Teaching the biblical basis for government, I have had students read The American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. I asked students to notice similarities and differences between the documents. Students discovered the French document premised its authority on “the people.” The American document based its authority on “Nature’s God,” “The Creator,” “The Supreme Judge of the world,” and “Divine Providence.”

The French document concedes a “Supreme Being” but one who is only “present.” The French declaration says government “recognizes and declares the rights of citizens.” Notice it is the government which gives rights. Students were surprised at the human-centered French document. Statement #6 in that declaration always stood out: “Law is the expression of the general will.” They would often ask, “If people are the sole authority— that is, the “law”—how do we know which people should have authority?” More discussion brought out the basic belief: the French declaration assumed humans are basically good and have the authority to grant rights. “But what happens when people disagree?” students would ask. “Who grants “rights” then? And if I’m in authority, don’t I get to decide who gets rights and whose rights get taken away?” Students were asking some great questions.

But the room always fell silent when I told them that 30,000 people were killed during the French Revolution—people’s right to life had literally been taken away. Those murdered were considered “enemies of the state.” In the end, I made this summary to the class: If rights are given by government, government can take away rights. If rights are given by God, government’s role is to protect those rights.* For those who have ears to hear, we continue the Comenius Institute summer series, “What will you replace it with when it’s gone?” I am Dr. Mark Eckel, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found. [First published at MarkEckel.com]