“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
–James Madison, Federalist 51
Whenever I’m asked if it’s really true that the Founding Fathers instilled “Judeo-Christian values’ into the Constitution, I reply, yes, but not in the way you think. They did not mention God in the Constitution and specifically avoided giving Christianity any special place in the new government. But James Madison and others shared a very Christian view of human nature. It was because man was inherently sinful that we could not rely on good intentions, or even religious instruction, to keep things in line. That’s why he and others constructed a set of checks and balances on government power.

It’s also why Christians should favor vigorous government regulation of the financial markets. Greed will be with us forever. This will not be wiped out by business ethics courses, an invisible hand of the market, or even the memory of a financial collapse. It’s not merely a surprising aspect of the current crisis. It’s a fundamental part of human nature.
“Nothing can be more absolutely necessary to true religion, than a clear and full conviction of the sinfulness of our nature and state,” preached Rev. John Witherspoon, who was President of the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton) when Madison attended.
When it came to unbridled government authority, Madison and others wanted a balance of power. For those who accept the basic depravity of man, why shouldn’t the same reasoning apply to the financial sector?