Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Romans 13 and the divine right to rule
I was just reading our assignment for Thursday and I thought it was really interesting that one of the sections we have to read, Romans 13, talks about how it is necessary follow the human laws of local rulers on top of those of God. The reasoning they give is that everything is created by God and therefore the local ruler's laws are not just another human's laws, but they are passed down by God and these leaders are God's servants. This shows the basis for the idea of the divine right to rule and can be referred back to for justification of it. This was a very important concept that existed in many kingdoms and was the entire basis for the ruling government in these kingdoms for hundreds of years, demonstrating how powerful the Bible has been in our history. It defined and changed the course of history and is why the word is the way it is today. I think one of the most interesting things about reading the Bible, because it has had to much influence in action and tradition throughout history, is being able to see these references and understand why our history is the way it is and why people did what they did, and the Bible is often the backbone to that. Any other example of a majorly influential idea that has its basis on a Bible passage we read?
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What interested me about the Romans passage we read was this exact idea. Because God has granted authority to these leaders, the laws they enact are God's laws. However, one could expand upon this idea even further to all the actions of every person. If God is omniscient and the creator of each and every person how can one decide if their actions are of their own free will or of God's will?What you mention about how these themes are present throughout history, I noticed in Acts 17:16-28. Here, Paul notices how the Athenians had idols around their city. He is astonished and feels as though he must notify them that they are praying to false gods. This kind of scenario has been seen time and time again throughout history.
ReplyDeleteI was stumped by this as well. Are the laws and beliefs enforced by rulers done so by God's choice? Or are they completely separate from God's rule? Because if under the action of God, we would assume that the laws would be good–and therefore we would have to abide by them regardless. But that can't be right...because there are many rulers throughout history and today whose beliefs we can be certain are not beneficial to the human race. Does that mean that they are not truly of "God's Servants"? I don't think we can really distinguish between if all that exists is of God or not until we know if god really is omniscient, which I don't know if we ever will.
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