In reply to M. Didaskalos.

M. Didaskolos, thanks for your helpful comments, and I agree with most of what you wrote, but I want to challenge a couple of points that were made in the article you quoted. First, this quote: “God speaks to some of the political issues of our day but in a way that gives the Christian plenty of ’’wiggle’ room. For example, God speaks about taxes. He tells us to give to ‘Caesar’ what is his. However, he does not talk about tax structures or the IRS. Therefore, Christians may debate about how much they think ‘Caesar’ should be taking or about how he should be taking it.”

The “render unto Caesar” passage is (for good reason) usually the first passage quoted when discussing the Bible’s view of taxation. But the Bible has more to say than just this. In I Sam. 8, Samuel is answering the people of Israel who have demanded a king. Samuel’s reply is essentially to say, “if you go through with this, you’ll end up with a big, powerful, centralized government, and that’s bad.” Lots of implications here, but just to stick with the taxation issue, Samuel says that if they have a king, he will even go so far as to take (gasp!) ten percent in taxes!

"And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them…Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.' So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, 'This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you… he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.'

Why does Samuel set the threshold of tyrannical taxation at ten percent? Obviously because that’s the amount God requires of us. And how dare any human ruler demand even as much as, or more than, God Himself? To claim such is to claim to be God. Implication: taxes, from all levels of government, and in all forms, must never collectively exceed, as an absolute maximum, 9.99 percent.
There are other Bible passages that bear on taxation, but that should be enough to make the point that, perhaps, there is less “wiggle” room (for Christians who wish to be faithful to the Bible) than is sometimes supposed.

Second quote: “God speaks about salvation but not about how to save the Social Security system. Therefore, Christians may debate about the pros and cons of privatization. God speaks about caring for the elderly but not about Medicare. Therefore, Christians may debate about the best way to help the elderly pay for prescriptions.”

Again, Samuel’s comments on taxation are appropriate here: if the government cannot “care for the elderly” (a dubious definition of Medicare) without taxing in excess of 9.99 percent, they should not do it. But also, welfare in the Bible is given, by God, to the institutions of family and church, not the state. If we Christians were in the habit of obeying God in the matter of tithe-paying, our churches would have such an abundance of resources that caring for the poor, sick, and elderly would be no problem.

God’s ways are wise. Ours are not. We need to learn to listen to Him. He has a lot more to say than most of us guess.