35 molecules in the atmosphere.” Eventually, the questions become more fundamental even though they may begin in the same place. So, “Why is the sky blue?” grows into “Why is physical reality the way it is?” If we truly narrow things, all of life’s questions are the same: “Why?” Answers must begin or end in one of two places. “God” or “not God.” Tomes have been, and forevermore will be, written about these answers. Cultures coalesce and fracture around these answers, which, like it or not, shape society; either reality, for most, is grounded in the sacred or it is not. Embracing the initial path leads to many other forks, but this is one we cannot avoid. The origin of government begins in the same place. Political philosophers are famous for a thought experiment referred to as “a state of nature,” or a setting in which humans are free from either society or government. The conditions established within this “state” are frequently used to justify the need for government (as with John Locke3), or as an ideal setting before humans were tainted by government and society (as with Jean-Jacques Rousseau4), or as a starting place for particular conceptions of justice (John Rawls5). Regardless of the motivation or outcome, the state of nature is deliberately devoid of God. If we take Genesis 1–3 seriously, no matter how we interpret some elements, there is no “state of nature” divorced from God and His supernatural intervention in His creation. God was not only the active part of the creative process, He was a presence among His creatures. Eden was not separated from divine reality, but the divine defined the reality, including the potential need for government, even in that setting. One might argue that the Fall resulted in a “state of nature,” and that this state is more reflective of this philosophical construction, but the Fall was a consequence of God’s curse, so sin, not some sort of benign humanity, would be the defining characteristic of this condition. Such an environment would share little in common with most states of nature, except for maybe that of Thomas Hobbes6, who saw life without government as a destructive war between mutually fearful and selfinterested individuals. However, even for Hobbes, government resulted primarily from the human need for government for self-protection as opposed to being rooted in a divine decree. 3 John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, edited by C. B. Macpherson. Hackett Publishing Co., 1980. 4 Jean Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men. Hackett Publishing Co., 1992. 5 John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, revised edition. Belknap Press, 1999. 6 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan. Hackett Publishing Co, 1994.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=