jasongpeirce
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- Mar 3, 2015
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[h=1]On Government, Liberty, Satan, Christ, and ‘Render Unto Caesar’[/h]by Jason Peirce
September 9, 2015—In “Is Jesus a Libertarian? A Friendly Response to Jason Peirce” Pastor Mathis responds to my article “4 Examples of Jesus Christ’s Libertariansim.” There’s a number of issues we disagree on, and some where we find common ground. I’ll try and address them all here.
Whether one is a Christian or libertarian or not, we all share that we’re forced to live under the thumb of government. At the very least, this is why addressing these issues is important: to illustrate to all the corrupt and violent nature of government in order to mitigate and limit it. At best, this debate also provides an opportunity to better understand Christ and libertarianism, should one be a Christian or libertarian, or both. I’m heartened by the opportunity presented by Pastor Mathis’ response.
First, I did not write that Jesus is a libertarian, I wrote that Jesus implied a “libertarian-leaning perspective regarding the political authority of the state.” This is true. Libertarianism rests on the Nonaggression Principle (NAP), which stresses nonaggression against person or property. Government necessarily violates the NAP. What did Christ think of government? As I wrote last week in an article on Pope Francis’ Channeling of Nimrod:
“…what did Jesus Christ himself feel about government? As Christian scholar Jacque Ellul has noted, for government Jesus reserved ‘irony, scorn, noncooperation, indifference and sometimes accusation.’ I’ve made a similar case here, using examples from the Gospels. At best, Jesus had no use for government. At worst, Jesus saw government as a mechanism of tyranny and oppression. Jesus did not advocate obedience to government. And after all, Jesus was killed by government. I’ve addressed the other parts of the Bible which do seem to advocate obedience to government, here.”
Now, Pastor Mathis takes to task two of my “claims” from the “4 Examples” article. Here they are, in his words:
Let’s examine the first claim…" Read the rest here: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/government-liberty-satan-christ-render-unto-caesar/
September 9, 2015—In “Is Jesus a Libertarian? A Friendly Response to Jason Peirce” Pastor Mathis responds to my article “4 Examples of Jesus Christ’s Libertariansim.” There’s a number of issues we disagree on, and some where we find common ground. I’ll try and address them all here.
Whether one is a Christian or libertarian or not, we all share that we’re forced to live under the thumb of government. At the very least, this is why addressing these issues is important: to illustrate to all the corrupt and violent nature of government in order to mitigate and limit it. At best, this debate also provides an opportunity to better understand Christ and libertarianism, should one be a Christian or libertarian, or both. I’m heartened by the opportunity presented by Pastor Mathis’ response.
First, I did not write that Jesus is a libertarian, I wrote that Jesus implied a “libertarian-leaning perspective regarding the political authority of the state.” This is true. Libertarianism rests on the Nonaggression Principle (NAP), which stresses nonaggression against person or property. Government necessarily violates the NAP. What did Christ think of government? As I wrote last week in an article on Pope Francis’ Channeling of Nimrod:
“…what did Jesus Christ himself feel about government? As Christian scholar Jacque Ellul has noted, for government Jesus reserved ‘irony, scorn, noncooperation, indifference and sometimes accusation.’ I’ve made a similar case here, using examples from the Gospels. At best, Jesus had no use for government. At worst, Jesus saw government as a mechanism of tyranny and oppression. Jesus did not advocate obedience to government. And after all, Jesus was killed by government. I’ve addressed the other parts of the Bible which do seem to advocate obedience to government, here.”
Now, Pastor Mathis takes to task two of my “claims” from the “4 Examples” article. Here they are, in his words:
- “Satan owns the governments of this world” and
- “Jesus did not command obedience to the governments of this world.”
Let’s examine the first claim…" Read the rest here: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/government-liberty-satan-christ-render-unto-caesar/