I SAMUEL 8

The Bible

The most important book in the development of Western civilization was the Bible, which of course just means "the Book" in Greek. Until recent times it was the touchstone for almost all debate on morality and government. One of its most resonant passages for the study of government was the story of God's warning to the people of Israel when they wanted a king to rule them. Until then, as Judges 21:25 reports, "there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes," and there were judges to settle disputes. But in I Samuel, the Jews asked for a king, and God told Samuel what it would be like to have a king. This story reminded Europeans for centuries that the state was not divinely inspired. Thomas Paine, Lord Acton, and other liberals cited it frequently.