Have you ever wondered, “what does the Bible say about the type of government we ought to have?” Growing up in America, the Constitutional Republic model might seem like the most natural one. But is it biblical? What is “the Biblical Form of Government”? The answer is more complex than it first appears, as nowhere in scripture does it say, “here’s how to structure your government…”. However, there only seems to be variations of two types of governments present in scripture: theocracy and monarchy. However, their mere mention doesn’t necessarily make them the biblical form of government that all nations need to adopt.
Theocracy
Consider the theocracy first. This model has the best claim to be “the Biblical Form of Government,” as Moses, Joshua, and Samuel all acted as conduits for God to rule Israel. However, God never promised anyone besides Israel a theocracy (at least not until the end times). God never came down to George Washington and the other founders and told them that He would rule through them and they would merely act as His representatives. Without God clearly choosing a representative and promising to rule through them, theocracy remains an unviable option. The risk of people claiming to rule on behalf of God but really just passing off their own views as God’s is too great.
Monarchy
Another candidate for “the Biblical Form of Government,” is a monarchy, after all, Israel was a monarchy for major portions of the Bible. However, God sees Israel wanting a monarchy as a rejection of Him (1 Samuel 8:7) and warns them of its dangers (1 Samuel 8:9-18). The only acceptable form of monarchy seems to be one where God is the King. However, that would be theocracy again, and we would suffer from the same issues mentioned above. One day God will return and have a literal Kingdom over all creation but giving absolute power to human beings is expressly warned against by God. Thus, monarchy by human rulers is not the biblical model.
Is There a Biblical Form of Government?
In a sense, the answer is no if we mean, “is there a type of government explicitly prescribed by the Bible?” The Bible isn’t anarchist (see Romans 13): it simply doesn’t prescribe a specific form of government. It may warn against a few (like monarchy), but it doesn’t explicitly rule them out.
Perhaps a Biblical Form of Government is best thought of as not one prescribed by the Bible (since there is none), but one built on biblical principles. For instance, Romans 13 outlines the duties of government, such as punishing evildoers and promoting order. So we know that any biblical government must include these elements.
Moreover, given the warning about monarchy in the Bible and our knowledge of human sinfulness, it would logically lead us to seek after a limited government. A government whose power is limited cannot be abused through things like checks and balances.
Another consideration is the fact that the Bible says we are all God’s image bearers, whom God died for. As Ronald J. Sider, Professor of Theology at Eastern University, describes:
“This biblical story shapes the Christian approach to public life in profound ways. For example, persons are not merely complex machines to be programmed for the good of the state. They are immeasurably valuable beings, so loved by their Creator that He suffered the hell of Roman crucifixion for them, free beings called to shape history along with God and neighbor, immortal beings whose ultimate destiny far transcends any passing political system. Public life is important because it shapes the social context in which people respond to God’s invitation to live in right relationship with both Himself and neighbor. … Probably the best protection against political totalitarianism is the recognition that the state is not the ultimate source of value and law. If people in a society believe strongly that there exists a higher law grounded in God the Creator to which current legislation ought to conform and which citizens ought to obey even if that entails civil disobedience, totalitarianism will be held in check. … Decentralized decision-making, even if it means a certain loss of efficiency, is in keeping with the biblical vision of persons as co-shapers under God of their own history. … The democratic political process … is the political system most compatible with biblical values about the importance of the individual and the pervasiveness of sin. Genuine political democracy decentralizes political power more completely than any other form of government. As Reinhold Niebuhr never tired of pointing out, democracy is necessary precisely because people are sinful. At the same time, it is because each individual is of inestimable worth to God that every person should be free to help shape his or her political destiny.”
So a “Biblical Form of Government” may very well be a constitutional republic or democracy— a system where people are held accountable, power is kept in check, and individuals are respected for their value and status with decentralized power. The Founding Fathers built our Constitution off of John Locke’s works, and in Locke’s First Treatise on Government, he quotes the Hebrew Bible more than 80 times. The Founding Fathers themselves were varying forms of deists and Christians, but the intellectual tradition and philosophy that they used to design the United States government was thoroughly Christian. The Constitution is the stunning culmination of 2000 years of Christian political thought ans while it’s not prescribed by the bible it may be the logical conclusion of the bible.
Please note that I am not saying the constitution is perfect. It was an experimental documents built off of biblical principles. The type of government our founders created had never been tried and they were bound to miscalcuate a few things but I’m thinking of reforms we should continue building where they left off toward a more biblical form of government.
Expositing Reality 