How Do We Know What is Good for Society?

The good news of Christ gives eternal life and changes hearts. Meanwhile God has also given civil government to protect orderly life in this world: it is to "encourage those who do good, and to punish those who do evil." As Christians who love our neighbours we want to assist the work of government. But how can anyone know what is "good" for society, without first knowing what is "true" about society? Against the backdrop of post-modern scepticism, political fashions, and competing power claims, this session re-affirms the importance of truth in the public square, and then examines how the whole Bible, including God’s law in the Old Testament, should be the foundation of our analysis of the public good in the modern state.