CHRISTIAN ETHICS RESEARCH PAPER

WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY UGANDA COURSE :CHRISTIAN ETHICS LECTURER: ERIC KAMOGA STUDENT: OLIVIER NGUWENEZA REQUIREMENT: CHRISTIANS GOING INTO POLITIC PROGRAM: MDiv INTRODUCTION This paper seeks to show how it is not sin for Christians to be politicians, it seeks to show how the glory of God should be our aim in all we do, and it seeks to encourage Christians to be politicians, the reason why I chose this topic is that in my local, many fear to be involved in politic thinking that it is sin, in fact I wrote this to let people know how they can do politic without sinning. OF CIVIL MAGISTRATE (POLITIC) PREFACE TO THE READER: I consider this analysis to be a great privilege for me to put my finger on something very crucial, so I dedicate this work to every true believer who wants to be a politician in any way, especially I dedicate this to those Christians who are being called to civil magistrate, the Word civil magistrate means simply POLITIC. I was in Westminster seminary , Dr. Jack C. Whytock when he was giving lectures in Calvin’s Institutes, on Civil Magistrate he said “if any student of Divinity wants to be a politician, he must resolve to function under the Ten Commandments. power corrupts , the more you stay in power, the more you get corrupt, only the Godly can stand it. When Dr. Jack Whytock said this, I quickly wrote it down, in my heart I said yes Christ, for sure Christians can be the best politicians. Let me clarify what Dr. Whytock has just said, he started by saying if any student of Divinity, this can also mean if any true Believer wants to be a politician he must resolve to function under the Ten Commandments. Under The Ten commandments can also mean under the New testament, then he added only the Godly can stand it this can also mean only the true believer can stand it, only the true believer can be able to stay in power (politic) without getting corrupt. Lastly let me paraphrase what Dr.Whytock has just said, if any true believer wants to be a politician he must resolve to bring Honor and Glory to Jesus Christ, only a true believer who is called to do politic can be able to stay in power without getting corrupt. So I agree with A.A Hodge (lecturer in systematic Theology at Princeton seminary) that in fact only Christians are the one qualified to be politicians. Let me conclude my preface to the reader by saying that I thank God that he used Dr. Jack Whytock to open my eyes to how civil magistrate is to be done, when Dr. Jack Whytock said what I wrote above, it came with power and caused me to see how in Civil Magistrate God can be glorified, therefore I urge every Christian to pay much closer attention to what I am going to say about Civil magistrate. Westminster Confession of faith Chapter 23, of civil magistrate Section one: “God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world , has ordained Civil Magistrates, to be under Him, over the people , for his own Glory and the public good and to this end has armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good and for the punishment of evil doers.” Section two: “it is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate, when called thereunto, in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so for that end, they may lawfully now, under the new testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasion.” SHORT VERSION i am pleased to begin by a short version before I involve other theologians in my discussion, I am going to speak alone by Analyzing what the two sections of Westminster are trying to clarify. Section I : this section opens by saying that God is the supreme Lord and King, every true believer must view God as a supreme king and Lord. God is the kings of kings, or to put it in modern English, it can mean that God is the president of the presidents, He is the general of generals, He is the colonel of colonels, He is the teacher of teachers and so on…whatever you are and whoever you are, as long as you are a Christian or a non-christian you must know that you function under the Kingship of God, all the decisions that the presidents make are ratified by God, this does not mean that God approves evil but it means that God permits evil to happen so that he can reveal his justice. So whoever you are I silence you, be still and Know that God is your King and that he is the one who makes any one to be a president or to be involved in politics, it is God who takes men into politics for his own glory. A.From Where does civil magistrate come? Let me, ask God to answer this question, Daniel 4:25 thus says God the king of Kings “that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, you shall be made to eat grass like an ox and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven and seven periods of time shall pass over you , till you know that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” King Nebuchadnezzar, failed to understand two important things, one , he failed to understand that God is the king of Kings, that God is king over Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful King but he failed to know that God is above him, or simply he failed to know that he is a servant of God in matters of politics. number two, he failed to understand that it was God who made him King, Romans 13:1 God says “ everyone must submit himself to the Governing authority, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” it is God who creates governments and politicians, and this is what King Nebuchadnezzar failed to understand and he was punished by God the king of Kings, so we must understand two things, one, that it is God who is King of Kings, two, that Everyone who is involved in politics it is God who has taken him in politics for his own Glory. It is God who caused Abraham Lincoln to be president of the U.S.A, it is God who caused George Washington to be president of the U.S.A, it is God Who caused George W. Bush to be president of the U.S.A, it is God who caused Barak Obama to be president of the U.S.A, it is God who caused Fidel Castro to be president of Cuba, it is God who caused King James to be king in England, it is God who caused King Edwards to be King of England, it is God who caused tony Blair to be the prime minister of England, it is God who caused David Cameroon to be the prime minister of England, it is God who caused Angel Melkel to be the Chancellor of Germany, it is God who caused Vladmir Putin to be president of Russia, it is God who caused Adolph Hitler to be General and president of Germany, it is God who caused Nicolas Sarkozy to be president of France, it is God who caused Mobutu to be president of congo-Kinshasa, it is God who caused Kabila Joseph to be president of Congo-Kinshasa and it is God who caused Jacob Zuma to be president of south Africa and in the future it is God who will cause other men and women to be presidents. B. Why Civil Magistrate? why is there civil magistrate? In order to answer this question, I want to use the ultimate cause of all things, God is the ultimate cause of all things, why? Because God wants to display his glory. God’s ultimate goal is to uphold and display his glory, whatever God does, he does it in order to show his Glory, why civil magistrate? God created civil magistrate so that he might display his glory, so we have civil magistrate because God wants to protect people and to punish evildoers. God makes politicians and gives them sword (weapons) in order to protect their countries, in fact every soldier who does not protect his country he does not know his responsibility therefore he does not deserve to be a soldier, failing to protect one’s country is treason. Let me provide a helpful illustration, I am from Congo-Kinshasa, if by God’s providence someday I become president of the democratic republic of Congo, I can with confidence launch an attack against all the rebels in Congo, I can kill all the rebels in Congo, because according to Romans 13:1-5 teaches that any one in authority is supposed to use his authority in a way that helps citizens. Or let me give an other illustration, let say that the president of Congo fails to protect the country and fails to help citizens and promotes corruptions, then in that case, if God calls me to be involved in politics or if I be in politics, then I can with confidence make a political movement and launch an attack against the corrupt government. Because I want to protect my country and to help citizens, in doing this God is glorified. Section two: it is biblical or it is accepted by God that Christians be involved in politics, it is God who creates a desire to be a politician, and it is God who calls Christian men and women to be politicians but Christians who are in politics or who wants to be politicians must resolve to live a holy life, they must not be involved in corruption, they must pursue peace in the country and they must pursue justice. LONG VERSION Under this version I will let my fellow theologians speak much and I will speak less. I am with A.A Hodge former lecturer in systematic theology at Princeton seminary in the Usa and Dr. R.C Sproul who was professor of systematic theology at Knox seminary and at reformed seminary, and he is the chairman of Ligonier ministry in the USA. And I wish to meet him someday, I like systematic theology and I honor those who give lectures in systematic theology. And I am with james Montgomery Boice and John Frame. In his doctrines of Grace pp.54 James writes” Kuyper was motivated by a love for both God and country, he wrote: one desire has been the ruling passion of my life. One high motive has acted like a spur upon my mind and soul, and sooner than that I should escape from the sacred necessity that is laid upon me…it is this: that is spite of all worldly oppositions, God’s holy ordinances shall be established again in the throne, in the school, and in the state for the good of people, to carve as it were , into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, to which Bible and creation bear witness, until the nation pays homage again to God.” Christians going into politics is not sin, what counts is the motive, if you want to be a politician you must resolve to glorify God, Kuyper was a christian and a theologian but he became the prime minister of the Netherlands he reslved to glorify God and for him being prime minister was a great opportunity to glorify God. 1 corinthians 10:31 “ so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” Matthew Henry in his commenatary writes “ in all we do, we should aim at the glory of God.” The glory of God should be our litmus paper in all we do. John Frame in the doctrine of the Christian life pp.302 he writes “ there is no area of life where we are not called both to glorify God and to enjoy Him.” In politics our aim should be to glorify God and to enjoy his glory in the face of sinners A.What is Government ? or what is civil magistrate ? I will let A.A Hodge answer this question, “civil government is a divine institution and hence the duty of obedience to our legitimate rulers is a duty owed to God as well as to our fellow men…some have supposed that the right or legitimate authority of human government has its foundation ultimately in the consent of the governed (the will of the majority) …it is self-evident that the divine will is the source of all government.” A.A Hodge, commentary on Westminster confession. Scripture back up Romans 13:1-5 Daniel 4:25. let me clarify what Hodge is trying to mean, by saying that civil government is a divine institution, he means that civil magistrate or politic is a work of God, civil magistrate does not originate from Satan or from Man, Civil magistrate originate from God alone, God is the one who makes a country and he is the one who makes people to be politicians , for example, South-Sudan is a new country, it is God who divided Sudan in order to form south-Sudan and it is God who made Salvakir to be president of south Sudan. Government does not come from the election of the people, government comes from God who elects a man and causes others to elect him, for example when people are voting for a president, God comes and he votes someone to be president he gives him a blessing of being a president and the same God on the day of the public election he comes and causes people to vote for the man whom God has determined to make president, so no one is president because he won the election, rather any one is president because God elected him. B.Civil Magistrate or Politic for the glory of God I urge you to pay much closer attention to this great theme, what I am going to say is the heart of civil Magistrate , if you do not understand what I am going to say, you will never understand what I have written above neither. Why do we have civil magistrate? To this I said that we have civil magistrate because God is the one who created civil magistrate, now why did God create any thing, from the bible we learn that God created all things for his own glory, this means that God created me for his own glory i.e He created me so that I might show forth his glory, he created lakes, oceans, forests, animals, demons, Satan, heavens, hell, men and women so that he might display his glory through them all, without exception. So if God created all things for his own glory (which is true) it means that he created also civil magistrate for his own glory. Let me again invite A.A Hodge, to explain to us how God created civil magistrate for his own glory. “to the good the magistrate is the minister of God for good, and to the evil he is a minister of God , an avenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil Rom13:4” A.A Hodge, commentary on Westminster confession. let me first define a politician, a politician is a leader engaged in civil administration, a person active in party politics. From this definition we can learn that presidents are not the only ones who are politicians, in fact any person who is engaged in civil administration is a politician, and this can be, any minister, any senator, any M.P (member of parliament) any lawyer, any spy, any soldier, any police, any L.C, any patriotic who wants to save his nation and so on, the list is so big. For those who do evil God has created politicians who will always punish them, in fact when politicians justly punish evil God is glorified, God is holy he hates evil, therefore it pleases Him, to make politicians who will punish evil, if someone is a thief, God hates stealing, therefore he will use politicians to punish the thieves, God hates killing, if some one kills a person, God will use politicians to kill that same killer, God hates tribalism, if someone is a racist, God will use politicians to put in prison that racist. God hates Bad government; if some one is a Bad President God will use politicians to fight against that bad president. Therefore we can see how politics glorify God. On the contrary if there is good governance God will cause many people to like such a government and protect it, to those who do good, those who love their country and protect it, God will give them promotion in their job. Recently God killed Adolph Hitler, God killed Sadam Hussein, God killed Mobutu and he will kill all the dictators very soon, God said you shall not kill. When God said you shall not kill, he was not giving himself a law, he was giving us a law, but for God he is not limited to his law, the laws of God belong to us not to God, God did not make laws so that he might keep them, he made the laws so that we might keep them for we are sinners in his sight, but as for God he is holy he does not need to obey any law, when God kills a person, he has the right to kill him, for he created him and since he has created him, he has the right to kill him when it is necessary and he kills him because God is holy every thing that he does, he does with holiness and love, so when I said that God killed Adolph Hitler, Sadam Hussein, and Mobutu, I was meaning that God used politicians to kill bad presidents. Adolph Hitler, Sadam Hussein and Mobutu are not the worst presidents, I just used them as an example, we have many selfish presidents God will kill them when the right time comes. I.civil magistrate should be done in a way that Glorifies Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is King of Kings, therefore professor A.A Hodge writes “ Roman 8:28, 1 Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 10:13, 1:6 , Revelation 5:9-13 hence the present providential governor of the physical universe and ruler among the nations is Jesus of Nazareth ..to whose will all laws should be conformed and whom all nations and all rulers of men should acknowledge and serve.” this is the point Hodge is trying to make, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is now the ruler among the nations, Christ is the supreme King of Europe, Christ is the supreme king of America, Christ is the supreme King of Africa, Christ is the supreme King of Australia, Christ is the supreme King of Canada or to put it in a most clear way, all the presidents are ambassadors of King Jesus. Therefore Christian politicians should resolve to conform their laws to the laws of Jesus Christ, in order to glorify Christ, Christian politicians should lead in a way that glorifies Christ, they should not do anything which scripture calls sin, they should function under the ten commandments and under the new testament truths, thus Christ will be glorified. A.A Hodge writes “the proximate end for which God has ordained magistrates is the promotion of the public good, and the ultimate end is the promotion of his own glory…if the glory of God is the chief end of every man, it must be the chief end equally of all nations, communities of men and it ought to be made the governing purpose of every individual in all his relations and actions , public and official as well as private and personal…the specific way in which the civil magistrate is to endeavor to advance the glory of God is through the promotion of the good of the community in temporal concerns, including education, morals, physical prosperity , the protection of life, and property and the preservation of order” Now I reach the Climax of my work, therefore like the Apostle paul, I am going to speak the truth in Christ, Romans 9:1 “ I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.” Let me draw seven truths from what Hodge has just said, Hodge has opened my eyes to the political truths. Truth 1: God has ordained Civil Magistrate for the promotion of public good: Politic exist so that citizens may be helped, may be provided for, may be served, may be protected, may be given what they need such as education, jobs, houses and so on.. therefore it is the duty of Christian politicians to glorifying God and Christ by serving the citizens. The bible says do not pursue your own interests but rather pursue the interests of your neighbor. So the Christian politicians should make it their principle to pursue the interests of their citizens. Truth 2: God has ordains Civil magistrate for the promotion of his own glory: the ultimate reason for the existence of Politic (Civil Magistrate) is that the glory of God may shine forth. Let me give 5 examples of the glory of God , what is the glory of God , the power of God is his glory, the justice of God is his glory, the holiness of God is his glory, the truth of God is his glory, the peace of God is his glory and so on… I choose to limit myself to the 5 examples of the glory of God because I need to use them in this paper in order to explain how politic exist for the glory of God. the power of God is the glory of God therefore Christian politicians should use their power in a way that God uses his power, they must protect their people and they must protect their nations, they should punish evil, for example they should not tolerate homosexuality, robbery, crimes. A Christian president should resolve to have a strong Army and Police so that security may be maintained in the country. The justice of God is his glory therefore Christian politicians should resolve to be just leaders, they should lead with justice, if a person is taken to court, Christian lawyers should seek to judge him with Justice not condemning the innocent and those Christian lawyers should condemn the guilty. The holiness of God is his glory, therefore Christian politicians should resolve to fight against anything that may cause the name of God to be dishonored. The truth of God is his glory, therefore Christian politicians should resolve to be men and women who speak the truth to the citizens, not playing around their minds. Lastly the peace of God is his glory, therefore Christian politicians should resolve to maintain peace in the country , every citizen must be protected and the whole nation should be protected. Truth 3: in civil magistrate, the glory of God should be the governing purpose of all men: Christian politicians should resolve to glorify God and to glorify Christ in everything they do, the glory of God should govern all their purpose in politic. I say, the glory of God should govern the will, the decision and the purpose of Christian politicians. Truth 4: glorifying God through Education: Civil magistrate is concerned with education, therefore I urge all Christian students to use their education in a way that glorifies God, whether you are doing medicine, or science, whether you are doing law or economy, whether you are doing public administration or geography, whether you are doing history or aviation, whether you are doing philosophy or theology, whether you are doing technology or agriculture ,whatever you are studying, the glory of God should be the chief end of your education, the glory of God should be your chief goal. Truth 5:glorifying God through physical prosperity : if you are a president, construct infrastructures in the country and creates Jobs for the citizens, build hospitals and schools. If you are in the army protect the country, kill every enemy within the country and out side the country. Truth 6: Glorifying God through protecting life and property: I dedicate this to any Christian soldier and to any Christian police. It is the duty of the army and of the police to protect life, simply life is protected by taking away an other life! I am not out of my mind, this is about civil magistrate, let me clarify what I am saying by an illustration, let say I am a general in the army, and rebels or other enemies want to attack my country or they attack my country, i will immediately stop them by launching an attack against them and it is obvious that many of them will die but as long I am fighting with right motives God is glorified. So Christian politicians should protect life by all means, in the same way a Christian magistrate should protect the goods, such as assets, infrastructures and so on… Truth 7:glorifying God through preserving order : when there is disorder in the country, Christian politicians should be determined to restore the country, but they should first be willing to die, because it is not easy to preserve order in the country. For example if there is corruption in the country Christian politicians should stand against it and glorify God by asking for order in the country, they may be persecuted but they must not stop seeking order in the country. POINT OF CONSIDERATION: Civil magistrate is a vocation, it is a calling, if you choose to be a magistrate when you are not called by God, you will be causing God to be against you. If any Christian thinks that God is calling him or her to civil magistrate, before getting involved in civil magistrate he or she should pray and resolve to function under the ten commandments and under the new testament principles, I mean he or she should resolve to lead in a way that glorifies God. because civil magistrate is a calling or vocation, I believer that God will give all the Christian magistrate wisdom to lead, he will give them his Holy Spirit to teach them how to lead. II. I URGE YOU, O, CHRISTIAN POLITICIANS OR MAGISTRATES CONSIDER THE HOLY SPIRIT Without the Holy Spirit no one will ever be able to glorify God, the Holy Spirit is the one who glorifies Christ, He is the one who glorifies the Father, therefore in civil magistrate in order to glorify God a Christian politician should be attentive to the Holy Spirit, he or she should be obedient to the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit, can lead him or her in all the truth concerning politics and the Holy Spirit can give him or her the wisdom to be a good leader, the Holy Spirit can help him or her to lead and the Holy Spirit can give him or her victory. If you are a Christian politician or if you want to be a Christian politician, you must work with the Holy Spirit, consider how David worked with the Holy Spirit, when attacking Goliath with confidence young David said “ who is this Philistia who defy God and his army…you attack me with spears but I come against you in the name of God” do you see how David relied on the Holy Spirit and he defeated Goliath. Let me invite Dr. R.C Sproul to say something about the Holy Spirit , DR. R.C Sproul in truth we confess he said “the first people to be filled with the Holy Spirit were the artisans whom God called to fashion the holy vessels and furniture of the tabernacle in the Old testament…the Spirit gifted them to produce works of arts…as Christians we should think our careers as vocations …the reformation concepts of vocation was that God’s calling…can involve tasks outside the church and can include government service…that does not mean that every Job is something that a Christian can, in good conscience, do , God does not call people to be prostitutes, because that business is forbidden by the word of God.” GOLDEN APPLICATION Again A.A Hodge writes “Christian magistrate should also seek in their influential positions to promote piety as well as order 1 timothy 2:1-2this they are to do…….but personally by their example….by explicit recognition of God and of Jesus Christ “as ruler among nations” and by the enactment and enforcement of all laws conceived in true spirit of the Gospel, touching all questions upon which scriptures indicate the will of God .” Christian politicians that is Christian magistrates, or those Christians who want to be politicians should seek to promote piety that is holiness in their positions, they should seek to promote order in the country and they should by their example lead in a way that shows how God and Christ are ruler among nations, they should be limited by holy scriptures in all their decisions , this means that scripture should determine their decisions and any idea which is against scripture should be rejected publicly, but in order to glorify God in Politic sometime it requires to hate your own life and accept to die for the cause of God, for example consider how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3) glorified God in their politic, these three men were politicians under King Nebuchadnezzar, but because they had resolved to function under the ten commandments, when Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to worship images they refused because the first commandment says “ you shall have no other gods before Me (God the creator)” God was glorified by the politic of these three young politicians who obeyed God, and for their sake God was angry at king Nebuchadnezzar and God punished him later, in the same way Daniel refused and was thrown into the den of the lions. So Christians, before you get involved in politic you should first hate and forget your life and resolve to function under the Ten Commandments and under the gospel, in politic do not cross the barriers that scripture has set. CONCLUSION Lastly A.A Hodge writes “it is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate. This is evident enough. Indeed in the highest sense, it is lawful for none other than Christians to be magistrates or anything else, since it is a violation of God’s will that any man is not a Christian. And the greater the number and the importance of the relations a man assumes, the greater becomes his obligation to be a Christian in order that he may be qualified to discharge them all for the glory of God and the good of all concerned.” This is breath taking, when I read this for the first time I paused and I was in great amazement, how can A.A Hodge say that it is lawful for none other than Christians to be magistrates or anything else, since it is a violation of God’s will that any man is not a Christian. But if we go back to why God has created Civil magistrates we can notice how much A.A Hodge was a wise man. God created civil magistrates in order to display his glory and we know that Christians are the only men who can display the glory of God, so it is not the will of God that a pagan (unbeliever) be a politician, it is the will of God that politicians should be only Christians, Hodge says that it is a violation of the will of God that any man is not a Christian or to put it in an other way, it can mean, that it is a violation of God’s will that a Pagan is a politician, from Hodge we can notice how the glory of God should be the chief end in politics. the puritans built America on the principles of the Bible and president Abraham Lincoln did the same thing and God blessed America but very soon America will fall because it is now violating the Bible, God will fall heavy upon America and it will collapse. In brief it is my prayer that God raise up Christian politicians who will restore the glory of God in leadership. The myth that politic is dirty game: the saying that Politic is a dirty game is not true, it is not biblical, politic is not a dirty game, to those who do not have Christ as their Lord politic is a dirty game, for they are corrupt and seek to corrupt every one but to those who have Christ as their Lord Politic is an opportunity to glorify God in the face of millions and millions of people. To a believer everything is pure nothing is defiled but to an unbeliever everything is sin even the prayers of an unbeliever are considered as sin. So it is lawful, it is the will of God that many Christians be politicians, if you are a Christian do not let the devil lie to you that politic is a dirty game, politic is meant to glorify God, only Christians are the only ones who can be able to glorify God therefore I agree with Hodge that only Christians should be politicians for they are the ones who can glorify God in politics, I conclude by restating what I stated at the beginning when I was quoting my teacher Dr. Jack C. Whytock. My teacher Dr. Whytock said “if any student of Divinity wants to be a politician, he must resolve to function under the Ten Commandments. power corrupts , the more you stay in power, the more you get corrupt, only the Godly can stand it. Yes indeed, only the Godly can stand politic, only the true Christians can stand civil magistrate or only the true believer are to be magistrates for the glory of God. Amen Olivier Nguweneza, in the blessed Holy trinity. Bibliography i.westminster confession of faith, free Presbyterian publications ii.Hodge, A.A. commentary on the confession. iii. Sproul, R.C. truths we confess. P&R.philpsburg.2006 iv.M.Boice, James, the doctrines of grace,crossway books 2002 v. Matthew, Henry. Commentary, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992 vi.John, Frame, the doctrine of the Christian life, P&R publishing, new jersey 2001