If the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, as 1 Tim. 6:10 says, how much more seriously ought we to take how our society views the control over the supply of money?
- Norman Horn, "Can a Christian be a Libertarian," The Washington Post (12/27/11), at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/can-a-christian-be-a-libertarian/2011/12/27/gIQA4gruKP_blog.html.

The practice of enslaving our fellow men stands equally opposed to the general tenor of the sacred scriptures.  The Bible is the criterion of doctrine and conduct. It represents the European and the Asiatic, the African and the American, as different members of the same great family—the different children of the same benign and universal parent. God has made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the bounds of their habitation (Acts 17:26).   In relation to one another, they are equally bound to the exercise of benevolence, and are respected as naturally having no inequality of rights.  Every man is bound to respect his fellow man as his neighbor, and is commanded to love him as himself (Mark 12:31).  Our duties to each other the divine Jesus summarizes in the golden rule:  Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12).  This is the sum of the duties inculcated in the law of Moses, and in the writings of the inspired prophets. How opposite the spirit of these precepts and doctrines to the practice of the slave-holder! If he is consistent with himself he will reason thus: "These slaves are not of one blood with me. They are not entitled to the love I give to my neighbor. The conduct which I should pursue, were I enslaved by another, I would not recommend to them. I shall feed and clothe them from the same principle that I feed and stable my cattle. They are my property as much as these; and when they do not serve my purpose agreeably to my wishes, I shall dispose of them for money to another trafficker in human flesh. I acknowledge, if any person was to enslave me, I should endeavor to embrace the first opportunity of making my escape. But if my Negro offers to run away, I shall pursue, and severely chastise him. He has no right to leave his master; the rule, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, notwithstanding."  I need not add that such sentiments are opposite to the principles of the Christian Religion.
- Alexander M’leod, Negro Slavery Unjustifiable, A Discourse (New York, 1802), at http://www.covenanter.org/McLeod/negro.htm.

Exodus 21:16: "Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death."  The eighth precept of the Decalogue [Exo. 20:15; Deut. 5:19] is sufficient to prove the same moral principle.  If he who steals my purse, my coat, or my horse, be guilty of an immorality, he cannot be innocent who robs me of my father, my brother, my wife, or my child. Likewise, an inspired Apostle says in his Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim. 1:9):  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient—for MAN STEALERS—and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”  Man stealing is classed with the most detestable crimes. It is considered not only reprehensible among the ancient Hebrews, but a moral evil, in every age, and in every nation.  From the text, I lay before you the following proposition:  The practice of buying, holding, or selling our unoffending fellow creatures as slaves is immoral. The text will certainly support this proposition, according to the common principles of law, the receiver of stolen goods, if he know them to be such, is deemed guilty as well as the thief. The slave holder never had a right to force a man into his service, or to retain him, without an equivalent. To sell him, therefore, is to tempt another to sin, and to dispose of that, for money, to which he never had a right.

The proposition does not militate against slavery under every form.  A man who injures society may forfeit liberty, and even life: He may deserve slavery in the fullest sense of the word, in order that his punishment may be a sanction to the law—may be an example to others—and may compensate, as much as possible, for the injuries done to society. "Innocent fellow creatures" is not to be understood in a moral, but in a political sense. As the subjects of Jehovah’s government, we are all guilty, and deserve to perish. We have merited eternal imprisonment from him. But, in relation to civil society, men are deemed innocent unless they have violated its laws. These are assuredly entitled to personal freedom.
- Alexander M’leod, Negro Slavery Unjustifiable, A Discourse (New York, 1802), at http://www.covenanter.org/McLeod/negro.htm.

Moses commanded, “And he that curses his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death” (Exo. 21:17).  This command the Scribes and Pharisees had set aside, probably under the pretense of it being a cruel law; but, for so doing, the Redeemer calls them hypocrites, and blind leaders of the blind.  Matt. 15:1-9, 14;  Mark 7:6-13.  Do you pretend to be more compassionate than the Son of God?  Do you understand, better than he, what crime deserves, and the manner in which it should be punished?
- Covenanter (Philadelphia, Jan. 1847), 164-5, at http://reformedcovenanter.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/the-philadelphia-covenanter-and-the-law-of-retaliation-and-incorrigible-delinquents/?mid=52.

There are many promises that in gospel times rulers of the State shall exercise their power and exert their authority for the furtherance and preservation of the true worship of God, the profession of the faith, the worshippers and professors thereof, and therein the whole interest of Zion, the Church (Isa. 1:26, 49:22,23).  All the promises relating to God’s providential rule in the world, with reference to the interest of his church and people, do center in this, that the rulers in and of the world shall exert and exercise their power in subservience to the interest of Christ, which lies in his truth and his worship; which cannot be done if the ruler’s power to do this be denied (Isa. 60:11-17; Rev. 11:15).  To say, then, that the supreme head of State, in a commonwealth of men professing the true Christian religion, ought not to exert his legislative and executive power in the defense and for the furtherance of the truth and worship of God, and for the restraint of the things that are destructive thereto, is to say that “the promise of God is of no effect” [Rom. 9:6].
- John Owen, Two questions concerning the power of the supreme magistrate about religion and the worship of God, with one about tithes, proposed and resolved (Oxford, 1659) in The works of John Owen, ed. W. H. Goold (16 vols, Edinburgh, 1967), xiii,511-12.

We should treat other people the way we want to be treated. And I would like to suggest that possibly we should be thinking about having a foreign policy of the golden rule and not treat other countries any way other than the way we want to be treated [Lev. 19:18, 34; Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31].
- Ron Paul, Speech at the Value Voters Summit on 10/8/11, at http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-10-08/ron-pauls-speech-at-the-value-voters-summit/.

Christ was confronted at one time by a prostitute, but he didn’t call for the centurions. He didn’t call for more laws. But he was very direct and thought that stoning was not the solution to the problem of prostitution [John 8:3-11].
- Ron Paul, Speech at the Value Voters Summit on 10/8/11, at http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-10-08/ron-pauls-speech-at-the-value-voters-summit/.