Subject to Governing Authorities — Paul Again

Last updated on: April 2, 2014 at 9:34 am by Scot McKnight

Subject to Governing Authorities — Paul Again 2014-04-02T09:34:30-05:00 Scot McKnight

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Those famous words of Paul’s in Romans 13 have not only irritated some to the core of their being (think apartheid) but they have been used by some to sanction most any authority’s moves. Divinely sanctioned authority can run wild, and it has in the church. The text was a favorite of those who were pro-slavery in the Civil War era and not a few evangelical leaders used the text against activism in the 60s.

How comprehensive is this opening line for Paul? Do you think Christian progressives violate this? Do you think Christian political conservatives violate this?

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Paul’s own conduct — he was constantly imprisoned and in trouble with governing authorities — surely puts to the test what he said here, and one must at least wonder if he was thinking as one who was still safe under Nero and, Nero was soon to ramp up his nastiness toward all, may have had another angle later in his life (while imprisoned under Nero). In other words, in Paul’s circumstances at this time in his life these words sound entirely reasonable.

Rome, Sarah Ruden says in Paul among the People, is like a weak parent of immature children. Ruden, as it turns out, is an expert on political satire so she indulgences her own interests. Maybe more than we need at this point in her argument. Romans loved to satirize their authorities. How would Paul talk about the authorities?, she asks.

She focuses, and here I’m thinking she may be drawing too much from a single term, on the Roman military’s Orderliness (Greek tass-) to explain what Paul is doing here. Yes, the word is present in this passage but the question I have is if this is a military term for Paul? The military life was a bonanza for most.

Paul proposes a “new ethic of shared, responsible authority” (129). He’s encouraging his churches to become “stakeholders, leaders themselves through cooperation” (138). This set of images, then, was the way to gain status and respect in the Roman world.

But Paul pushes harder — to love of others in Romans 13.

Paul

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