A Liberty Catechism

1. Who is God?

Almighty God, Father, Son, and Spirit, is the only true God.

2. Where do human rights originate?

All human rights originate from outside our created order, and are grounded in the transcendent will of the Creator.

3. Why is this important to understand the origin of humans?

If such were not the case, then we would have no rights, only privileges granted to us by fellow creatures who at the moment are stronger than we are. Whatever they give, they could also take away.

4. Why is God to be trusted as the governor of the world?

As the Creator of all things, He has the sole right to determine the ultimate destiny of any creature or created thing.

5. What is the foundational government that God has established among men?

The foundational government is self-government, or self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit.

6. Why was it necessary for God to give this gift?

Because of the rebellion of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, we were born into a state of slavery, a slavery to our passions and desires.

7. What is the nature of slavery to sin?

A slave to sin wants freedom from responsibility and maturity. He consequently wants freedom from the consequences of his actions.

8. Is widespread slavery to sin consistent with political or social freedoms?

No. Political and social freedoms are only possible for a religious, moral and virtuous people. They are “wholly unfit for any other.”

9. What two blessings does constitutional government hold in balance?

The two great values of constitutional government are form and freedom together, such that the people enjoy the blessings of both structure and liberty.

10. How does liberation from this slavery to sin come about?

Through the objective truth of the gospel, that being the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and this gospel is apprehended subjectively by faith alone, by faith from first to last.

11. What are the three governments among men that God has directly established?

They are the government of the family, the government of the civil order, and the government of the church.

12. Are there other human governments besides these three?

These are the only three established directly by God. Other human governments exist, and are certainly lawful, but they merely have a human authority—clubs, teams, societies, and so on.

13. What are the responsibilities of these three governments?

Respectively, the family is the ministry of health, education, and welfare, the civil government is the ministry of justice, and the church is the ministry of Word and sacrament.

14. How many of these governments are absolute?

Only the government of God is absolute. No human government is or can be absolute.

15. How are human governments to be kept from thinking of themselves as absolute?

Human government must confess the only true God, and the Christ whom He has sent. If there is no God above a human government, then that human government will want to deify itself. So kings and princes must kiss the Son.

16. Why must human governments confess the only true God?

Because reluctance to do so demonstrates a lust to be the only true God.

17. Should we trust human governments to make this confession, or hold to it if they have made it?

No. Because all men are sinners, we must constantly guard against the tendency to abuse power, a temptation that all those who are entrusted with such power will face.

18. How should we guard against this kind of abuse in the civil realm?

We must divide up the functions of government, and assign them to different branches and/or levels of government.

19. What are the basic limitations that should be placed on civil government?

They are the constitutional limitations of enumerated powers, the separation of powers between the legislative, judicial, and executive, and the hierarchy of powers found in federalism.

20. What is meant by enumerated powers?

This means that the government possesses only those powers that are expressly granted to it by the constitutional framework. Any power not mentioned is a power not granted.

21. What is meant by separation of powers?

It means that the basic functions of government—making laws, interpreting laws, and enforcing laws—are entrusted to different institutions within one government.

22. Is this all? (What else is meant by separation of powers?)

No. In addition, to prevent a helter-skelter approach to the making of laws, the legislative body should be divided into two houses, to make the process of legislation more deliberative.

23. What is meant by a hierarchy of powers?

All magistrates, whether at the county level, municipal level, or state level, hold their position in trust from God. This means they provide an additional balance to the authority of the national government.

24. Is this constitutional form of governmental consistent with arbitrary rule by regulation through executive agencies?

No. All forms of arbitrary government are antithetical to a biblical form of governance.

25. How does the character of God affect the laws that He gives to mankind?

God is immutable, and God is holy. This means that law that is grounded in His character will be law that is fixed and unchangeable, and is law that will necessarily be good.

26. How does the character of man affect the laws that he seeks to give to mankind?

Man is changeable, like water, and he is a sinner, unholy. This means that law that is grounded in his character will be constantly shifting, and will be corrupt and unholy.