I make no excuse for referencing the Bible on any topic at all. All humanity is accountable to Scripture on every level. Libertarians are wrong when they use Aristotelian logic to argue taxation is somehow inherently evil. Liberals are wrong when they stretch the meaning of “public good” to things with which God said government has no business.
Jesus Christ did discuss taxation. Regarding the Temple Tax, he paid up using a miracle. Subtle thing here: If God needs it from us, God supplies it in the first place. You could make more of it, but He was not arguing against the Temple Tax based on the Law of Moses.
Regarding the Roman tax, He said if you want to reap the benefits of Roman Imperial prosperity — the roads, the shipping and trade, the social stability — why would you argue with giving them a cut? The Pharisees would carry Roman coins with Caesar’s face on them, something which smacked of idolatry, but felt Rome did not rightly understand God had exempted Jews from paying taxes to pagans. More than once Jesus noted a fundamental problem with Judaism as it had come to be at that time was greed and arrogance. Besides, they were trying to get Him to commit Himself to one of two partisan political positions as the means to find a way to discredit Him. It was one of those rare moments when the Pharisees and Sadducees actually worked together. But the answer Jesus gave dodged that issue, and slapped them for their sinful attitudes.
Farther back in Scripture we see the Laws of God ordain taxation as a necessary function of government. In order to proceed, it is necessary to note in passing God’s Laws require we live in a tribal social structure, so that the bulk of your daily social needs are handled by your extended family. Actual civil government was highly limited in scope and power, primarily interested in certain capital crimes and protecting the population from external threats. Regulation of daily human behavior and matters of basic human welfare were utterly out of the jurisdiction of civil government. So while the decisions of the tribal courts were backed by the armed might of civil government, the decisions were always handled by the tribal courts themselves. The judges were chiefly retired elders or other men of leisure chosen by consensus, who had no financial interest at all, but never a government employee. Yes, it was patriarchal; that was God’s idea so get over it.
Once we establish that, we realize taxation was a matter of freeing the government folks from having to work for a living and giving their time to their mission from God. If they failed that mission, or got too greedy in the taxation, God encouraged the people to rise up and replace them. If violence was necessary for the job, so be it. Deafness to justified complaints was a sin. So was unjustified rebellion. The boundaries are soft, as God intended, subject to negotiation, circumstances, and so forth. Lying by government was not permitted, but it was up to the governed to figure it out. Secrecy in any thing was rightly regarded with deep suspicion and hostility.
So taxes are not evil. But it doesn’t take a genius to see when it isn’t working properly. If the government folks want to be free from leverage, they have to work harder to avoid living off taxes. If they want more money to do more things, they have to justify it. That justification had darn sure better line up with the Law Covenants. Solomon is not a good example of reasonable taxation. David, his father, was pushing his luck. Saul was very fortunate David had a conscience. Taxation can rightly include demands on labor and risk-taking (war and public works), or the money to pay folks to take up that burden, but this assumes wisdom in obeying divine limits on such things.
This also assumes you understand the issue of God’s sovereignty. He decides when your nation shall arise and assert itself. He decides when it will be conquered and absorbed, or outright destroyed. He does have plans, and seldom consults us on them. But aside from that, there is this business of doing things His way. He has adequately explained it all, and if you really want to please Him, it’s well within reach for nations and governments. There is this tendency for Him to protect nations who do so because it’s a very good testimony on His behalf, and He very much wants to show other nations how it should work. Technology has nothing to do with it. So to the degree you do it right, He will offer assistance in ways you cannot measure, and most certainly will throw in the occasional miracle to make sure. If you reject His ways, He will turn things the other way. Granted, He tends to work on a time scale much longer than human life, so most people don’t notice unless they are wise enough to embrace His way of looking at things. Still, He is most certainly in charge, and results vary according to things He stated rather clearly.
If your government tends to be open and honest in their dealings, they can expect a measure of divine protection. If they feel they have to rely on all sorts of skulduggery, espionage and deception, God is not pleased. The discussion of taxation falls right in the middle of this. The government which deceives has lost any hope of legitimacy, and its entire tax scheme is wrong from the start.
