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The Political Order
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political authorities. Whereas the primary word of the prophets con
cerning the rulers of Israel was that God demanded justice of them,
the characteristic word of the New Testament in this regard is that
the political order should be accepted as the work of divine providence
and hence the rulers should be obeyed. There is little concern in the
New Testament either to reform the existing political structures or to
influence the policies of the governing authorities. This difference in
attitude reflects a major difference between the situations to which
the prophets on the one hand and the writers of the New Testament
on the other hand addressed themselves. Unlike the early Christian
community, Israel was a political state, or theocracy, and throughout
much of her history her religious leaders exercised political as well as
religious authority. In this capacity her rulers had a responsibility
and an opportunity to govern the internal and foreign affairs of the
state in accordance with the will of Yahweh, whereas the early Chris
tians were subject to pagan rulers. Hence, it is not surprising that
the writers of the New Testament assumed a different attitude toward
the political authorities from that exhibited by the prophets who had
been able to appeal to the rulers of their day on the basis of their
common participation in the Covenant.
The dominant attitude of the New Testament toward the civil
rulers, then, was one of acceptance and obedience. It is represented
by Paul and the author of First Peter. In his letter to the Romans,
Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have
been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists
what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”
(Rom. 13:1-2). And the author of First Peter wrote, “Be subject
for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the
emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those
who do wrong and to praise those who do right” (I Pet. 2:13-14).
This attitude of obedience to the political authorities is supported
conditionally by the words of Jesus: “Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark
12:17). But Jesus’ own words can also be used to support the other
attitude found in the New Testament, namely, that expressed in
Revelation 13, where the Roman Empire is described as a blas
pheming beast because it required worship of the emperor.1 Thus
1 Professor Oscar Cullmann contends that the difference between Romans 13
and Revelation 13 is to be understood entirely in the light of the demand