Listen now (27 min) | Today's church often misunderstands Romans 13 and therefore doesn't resist when it could or when it should. Dr. Kayser helps us understand that the authority to resist is given to saints by God.
As always: Great interview. Great points made. I've captured some notes. And, we are working to implement in Kentucky!
I would like to add a thought to the R13 discussion...
We always hear that Paul wrote R13 in the context of a tyrannical and murderous Nero.
The timeline does not support that conclusion or its implication:
56 AD - Paul writes Romans during his 3rd missionary journey
62 AD - Paul appeals to Nero for justice (Acts 25)
64 AD - Fire in Rome, after which Nero begins persecution of Christians
66 AD - Roman-Jewish war begins
So, given the fact that Romans was written long before Nero began his persecutions, I think it is not likely that Paul had in mind a murderous Caesar when writing R13.
On the contrary, some evidence suggests that the Roman people considered Nero a pretty good Caesar during Paul's writing and prior to 64 AD. This was a time when...
> Rome was known for its orderly rule-of-law ("order" itself, a Godly characteristic)
> The Jews were the ones stoking civil disorder (ex., Acts 17.5) to which a Roman response was appropriate
Considering also that Romans was written to Jews, Paul might have been encouraging his readers to obey an orderly civil authority, as in contrast with the civil disorder stoked by their fellow countrymen.
My conclusion is that Paul's context is exactly the opposite of that which "a tyrannical and murderous Nero" narrative suggests.
Hello Ray,
As always: Great interview. Great points made. I've captured some notes. And, we are working to implement in Kentucky!
I would like to add a thought to the R13 discussion...
We always hear that Paul wrote R13 in the context of a tyrannical and murderous Nero.
The timeline does not support that conclusion or its implication:
56 AD - Paul writes Romans during his 3rd missionary journey
62 AD - Paul appeals to Nero for justice (Acts 25)
64 AD - Fire in Rome, after which Nero begins persecution of Christians
66 AD - Roman-Jewish war begins
So, given the fact that Romans was written long before Nero began his persecutions, I think it is not likely that Paul had in mind a murderous Caesar when writing R13.
On the contrary, some evidence suggests that the Roman people considered Nero a pretty good Caesar during Paul's writing and prior to 64 AD. This was a time when...
> Rome was known for its orderly rule-of-law ("order" itself, a Godly characteristic)
> The Jews were the ones stoking civil disorder (ex., Acts 17.5) to which a Roman response was appropriate
Considering also that Romans was written to Jews, Paul might have been encouraging his readers to obey an orderly civil authority, as in contrast with the civil disorder stoked by their fellow countrymen.
My conclusion is that Paul's context is exactly the opposite of that which "a tyrannical and murderous Nero" narrative suggests.