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Therels a
Perfect
Government
by
Keith W. Stump
If
human experience has shown one thing, it is this: No human
government has been ab le to achi eve
lasting peace or prosperity. But there is a government that will!
T
HE BIG
question as the
gove r nments of this
world look toward the
1990s is that of
human sur–
viva/!
Never before has the threat
of human extinction been
greater.
Leaders and would-be office
holders promise better times ahead.
Thcy scek lo rcassure the public.
But world conditions continue to
deteriorate.
Why
this tragic state of affairs?
Why
havc human governments
failcd so miserably throughout his–
tory?
Why
havc they been unsuc–
cessful in achieving the two chicf
goals they set for themsclves: pcace
and prospcrity?
In recent times, as in ages past,
man's attempts to come to grips
with the problem of government
have been thwartcd by problems
beyond human capacity to control.
Por millcnnia, lcadcrs of honesty
and integrity havc tried to grapple
with the immcnse problems of gov–
ernment. Thcse men have tried to
find responsible solutions, have
tried to makc the world better. But
forces seemingly beyond their con–
trol have frustrated their cfforts at
every turn.
Rcgardless of their methods of
achicving them, gove r nments
September 1984
claim to have the same basic goals.
The primary aims of human gov–
ernment are peace and prospcrity,
often collectively referred to as the
"common good." Throughout his–
tory, governmenls have sct about
achieving thesc objectives in many
different ways. But no government
in history has ever achieved these
dual aims fully, or permanently.
None has achieved lasting pcace
and prosperity. All human govcrn–
ments have, at sorne point,
failed!
Instead of peace, mankind has
known in almost every generation
war and violence. War has been the
way of history. There have bcen
well over ·15,000 wars throughout
recorded history. Sorne 100 mi Ilion
people have died in wars in this
20th century alone!
l nstead of prosperity, thc vast
majority of human beings have
known nothing more than slavcry
or wretchedness and squalor. Pros–
perity for the few, poverty for the
many has been the age-old rule.
T he world's problems- today
and throughout history- are a
stinging indictment of thc world's
systems of government! 1n fact,
governments, more often than not,
have created more problems than
they have solved!
Man has proveo his uttcr incapa–
bility of ruling h imself!
Why should this most giftcd of
God's physical creatures have
failed so miserably?
The
Human Fact or
There is a definite cause--a clear–
cut rcason why governments have
fallen so short of the mark.
Govcrnments have failed simply
because they don't know the way
that leads to success. Mankind has
rcjected the only knowledge that
would allow its governments to suc–
ceed- the knowledge of God and
his way.
Mankind simply does not know
the way to peace and prosperity
(see Isaiab 59:8). Man, separated
from God, is incapable of under–
standing the requirements for
peace.
Understand this: The world's
problems are essentially
spirilual
in nature. They have a deep- rooted
spiritual basis. They cannot be
solved through the use of mere
physical knowledge alone.
In rejecting the knowledge of
God, man has had to rely on his
own philosophies-on humanly
devised approaches that appear
right to him. He has failed to heed
a vitally important biblical admoni–
tion.
Read it for you rself in Proverbs
14: 12: "T here is a way which seem–
eth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death."
As editor in chief H erber t W.
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