I'm looking for passages that expressly defend voluntarism in the bible. I'm not that well versed in it yet so I dont know where to look.
If anyone knows of a passage forbidding christians from ruling others coercively or anything of that nature could you post it? I seem to recall a passage of that nature But I haven't found it.
There's a whole section in this book, Mainspring of Human Progress, that deals with that but I can't recall if they cite specific passages.
There are many parts in the Bible where the "good guys" steal land and kill for seemingly no reason. But to answer your question you should check out 1 Samuel 8. In this passage God specifically warns them about statism and what will happen when they appoint a king like the neigboring countries.
"10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. 11 He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. 12 “He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 “He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 “He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16 “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD’S hearing. 22 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”"
"Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." -Milton Friedman
"It is a mistake to think businessmen are more immoral than politicians." -John Maynard Keynes
See my below article:
James Redford, author of "Jesus Is an Anarchist," revised and expanded edition, June 1, 2006 (first published at Anti-State.com on December 19, 2008) http://praxeology.net/anarchist-jesus.pdf
"Terrorism is the health of the state."--James Redford, author of "Jesus Is an Anarchist," revised and expanded edition, June 1, 2006 (first published at Anti-State.com on December 19, 2008) http://praxeology.net/anarchist-jesus.pdf
Theophysics (a website with information on Prof. Frank J. Tipler's Omega Point Theory) http://theophysics.gigacities.net http://geocities.com/theophysics/
This site is rather extensive:
http://members.aol.com/VFTfiles/thesis/summaryAT.htm
Physiocrat: This site is rather extensive: http://members.aol.com/VFTfiles/thesis/summaryAT.htm
Awesome essay. Thanks for the link.
Gary North has written extensively about free markets and the Bible.
http://www.garynorth.com/public/department57.cfm
Here are a few I know of:
Proverbs 6:6-8 6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
"We have thus stepped back from the position our ancestors occupied; for we allow under the flag of justice, and consecrate in the name of the law, what was imposed on them by violence alone."
Solid_Choke: 19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD’S hearing. 22 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”"
19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD’S hearing. 22 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”"
Notice that those are the same arguments presented by non-libertarians today: national defense, and the rule of law. Nothing has changed, and, unfortunately, the Samuels of the world have not yet succeeded in persuading the masses.
Ironically, it says right in the Bible that loyalty to the State is disloyalty to Jehovah.
1 Samuel 8:4-22 - [Verse 7 in Original Hebrew] 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased F34 Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
Hi Mr. Banned & Austrian folks,
I'd like to add my 5-cents to this thread.
I haven't studied the New Testament, however I'm able to recall some relevant parts in the Old Testament which contain laws forbidding coercion and commanding fair business procedures:
Leviticus 19:1-20:27:
11. You shall not steal. You shall not deny falsely. You shall not lie, one man to his fellow. 13. You shall not oppress your fellow. You shall not rob. The hired worker's wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning. 33. When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not taunt him. 34. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be as a native from among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 36. You shall have true scales, true weights, a true ephah (measure for dry bulks), and as true hin (measure for liquids).
The remaining texts are extracted from the classical Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers"), which is one of my favorites:
On guv'mint:
Ch. 2.3. Be careful with the government, for they befriend a person only for their own needs. They appear to be friends when it is beneficial to them, but they do not stand by a person at the time of his distress. On property: Ch. 2.12. Rabbi Yossei would say: The property of your fellow should be as precious to you as your own. An insight on the conflicting roles of faith in God x faith in guv'mint: Ch. 3.5. Rabbi Nechunia the son of Hakanah would say: One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah (Divine Law) is exempted from the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares; but one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares. On voluntarism and free will: Ch. 3.15. All is foreseen, and freedom of choice is granted. The world is judged with goodness, but in accordance with the amount of man's positive deeds. An interesting text which has dual interpretation - both in the literal, i.e., business-related meaning and also in the spiritual context: Ch. 3.16. He (Rabbi Akiva) would also say: Everything is placed in pledge, and a net is spread over all the living. The store is open, the storekeeper extends credit, the account-book lies open, the hand writes, and all who wish to borrow may come and borrow. The collection-officers make their rounds every day and exact payment from man, with his knowledge and without his knowledge. Their case is well founded, the judgement is a judgement of truth, and ultimately, all is prepared for the feast. [a bit mystical, this ending...] Hope this helps. Kind regards from Rio, R. Halevy
On property:
Ch. 2.12. Rabbi Yossei would say: The property of your fellow should be as precious to you as your own.
An insight on the conflicting roles of faith in God x faith in guv'mint:
Ch. 3.5. Rabbi Nechunia the son of Hakanah would say: One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah (Divine Law) is exempted from the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares; but one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares.
On voluntarism and free will:
Ch. 3.15. All is foreseen, and freedom of choice is granted. The world is judged with goodness, but in accordance with the amount of man's positive deeds.
An interesting text which has dual interpretation - both in the literal, i.e., business-related meaning and also in the spiritual context:
Ch. 3.16. He (Rabbi Akiva) would also say: Everything is placed in pledge, and a net is spread over all the living. The store is open, the storekeeper extends credit, the account-book lies open, the hand writes, and all who wish to borrow may come and borrow. The collection-officers make their rounds every day and exact payment from man, with his knowledge and without his knowledge. Their case is well founded, the judgement is a judgement of truth, and ultimately, all is prepared for the feast. [a bit mystical, this ending...]
Hope this helps.
Kind regards from Rio,
R. Halevy
As well, my arguments were developed entirely on my reading of scripture, and not any other anti-state Christian works (as well as on my own previous deep understanding of veridical economics and veridical political theory, as I was a Rothbardian before I was a born again Christian; although the two positions are anything but far removed, and indeed compliment each other very nicely). So the arguments therein are not cribbed together from previous anarchist Christian works--modern ones, that is, for as I demonstrate, the New Testament is a free-market anarchist work.
That all is to say, one will come across no other extant work on this subject which is better than my own--not even close. That being said in exception of the New Testament, as Jesus Christ already laid down in His teachings a logically complete ethical system of voluntary interpersonal relationships, of which necessarily logically excludes the state.
So what is said above is not said out of self-puffery, but rather because truth deserves a vigorous and unapologetic defense. So it is only natural that I wish to direct people to where they may find it.
Again, for my work on this issue, see:
James Redford, "Jesus Is an Anarchist," revised and expanded edition, June 1, 2006 (first published at Anti-State.com on December 19, 2008) http://praxeology.net/anarchist-jesus.pdf
Thanks a bunch everybody.
In addition to the foregoing, another matter which is of close relevance to this subject is the fact that God has been proven to exist based upon the most reserved view of the known laws of physics. For much more on that, see Prof. Frank J. Tipler's below paper, which among other things demonstrates that the known laws of physics (i.e., the Second Law of Thermodynamics, general relativity, quantum mechanics, and the Standard Model of particle physics) require that the universe end in the Omega Point (the final cosmological singularity and state of infinite informational capacity identified as being God):
F. J. Tipler, "The structure of the world from pure numbers," Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 68, No. 4 (April 2005), pp. 897-964. http://math.tulane.edu/~tipler/theoryofeverything.pdf Also released as "Feynman-Weinberg Quantum Gravity and the Extended Standard Model as a Theory of Everything," arXiv:0704.3276, April 24, 2007. http://arxiv.org/abs/0704.3276
Out of 50 articles, Prof. Tipler's above paper was selected as one of 12 for the "Highlights of 2005" accolade as "the very best articles published in Reports on Progress in Physics in 2005 [Vol. 68]. Articles were selected by the Editorial Board for their outstanding reviews of the field. They all received the highest praise from our international referees and a high number of downloads from the journal Website." (See Richard Palmer, Publisher, "Highlights of 2005," Reports on Progress in Physics. http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.highlights/0034-4885 ) Reports on Progress in Physics is the leading journal of the Institute of Physics, Britain's main professional body for physicists.
Further, Reports on Progress in Physics has a higher impact factor (according to Journal Citation Reports) than Physical Review Letters, which is the most prestigious American physics journal (one, incidently, which Prof. Tipler has been published in more than once). A journal's impact factor reflects the importance the science community places in that journal in the sense of actually citing its papers in their own papers. (And just to point out, Tipler's 2005 Reports on Progress in Physics paper could not have been published in Physical Review Letters since said paper is nearly book-length, and hence not a "letter" as defined by the latter journal.)
See also the below resources for further information on the Omega Point Theory:
Theophysics http://geocities.com/theophysics/
"Omega Point (Tipler)," Wikipedia, April 16, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Omega_Point_%28Tipler%29&oldid=206077125
"Frank J. Tipler," Wikipedia, April 16, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_J._Tipler&oldid=205920802
Tipler is Professor of Mathematics and Physics (joint appointment) at Tulane University. His Ph.D. is in the field of global general relativity (the same rarefied field that Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking developed), and he is also an expert in particle physics and computer science. His Omega Point Theory has been published in a number of prestigious peer-reviewed physics and science journals in addition to Reports on Progress in Physics, such as Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (one of the world's leading astrophysics journals), Physics Letters B, the International Journal of Theoretical Physics, etc.
Prof. John A. Wheeler (the father of most relativity research in the U.S.) wrote that "Frank Tipler is widely known for important concepts and theorems in general relativity and gravitation physics" on pg. viii in the "Foreword" to The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (1986) by cosmologist Prof. John D. Barrow and Tipler, which was the first book wherein Tipler's Omega Point Theory was described.
The leading quantum physicist in the world, Prof. David Deutsch (inventor of the quantum computer, being the first person to mathematically describe the workings of such a device, and winner of the Institute of Physics' 1998 Paul Dirac Medal and Prize for his work), endorses the physics of the Omega Point Theory in his book The Fabric of Reality (1997). For that, see:
David Deutsch, extracts from Chapter 14: "The Ends of the Universe" of The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications (London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1997), ISBN: 0713990619; with additional comments by Frank J. Tipler. http://geocities.com/theophysics/deutsch-ends-of-the-universe.html
The only way to avoid the Omega Point cosmology is to invent tenuous physical theories which have no experimental support and which violate the known laws of physics, such as with Prof. Stephen Hawking's paper on the black hole information issue which is dependant on the conjectured string theory-based anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory correspondence (AdS/CFT correspondence). See S. W. Hawking, "