Book Review: Politics According to the Bible

Title: Politics According to the Bible

Author: Wayne Grudem

Recommended for: Christians interested in politics in America

This is not a book about politics in general. This is a book about America. Grudem quotes from the founding documents nearly as often as  from the Bible, and even his ‘Basic Principles’ section includes sections like “Churches and the IRS.” As a Canadian living in China, I had hoped for discussion of politics on a global scale. Still, an application of biblical principles to American issues is welcome, and the points that Grudem makes are generally salient and reasonable.

Some of the basic questions that the book deals with, however, seem to me to have far less scriptural support than he assumes. In the section “Governments should safeguard human liberty,” asks the all-important question, “What freedoms should be protected by civil government?” His answer comes entirely from the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. Yet it is the answer to this question that is one of the crucial separators between nations. Does the Bible have nothing to say about it?

I would recommend this as a great reference volume for American Christians and as a discussion starter on the Bible and human society, but not as the last word on politics according to the Bible.

---