Social Contract Theory, Part II

As I hope I established in Part I, the short definition of Social Contract Theory is that anytime two or more people agree to live in contact with each other, they also agree to give up some of their rights, or to respect the rights of the others they live with. These rights and limiting of rights are negotiated based on the belief that it is good or better for people to live together than alone in the long run. As a Christian, I believe God's design supports this basic principle. Again the opening pages of scripture make this clear when after several statements of "God saw that it was good...", we see "God saw that it was not good that man was alone."

God's original plan, of course, was that a sinless created human race designed for social living would naturally live out the goals of the Social Contract. When people are at their most holy, they are also at their most selfless. His intention was that we would always put others before ourselves. This is the definition of Agape love, the word Jesus used when He asked Peter, "Do you love Me?"

Sin, unfortunately is the exact opposite of selflessness. And so the Social Contract, just like every other aspect of life on earth became corrupted because of man's fallen nature. Instead of being based on trust and focusing on the good of others, it is used as a means of protecting one's own life, liberty, and property(the original intent of the Declaration of Independence before it was changed to "the pursuit of happiness") The focus is completely on self. Now before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I am not going to start bashing our founding fathers or documents. To the contrary, I hope to make a solid argument in support of those ideals. But it is important to understand that from a Christian perspective, Social Contract Theoryshould be viewed as a necessary evil to protect humanity from its worst behaviors. For the Social Contract is the foundation for that other necessary evil, Government.

I will continue with my next post on how Social Contract Theory informs the formation of governments and the rule of law, but for now I want to leave with an illustration I once heard that best describes the separation or difference between those with a right relationship with Jesus, and those without:

A man had a dream that his soul went to visit Hell and Heaven. When he arrived in Hell, he saw the masses of the damned all sitting at huge banquet tables filled with food. Unfortunately no one had elbows, so they could not bend their arms to feed themselves and were condemned to starvation while sitting before a bountiful spread. The man was then transported to Heaven where much to his suprise, he saw the multitude of saints in exactly the same situation as those in Hell. The difference? The saints were rejoicing and filling themselves to contentment as they reached across the tables and fed each other.