Books in Brief: Beyond Good Intentions

Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics, by Doug Bandow (Crossways, 271 pp., $9.95)

The best-known libertarians, such as Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard, have spent much time and energy writing shrill denunciations of religion, Christianity in particular, arguing that religious faith tends to lead to fanaticism and government oppression, and therefore threatens individual liberty. What’s unusual about Doug Bandow, a libertarian and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, is that he not only believes firmly in the inerrancy of Scripture, but indeed finds support in the Bible for the political doctrines of Rand and Rothbard. Faith and freedom are not mutually exclusive, Bandow argues in this provocative new book. In fact, he offers evidence to suggest that freedom cannot long survive without religious faith. The great problem facing America today, he believes, is that “the expansive state has increasingly replaced God as the creator and sustainer of life.” In making his case, Bandow cites God’s extraordinary warning to the Israelites when they demanded to be ruled by a king. You don’t want a king, God said through the prophet Samuel, for “he will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses . . . He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants . . . He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves” (1 Samuel 8:11-17). Bandow goes on to look at how principles found in the Bible can be applied to today’s questions of public policy. On poverty, for example, he cites Jesus: “The poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7). And, although the Bible commands Christians to extend a helping hand to the needy, St. Paul suggests that the idle do not deserve to eat: “Keep away from every brother who is idle,” for men are to “earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 12). Other specific issues Bandow discusses in relation to Biblical precepts include foreign aid, criminal justice, drugs, education, comparable worth, and regional conflicts with the Soviet Union. However, since God addresses individuals, not governments, Bandow freely admits that what the Bible generally supplies is broad principles, not concrete answers to specific public-policy questions. On the whole,

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Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics, by Doug Bandow (Crossways, 271 pp., $9.95)

The best-known libertarians, such as Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard, have spent much time and energy writing shrill denunciations of religion, Christianity in particular, arguing that religious faith tends to lead to fanaticism and government oppression, and therefore threatens individual liberty. What’s unusual about Doug Bandow, a libertarian and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, is that he not only believes firmly in the inerrancy of Scripture, but indeed finds support in the Bible for the political doctrines of Rand and Rothbard. Faith and freedom are not mutually exclusive, Bandow argues in this provocative new book. In fact, he offers evidence to suggest that freedom cannot long survive without religious faith. The great problem facing America today, he believes, is that “the expansive state has increasingly replaced God as the creator and sustainer of life.” In making his case, Bandow cites God’s extraordinary warning to the Israelites when they demanded to be ruled by a king. You don’t want a king, God said through the prophet Samuel, for “he will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses . . . He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants . . . He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves” (1 Samuel 8:11-17). Bandow goes on to look at how principles found in the Bible can be applied to today’s questions of public policy. On poverty, for example, he cites Jesus: “The poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7). And, although the Bible commands Christians to extend a helping hand to the needy, St. Paul suggests that the idle do not deserve to eat: “Keep away from every brother who is idle,” for men are to “earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 12). Other specific issues Bandow discusses in relation to Biblical precepts include foreign aid, criminal justice, drugs, education, comparable worth, and regional conflicts with the Soviet Union. However, since God addresses individuals, not governments, Bandow freely admits that what the Bible generally supplies is broad principles, not concrete answers to specific public-policy questions. On the whole,