A Biblical Case for Anarchy
Written by Chris Chew.
This biblical analysis is directed to anyone who believes in the teachings of the Christian Bible and still supports “government”. I hope this analysis and the questions that accompany it prove helpful to you in your quest for truth, and I hope that it will help to bring harmony between your convictions and your actions. I am sincerely grateful to all who give of their time to consider what I, a former Anarchist Christian (now Anarchist Atheist), have to share.
This is my attempt at meeting Christians where they are and to shed light on a matter of great importance, while avoiding an open assault on theism. To preface, I will speak briefly about my personal stance on theism, but I want to stress that the purpose of this write-up is not to convince you of the facts (or lack thereof) in support or in opposition to the existence of a god or gods. The purpose of this write-up is to persuade individuals who believe in the Christian god to reconsider the belief in “government authority” and to highlight the violence and wickedness inherent in that belief which is manifest in the State. I hope that this might also provide tools for liberty-minded atheists and anti-theists when conversing with Christians.
My Stance:
I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support the existence of a god or gods, but I am not opposed to the possibility that such evidence might someday emerge. I believe in Liberty, and my stance on the belief in “government” manifest (the State) is that it is antithetical to Liberty. With regard to theism and its relation to the State, I believe that theism has been used by the State to great effect as an extremely powerful and persuasive tool of control over the masses. The following quote illustrates this point fairly well:
“As long as a population can be induced to believe in a supernatural hereafter, it can be oppressed and controlled. People will put up with all sorts of tyranny, poverty, and painful treatment if they’re convinced that they’ll eventually escape to some resort in the sky where lifeguards are superfluous and the pool never closes. Moreover, the faithful are usually willing to risk their skins in whatever military adventure their government may currently be promoting.” ― Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All
Now, let’s move on to the meat of the write-up.
Matthew 4:8-10
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’””
There are a series of inferences that can be derived from this verse:
- Satan believes that all of “the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” belong to him (Satan).
- The Christian Bible states that God is the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega. If this is true, and the kingdoms of the world truly *do* belong to Satan, such power must have derived or been “delegated” to him by God. This is evidenced in John 12:31, which refers to Satan as “the prince of this world”, which implies that Satan is the recipient of power to rule upon this world and all of its kingdoms from God the Almighty (God, or “The King” as he is referred to numerous times in the Bible).
- Satan has the power to give dominion over the kingdoms of the world.
- Jesus does not refute Satan’s claim of dominion over the kingdoms of the world. Rather, he refuses Satan’s offer, thus refusing to serve Satan per the scripture and the “word of God”.
- If all of the kingdoms of the world belong to Satan, then Satan has the authority (which was given to him) to give dominion over the kingdoms of the world (Ownership implies Authority).
- Lastly, the criteria which Satan demands of those who wish to have dominion over the kingdoms of the world is that they “bow down and worship” him (Satan).
Given the above inferences, here are two questions I encourage all Statist Christians to consider:
- If, according to the Christian Bible, all of the kingdoms of the world belong to Satan, and the criteria to exercise dominion over those kingdoms (as demanded from Satan, the entity upon whom authority over the kingdoms of the world was bestowed) is to “bow down and worship” him (Satan), is it any surprise that those with dominion over today’s kingdoms (be it the United States “government”, or *any* of the other kingdoms of this world) operate solely upon actions which directly violate your god’s 10 Commandments, including (but not limited to):
- Using Theft on a massive scale (disguised under the ambiguous and deceptive term “taxation”, which is simply theft with permission from the rulers, or “legalized” theft)
- Killing on a biblical-scale (disguised under the ambiguous and deceptive term “war”, which is simply killing on a massive scale with permission from the rulers, or “legalized” killing)
- Bearing False Witness by lying and deceiving the masses in order to gain their approval and favor (such as using ambiguous and deceptive terms when referring to their wickedness, which are designed in order to deceive and make it easier for the masses to overlook or to accept the institutionalization of sin).
- And playing on people’s tendency to Covet Their Neighbor’s Possessions, this being one of the most powerful ways that rulers gain the support of those they claim the right to rule over. Whether it is the ruler who covets a share of the wealth of the peasants (a share which they, the rulers, did not justly acquire), or the peasants who covet the property of their neighbors, *to covet* is most certainly the lifeblood of all “governments”, *especially* those which utilize Democracy as a means of fabricating the “right to rule”.
- And secondly, should you (as a Christian) take any part in activities which attempt to legitimize the wickedness that is committed by the rulers of the kingdoms of this world, or by those who act on their behalf?
Again, thank you for taking the time to consider these words and it is my sincere hope that this has been helpful to you in some way.
___________________________
If you enjoyed this post, please consider sending a bitcoin tip to Chris at: 1M3gLY9K1xTXBCPNBXUb9SQv5jgfbM
One reader offered some valid critiques of this writeup that I thought were worth addressing.
I had initially left my personal stances on theism out of the writeup, but later felt it would be disingenuous to write a Biblical analysis without offering some context about myself (I am an atheist), and the intent of the writeup itself. I personally do not have investment in the teachings of Christianity, but seeing as I was a Christian for nearly 25 years of my life, and have been an Anarchist for all of 2 years, it is difficult not to reflect upon the beliefs of my past, and to point out just how antithetical the State is to the commandments and teachings I once accepted as truth.
The reader made an astute observation when pointing out my lack of sources for the delegation by god of authority to rule over the earth which encouraged me to do a bit more research on that topic. Sometimes you never know what beliefs you are taking for granted until someone points them out to you.
According to the Christian Bible in the book of Genesis 1:26-28, god created mankind in his image and gave it “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” and he said “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
So, the story goes that god created mankind in his image, and gave it dominion/authority over the earth and all living creatures on the earth. It was not until Satan deceived mankind in Genesis chapter 3, that man relinquished its authority over the earth to Satan.
So, according to the Christian bible, God gave man dominion over the Earth; when man willfully sided with Satan, man became controlled by Satan and sin, and through fallen man, Satan gained power over the Earth.
I need to look this scripture over and add it to what I have been working on, or rather, sitting on, here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/jesse-phal-sittner/anarchy-god-jesus-and-the-bible-unfinished/687129934661368
You are reading to much in to all of this, more so if you understand the world couldn’t possibly last forever in it’s present form.
This is all one big test, we were given free choice, without evil there is no choice, which would be the reason for satans rule over the earth.
I could tell you of my personal experience’s of how I am positive there is a God and Jesus saved me, but because you don’t know me, it would just be another story. He will let you know He is really there, if you want to know bad enough. This is not a half hearted adventure, it is all or nothing.
Sorry, that was, more so if you don’t understand.
I agree with you, but I’d like to take a moment and point out one flaw. You state that the state violates the 10 commandments, which it does, that’s a given of course, but you mention killing specifically. The Ten Commandments, or Ten Statements if you are Jewish, do not forbid killing. The 6th Commandment is often mis-quoted/translated as “You shall not kill.” when it is actually “You shall not murder.” Look into Genesis 14:14-16, Exodus 21:12-13, Exodus 22:2, Exodus 2:11-12, Numbers 35:22-25. By reading these you will discover that an accidental killing is not murder, a killing performed in self-defense is not murder, and a killing performed in an attempt to save the life of an innocent person is not murder. Remember, if it doesn’t violate the NAP, it’s not necessarily forbidden by God.
Otherwise great article. I love the rest of the site and have been a longtime visitor. I look forward to the next one.
Everyday, more and more people are waking up the 500 year old lie that we live on a spinning ball. The earth is flat. I know, I know, this subject is right up there with lizard people but it’s worth your time to try to debunk it. Atheists don’t do well with a flat earth because the modern, Atheist, Big Bang, Heliocentric, Globe-Earth, chance evolution paradigm, spiritually controls humanity by removing God, or any sort of intelligent design, and replaces purposeful, divine creation with haphazard random cosmic coincidence. By turning earth into a spinning ball, thrown around the sun and shot through infinite space from a godless big bang, they turned humanity into a random meaningless, purposeless accident of a blind, dumb universe. It’s like trauma based mind control, beating the divinity out of us with their mental manipulations.