I would like to know how a Christian should react to government requests to fill out census forms.<\/p>\n\t
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves<\/em>” (Romans 13:1-2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There is nothing wrong or immoral about filling out a census form. There were censuses in the Old Testament, which is where the book of Numbers came from, and even Jesus’ own parents participated in a census. “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child<\/em>” (Luke 2:1-5).<\/p>\n
It is true that God did not want David to number his people. We aren’t told exactly why, but there really was no reason for David to take such a census unless he was planning something that didn’t have God’s approval. But Israel did have a census tax, so there was an indirect way of number the people available to the king (Exodus 30:12).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I would like to know how a Christian should react to government requests to fill out census forms. Answer: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[310],"class_list":["post-35319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-government"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":35319,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25606,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-government-that-taxes-its-citizens-at-99-be-followed\/","url_meta":{"origin":35319,"position":1},"title":"Should a government that taxes its citizens at 99% be followed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think that Christians should obey the tax law, even if the rules required that taxpayers must donate 99% of their income in taxes? Answer: This is a facetious hypothetical argument. The implication is that if the answer will object in the extreme, then it is justified to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30945,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-david-wrong-in-numbering-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":35319,"position":2},"title":"Why was David wrong in numbering Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In II Samuel 24:1-2, it was written that David commanded Joab to take a census of Israel. After the census was taken, in II Samuel 24:10, David knew that he had sinned and God sends a pestilence upon Israel as a consequence. 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How do we balance God's mercy and love for everyone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36589,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-something-a-sin-if-its-illegal\/","url_meta":{"origin":35319,"position":4},"title":"Is something a sin if it’s illegal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is something a sin if it's illegal? Answer: Sin is breaking God's law. \"Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness\" (I John 3:4). One of God's laws is \"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. 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