Christian Zionists and Neo-Christians routinely justify the wars of aggression by the United States of America by citing the thirteenth chapter of the book of Romans, written by the Apostle Paul. We Hold These Truths’ award-winning documentary, Christian Zionism: The Tragedy and The Turning, Part I was recently challenged by a veteran, who wrote in part: “I am not a Christian Zionist…Charles E. Carlson (at the ~4:00 mark) does not know his bible either. He does not understand Romans 13, and the fact that the State does wield the power of the sword.”
In this podcast we look at Romans 13 and what should be our takeaway from it based on a groundbreaking, article, “Romans 13: Neo-Christians Sorry Excuse for War” written by Chuck Carlson in 2011. Did Romans 13 give German Christians the authority to follow Hitler wherever he led them? (29 min.)
I’ve been very interested in your exposure of the evils of Christian Zionism. In several earlier articles you detailed the creation of the pernicious Scofield Bible. But, I’m interested to learn more about more recent events in the emergence of Christian Zionism as the powerful force it is today. Some months ago, I read an account of an Israeli intelligence operation in the 1970s which attempted to capture a small Christian non-political organization in Palestine which was providing humanitarian assistance to refugees of all religious persuasions – Christian, Muslim, & Jewish alike. Initially this effort failed, as the organization persistently sought to avoid becoming politically aligned with any side. But, through a tenacious and cunning campaign, the Israelis were eventually able to draw the organization into a relationship with the Israeli Government. The article alleged that this was the definitive beginning of the powerful Christian Zionist alignment with the policies of the Israeli Government we see today. Unfortunately, I’m unable to locate that article. Are you familiar with the article itself, or more generally with the events it describes? I’d be very grateful for anything you can tell me. Thank you.
The best remedy, if I could be so bold as to speak with authority, to the ‘Romans 13 problem’ is to present the contrary party with the martyrdom of Christians in the Soviet Union. If Soviet authority were “ordained by God”, then this Christian would be obliged to put his congregation to the sword, burning and concentration camps. It becomes abundantly clear that Romans 13 is conditioned upon the relative goodness, whether by pagan reasoning or Biblical, of the particular government. Roman government was a relative good in that it had a system of reasoned judgment based on objective truth, individual rights, and due process. Bolshevik government was irrational atheist fanaticism, actually of an occult nature, and the enemy of objective truth and fairness. The government in question has to be executing basic justice, then one is obliged to obey. if not, then it is an anti-government according to one way of thinking. So it is not that Paul’s words were inconsistent, but that in them he recognizes that the powers of evil are by nature thriving in a lawless space through impudence and violence. And that a rationally organized state performs a necessary, if implicitly dire function.
https://youtu.be/1K1WsZm_t1Y