Liberating Planet Earth

The Liberation of the Economy 117
passage cited at the beginning this chapter– the eighth commandment
— than on any other passage in the Bible. Individuals are
prohibited by Biblical law from forcibly appropriating the fruits of
another man’s labor, or his inheritance. The civil government is
required by the Bible to defend a social order based on the rights
of private ownership. The various laws requiring restitution that
are found in Exodus 22 explicitly limit the state in its imposition
of sanctions against thieves, but there can be no doubt that it is
the civil government which is required to impose them.
Rights of ownership mean that God transfers to specific men
and organizations the sole and exclusive ability to use specific
property for certain kinds of ends, and the state is to exclude others
from the unauthorized use of such property. Property rights therefore
refer to legal immunities from interference by others in the administration
of property. The duties associated with dominion are
more readily and effectively achieved by individuals and societies
through adherence to the private property system, which is one
reason why the Bible protects private ownership. Pn”vate property is
basic to efective dominion.
The only conceivable Biblical argument against this interpretation
of the commandment against theft would be an assertion
that the only valid form of ownership is ownership by the
state, meaning control by bureaucracies established by civil law.
But to argue along these lines demands evidence that the Bible,
both Old Testament and New Testament, authorized the public
(state) ownership of all goods. There is not a shred of evidence for
such a view, and massive evidence against it. The tenth commandment
prohibits coveting the property of a neighbor, which is
plain enough. The Biblical social order is a social order which
acknowledges and defends the rights of private property. This
prohibition binds individuals and institutions, including the
state.
The foundation
things by God, the
God Owns the World
of property rights is ultimate ownership of all
Creator. God owns the whole world.