Is Christian Libertarianism Legitimate?

Norman Horn writes a nice summary of a Christian Libertarian perspective for www.libertarianchristians.com (You can read it by clicking here).  From the conversations I’ve had with other Christian libertarians, I think Norman represents the general position pretty well, and his article is a great quick read.

Much of what he says is appealing.  He dispels four misconceptions: Christianity does not advocate socialism, Christianity does not glorify violence and war, Christianity does not advocate a theocratic state, and Christianity is not a theory to legitimize the state.

Horn also presents four connections between Christianity and Libertarianism: Christianity supports a libertarian theory of property rights, Christianity loves the free market and peaceful interaction, Christianity affirms that no one should receive special privileges of position, and Christianity says that the State is a rebellion against man’s true nature and purpose.

I agree with many of his points, but a couple of things stand out to me.  He seems to believe that there is something inherently distasteful about having a civil government at all.  I disagree with him on this.  Civil government is not an inherently bad thing.  We require civil government because we are corrupt people whose souls often lead us to abuse ourselves and others.  Government is a God-given check on that corruption.  Even when the people of Israel first came out of Egypt, God instituted a government among them, and neither Jesus nor the disciples advocate the disbanding of governments in the New Testament.

A problem I generally have with libertarians (though I confess I do not know Mr. Horn well enough to know where he stands on this point) is that they are too optimistic about the human condition.  They believe that people can and will follow their best self-interest, but I disagree.  I think people will follow their own self-desires.  These desires are often destructive, corrupt, and sinful.  They will bring harm to themselves and others.  Civil government, churches, families, and the rest of our social institutions are to serve as a check on these destructive impulses.

If it were not for the Fall, then human beings would not require a civil government, but we are fallen, corrupt, sinful, and prone to all kinds of destruction.  Therefore we require a government to ensure justice. James Madison famously wrote in Federalist 51 (click here to read it):

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

I agree with Mr. Horn that, ultimately, Christ is King of our souls, and that our ultimate meaning and final heavenly kingdom will come through Him, but I disagree that this core Christian belief undermines the proper place of civil government today.

I do recommend his piece as a good read, and I agree with much in it, but there is a kind of optimism and hyper-individualism among some elements of the libertarian crowd with which I find myself disagreeing.  I welcome any comments!