Church/State Matters
Taxation

Last week my friend Huguenot John www.xanga.com/uprisingyouth raised some interesting issues about church/state relationships in this country. Has the church made a bargain with the devil over taxation and exemption issues? I would like to look at the church/state matter and taxation from a different angle. How far can the civil magistrate [the state] go in areas of taxation without violating the mandates of God? When does rendering unto Caesar that is required by Caesar exceed his authority?

William Einwechter, editor of The Christian Statesman, poses an interesting argument in the March/April 2006 issue [Vol. 149, No. 2]. He posits that Hosea 5:10 [The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: Therefore, I will pour out my wrath upon them like water] applies the protection of private property recited in Deut. 19:14 and Deut. 27:17 against the civil magistrate. In other words, the civil magistrate can go too far in affecting the private property of citizens. And, in the modern day application that applies to matters of taxation.

What belongs to Caesar is, therefore, proscribed in some way. This is news, I am sure, to civil magistrates in the federal, state and local governments in the US. Modern day theory has it that rights, liberty and property are granted, determined and regulated by the state. This thesis in The Christian Statesman, based on Biblical interpretation, is that the state can be guilty of stealing private property. And, this is not just in the recent dustup over the Kelo case and condemnation actions by the state. Einwechter believes a Biblical case can be made for the state stealing through taxation.

God has placed property rights in the hands of individuals and families. The Deuteronomy citations above concern the moving of boundaries of real property by other citizens. Hosea speaks to the government acting “like them that remove the bound”. So, in some way the state can exceed the commands of God in its actions as to private property. The state, as well as individuals, “shalt not steal”. The question is how and when is the state stealing private property?

Does the allowance of taxation permit the government to do what the church should be doing? And, is this interfering with the church’s influence on the world? Without the myriad of taxes enacted, the government could not be the god of today’s society. After all, as every high school student knows, the government produces nothing on its own. Einwechter offers some interesting questions: Why should the government be able to tax anyone greater that God’s tithe? Why should any tax be permitted on real property because that effectively moves the bound by making the property less valuable than without tax? Should any tax be permitted that redistributes income since that affects ownership of private property?

Think of it. If the state does not have access to massive tax revenues, it cannot affect the culture as it does. Huguenot John has raised important questions. But, it may be worse than it seems. The “deal” the church struck with the government has kept the church from speaking to the issue of what Caesar is entitled to in God’s economy. The church is exempt don’t you see, so why do we care? As a result, we have allowed the creation of a leviathan that has a tax appetite that can never be satisfied because of its expenditures, including on the things the church should be embracing, are constantly increasing. The church is culpable in many ways in church/state taxation matters.