Does the Bible Give President Trump the Authority to Take Out Another Nation’s Leader?

Last updated on: August 9, 2017 at 6:14 pm by Paul Louis Metzger

Does the Bible Give President Trump the Authority to Take Out Another Nation’s Leader? 2017-08-09T18:14:38-07:00 Paul Louis Metzger

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo Credit: Riley Kaminer

Last night, I read that Pastor Robert Jeffress claimed, “God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un.” I wonder what Jesus would make of his claim, especially as he discounted the relevance of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in this context and treated Romans 13 as if it gives President Trump a free pass to take out another nation’s leader. According to The Washington Post,

The biblical passage Romans 13 gives the government authority to deal with evildoers, Jeffress said. “That gives the government … the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong Un,” he said.

I seriously doubt Just War theorist St. Augustine would have been so sweeping with his assessment. I also wonder how the Lord Jesus would have felt when Jeffress stated,

“A Christian writer asked me, ‘Don’t you want the president to embody the Sermon on the Mount?’” he said, referring to Jesus’s sermon. “I said absolutely not.”

Perhaps New Testament scholar Bishop N.T. Wright can shed light on how Jesus might respond. Wright declares:

When God wants to sort out the world, as the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount make clear, he doesn’t send in the tanks. He sends in the meek, the broken, the justice hungry, the peacemakers, the pure-hearted and so on.

While Wright does not claim to know exactly how to live out the Sermon on the Mount in our day, he does know that it calls us out of privatized spirituality and a heavenly salvation reserved to the distant future. Jesus’ eschatological kingdom proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount bears radical import for the present. And so, we can never replace “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” with “Blessed Are the Cheesemakers” (including any manufacturers of dairy products—Sorry, Monty Python!).

Romans 13 does not give government leaders a cart blanche endorsement to wage war or assassinate other political rulers. In fact, I don’t think it is referring to warfare at all. The sword in question in Romans 13:4 that the ruler does not bear in vain is short like a dagger (μάχαιρα). It is for policing, not the long sword of war and execution. Nor does Romans 13 require citizens to submit blindly and passively. The American church must reform its understanding of Romans 13 and its bearing on a host of issues.

Now, if by chance, President Trump has been given a cart blanche endorsement to do what he wishes in North Korea, what does that mean for the democratic process involving our legislative branch of federal government? Moreover, what safeguards against other political leaders going ahead and doing the same with their own adversaries? If Romans 13 gives Caesar the authority to wage war or do what he wants with the sword, and if the Caesar in question is the crazed Nero, how does one safeguard against condoning crazed leaders today elsewhere in the world using the sword (long or short) on their enemies? While North Korea’s political establishment is by no means part of an axis of good, I am not so certain in light of America’s history of waging wars that we are always astute arbitrators of justice.

There’s no question that our increasingly nuclear-charged world requires serious attention. There’s also no question that the situation concerning North Korea appears dire and requires discerning precaution and action. However, as we consider that the United States is the only country ever to drop atomic bombs on another country (and intentionally on defenseless civilian population targets—by no means in keeping with what I understand to be credible accounts of Just War theory), we need to be very circumspect as we consider next steps. After all, Jesus said that the poor in spirit are blessed (Matthew 5:3), not the haughty.

This week is important for many reasons, including in history and the use of nuclear weapons. Sunday marked the bombing of Hiroshima, while today marks the bombing of Nagasaki. Seventy-two years ago, President Harry Truman gave the okay to light up the sky over Japan. How striking by way of glaring contrast it is that August 6th was Transfiguration Sunday, when Jesus lit up the world with the glow of his life-giving glory (Matthew 17:1-8).[1] How striking might it be if we were to allow Jesus to influence America’s foreign policy, including his Sermon on the Mount, or at the very least the church, when Christian leaders make definitive statements on what God sanctions. It might just make us appropriately cautious against rushing in as fools where angels fear to tread.

________________

[1]I wish to thank my colleague Derrick Peterson for drawing my attention to this striking though troubling connection. I am grateful for his interaction with this post, and to my colleague Sara Mannen for drawing my attention to the article in The Washington Post on Romans 13 and the Sermon on the Mount.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 7, 2017

What Does Jesus Despise? Spiritual Pride Stands in the Way of a Good Answer.

Next Post

August 12, 2017 Build Bridges of Relational Trust: They Are All-Important.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz