Romans has been a forceful ethical argument from the outset: arguing for a life beyond supremacism, exclusion, and domination that is made possible by God in Jesus Christ. A life together of peace.

And yet Paul still desires to complete his letter with explicit ethical guidance: how to be a people of this kind of peace.

Looming over it all is Rome. What of those who hope in the Pax Romana? Who control their known world? Here we encounter some of Paul's most widely abused language, Romans 13, concerning the power of the state and those who claim to wield violence for public good. Is he endorsing their exclusive claim to violence? Doesn't this give free reign to authoritarians?

Historic translations have bent Paul's words to suggest as much. We call bullshit. With the help of historians and political scientists, let's listen deeply for why this isn't a moment of Paul losing the plot. It's deeply subversive, and even a wee bit anarchistic.

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Opportunity Walks by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/