8 June 2000

Dear Editors:

That God’s sovereign hand rules the affairs of men and that His law is supreme are truths apparently quite troubling to the editors at the Tuscaloosa News. In their lead editorial of 8 June—"God and politics"—the editors belittle Judge Roy Moore for crediting God for his landslide victory at the polls on Tuesday. Referring to Moore’s statement that "We were . . . very pleased that God has allowed us to be the nominee in the fall campaign," the News retorted by writing "Maybe he [Moore] mistakenly said it amid the flush of . . . victory. Or maybe Roy Moore . . . really believes it."

Like most Christians who read and study God’s Word, Moore probably does believe that the Creator God’s sovereign power extends to all areas of life. And, of course, it does. The Bible tells us that God works "all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11)." It is only the non-Christian, whether deist or atheist, who believes that God has no immediate concern in regulating that which He has made. To him, all is ordered according to abstract and impersonal "laws of nature." He holds that man is a completely "free agent," and thus determines his own destiny according to his own will. But while man is responsible for his actions, he is not free to act outside of his own nature, which inclines in the "natural man" [i.e. the unregenerate] toward sin and evil.

If man were a completely free agent, then God would not be sovereign; rather, he would be in continual suspense about the acts of His creatures. His eternal plan would be subject to change, and might even be thwarted by the hand of man. Only two alternatives exist: God must either rule or be ruled; he must either perfectly accomplish His own purposes or be foiled by His creatures. If God can be ruled or thwarted, He is not God.

The editors of the News marvel at how God could at one and the same time have allowed both Roy Moore and Earl Hilliard to be elected. But Romans 9:15 clears the mystery: "For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Simply put, God decides based on the counsel of His own impenetrable will. Man does not always understand the working out of God’s plan. He is the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 21:6); we are stuck within a narrow slice of time, and are thus blind to His eternal purposes.

For the News editors to question whether God has foreordained and foreknown all events, both great and small, is to turn the world over to mere caprice. If such were the case, we would have a world over which there was no intelligent, presiding Governor. But Hebrews 1:3 tells us otherwise, for God is "upholding all things by the word of His power." Acts 17:28 furthermore tells us that "In Him we live, and move, and have our being."

In victory, Roy Moore has humbled himself to the will of God, and I’m confident that had he lost he would have done the same thing.

If God is sovereign over His creation, then His law is also supreme. Even the News admits that "There’s nothing wrong" with the fact that western law "is based on religious teachings about right and wrong." But we must go further and say that man’s law must be consistent with God’s; if it is not, man’s law—even if enacted by the will of the majority—is illegitimate. An appeal to the subjective law of man can end only in anarchy (personal autonomy) or state tyranny (dictatorship, oligarchy, or even democracy).

To have a truly just society, there must be an objective standard of justice to which we can appeal. Moore’s reverence for the Decalogue (and for Christ’s pronouncement on it: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.") demonstrates his understanding that the only objective standard is God’s law, and that apart from it our society perishes. Moore also seems to comprehend the message regarding the civil magistrate in Romans 13: 1: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be [i.e. the civil magistrate] are ordained of God."

Alabamians ought to be comforted that the man who perhaps will fill the post of Chief Justice come this November will issue rulings based on the supreme, immutable, objective standard of God’s law and not on the subjective and capricious standards of man. Let us heed the Psalmist (19:8) who writes that "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." May God continue to favor His humble servant, Roy Moore.

Dr. Michael Hill

President

The League of the South

Tuscaloosa, Alabama