a little food for thought
this weekend was host to a bit of a debate with some friends, and there was some other discussion today that had me thinking about the authority of men to deal death as a punishment. it is not a pleasant subject to discuss or consider, to be sure. it is not nearly so cut-and-dried as many other subjects in the Bible due to a fair amount of dissonance in the scriptures, primarily between old testament law and some of the teachings of Jesus with a few new testament instances sprinkled about.
basically, my views boil down to the fact that i put a lot of stock in tradition and in the wisdom of my elders – second only to the Word itself, actually. in light of these things, i find fault in the views of pacifism held by a growing number of my contemporaries, both in regards to capital punishment and the defense of one’s self and his beloved. the arguments for each side are tired and i will not at this juncture delve deeply into the topic, because i am still working out many of the details for myself. however, for those of you ashamed to live in a country that will take a person’s life for his transgressions, i hope that romans 13:1-4 can ease your mind in the face of such painful considerations.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
December 7th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Politicians can have ulterior motives, like elections. Like political parties and corporate america.
The DMCA is pretty lame.
The government can implement severely lame laws, like it being illegal to carry a gun, even disassembled, through the city of Carbondale, IL.
Apparently romans 13:1-4 holds true in some ancient government. I’d offer to say not america, or afghanistan, russia, china, iraq, cuba, etc.
Our country was created by those rebelling against the authorities, for religious freedom ironically.
The war in Iraq was assistance in the rebellion of the Iraqi people with the “agent of wrath” in their country.
The same politicians that are servant’s of god, are also removing god from the practices and traditions of our country.
I think I’m the most bipolar, random, theology enthusiast, on the internet.