Over the next several posts I’m going to answer: “What is my exact position on government?”

These posts focus on my conclusions. Later I’ll explain the reasons behind them, but right now I want you to see where I’m going.

In broadest terms, the government’s role is twofold:

To judge between people who claim wrong has been done and to marshal the people in times of war.

It’s a tall claim to say that the Bible supports laissez faire capitalism. Important (even conservative) Christian voices would reject the idea. But it’s the claim I’m making. Over the next several posts I’ll support it.

“It’s the government’s place to help people.” That is the common assumption behind most of modern American political thought.

What does such a view mean in practice?

The forcing of one person to work on behalf of another. And this, not for the sake of defending the country against an invader or a criminal, but for the sake of giving to a man those positive comforts he has not attained for himself. “If a person is unable to take care of himself, it is proper to force others to take care of him,” this view holds.

Whoever untied the Gordian Knot would be the king of Asia, said the prophecy.

No one could untie the knot until Alexander the Great.

He couldn’t find its end, so he came up with an “Alexandrian solution”—one slice from his sword and the knot was in pieces; thoroughly untied. An unsolvable problem sometimes goes away when a sharp mind or blade applies logic.

This past week I interviewed Joseph Knowles. Joseph studied at Regent University School of Law. He is 32 and lives in Virginia. He and I found common ground in our understanding of Christianity and government.