are the basic powers that every government holds?  What are the four defining characteristics of the state?  How have we attempted to explain the origin of the state?  What is the purpose of government in the United States and other countries?

Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

The state can be defined as having these four characteristics:

Some Secular Views of the Origins of the State: The Force Theory  The force theory states that one person or a small group took control of an area and forced all within it to submit to that person’s or group’s rule. The Evolutionary Theory  The evolutionary theory argues that the state evolved naturally out of the early family. The Divine Right Theory  The theory of divine right holds that God created the state and that God gives those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule. The Social Contract Theory  The social contract theory argues that the state arose out of a voluntary act of free people.

BP 1.1 Ordained & Instituted by God  BP Understand that whatever particular government exists in a country has been ordained by God. (Romans 13)  P Explain that the officials of the government have received authority to govern you and me from God. (John 19:11)  BP1.1.3 Describe how governments serve the church by God’s sovereign might of providence.

Errors of the Social Contract Theory  BP4.1.1 Deny that revolution is allowed when the people no longer give their consent.  BP4.1.2 Counter the teaching that, Man is born free and naturally has individual rights equal to all other men.  BP4.1.3 Give an answer to those that teach, government is “Of the People” and not of God.  BP4.1.4 Explain that it is not the right of Majority to decide what is right and lawful, but God’s law..

The main purposes of government are described in the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The main purposes of government are described in the Bible: BP Confess that the state is rightfully the servant of God. (Romans 13) BP Know that the state keeps some outward order in society by the punishment of criminals and the protection of those that do well. (I Peter 2:14) BP1.2.3 Understand that governments benefit the Church by allowing them to spread the gospel, extending the Kingdom of God and live a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (I Timothy 2:2) BP1.2.4 Notice how God providentially assigned spheres of sovereignty to civil governments which prevents the early coming of an anti-Christian one-world power.

God Gives Government the Power of the Sword BP1.3.1 Explain how the power of the sword is to be used to keep order and restrain sin. – (example: police, judges, prison) BP1.3.2 Identify the implied use of the sword to wage war, to defend from invasion. BP1.3.3 Describe how God has often used war to accomplish His purposes. (Deuteronomy 2:24-36) BP1.3.4 Be aware of how God uses wars and rumors of wars to bring about the coming of Christ. (Mark 13:7)