GOD & POLITICS:
Jesus’ Vision for Society, State and Government
By Mark Dever
10 Publishing. 57 pages. £2.99
ISBN 978 1 910 587 447
This is a great little booklet. But if you are hoping it is going to tell you which way to vote in the upcoming EU referendum, it won’t.
What Mark Dever has given us here is a very worthwhile exposition of Mark 12.13-17 in which, in answer to the trick question from the Pharisees and Herodians, Jesus utters the famous sentence ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s’. We are rightly encouraged to value the blessings of civil authority and the law and order which it represents and to avoid revolutionary action, even against ungodly governments, knowing that it is God who is the ultimate judge. We are to be thankful for those who work in government and to pray for them. The international composition of the church is defended over against unhelpful nationalistic tendencies. And, just as the denarius bore Caesar’s image, we bear God’s image and should give ourselves wholly to the Lord’s service.
