The powers that be are ordained of God
Michael Harriot at The Root explains about Romans 13:
Around A.D. 49, the Roman emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from the city of Rome. Historians argue about the exact date and the reasons, but we know that Claudius did not want them holding office or bringing in more immigrants. Instead, he wrote that the Jews (pdf) “should rest content with what belongs to them by right and enjoy an abundance of all good things in a city which is not theirs. They must not bring in or invite Jews who sail in from Syria or Egypt; this is the sort of thing which will compel me to have my suspicions redoubled.” The Jews, according to Claudius, were running in gangs, opening the borders and taking the good jobs from the true Romans.
Sound familiar?
As this was happening, one of the early Jewish leaders of a new sect called “Christianity” was composing a letter to his church. In the epistle, he told his oppressed minority of followers to avoid causing trouble with the most powerful government in the world.
He wrote Romans 13.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. —A Letter to the Roman Church From the Apostle Paul, Chapter 13, Verses 1-3
Great stuff, isn’t it. The powers that be are ordained of God. Never mind who they are, never mind what they do, mind your own business – they are ordained of god. If they’re Hitler, they’re ordained of god; if they’re Stalin, they’re ordained of god; if they’re Mugabe or Pinochet or Genghis Khan or Marcos or Duterte or Berlusconi or Trump, they’re ordained of god. Suck it up, buttercup. Nobody gets to be on top without god’s ordinance, therefore anyone who is on top is there because god said so, therefore you have to accept and bow and obey. Power is ordained by god, so all power is sacred and Meant To Be and to be obeyed. God loves a bully.
If you have ever wondered why slaves adopted the religious philosophy of their slave masters, Romans 13 is your answer. If you wanted to know why slaves, who often outnumbered slave masters, rebelled so rarely, the answer lies in Romans 13. To understand why the Bible was the only book many slaves were allowed to own, read that verse again.
Christianity was adopted by people, rulers and governments all around the globe because it tells its followers to comply. It boasts of a benevolent God who knows best; even when you are the subject of brutality, the Bible tells you that this is what God wants. At the root of Romans 13 is an edict to obey authority.
The 13th chapter of Romans is white supremacy, explained.
So it’s no wonder Jefferson Beauregard invoked it to justify Trump’s “take their kids away” policy.
And yet, Obama was the Anti-Christ. Consistency isn’t especially biblical.
During the Roman Empire the reason that slaves rebelled so rarely was that the penalties for rebellion were so barbarous. For example, the murder of a slave master by a slave usually resulted in the execution of all the slaves in the household. Anyone who doubts this can read the history of the so-called ‘Servile Wars’ which occurred before the Christian Era. It’s possible that Christianity reinforced the submission of slaves to the Roman system, however sheer terror of the consequences probably was the main factor.
The author is drawing a longbow.
DAMN IT. I’m sorry.
Trying again:
Maybe. Some scholars believe that bit is an interpolation.
Anyway, Paul believed that Jesus was going to return any minute now and set things right. In the meanwhile, everybody, play nice and don’t worry too much about the injustices of this world, because when Jesus comes all will be made right.
This eschatology runs all through the New Testament. Jesus was reported to have said (it’s somewhere in the gospels, I can’t be arsed to look it up) that he’d be returning within his disciples’ lifetime, and his very earliest followers believed it.
Didn’t happen. But the Church carried on, rationalized away that obvious disconfirmation of one of their original Main Beliefs, and continue to pull verses out of context to justify doing whatever horrific shit they want to do.
Well, OB, it was one approach. In Roman-occupied Palestine, it worked; though at the price of the personal dignity of each member of the occupied population, who had themselves invaded and occupied and displaced the previous occupants (the Philistines of the OT) before them.
The saddest lesson of human history is a simple one: if you can’t defend it, you don’t own it. The Jews could not defend Palestine, nor the Philistines before them.
But Yeshua bar Joseph, aka Jesus Christ, who was St Paul’s mentor, had another approach: outwardly bow down to the Romans, but not inwardly. Your inner life keep for your own and never surrender it to them. (God is watching you, and watching over you.) He started a handy new inwardly-oriented religion to help them do that. It languished at first, until the Romans under Constantine decided to adopt it themselves, so well did it suit their own political needs. Yeshua’s followers and his ideas survived, at a price. But they survived also in the Darwinian sense. In time, they took over a fair hunk of the world. And then, when it suited them to do so, they themselves turned violent, and found plenty of scriptural support for that political tack.
Yeshua bar Joseph, being an educated man, was probably also aware of the revolt led by the gladiator turned freedom-fighter Spartacus (c. 111–71 BC) which resulted in Spartacus’ public execution by crucifixion. Yeshua preached outward accommodation with Rome. But the Romans crucified him anyway, probably because he gained too much of a following amongst people looking for The Messiah, and who thought he was it.
It’s all there, IMHO, in that wonderful old German song (very popular among students) ‘Die Gedanken Sind Frei.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmwTa9qRq0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwQXVcbkU0
They never met. Except in Paul’s imagination.
That was all that was needed.
There’s even biblical justification for the Babylonian exile. If it happened…it must have god’s approval. This cringing before power isn’t really all that different from the ‘prosperity gospel’ nonsense equating wealth with Divine Favor.
Ephesians 6:5.
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Collosians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
1 Peter 2:18-19
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully
Don’t forget Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin, all apparently doing God’s good work according to Paul.