Ken Ewert God is the sovereign owner of His creation. Second, man s dealings with the earth must be in obedience to the ultimate Owner s requirements. The question of how man s ownership is to be exercised must be defined by God speaking in His word. God s authority, delegated to men, is what makes human ownership legitimate. Scripture makes it clear that property has been given by God on a family basis.
Property is to be privately owned by families.
Christian thinkers have long recognized that the ten commandments, which are the summation of God s standards for life, explicitly sanction private ownership of property. As David Chilton has pointed out, the last five commandments in particular show the centrality of private ownership in God s created order. Each of these commandments communicates God s requirement that we respect our neighbor s property since his ownership of his life, wife, reputation, and other possessions is legitimate - it is approved of by God. In one sense, the eighth commandment encompasses the other four. In the eighth commandment God has established private ownership, for without legitimate ownership there could be no such thing as theft.