Versión de HTML Básico
Jesus’ words “and [render] to God the things that are God’s” may
be interpreted to demand the rejection of the claims of Caesar when
he usurps the place of God. In any event, Jesus did not advocate a
program of political reform, and neither did any of the writers of
the New Testament. When the author of Revelation 13 admonished
Christians to reject the demands of the empire and its rulers, there
was no thought of organized political resistance. All that was en
visaged—indeed, all that was possible—was nonviolent spiritual
resistance and faithful endurance under persecution.
There were two basic reasons why Christians adopted this attitude
of acceptance of, and obedience to, the civil authorities in the first
century. In the first place, the Christians constituted a very small
minority which had no political power and no opportunity to influence
the ruling authorities in the empire. In the second place, they expected
the present age of history to come to an end in the very near future
when God would overthrow the forces of evil and establish His King
dom. In view of this expectation, political issues seemed relatively
unimportant. Effective reform was manifestly impossible in the short-
run, and there was no long-run anticipated before the divine inter
vention.
Moreover, the early Christians believed that, on the whole, the
civil authorities represented the divine will for the provision of order
in society. Since men are sinful, there is need of the coercive power of
the state to restrain them from the grossest forms of evil and injustice.
Paul, writing before the severe persecutions of the Christians by the
Roman rulers had begun, expressed his belief in the justice of the
state in the most unreserved fashion when he declared: “For rulers
are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear
of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will
receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if
you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he
is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrong-doer. There
fore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for
the sake of conscience” (Rom. 13:3-5). Although the author of
First Peter wrote in the midst of an organized persecution of Chris
tians by the Roman authorities, he similarly urged his readers to be
for emperor worship which underlies the latter passage and which constitutes
an example of the state’s going beyond the sphere in which it has a right to
claim obedience.
( The State in the New Testament,
New York, Charles Scrib
ner’s Sons, 1956, ch. IV.)
312
Biblical Faith and Social Ethics