Governing Authorities Part 2.

Yesterday, we opened up the can of worms that is government.

Specifically, we looked at how Christians should be acting and/or living under a government. Truth be told, it’s a tough topic to tackle. If you missed yesterday’s post, click HERE.

Today, we tackle Part 2 of Romans 13:1-7.

At the end of Part 1, I promised some  historical context. The book of Romans was written between 56 and 58 AD.

During this time period, the people of Rome were being ruled by the Emperor Nero, who two years previous, had been made Emperor at the wise old age of 17. This would make Nero between the ages of 19 and 21, while Paul wrote the Roman Epistles.

Furthermore, there are some more interesting side notes about how the young Emperor Nero came to rule the Roman Empire.

About Nero

First, (1) Nero was not even the son of the previous Emperor, Claudius; but had been adopted after Emperor Claudius married Nero’s mother Agrippina.

Second, (2) when it came time to crown the new Emperor, Nero’s mother, Agrippina murdered Emperor Claudius’s first born which bumped Nero up from second in line to first.

How would you like to be ruled not only by a teenager; but a teenager that came into power through that set of circumstances?  Sounds pretty corrupt to me. How does this young ruler compare to your current governing figure-head? Are you starting to think you might not have it so bad after all?

But Wait, There’s More!

Moving away from the Emperor somewhat, the Roman government also had a Senate who were put in place to speak on behalf of the people.

However, the Senate was almost as corrupt as Nero himself. All sorts of under-the-table dealings took place in order to pass certain laws and judgments.  At the end of the day, the Senate often spoke on behalf of their pocket-books, not the people.

In hind sight, the Roman system was not the best system to be in place at the time Paul wrote to the Roman church. It would have been a lot easier for God to lead Paul to write about government within a more honourable system. Perhaps, too easy.

Join the Conversation, Leave Your Thoughts

Why would you prefer Emperor Nero over your current leader?