Dec
11

The Bible, Voters, and the 2008 Presidential Election: Keeping First Things First by David Barton

david barton

As the November 2008 Presidential Election approaches, the Bible (as well as American history) offers sound counsel to people of faith to help determine their selection for President. That counsel will be examined in this book, which is written primarily for persons of Biblical faith – for those who hold the Scriptures as the authority in their lives. Regrettably, this does not encompass all who call themselves Christian, Jew, Protestant, or Catholic, for many individuals in each of those categories are not Biblical in their thinking. † And while some of the rhetoric in this work is specifically Christian, the principles are firmly grounded in the Scriptures and are therefore Judeo-Christian and thus appropriate for both Christians and Jews.

Maintaining a National and not a Personal Perspective

  • Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. PROVERBS 14:34
  • Righteousness alone can exalt [America] as a nation. Reader! Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself and encourage it in others.
  • I have one great political idea. . . . It is in substance, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34]. . . . This constitutes my politics – the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics.
  • If the time ever comes when we shall go to pieces, it will . . . [be] from losing sight of the fact that “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34]. . . . Unless we hold firmly to the great principles of righteousness [enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, in the Golden Rule, in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount], [America,] if it continues to exist, will be a curse and not a blessing.

Because the Scripture unequivocally declares that “Righteousness exalts a nation,” then the issues that the Bible identifies as directly impacting national righteousness should be foremost in Biblical voters’ minds as they select a President. Dozens of Bible passages affirm that a nation’s righteousness is determined by its public policies and how well they conform to God’s standards; only God-honoring policies that lead to God-honoring actions can exalt a nation.

How can a nation achieve God-honoring policies? William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution and a U. S. Supreme Court Justice, answered that question by citing Proverbs 29:2, 11 which says:

When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
God-honoring public policies in a nation are the result of God-honoring public officials enacting those policies. Therefore, if righteousness (i.e., God-honoring policy) is to exalt a nation, then a nation must have leaders like Daniel, Nehemiah, David, or Moses rather than Ahab, Jezebel, Manasseh, or Jeroboam.
In America, the only way there will be God-honoring public officials is if God-honoring citizens elect them. As Founding Father Noah Webster reminded citizens in his day:

The Scriptures teach. . . . that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness . . . . It is to the neglect of this rule of conduct in our citizens that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust, peculations , and embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves.

Therefore, the first and foremost consideration in choosing a President † is whether that individual will advance policies upholding Biblical standards of righteousness and oppose policies that encourage what the Bible defines as sin or unrighteous behavior. For this reason, issues involving Biblical righteousness – i.e., Biblical rights and wrongs – must always take precedence over economic, environmental, health care, energy, and other issues. These other issues are important, but recall from Matthew 6 that Jesus told His disciples that if they would make the pursuit of righteousness their primary emphasis, then everything else would be provided . However, if economic issues become the primary focus for voters, the nation usually ends up attaining neither the economic prosperity voters desired nor the national righteousness that should have been their primary concern in the first place.
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