Is it right for Christians to oppose authorities?
Should Luther have acknowledged the authority of Charles V in Worms in 1521 instead of saying “Here I stand; I can do no other”? Should William Tyndale have saved his life by submitting to the authorities 500 years ago and not have translated the NT into English or meddled with Henry VIII’s wish to divorce his wife? Were Independent Congregationalists justified in revolting against Charles I and supporting his beheading? Were the loyalists warranted in refusing to rebel against George III and invoking Romans 13 during the American War of Independence? Were Corrie ten Boom and her family right to disobey the law and hide Jews during WWII? Were Christians morally warranted in violating restrictions on religious assembly under communist governments? Should Christians demonstrate against or even oppose ICE in the USA or disobey anti-Samaritan laws in Europe?1
Are Christians always required to obey governing authorities? “Yes, they are, for the Bible tells them so in Romans 13” would many believers reply.2 They should render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar (Mat 22.21) and disobey only when commanded to act against God’s will (Acts 5:29). It’s that simple.
Or is it? Since I have written about this elsewhere (see my publications page) and will write more, my point for now is only to draw attention to several texts in the Bible that suggest that the issue is more nuanced than it first appears.
Examples from the Old Testament
There are numerous well-known cases of active disobedience and resistance in the Old Testament. A classic example is the defiance of Pharaoh by the Hebrew midwives, who refused his command to kill the newborn boys. Likewise, Moses’s family disobeyed Pharaoh’s order by hiding him for three months (Exodus 1–2), an act done “by faith” (Hebrews 11:23). Another famous example is Daniel and his friends’s multiple acts of disobedience (Daniel 3, 6). But there are many, many more.
Think of Rahab’s lie to the King of Jericho to protect Israel’s spies, effectively betraying her people to save herself and her family (Josuah 1). Similarly, Jael murdered Sisera, King Jabin’s chief of Army, despite an alliance between Jabin and Jael’s people (Judges 4). In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan, King Saul’s son, openly criticized his father and sided with his opponents (1 Kings 14.39–45). In 1 Samuel 18-19 people faced a conundrum: should they be loyal to King Saul or to David—a choice that amounted to rebellion. In 1 Kings 18 Obadiah disobeyed Jezebel’s order to massacre the prophets. In Esther 3 Mordechai disobeyed the King’s order and refused to honor Haman.
There are also numerous instances in which individuals did not actively disobey authorities but nonetheless confronted, criticized, or resisted them. A well-known example is, of course, Nathan’s rebuke of King David after his adultery with Bathsheba and his arranged murder of her husband Uriah (2 Sam 2). Imperfection was no excuse for Nathan.
Actually, most of the Old Testament prophets challenged and criticized the authorities, often for their idolatry or their lack of mercy, justice, and concern for the oppressed and the poor. This is evident, for example, in the numerous rebukes Isaiah addressed to authorities of all levels (kings, priests, judges, etc.). The prophet’s message is consistent: What God wants is obedience, not sacrifice; mercy and justice, not religion. Wearing religious accoutrements and symbols is of no value.3
Examples from the New Testament
The New Testament likewise evidences a diversity of relationships to the authorities. There, too, disobedience and resistance to authorities is frequently depicted as the right thing to do.
A frequently overlooked feature of the Christmas story is its political dimension. After all, the Magi were explicitly told in a divinely inspired dream not to return to Herod the Great, thereby disobeying the King‘s request (Matthew 2:12). Later, John the Baptist was put to death by Herod Antipas after John rebuked him for his unlawful marriage to his brother’s wife and for “all the evil things he had done” (Matthew 14; Luke 3:19).
Jesus’s ministry frequently resulted in tension or even conflict with the authorities left in place by the Roman occupants. For example, he defended his disciples when they plucked grain on the Sabbath, defying the authorities’ interpretation of one of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 12:1–8). He protected a woman caught in adultery and defied those who wanted to enforce the law (John 8). He insulted Herod Antipas by calling him a “fox” (Luke 13:32). In a violent act of theologically principled anger, he defied the Temple authorities by driving out the merchants from the Temple, which led to an argument about the source and nature of legitimate authority (Matthew 21:23). Perhaps, most famously, by saying “Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21), he was in fact limiting Caesar’s power. For the question often left unasked when quoting this text is: What is it that truly belongs to Cesar, and to God? When Christians are asked to seek God’s kingdom and his justice, they are reminded that it is God’s own ideal of justice they should strive for. Such justice is part and parcel of what belongs to God (Matthew 6:33).4 This raises the issue: at what point will faithfulness to God require saying no to the authorities and yes to God’s kingdom and, therefore, take the path of disobedience?
In what is probably the most quoted example of disobedience in the Scriptures, Peter and John blamed different levels of authority for Jesus’s death, and prayed for confidence to disobey the prohibition to preach (Acts 4:26–29). Later on, just as was the case in Matthew 2, it is because of a divine order not because of conscience that they disobeyed those same authorities and replied: “We must obey God rather than men.” They then went back and preached in the Temple (Acts 5:29). Luke’s account of Herod’s death for having accepted to be called God and not having given glory to God is a warning to political authorities not to elevate themselves beyond their station (Acts 12). In Acts 16, after having been illegally beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, Paul and his companions did not simply discreetly leave when told to do so but scared and humiliated the local authorities by asserting their rights as Roman citizens. Submission to authorities does not mean foregoing one’s rights when they are impinged upon.
Especially striking is the Devil’s offer to give Jesus all the authority and the glory of the kingdoms. “It was given to me and I give it to whomever I want” claimed the Devil (Luke 4.6), a statement which Jesus did not contradict. Who gave such authority to the Devil? Why? Is this gift the foundation for the vision of the Devil’s gift of authority to the beast described in Revelation 13 – the text often contrasted with Romans 13, and where disobedience to the authorities is a sign of faithfulness? Did some past authorities acquire their power through a Faustian pact with the Devil? Have some today?
Conclusion
Besides Romans 13 and its parallel texts, there are many instances in the Scriptures where authorities are depicted positively and even protect believers.5 But many examples also show that conflict and dissension with the authorities are the norm in the Bible, not the exception. The writing and circulation of the Bible guaranteed that many authorities would forever be known for their recurring opposition to God’s story and his demands for love, justice and mercy and that the rightful resistance and disobedience of many would be celebrated as models of faith and faithfulness to God. Should this be a lesson, a warning for our times too?
Romans 13 and its parallel passages have historically been brandished to mandate obedience to authorities. On the other hand, the numerous texts which clearly command mercy and justice and therefore advocate denunciation, resistance, or even disobedience are simply ignored.
What needs to be asked is why some texts have become meaningful or normative over others and whether the Bible is sufficient to guide a Christian’s relationship to authorities in contexts vastly different from those in which it was written.
The Scriptures contain numerous instances in which obedience to authority is justified, but also where it is not the right course of action, and where disobedience—or even resistance—is warranted. Do such situations occur today? Is there a specifically Christian duty to resist authorities, whether through civil or even uncivil disobedience? What tips the scale one way or the other?
(Article picture: Claudius Jacquard, Charlemagne crowned king of Italy by Pope Adrian I in Milan, 774, Versailles)
- On this see Delmas, Candice. 2020. A Duty to Resist : When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil. New York: Oxford University Press. ↩︎
- See also 1 Timothy 2:1–3; Titus 3:1–3; 1 Peter 2:13–17. ↩︎
- See, for example, Isaiah 1:23; 3; 7:10–17; 10.1–3; 22:15–19; etc. ↩︎
- See 5:6, 10, 20; 6:1 where the same Greek work is used each time. ↩︎
- Joseph’s elevation in Gen. 41; 45; Cyrus in Isaiah 45; Darius in Ezra 1:1–4; The centurion in Matthew 8:5–13 and Luke 7:1–10; see also, among other examples, Acts 10; Acts 21:31–36; 23:12–24. ↩︎