RE: To the 169 authors I follow.
Hey, Matt,
That is a fascinating take on Romans 13; one that I have never heard before. My brain will no doubt be dragging me back to think about it repeatedly... ;)
I do have a rather strong, divergent view of Romans 13 myself that I hope to share with steemit one day. For the moment, I'll just summarize it for you as contrasting paraphrases of the verse one, first the commonly accepted corrupted understanding:
"Each and every one of you pew-sitters better kow-tow to Cesar. Kiss his posterior, because GOD put him there!"
Now I'll , give you what I believe to be the proper spin:
"Let each and every last human being -- I don't care if you're a lowly chimney sweep, or the frick'in President of the United States -- align themselves under God and His Word, because there is no other source of legitimate authority! For any authority to have legitimacy, it must derive all its validity from God who decrees what is law and what is not. Insofar as an authority is aligned with God's authority, it is a properly exercised authority. Insofar as it departs from God's express authority, it is of none authority."
Matt, thanks for responding! :)
There has to be more to it than a straightforward reading would suggest. He says the state isn't a threat to those who do the right thing; just after the state executed, (without charge or trial), the only sinless man to ever exist.
We're used to religious liberty and free, uncensored speech, so we take people's writing at face value. The small, persecuted church in Rome would have been far more discerning as to subtext.
I have at least one friend who does not believe the chapter is canonical. I'm not quite ready to go that far, but I do struggle with the matter. Your notion of it possibly being a cryptic message is appealing. Do you have any sources/references for that thought, or is it original with you? :)
BTW, here is an online Greek language tool that I think is quite helpful:
As a former student of Greek and a some-time teacher, the tool helps me exercise my "Greek neurons" and when I need help, just floating the mouse over a word pulls up all of the lexical information... Very cool! ;)
P.S. Your article here has inspired me to start a new series on the New Heavens and New Earth... I'm sweating over the first installment, stay tuned! ;)
It's all me, and I'm reluctant to make theological arguments because I'm not as well read, biblically as I should be; and the stakes are so high.
I look forward to reading your new article, starting is the hardest part.