Our Threatened Freedom

What is Government

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Political Studies

Lesson: 25-169

Genre: Conversation

Track: 025

Dictation Name: Vol. C - Part 03 – What is Government

Location/Venue: Unknown

Year: 1980’s – 1990’s

[Dr. Rushdoony] What is government? This is R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedom.

One of the more abused words in all languages today is government. When most people say government, they mean the federal government, or the state, county, or city governments. All of them combined. Such a use of the word is a major departure from biblical, Puritan, and early American usage.

The Bible speaks of government as the attribute of God and of Christ. Isaiah 9:6 declares of the Messiah, and the government shall be upon His shoulders.

On the human level, all government is by delegation, delegation by God.

And there are 7 basic levels of government.

The 1st area of government, and the most basic, is self-government, the self-government of godly men. Without this we have only lawlessness.

One of our most serious problems today is this lack of self-government.

The 2nd area of government is the family. In the Bible the family is set forth as the most important single institution or agency on earth. The family is man’s first and most basic government, school and church from childhood on. If family government is weak, the country is weak.

The 3rd area of government is the Church. Too often today the Church either does not govern, or governs weakly, because people are in rebellion against all {?} government.

A 4th area of government is the school. For better or worse, schools are a very important form of government. Their influence and government marks us for all life. Bad government in schools can, and usually does, bad government after schooling, and for life.

This is not all. A 5th area of government is our vocation, our work. You and I are governed by the work we do. It sets the pattern for our time use, our training, our income, and our daily lives. Our employers govern us. And the kind of work we do governs us. Our work thus is a very major form of government.

A 6th form of government is our community, our society. What people think, do and expect of us does govern all of us. We do feel social pressures which govern us.

Finally, a 7th form of government is civil government. There was a time when no one spoke of state or federal governments as anything but civil government, one form of government among many. Today civil government is trying to control all other areas of government, to usurp the powers of self-government, the family, Church, school, work, and society. This is the meaning of totalitarianism, the control of all other forms of government by civil government. It spells certain disaster for any country.

What is government? It is certainly not the federal government. It is, overall, the government of Almighty God, and under God, a variety of God ordained spheres of life and agencies. It begins with our own self-government.

If we deny the government of Almighty God and if we fail in self-government, then we invite slavery and totalitarianism. You will get the kind of government you exercise.

This is R.J. Rushdoony with a report on our threatened freedoms.