The Bible and the Rule of Law - Democrats versus Autocrats

Empire, Putin, Trump, and Spheres of Influence

Empire

I have said this many times. I hate framing the United States as an empire. Just because a nation is powerful and driven by self-interest does not make it an empire. An empire rules by might while the United States is ruled by the rule of law and the constitution. In the Christian circles I run in, this term, Empire, has deep theological roots. If the Bible has one central theme, it is the Bible’s philosophy of history. Let me explain.

The Bible as a Philosophy of History - Autocrats versus The Rule of Law

A Biblical Meta-narrative

Another saying I have is this:

The greatest gift the Hebrews gave the world is THE RULE OF LAW.

For all you biblical scholars out there, let’s suspend disbelief for a bit and assume that the first biblical writer was Moses.

Moses led an enslaved people out of slavery in Egypt. Whether this story is actual history or not is beside the point. In the Exodus story, there are clearly good guys and bad guys. Egypt was an empire led by a deified king. The Hebrews were an oppressed people who, under Torah, established a nation with the following characteristics:

1. Israel was to have no king.

2. Israel was to be ruled by Torah (the Rule of Law) and judges.

3. Israel was to have no standing army.

4. Israel was to be an example to the rest of the world that God was for the rule of law and would protect a just society from each era's version of Empire.

In short, the Bible is a story of Empire versus the Rule of Law or, to put it in a modern framing, the Bible is the story of Autocracy versus “Democracy”, Autocrats versus “democrats.” Of course, I know democracy had yet to be invented, but the morality of the two systems is quite parallel.

That this is the theme of the Bible becomes clear when we read the story of the great sin of the Hebrew nation.

The Great Sin of the Old Testament

In the original formulation of the nation of Israel, Israel was led by prophet-judges. These leaders had no actual power. These leaders did not have a standing army. Their authority was a moral authority, and it was the religious commitment of the people that was the foundation upon which their rules-based system was built. The society was held together by shared norms. That fundamental norm was that the LORD was a God of justice and not power, and, therefore, the nation of Israel was to be ruled by principle and the Rule of Law as opposed to the carnal principle of “might makes right.” This all changed in 1 Samuel chapter 8.

Here is a snippet of the passage:

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead[b] us, such as all the other nations have.”

6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me.”

For those of you who might not believe in a deity, let me demythologize what is happening here. The Hebrew people knew that their historical oppressors were beasts who killed and oppressed with impunity. But the Hebrew people were different. They believed and hoped for a world of justice and fairness where each family could sit in peace “under their own fig tree.” They articulate this world of justice in their “constitution”, Torah. These principles they believed were the fruit of an ethic or morality that is deeply rooted in the cosmos. The Hebrews deified these principles. By deifying these just aspirations, their worship evolved to be the worship of a monotheistic God of justice from whom their aspirations were a gift.

To read the Bible well, with Hebrew eyes, is to see a great narrative of history. The Bible narrative tells the story of the conflict between the righteousness and justice of the Rule of Law versus the inhumanity of Empire and the rule of fear and violence.

In this reading of the Bible, how I read the Bible, the great sin of the nation of Israel was the shift from the rule of law to the rule of a king, an autocrat, a Putin if you will… an Orban, a Stalin, an Asad, a Xi ….

So What is the United States in this moment? An Empire or a Champion of the Rule of Law, a Beast or a Shining Light on a Hill

What I described above is a philosophy or a theology of history. This metanarrative of the philosophy of history as a battle between good and evil, a battle between the Rule of Law and Empire, is the central theme of the Bible. For example, the book of Revelation is not about specific predictions to help believers map out the end times. Instead, the book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature that, in code, depicts characters from the historical situation of the readers fighting in a great cosmic battle. The Book of Revelation is simply another articulation of the Hebraic philosophy of history. That philosophy is that God, the logos of history, will eventually win. History will evolve toward justice and the rule of law. Empire, pictured as the beast, will lose. In other words, the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.

I am a believer.

I believe in the Logos of history.

I believe in principles over power.

I believe that the crucified victim of state violence will rise and we, in Him, will win. We will win not through the power of violence but through the moral high ground of meekness.

Spheres of Influence

In today’s world, there is another way of framing empire. It is called “Spheres of Influence.” Spheres of Influence is the ideology of the spirit of anti-christ, the zeitgeist of empire. The ideology of Spheres of Influence says the following. The world can avoid nuclear annihilation by maintaining two or maybe three empires that agree to divide up the world into slices of pie. Russia gets their Eurasian zone which includes all of Europe and Russia. Putin's vision is to reestablish the “greatness” of the former Soviet Union and extend Greater Russia into all of Europe. This expansion of Russia comes via aggression and capitulation. Just a side note, there is a bit of game theory and realpolitik at play here. In game theory, in a game of chicken, the crazy player wins. By analogy, if Europe believes Putin is crazy enough to use nuclear weapons, then Putin has a huge advantage. The Europeans just might capitulate to Putin to avoid total annihilation.

But I digress.

In the Spheres of Influence game, that is the empire game, the United States gets the Western Hemisphere, and the Far East (China, Taiwan, Korea, etc) goes to China.

Here, my friends, is the great choice before us.

Our Choice

For people of faith, like myself, the choice is faith in the God of justice versus faith in carnal power. The choice is Christ or Caesar.

To those whose politics is less influenced by religious conviction, the choice is equally straightforward. The choice is between Democracy and the Rule of Law versus Autocracy and Closed Society.

This describes the two sides of one coin:

Christ, Democracy, and the Rule of Law versus Anti-christ, autocracy and Empire

The Conclusion

We are facing a crossroads in the history of the United States. We are choosing between loyalty to the Constitution, democratic principles, and liberty versus monarchy, oligarchy, and kleptocracy. The temptation is to use violence and injustice to line our pockets.

But in so doing, we might gain the whole world and lose our soul.

It is literally a devil’s bargain. You cannot be on the right side of history and choose Empire.

The conclusion is this:

The choice between the Rule of Law and democracy versus Autocracy and might is not merely a political choice, but it is a choice deeply rooted in the Jewish and Christian faith in a God of justice.

Dear American, you cannot love what makes America great and choose autocracy.

Dear Fellow Believer, you cannot choose both Christ and Caesar.

The choice before us determines the very nature of the next era of human history.

Choose Christ.

Choose democracy.

Choose principles over power.

Choose justice.

But make no mistake, it is a clear choice.