During my PhD dissertation defense, a question was raised about my use of the term “aseity” and its application to my research. Believing The Personal Eternal Triune Creator to be the source and sustenance of all things, I used the theological word that means God is self-sufficient and independent; in short, He does not need us. The applied principle of God’s separate status is imperative in a Hebraic-Christian view of social order. Often human governments and social rules have sought to argue for human autonomy, we, being a law unto ourselves (“auto” = self, “nomos” = law). Humans, left to themselves, will seek independence and self-sufficiency instead of seeing the beneficence to all people by dependence on Divine Directives.
A few observations of both autonomy and aseity follow.
AUTONOMY (1) prioritizes law to self over others; (2) laws become only what the individual or group desires; (3) self-law is boundaryless, left to human will; (4) without boundaries, self-law becomes an arbiter and judge; (5) human judges will impose boundaries of their self-made laws; (6) whatever human power captures the law will dictate their law to others; and (7) autonomy then becomes tyranny.
ASEITY (1) only God is wholly self-sufficient and independent; (2) humans are dependent and insufficient in and of themselves; (3) neither creature nor creation imposes law without Sovereign oversight; (4) human laws draw their ethical boundaries from this Divine Source; (5) human nature is inherently corrupt and naturally seeks to transgress Heaven’s boundaries; (6) Eternal Standards are foundational for human law, limiting usurpation of cultural power; and (7) dependence upon The Personal Eternal Triune Creator benefits self and society, fostering liberty, limiting license.
The Christian bears the responsibility of displaying the logical outcomes of autonomy versus aseity. The Christian statesman holds in tension innate human dignity with people’s inherent corruption. Unconditional, sacrificial love is the praxis, protecting the weakest members of society because the strength of governance has been built through Heavenly virtue. In contrast, the state, left to itself, becomes the proprietor of all things, creating its own servitude. In direct contrast, true human liberty is constrained by God’s laws, giving opportunity for human prosperity intended to provide charity to all.
The picture here says it all: I’m always thinking. Reading does indeed prompt my writing at times. In this case (and others posted this week) I have been reading Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order
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