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When Romans 13 Meets Tyranny: Interpreting Obedience

When Romans 13 Meets Tyranny: Interpreting Obedience

Last updated on: May 14, 2025 at 2:14 pm by Kermit Zarley

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When Romans 13 Meets Tyranny: Interpreting Obedience 2025-05-14T14:14:25-07:00 Kermit Zarley

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Paul Did Not Teach Unconditional Obedience to Civil Rulers

The apostle Paul wrote in his magisterial, theologically in-depth, and lengthy letter to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (Romans 1.7 NRSV), that they should do the following:

Romans 13:1-7

**1“**Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due” (Romans 13.1-7).

Overdoing the Application of Scripture to Life

We live in an era in which evangelical church pastors and other Christian leaders sometimes have overemphasized the application of scripture to life without scrutiny. This may be a reaction to some church denominations being so

centered on ritual and liturgy that their parishioners have lacked applying biblical truth to their daily lives. But sometimes this application of scripture is done indiscriminately, thus without considering varying genres or the intent of the authors. This can result in misapplication.

An example is Romans 13.1-7. Bible readers sometimes misapply it to their circumstances due to a failure to realize Paul’s intent in writing it. Paul was a Roman citizen writing to the Christians at Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, about their political situation. German scholars call this sitz im leben, meaning “setting in life,” which also means “situation in life.” Scholars generally think Paul wrote Romans in the late 50s BCE.

Political Jewish Zealots Prompted the First Jewish Revolt

The nation of Israel at that time, which comprised Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, was not part of the Roman Empire even though it was located geographically within its confines. Instead, Israel was in subjugation to the Roman Empire.

Interpreting Romans 13: A timeless tension between faith and authority, captured in a scene that evokes reverence, reflection, and the cost of obedience. | Image created in Dalle for Patheos.

Jews then longed for the day when they would not be under Rome’s domination, so they would be totally free citizens able to worship God freely.

One of Jesus’ twelve apostles was Simon the Zealot. Apparently, this title indicated that he had been a member of the politically-religious Zealot party. It advocated the overthrow of Roman rule by any means possible, including armed force. The Zealots later instigated and led the First Jewish Revolt of 66-70 BCE. This suggests that Paul could have been concerned, only a few years earlier, about Jewish Christians disobeying the Roman government.

Roman Emperor Nero’s Reputation

Thus, Paul may have written Romans 13.1-7 with that current situation in mind. At that time, Nero (reign: 54-68 BCE) was the emperor. During the mid-60s to his suicidal death in 68, Nero became a tyrant who initiated the first, certain persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

For instance, in 64 BCE a great fire broke out in Rome, starting in Circus Maximus. Many Roman citizens claimed the madman, Emperor Nero, started it on purpose. Nero deflected this accusation by unjustly blaming Jewish Christians for starting it. Besides feeding them to the lions for sport, he had hundreds of them crucified on stakes, covered in tar, and burnt as human torches at night for amusement at his garden parties. Would the apostle Paul have told those Christians they should “honor” Emperor Nero as “the servant of God to execute wrath”? Hardly!

However, historians generally think Nero was not this way during his early reign. Thus, the Roman Empire was not persecuting or executing Christians in the years leading up to Paul’s writing of Romans. That is why Paul could write to the Christians at Rome to “be subject to the governing authorities” and that they “have been instituted by God.” He says the empire’s “rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” He can even say they are “God’s servants for your good.” Such exhortations have applied justly to many political regimes in history, but certainly not to all. There have been many evil dictators in history who brutally mistreated their citizens. Paul is not mindful of such exceptions. Rather, he is addressing his sitz im leben.

Dr. Joseph A. Fitzmyer Well Explains Romans 13:1-7

Pilate petitioned the crowd to determine the fate of Jesus | Image courtesy of Antonio Ciseri, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Roman Catholic scholar Joseph A. Fitzmyer explains in his commentary on Romans (p. 664), “When Paul wrote Romans, ‘Judaism was on the brink of catastrophe as a result of its longstanding resistance to Roman imperialism. An emerging Christianity… was inevitably caught up in the crisis of Jewish-Roman relations. What was the right posture to adopt toward Rome?’” Fitzmyer says Paul answers in Romans 13.1-7. Fitzmyer explains, “Paul’s discussion of the relation of Christians to civil authorities… remains on the level of general principles.”

Romans 13.1-7 raises questions about governmental mistreatment of its citizens. How about Nazi Germany and its WWII Holocaust? Plus, the American Revolution birthed the USA because the colonists revolted against the king of England’s unfair “taxation without representation.”

Some American colonist Christians opposed that revolution by citing Romans 13.1-7. One was Benjamin Franklin’s son, a lawyer. They suffered a rupture in their relationship over the colonies’ revolt and Benjamin’s significant role in it. The younger Franklin, a devout Christian, moved to England to live the rest of his life.

Paul goes on to say specifically in Romans 13.6-7, “pay taxes, … Pay to all what is due to them–taxes to whom taxes are due, … honor to whom honor is due.” The American colonists refused to pay those taxes, arguing that they were incessantly unfair, thus not “what is due to them.”

Moreover, Christians could have been opposed to Roman government officials since Roman Governor Pontius Pilate of Judea condemned and executed Jesus. Fitzmyer says (p. 665) Paul’s “knowledge of Pilate’s involvement did not deter him from recognizing the legitimate role that Pilate had as a civil authority.”

Fitzmyer continues concerning Romans 13.1-7 (pp. 664-65), “The passage has created a major problem in modern theological discussion because Paul’s teaching has at times been invoked to justify any sort of human government. The supposition running through vv 1-7 is that the civil authorities are good and are conducting themselves rightly in seeking the interests of the political community. Paul does not envisage the possibility of either a totalitarian or a tyrannical government, or one failing to cope with the just rights of individual citizens or of a minority group. … Moreover, the concept of legitimate civil disobedience is beyond his ken. Paul is not discussing in exhaustive fashion the relation of Christians to governing authorities.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bible believers need to be careful in applying scripture like this to diverse situations in other periods of history.

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About kermit Zarley

Born & reared in Seattle, WA., Kermit lived 38 years in metro Houston, now in Scottsdale, AZ. He graduated from University of Houston w/ BBA in 1963 and played on the PGA Tour full time from 1964-1982 and Senior/Champions Tour in 1991-2001. Kermit co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study in 1965 and was senior leader most of next 17 years. Kermit has three adult children and six grandchildren. You can read more about the author here.

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