John Knox, doughty, venerable reformer that he was, stubbed his toe painfully against one of sixteenth century’s most liberated women. He wrote a lengthy tract entitled "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women." It was a tirade against women in places of political power. Calvin urged him not to print it, but Knox was adamant. So was Queen Elizabeth I of England, who took it as a personal insult and reused to let Knox set foot in her kingdom again, even though she gave considerable aid to his reformation in Scotland. Understandably, the second blast of the trumpet was never sounded.
The present issue is another "first blast," hopefully more gentle and less lonely than Knox’s. It deals with politics, but not with women’s lib. Perhaps, a later issue can provide a peal, if not a blast, on that topic also.
Many who receive this paper will already have been stimulated to think about "the Christian mind." An Alta Vista course may have done it, or a workshop or church series, a book, or a conversation with a Christian friend.
Alta Vista College is publishing this little sheet on a BI-monthly basis in an effort to provide food for thought about a Christian way of looking at the whole of life. If we are indeed to have "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16), we have many areas in which we need to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2)
One of the most significant of these areas is politics. It is there that this first issue plunges in.

The apolitical group has its roots among the Anabaptists who, since the Reformation, have considered the state to be unavoidably evil and hostile to God. This group has isolated itself in a Christian "subculture" in an effort to remain "spiritual." Such a reactionary stance is reflected in many suburban evangelical churches, which today focus largely upon the inward life of their members and encourage neither significant knowledge of nor active concern for the larger community.
It is difficult to understand how a desire to remain obedient to God can be fulfilled by limiting the scope of Christ’s lordship and man’s service. An equally undesirable result of the apolitical stance is the civic irresponsibility it fosters. Unaware of the ideas and allegiances, which mold our current society, such Christians, when they must make political or social decisions unwittingly opt for "worldly" solutions.

The opposite extreme of political attitude is one of uncritical acquiescence in American political traditions and values. It is a Christianized version of what Robert N. Bellah calls "civil religion," in which the national life becomes the center and reservoir of human values.
This approach assumes the divine authorship and sanction of American democracy and often equates individualism, both political and economic, with "God’s eternal purposes." Its advocates view democracy as a perfected, redeemed political form. They want to get back to the "good old days" of the founding fathers and thus avoid the contamination of participating in the modern, liberal form which democracy has assumed.
Such a blatant deification of democracy appears in Rus Walton’s book, "One Nation, Under God," the opening sentence of which reads:

"In the beginning . . .
At that point in God’s good time when the
Constitutional Convention had completed its work . . .
So it was after thousands of years of
false starts and forbidden fruits
wrong turns
and tyranny and license
man finally made a true beginning
in human government.
No more state kings, or empires, or emperors,
No more unrestrained authority
or sanctioned appetite
or mob rule
No more tyranny
The Great American Republic,"

How idolatrous the tone becomes when human government looms so large and takes on saving purpose and meaning. How arrogant is the assumption that God waited 1800 years after the time of Christ to choose America for his special blessing in political justice.
The "civil religionists" defend such religious nationalism on the basis of their historical reconstruction of American democracy. They argue that since all the founding fathers were Christians, their principles of republican government were Christian as well. Subsequent national accomplishments are often viewed as pure and inviolate – no matter how violent – provided that this American Christian "way" is defended, and the battle line is often drawn against the Satanic national enemy of communism.
Many aspects of the argument are erroneous. Particularly, it ignores the pervasive influence of the Enlightenment upon the founding fathers. As deists, they followed a rationalistic theology, which was skeptical of a personal, imminent God. Jefferson and others looked to human perfectibility and not to a personal God to safeguard this new government. They had no place in their scheme for Christ as the divine redeemer who died and rose again to change all things (Colossians 1:20) including government.

The Bible does not allow us to adopt either of these two attitudes. We may not idolize our government as something ultimate, nor remain detached from civic responsibility in the effort to stay "clean." Here are three stepping stones to a Christian view of politics.

1. Man is created political

Made in the image of the Divine Ruler, we have been created to rule, organize, and protect creation (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:6; Hebrews 2:7-8). We cannot escape the decisions involved in having dominion any more than we can escape being human. Government need not be seen as merely an evil necessity occasioned by the fall of man. Regardless of sin, Adam and Eve would have been "politicians" in their keeping of the garden. A growing populous and cultural complexity would have demanded public organization and cooperation. Hence civil authority is an innately good part of creation and is governed by God’s norms.

2. Human government is sinfully limited

Christians are sometimes keenly of aware of personal sin but quite blind to institutional sin. Often the structures and ideals of modern society are not perceived as being just as susceptible to institutional sin as people are to personal immorality. For example, one may desire government legislation against pornography and yet not recognize the immorality of consumer advertising which legitimizes deceit and greed. We cannot assume that personal moral reform or the election of Christian politicians will automatically transform our society. We need discernment to keep our Christian ideology and policy from being subtly conformed to non-Biblical values and pressures. In the political realm, a Christian worldview is just as important as a Christian ethic.
Recent Biblical scholarship has uncovered in the New Testament a new element in political fallenness. The "powers and principalities" of Romans 8:38 and Ephesians 6:12 are seen to refer to invisible demonic authorities. Theologians speculate as to whether the powers of darkness are specialized and reign over specific areas or institutions in our sinful society. The implications of these Scriptures and others in Revelation are that human politics reflects a much larger battle between good and evil forces. If we are called out of darkness and freed from Satan’s hold, should we not check to see that politically we are on the right side – not championing one nation against another, but rather the faithful against self-destructive rebels?

3. Christ redeems politics