The Republic

“The greatness of a nation lies in its fidelity to its constitution and strict adherence to the rule of law, and above all the fear of God” - [Chief Justice David Maraga]

When Jesus begun His ministry, He was immediately sensed as a danger more by the Romans than to the Jews. Rome had been developing for 700 yrs. During her heydays she was a true republic. A republic differs from a democracy in that the minority has equal right and power to the majority. Numbers count for nothing in a true republic. Her commerce grew, her influence burgeoned. All because in those early honey-moon days of her empire, the rule of law and the rights of the individual were paramount.

For example, anti-trust laws were set up, and these served to ensure that there were to be no monopolies or cartels in the business arena. Anyone with skill and determination could rise to riches in whatever trade and industry without threat to his life or danger to his person from established and insecure businessmen.

“The Licinian law passed in 367 B. C., provided that no one should occupy more than three hundred and thirty-three acres of the public lands; and that every occupant should employ a certain proportion of free laborers”- [A. T. Jones, Two Republics, pg 19]

A nation that respects the rule of law can do nothing but grow stronger. As she does, it is inevitable that others must fall at her rise, “But as Roman power increased, Roman virtue declined” - (A. T. Jones, ibid) and “Luxury came on more cruel than our arms, And avenged the vanquished world with her charms.” - (Duruy, ‘History of Rome’, chap. 35, sec. 2, par. 4) Rome descended into 300 yrs of struggle between the Senate and the people, as first the leaders became lustful for more wealth, and soon were joined in their vicious lust by the ever jealous commoners. “All orders in a society may be wise and virtuous, but all cannot be rich. Wealth which is used only for idle luxury is always envied, and envy soon curdles into hate. It is easy to persuade the masses that the good things of this world are unjustly divided, especially when it happens to be the exact truth.” - (Froude, ‘Caesar’ Chap 2, par 8-9)

Concerning the Licinian law, we read…

“At the end of two hundred years these favored holders had gone far beyond the law in both of these points: they extended their holdings beyond the limits prescribed by the law; and they employed no free laborers at all, but worked their holdings by slave labor wholly. Nor was this confined to the occupiers of the public lands; all wealthy land owners worked their land by slaves” - [A. T. Jones, ibid]

And so by the time Christ arrived, the Roman republic had ceased to be, and had mutated into a tyranny. “…the long contest between the people and the Senate., ended in the establishment of an imperial form of government” - (A. T. Jones, ibid) No longer was there any rule of law. No longer were men free to be individuals. No longer were there any individual rights. Immersed in the sea of impunity the Romans long became incapable of freedom.

“The more distinguished a Roman became, the less was he a free man. The omnipotence of the law, the despotism of the rule, drove him into a narrow circle of thought and action, and his credit and influence depended on the sad austerity of his life. The whole duty of man, with the humblest and greatest of the Romans, was to keep his house in order, and be the obedient servant of the State.” - [James Freeman Clarke, ‘Ten Great Religions’, chap. 8, sec. 4, par. 1]

“The idea of the State was the highest idea of ethics; and within that was included all actual realization of the highest good; hence the development of all other goods pertaining to humanity, was made dependent on this” - [Neander, ‘History of the Christian Religion and Church’, vol. 1, part 1, div. 3, par. 1]

This is what I call, the evolution of combination. Whenever men combine, whenever men come together and thereby unite into a system, be it a nation state or a business company or even a student association, it always begins with good motives and noble intentions, but as success pours in so does a deterioration of ethics. Companies such as Enron have showcased this pattern. The onus is filled with seeking to perfect their service or commodity, it is filled with integrity and hard honest work, but as power grows it all becomes about profits. In history, we see the Christian Church begin with utmost purity and godly primitiveness. Yet in just 3 centuries become the dark despotism that was the medieval Roman Catholic Church. The true gospel is the resounding answer to this principle of the evolution of the combine, because the foundation of this terrible evolution is the selfishness in the hearts of the men that have formed a combine, a foundation which only the hammer of the gospel can destroy.

“What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself” - [Ellen White, Testimonies to Ministers, pg 456]

This is what Christ gave to the world, this is what His followers used to bring a 1000 yr old empire to its knees, and when the defeated Roman mindset sneaked into the Roman Catholic Church, God raised Martin Luther to declare it again, ‘Justification is by faith!’ “Fear God and give Him glory” (Revelation 14:7)

And so we say, that the greatness of a nation lies in its fidelity to its constitution and strict adherence to the rule of law….but above all this, the fear of God. We shall have much to say concerning this in the book Of Thought and It’s Freedom.