Paul’s Hidden Voice in Romans 13:1-7

Paul’s Hidden Voice: An Exegetical Essay on Romans 13:1-7 Greg Colby Romans 13:1-7 has within it reflections of several other biblical texts; Mark 12:13-17 (payment of taxes); the contradictory Acts 5:29 (obeying God, not people); 1 Tim 2:1-2 (prayers for all in authority); Titus 3:1 (being obedient and subject to rulers and authorities); 1 Pet 2:13-17 (submission to authorities – praise for those who do good and punishment for wrong doers). Whilst bearing these echoes it is still perhaps the most abused text in the entire Christian sacred corpus. Romans 13:1-7 has for centuries been ill-treated by church and state to legitimate the power of the state to the disadvantage of the poor and disenfranchised1. Monera argues that the text has been “grievously perverted, to support the political interests of the readers [of Romans] and [its] interpreters” 2.

In his brilliant monograph on Christian anarchists during the Twentieth Century, York 3 tells the story of two Catholic Priests, brothers Daniel and Phillip Berrigan, who, along with Osama Bin Laden, once shared top billing on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list. The reason for this may not be as clear as it was for Osama Bin Laden, however the Berrigan brothers dislike for government property which was created for use against other humans, and their subsequent love for destroying that same government property most likely had a great deal

1 Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary On the Gospel (Abridged Edition), 1st ed. (Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic, 2011). p.10.

2 Arnold T Monera, "The Christian's Relationship to The State According to the New Testament: Conformity Or Non-conformity?", The Asia Journal of Theology 19, no. 1 (2005). pp.106-142.

3 Tripp York, Living On Hope While Living In Babylon: The Christian Anarchists Of The Twentieth Century, 1st ed. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2009). pp.97-116

to do with it. A theology of Obedience, wrested from the text, has developed, argues Vonck4, by the uncritical and naive, such that revolution is seen to be the antithesis to a Christian way of life. This argument can be seen in the opposition of perfectly reasonable Christians to the likes of the Berrigan brothers in the USA, and to movements such as Love Makes a Way here in Australia5.

Controversial and contentious in the extreme, Romans 13:1-7, a textual foundation for much of the polemic against Christian activism, it is a text which Monera labels a “crux interpretum” (authors emphasis)6 and which poses theological, ethical and, political challenges. It has “been analyzed historically, socially, politically and legally” 7. The Romans 13:1-7 text has been used by dictatorial regimes, oppressive tyrants, and as a foundation for complacency during campaigns of “gross injustice and abuse” the world over. It is no wonder then that scholars would rather Romans 13:1-7 were not Pauline and thus easily dismissed.

4 Pol Vonck, "All Authority Comes from God: Romans 13:1-7 - A Tricky Text About Obedience to Political Power", African Ecclesial Review 26 (1984). pp.338-47.

5 Love Makes a Way (LMAW) was formed in March 2014 following the death of Reza Berati on Manus Island. The founders were a group of Christians, lay and ordained, who sought to force the governments hand with respect to the indefinite detention of children in offshore processing camps. They conducted prayer vigils in politician’s offices refusing to leave unless the respective politician gave a verbal agreement to end child detention. They were all peacefully arrested for trespass and charged – but they were willing to break the law of the land, and suffer the consequences. They received a lot of support from other Christians, however they also received negative reactions from a lot of other Christians who quoted Romans 13:1-2 at them on many social media postings about LMAW see http://lovemakesaway.org.au/lmaw-story/ and https://www.facebook.com/matt.anslow/posts/10152758204470163? match=bG92ZSBtYWtlcyBhIHdheSxyb21hbnMgMTMscm9tYW5zLG1ha2VzLGxvdmUsd 2F5LDEz 6 Monera, "The Christian's Relationship to The State According to the New Testament” (2005): p.107 7 Scot McKnight and Joseph B Modica, Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not, 1st ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2013). p.56

Scholars such as Kallas8, who disingenuously argued “this little section of seven verses has always been recognized by theologians as a self-contained envelope completely independent of its context.” try to argue away Romans 13:1-7 by denying its Pauline provenance. However, as E Schweizer has opined: “From the depth of my heart I always wished that Paul did not write Romans 13:1-7, but of course, it is part of his text and I have to accept it…”9 Paul’s letter to the Romans was written around the winter/spring of AD56 10, which, though eight years before Nero’s Conflagration and subsequent persecution of ‘the church’, was in the midst of a period where the Caesars and their consorts, were known to be particularly cruel and cared little for the rule of law. It was during Nero’s father Claudius’ reign that the Jews were expelled from Rome for “constantly [making] disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus”11.

Many scholars, such as Barth12, link chapter twelve to the pericope of 13:1-7 – it is not, they argue, to be viewed as an “intrusion into the text”, which, if viewed on its own, it seems to be. York finds it ironic that the very same Christians who, while protesting against the work of Christian activists such as the Berrigan bothers and LMAW above, view Romans 13:1-2 as

8 James Kallas, "Romans Xiii. 1–7: An Interpolation", New Testament Studies 11, no. 04 (1965). p.365.

9 U. Wilckens, Der Gehorsam gegen die Behoerden des Staates im Tun des Guten, in L. De Lorenzi (ed.), Dimensions de la Vie Chrétienne (Rm 12-12), Rome, 1979, ρ.133 as cited by Vonck, "All Authority Comes from God” (1984) p.338.

10 Frank J Matera, Romans, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2010). Kindle Edition 11 Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, 1st ed. Trans. H.M. Bird., (Ware, Herfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd., 1997). p.209-240 12 Karl Barth and Edwyn Clement Hoskyns, The Epistle to The Romans, 1st ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1977). as cited by Vonck, "All Authority Comes from God” (1984). p.338.

almost a creedal statement, but do not then also take the text immediately preceding it as creedal also: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay evil for evil . . . so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink” . . .

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14,16,17a,18-20a13 Who are these authorities to whom Paul is purportedly expecting his hearers submit? If we take ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις as meaning secular state government authorities, which Gundry14 along with Matera15 consider them to be, then Claudius and his adopted step son Nero are at the very pinnacle of such authority. The Roman political system had regressed into a system of “official and private corruption”16 creating a political environment where graft, profiteering and, bribery was used to “manipulate…for private advantage” 17.

According to Judge18 ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις refers to low level administrative officials with whom believers deal with daily and personally. Accordingly Paul is charging Roman 13 York, Living On Hope While Living In Babylon: The Christian Anarchists Of The Twentieth Century, 1st ed. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2009). p.106 14 Robert H Gundry, Commentary On Romans, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2011). p.113 15 Matera, Romans, (2010). Kindle Edition 16 Edwin Arthur Judge, Social Distinctives of the Christians in The First Century, [ed.]

David M Scholer, 1st ed. (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 2008). p.163 17 Judge, Social Distinctives of the Christians in The First Century, [ed.] Scholer, (2008). p.164 18 Judge, (2008). p.162-164

Christians to not give in to the corruption of the system, but to still submit to its authority.

Wright19 infers this could be so as not to antagonize an already difficult relationship between believers and Roman authorities.

Matera agrees with Judge, and argues that Paul, by encouraging submission to ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις, is seeking to have Roman Christians establish themselves as good citizens in order to witnesses to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Claudius had already expelled the Jews from Rome ten years previously for causing trouble at the behest of “Chrestus”, and, according to Judge and Matera’s arguments, Paul is urging the Roman Christians, both Jews and Gentiles not to repeat the events which led up to that expulsion.

Not all scholars agree that ἐξουσίαις is referring to administrative officials or even human agents at all. Cullman20 has argued that ἐξουσίαις are spiritual beings which support the authorities rather than actual human beings as authorities themselves. Cullman 21 argues that elsewhere in the Pauline literature, when Paul uses ἐξουσίαι it is always in reference to spiritual beings. Moo, however, dismisses Cullman by pointing out that “When ἐξουσίαι refers to spiritual beings in Paul, it always occurs with ἀρχαί”22.

The question remains, if, as Leo Tolstoy artfully writes, “Christianity in its true sense puts an end to the State”23, and as Paul himself had written immediately before 13:1-7; Don’t conform to this present age, but be transformed (Rom.12:2a); why does Paul seem to be 19 N. T Wright, Romans, 1st ed. (London: SPCK, 2009). p.76 20 Wesley Carr, Angels and Principalities: The Background, Meaning And Development Of The Pauline Phrase Hai Archai Kai Hai Exousiai, 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981). pp.115-121 21 Carr, Angels and Principalities, (1981). p.115 22 Douglas J Moo, The Epistle to The Romans, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996). p.1279 23 Leo Tolstoi, The Kingdom of God is Within You, [Trans]. Constance Black Garnett.

(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2009). p.368

encouraging submission to the state – a state led, ultimately, by the likes of Nero? Surely, as Moo suggests, “a willingness to resist the demands of secular rulers, when those conflict with the demand of the God we serve, is part of that “transformation” of life which Paul speaks about in these chapters”24.

We turn now to the work of Sung Uk Lim who argues that Paul has engaged in what linguistics theorist Mikhail Bakhtin has called, dialogic or double-voice to mask anti Imperial cult writing inside an apparently pro-Rome rhetoric25. Lim, a post-colonial citizen of South Korea (SK), is uniquely situated to offer a minority perspective on Romans from a place eerily similar to that which the Roman Christians would have experienced. Lim argues that the Roman and the Japanese Imperial cults have much in common and that the Japanese Imperial rule “…[raises] the historical possibility that Romans 13:1–7 has much to do with the issue of the imperial cult in particular as well as the issue of submission to the governing authorities in general”26.

The essence of Lim’s argument is that Paul’s writing fits a sub-unit of Bakhtin’s double-voiced theory; “vari-directional double-voiced discourse” (authors emphasis)27, what Lim has called public voice and hidden voice. This creates a linguistic environment where “Paul…adopts the dominant discourse of the Roman Empire, but eventually espouses its opposing discourse, that is, anti-dominant discourse”28. While publicly espousing the Roman order in his writing, Paul is, within the same text, denunciating the Imperial Cult. Lim continues his argument, 24 Moo, The Epistle to The Romans, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996). p.623 25 Sung U. Lim, "A Double-Voiced Reading of Romans 13:1–7 In Light of the Imperial Cult", HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 71, no. 1 (2015). pp.1-10 26 Lim, "A Double-Voiced Reading of Romans 13:1–7 In Light of the Imperial Cult", (2015). pp.1-10 27 Lim, (2015). p.2 28 Lim, (2015). p.2

suggesting that if (as Wan29 suggests would be likely) the “elite’s” of Rome read or heard Paul’s letter, they would assume that he was being supportive of them and the status quo30.

These same elites would be comforted knowing that Paul was encouraging this minority group called Christians to ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ (good conduct), as opposed to τῷ κακῷ (bad conduct). The nature of Paul’s rhetoric in this passage would seem to “champion the power and legitimacy of the Roman Empire. However, it should be remembered that the passage is written with a double voice, both public and hidden” (emphasis added)31 and therefore Paul must have somewhere written a key to unlock this meaning for the Roman Christians.

Lim proposes the key to understanding Paul’s hidden voice can be found in two key texts: “Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor [τιμή] to whom honor [τιμή] is due” (emphasis added – Rom.13:7) and in Romans 1:18-32 within which Paul highlights the exchange of worshipping the creator for worshiping a created being. This created being, in Lim’s argument, is the Emperor and whilst the word τιμή in chapter 13 holds some ambiguity, it would likely remind the Roman hearers of Paul’s words in chapter 1. For Roman Christians there is only one who is owed τιμή and that one was not the Emperor, but Jesus Christ.

Lim finds support for his position from a variety of places. Puskas and Reasoner contend that reading Romans 13 in this manner, that is that the text is shaped b Paul to read as the Romans would want it to read, however: “is not an endorsement of Rome’s claim to be the

29 Wan, Sze-kar, ‘Coded resistance: A proposed reading of Romans 13:1–7’, in C.B. Kittredge, E.B. Aitken & J.A. Draper (eds.), The Bible in the public square: Reading the signs of the times, (Minneapolis, Fortress Press. 2008) pp.173–184 as cited by Lim, (2015). p.7 30 Lim, (2015). p.7 31 Lim, (2015). p.7

ultimate benefactor and political authority in the world”32. In fact, Puskas and Reasoner continue on arguing that “Romans 13 reads more as a demotion of Caesar!”33. McKnight and Modica agree with Lim and argue that implicit in an understanding of the anti-Imperial cult schema of Paul’s rhetoric, is that Paul’s original readers/hearers would have understood his criticism of the empire ad it would only be “blinding ideology that blocks our seeing empire criticism in a text such as Romans 13”34.

Was Paul being a good Roman Citizen and encouraging his readers to be likewise good Roman Citizens, or is there something deeper in the text that is not apparent at first glance?

At a surface reading one might consider Romans 13:1-7 a non-Pauline interpolation, and therefore, based on this surface reading, reject the text and its message. However, as York and others have demonstrated, Romans 13:1-7 is textually and linguistically linked to the text immediately preceding and following, as well as at other places within the letter.

Perhaps Paul isn’t talking about actual physical authorities so much as he is referring to spiritual authorities behind the Roman Empire? Moo has very neatly dealt with that argument from Cullman and, along with Grundy and Matera established that Paul is indeed most likely referring to low level local administrative authorities.

Are we therefore left with a text which was written by a Paul who is supportive of Roman authority and encouraging his hearers to be as well? I think the work of Lim, as supported

by McKnight, Modica, Puskas and Reasoner, leads us in a different direction. What we have in the text of Romans 13:1-7 is Paul wanting to encourage the Jews and Gentiles who had

32 Charles B Puskas and Mark Reasoner, The Letters of Paul, 2nd ed. (Collegeville Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2013). p.24 33 Puskas and Reasoner, The Letters of Paul, 2nd ed. (2013). p.24 34 McKnight and Modica, Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not, (2013). p.18

previously been at loggerheads, which likely resulted in the expulsion of the Jews some years earlier, engaged themselves in such a way as to not antagonize the authorities who could, at any time, bring down punishment upon them, including potentially even death by the sword. Paul wants his hearers to not be unaware of their duty to Rome, but to be even more aware that their duty to Christ supersedes any duty to anyone else. The Roman Imperial cult may expect them to give τιμή to Caesar, however Paul and his hearers were under no doubt that the only one worthy of τιμή was Jesus. Paul needed to couch his writing in the language of the Imperial Cult, public voice in such a way that his hearers and readers would understand what he was saying whilst using his hidden voice.

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