Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 141:563 (Jul 1984)
Article: Periodical Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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BSac 141:563 (Jul 84) p. 266

Periodical Reviews

“Can a Political Conservative Be a Christian?” James J. Thompson Jr., New Oxford Review, January-February 1984, pp. 14-22.

The question voiced in this title may shock some political and economic conservatives who are Christians because through the years they have wondered, “Can a political liberal be a Christian?” To have the tables turned on them may produce temporary disorientation. To save any such persons from further emotional and psychological trauma, the author answers his question in the affirmative in his last paragraph.

The point the author is making is that Christianity should not be identified with any political, economic, or social system. He states, “The Christian message transcends cultures, places, and times; it rises above governmental forms and economic systems” (p. 16). He is rejecting and refuting the “manifest destiny” doctrine of American civil religion.

The author’s conclusion is valid. He writes: “But the Christian conservative must not subsume his religion under his politics and thereby pervert a timeless Gospel into an ideological weapon…. He must follow the imperatives of Christianity wherever they lead, even when they run counter to the cherished dictates and instincts of his conservatism. He must, in short, be first and foremost a Christian and only secondarily a conservative (p. 22).

Exception can be taken to the article at two points, however. First, the Bible does endorse a specific “governmental form,” the theocracy, the absolute rule of Jesus Christ as “King of kings and Lord of lords” worldwide as a benevolent despot (Rev 11:15). This obviously is not an endorsement of monarchy as such but of the monarchy, the reign of David’s greater Son on the throne of Israel as the Head of the nations. The

BSac 141:563 (Jul 84) p. 267

author takes no notice of this, either because he is not a premillennialist or because he did not think it was pertinent to his discussion.

Jesus Christ’s kingdom of righteousness and peace and prosperity aside, “the Christian message” does rise “above governmental forms and economic systems,” not endorsing any specific system. Even so, however, two points are noteworthy. One is that the Lord Jesus and the Bible do approve of personal ownership of property and goods, which implies at least some form of a free enterprise economic system. The other is that until the messianic kingdom is established the political and economic system which provides the greatest degree of personal freedom for the greatest number would be the best.

The second exception to the article is that b...

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