Bible and Government: Public Policy from a Christian Perspective

By John Cobin

Is it a sin for you to drive 69 mph in a zone with a posted maximum of 65 mph? Was Christ nailed to the cross for your "sin" of hiring a gardener or a maid who did not have a legitimate "green card"... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972541802
• ISBN13: 9780972541800
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Alertness Ltd
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Public Policy and Government from a Christian Perspective

~Bible and Government: Public Policy from a Christian Perspective~ is written by a Christian public policy researcher. The author John Cobin essentially espouses a Jeffersonian libertarian political philosophy while adhering to biblical norms for proper social perspective. Recognizing the tyranny of good intentions and how public policy has gone awry, Cobin looks to alternatives to more state solutions for solving social problems. John Cobin who is presently an Investment Adviser has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University and a Masters in Economics from UC Santa Barbara. Well-versed in the Austrian and Public Choice schools of economic thought, Cobin offers an exceptional Christian perspective on law, government, authority, and public policy considerations. He esteems the vitality of the free-market, private property and constitutionally limited government to civil society. In modern times, the state has tediously concentrated a vast array of power, welding and abusing the power flamboyantly. The state has increasingly displaced and marginalized the traditional non-state institutions of family, church, neighborhood, and voluntary civil associations. Too often, both neoconservatives and statist liberals make the mistake of confusing the state with society (just like the Greeks of antiquity did.) So, Cobin offers a new paradigm to the worn-out status quo which seems posed to evolve into some sort of totalitarian democracy. One of the most prudent public policy considerations often entails not having a "public policy" on particular issue to begin with. By devolving responsibility back to the traditional institutions that have been encroached upon by the State, better solutions to social problems may be mete out. In an age of belligerent statism when more government is always posed as the solution to the various societal ills, Cobin is one of the few prudent policy gurus keen enough to pose civil society and market solutions. Building on the Prophet Samuel's warning to the Israelites who desired their king (1 Sam. 8), Cobin methodically trumps notions of ascribing divinity to the State or seeing all State actions as inherently moral. The Scriptures warn of the consequences of unbridled power in the State, and how the power of the State itself can be an idol. For this reason, Christians should resist the concentration of power in the hands of the State. The predominantly Christian founding fathers of America desired to constrain governmental power by constitutional limitations, such as a separation of powers and checks and balances. Thus, in framing free government they sought to make "ambition counter ambition" with institutional checks and balances. Being an agent of the government never made a man saint always possessed of goodwill or free from the blemish of sin. Likewise, there is no sovereign immunity before the divine judgment throne and magistrates will be held accountable. Moreover, some of the most malevolent c

A sharply written, critical account

Bible And Government: Public Policy From A Christian Perspective by John M. Cobin (a devout Evangelical Christian, father of six homeschooled children, and Visiting Professor of Economics and Public Policy, George Mason University) is a sharply written, critical account of the expansion of American governmental power and the threatening implication said power has for Christians and the Christian community in particular. Professor Cobin offers noteworthy and insightful evaluations on public policies ranging from speed limits to food stamps, all with an eye to what Christianity demands in terms of obeying the government. Bible And Government is a thoughtful and thought-provoking read with ideas imminently worthy of serious consideration by students of Public Policy, Political Economy, and Christian Social Issues Studies.

Fascinating and insightful book

A novel approach that should have been obvious to Evangelicals long ago. Few books have an opportunity to change the way people think about such an important mattter as public policy. This is one such book. You will think about its implications for weeks after reading it. Dr. Lesle Long, Greenville, SC