Civil Disobedience

#1 · March 30, 2003, 7:17 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on March 30, 2003, 7:17 pm
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

Civil Disobedience

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)

"Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work," (Titus 3:1)

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors..." (II Peter 2:13, 14a)

We find two very classic biblical examples of civil disobedience in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. I will give them here very briefly before dealing with a modern activity that is labeled as "civil disobedience".

The Three Hebrew Children

They were told to bow and worship the image of the false god that Nebuchadnezzar had made. They respectfully but firmly refused to do any such thing, because to do so would have been to disobey God. In their case God worked a miracle in keeping them from harm in the fiery furnace that the king had awaiting them as punishment.

Daniel in the Lion's Den

Again, the same principle was at stake. The main difference was that the three Hebrew children omitted the civil authority's commanded duty, but Daniel did what was forbidden. He was told not to pray to any god, but to the king. He prayed three times a day to the true God as he had always done. Again, God miraculously delivered him from the den of lions that was his punishment for civil disobedience. And, again, Daniel showed the greatest of respect and loyalty to the civil authority, the king, as he possibly could without disobeying God.

The "Civil Disobedience" of Today (March 2003 USA)

I find it rather interesting in a time of war that some protestors of the war are expressing their protest by what they call "civil disobedience". I have always thought of civil disobedience in terms of what Christians must sometimes do in order to keep a pure conscience before God. What these protestors are doing is something entirely different.

Let us compare and contrast the two types of "civil disobedience".

The Comparison: The only thing I find that is similar is the actual fact of disobeying the civil law of the land. In other words, a strict, literal definition of civil obedience applies both to the war protestor of today and the Christian who feels he must disobey some law in order to please God first.

The Contrast:

1. The "civil disobedience" of the war protestors is something done to spite the war and the authorities of our land. The true Christian disobeys civil law only when that particular law goes against the clear law and authority of God. It is the case of obeying the highest authority. The very civil authorities are established by God and derive their authority from Him. If they usurp His authority we must obey God first of all.

2. The protestors' "civil disobedience" appears to be a flagrant rebellious act against the authorities; but, that of the conscientious Christian, which is sometimes necessary, is done with utmost respect for authority and with a humble attitude of reluctance that such an act must be performed or omission be made.

3. At least some of the protestor's type of "civil disobedience" is hurtful to their neighbors. For instance, they plant themselves bodily in city street intersections and thus disrupt the flow of business and the necessary activities of the lives of their fellow citizens. The true Christian lives by the "Golden Rule" -- "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:" (Matthew 7:12). This higher law of God definitely prohibits any "civil disobedience" that would hurt or hinder our fellow man.

Someone might say, "This is hypocritical! We go off to hurt others in war, but yet we say we would follow the 'Golden Rule'."

While to some protestors this might seem a logical argument, we should look deeper into the meaning of such a teaching. It is the height of fulfillment of the "Golden Rule" to send our military forces to liberate other oppressed peoples when we will very well be sacrificing some of the lives of our own to do so. In a similar way it is also unselfish and Golden Rule-like of our troops to go fight against a very evil enemy in order to preserve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" of their fellow citizens back in the homeland.

While I certainly understand and make allowance for those who truly conscientiously object to war, I also understand that Christians who do so will do so with respect for authority and with a motive to please God and to help their fellow man.

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note to others who may
be interested or helped by it.
To subscribe to FREE Bible Notes just send an empty e-mail to
[email protected]

Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

Civil Disobedience

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)

"Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work," (Titus 3:1)

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors..." (II Peter 2:13, 14a)

We find two very classic biblical examples of civil disobedience in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. I will give them here very briefly before dealing with a modern activity that is labeled as "civil disobedience".

The Three Hebrew Children

They were told to bow and worship the image of the false god that Nebuchadnezzar had made. They respectfully but firmly refused to do any such thing, because to do so would have been to disobey God. In their case God worked a miracle in keeping them from harm in the fiery furnace that the king had awaiting them as punishment.

Daniel in the Lion's Den

Again, the same principle was at stake. The main difference was that the three Hebrew children omitted the civil authority's commanded duty, but Daniel did what was forbidden. He was told not to pray to any god, but to the king. He prayed three times a day to the true God as he had always done. Again, God miraculously delivered him from the den of lions that was his punishment for civil disobedience. And, again, Daniel showed the greatest of respect and loyalty to the civil authority, the king, as he possibly could without disobeying God.

The "Civil Disobedience" of Today (March 2003 USA)

I find it rather interesting in a time of war that some protestors of the war are expressing their protest by what they call "civil disobedience". I have always thought of civil disobedience in terms of what Christians must sometimes do in order to keep a pure conscience before God. What these protestors are doing is something entirely different.

Let us compare and contrast the two types of "civil disobedience".

The Comparison: The only thing I find that is similar is the actual fact of disobeying the civil law of the land. In other words, a strict, literal definition of civil obedience applies both to the war protestor of today and the Christian who feels he must disobey some law in order to please God first.

The Contrast:

1. The "civil disobedience" of the war protestors is something done to spite the war and the authorities of our land. The true Christian disobeys civil law only when that particular law goes against the clear law and authority of God. It is the case of obeying the highest authority. The very civil authorities are established by God and derive their authority from Him. If they usurp His authority we must obey God first of all.

2. The protestors' "civil disobedience" appears to be a flagrant rebellious act against the authorities; but, that of the conscientious Christian, which is sometimes necessary, is done with utmost respect for authority and with a humble attitude of reluctance that such an act must be performed or omission be made.

3. At least some of the protestor's type of "civil disobedience" is hurtful to their neighbors. For instance, they plant themselves bodily in city street intersections and thus disrupt the flow of business and the necessary activities of the lives of their fellow citizens. The true Christian lives by the "Golden Rule" -- "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:" (Matthew 7:12). This higher law of God definitely prohibits any "civil disobedience" that would hurt or hinder our fellow man.

Someone might say, "This is hypocritical! We go off to hurt others in war, but yet we say we would follow the 'Golden Rule'."

While to some protestors this might seem a logical argument, we should look deeper into the meaning of such a teaching. It is the height of fulfillment of the "Golden Rule" to send our military forces to liberate other oppressed peoples when we will very well be sacrificing some of the lives of our own to do so. In a similar way it is also unselfish and Golden Rule-like of our troops to go fight against a very evil enemy in order to preserve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" of their fellow citizens back in the homeland.

While I certainly understand and make allowance for those who truly conscientiously object to war, I also understand that Christians who do so will do so with respect for authority and with a motive to please God and to help their fellow man.

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note to others who may
be interested or helped by it.
To subscribe to FREE Bible Notes just send an empty e-mail to
[email protected]