#179 The Romans 13 Controversy

Program #179 “The Romans 13 Controversy” – 4/5/2015 – Synopsis

Political historian J.W. Allen stated, “The thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans contains what are perhaps the most important words ever written for the history of political thought.” One blogger summed up well the importance of the text by writing, “Romans thirteen was, and is, the most troublesome political passage in the New Testament, and was responsible for literally millions of words exchanged on the question of political liberty.”

However, most conservative activists, Christian and non-Christian, have never studied Romans thirteen, are unfamiliar with the issues raised in Romans thirteen, and have never referenced Romans thirteen in their political thought. Activists know the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers; but Romans thirteen goes unnoticed. This may be due to the fact that Romans thirteen teaches something both sides of the political aisle don’t want to hear.

I recently attended an Evangelical Conference about turning America back to God. The next three programs will be about the conference – not directly about the conference, but about an Evangelical understanding of how America was founded, what went wrong, and how we can fix it. I begin with an exposition of Romans thirteen because it is impossible to address this subject without a complete understanding of the precepts found in Romans thirteen. I trust you will be surprised and challenged.

Scripture References: Romans 13:1-7; Psalm 9:17; Ephesians 4:14; Jeremiah 25:31, 27:6; Psalm 75:6-7; Daniel 4:25; Romans 9:17; Zechariah 11:15; John 19:11; 1 Samuel 26:8-11