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consider three which are perhaps of greatest importance. In the
first place, there is a striking kinship between the Christian conception
of man and the view of man which underlies Western democracy.
Indeed, the relationship between the two concepts is so close that
Reinhold Niebuhr has maintained that the real strength of democracy
lies in the Christian view of human nature.13 The strength of democ
racy depends upon the preservation of a proper balance between an
excessive optimism regarding the motives of men and an excessive
pessimism regarding their potentialities. As Niebuhr declares:
A free society requires some confidence in the ability of men to reach
tentative and tolerable adjustments between their competing interests and
to arrive at some common notions of justice which transcend all partial
interests. A consistent pessimism in regard to m an’s rational capacity for
justice invariably leads to absolutistic political theories; for they prompt
the conviction tha t only preponderant power can coerce the vitalities of a
community into a working harmony. But a too consistent optimism in
regard to man’s ability and inclination to grant justice to his fellows
obscures the perils of chaos which perennially confound every society,
including a free society. In one sense a democratic society is particularly
exposed to the dangers of confusion. If these perils are not appreciated
they may overtake a free society and invite the alternative evil of tyranny .14
Or, putting the matter in an unforgettable epigram, he writes, “Man’s
capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination
to injustice makes democracy necessary.”15
Belief in man’s capacity for justice is strongly supported by the
Judaic-Christian conception of the rationality and goodness of man
as a being made “in the image of God.” The biblical concept of man
provides ground for confidence in his ability to govern himself and to
provide a tolerable degree of justice in the political order. On the
other hand, the democratic understanding of man’s inclination to in
justice is confirmed by the Christian conception of man’s sinfulness.
The biblical view of the sinfulness of all men constitutes a warning
against all unrestrained forms of power—whether it be the power of
the legislature, the executive, the courts, or even of the majority it
self. Effective checks upon all human concentrations of power are
needed, not because power itself is evil, but because sinful men tend
13 Reinhold Niebuhr,
The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness,
New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1949.
14
Ibid.,
pp. x-xi.
15
Ibid.,
p. xi.
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Biblical Faith and Social Ethics