Absolute Authority

A life without absolute authority is a life without direction. It is hard to imagine living in a society without a universal standard of morality. Who has the right to say of what is good and what is evil in this world? Let us take a look in the past when no government existed. In an article entitled , Why Do We Need Government, two English philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke speculated about the kind of place the world would be if there were no government.1 Hobbes believed it was in a "state of nature" in which the life-sustaining needs and passions of individuals dictated their interactions with each other. With no governmental authority to settle disputes between individuals, each person acted as a sovereign--an authority that answers to no one but itself. Because every individual in the state of nature was autonomous and because food and other items people wanted were scarce, life in the state of nature would be characterized by an incessant war of "every man against every man." It was an existence that Hobbes characterized as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."2 But then our government is run by people who are just like us. The question now is this, What is the basis or standard of morality of our political leaders? Let us consider Hitler. A political leader who shocked the world. He killed millions of people and he believed that what he did was justified and right. What is sad to know is that Hitler believed in the authority of God but still he committed barbaric acts which he considered good. Hitler best sums up his belief of Aryan superiority and his stand against the Jews with his declaration in Mein Kampf: "I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.."3 So how much more for those who rejected God as the absolute authority? In the case of Hitler, we may say that it happened because Hitler did not really know the true meaning of the words of God. I believe that if he really acknowledge the authority of God then he would not have done what he did. It is because God is good. I believe that Hitler just used God as an excuse or justification of his horrible actions. It is frightening to know that there are people who do not believe in the absolute authority of God but it is

more frightening to know that there are people who are using the name of God for their selfish interests. These instances will teach us that if we really do not acknowledge and follow the absolute authority of God with all our hearts then evil will come. According to William Penn if we will not be governed by God then we will be governed by tyrants.4 The more a culture rejects the absolute authority of the Word of God beginning in Genesis, the more that the Christian worldview/structure built on this foundation will begin to disintegrate. As a Biblical foundation is replaced with an evolutionary/millions of years foundation that basically teaches that man by himself determines truth, then one would expect to see an increase in abortion, homosexual behavior, lawlessness, euthanasia, suicide, collapse of the family, sexual perversion, etc. in the culture.5 Even in the Declaration of Independence which was signed in 1776, Samuel Adams declared: "We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come." "He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man...The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people."6 So what is the absolute authority? As a Christian, I do believe that it is God. Only Him can give our lives a sense of direction and meaning .

References: 1. http://www.thisnation.com/textbook/whygovt-philosophy.html 2. http://www.thisnation.com/textbook/whygovt-philosophy.html 3. http://www.nobeliefs.com/hitler-myths.htm

4. http://www.allabouttruth.org/moral-ethics.htm
5. http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/overheads/pages/oh20010316_7.asp

Submitted by: Rosie G. Alvior