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corpus-paul - Re: Romans 13:1-7

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  • From: RSBrenchley AT aol.com
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Romans 13:1-7
  • Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 18:02:57 EDT


In a message dated 18/05/02 04:59:40 GMT Daylight Time,
corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu writes:

> I wonder if this is the right question. Paul had never been to Rome
> as he wrote this letter, so he might not have known how seriously
> Nero's claim was or was not taken. The real question, to my thinking,
> is how seriously Paul might have taken such a claim by Nero. I'm
> beginning to see holes in my interpretation (thanks also to Tim
> Harris' helpful post), bit I do like the more contextualized
> approach. Paul was probably thinking not about all rulers for all
> time (well, I guess he might have been, but...) but rather about the
> actual situation faced at Rome - a place with distinct "issues" not
> faced to the same degree elsewhere.
> --
> Steve Black
> Vancouver School of Theology
> Vancouver, BC

Good point, though it raises the wider issue of how seriously claims to
divine kingship were taken in the Hellenistic world of the time. Paul may not
have actually been thinking about all rulers for all time, but if so, his
language is a bit unfortunate, since it got the church landed with a
tradition which has all too often assumed exactly that. The only hint I can
see of a local application is v. 4, QEOU GAR DIAKONOS ESTIN SOI EIS TO
AGAQON; authority is God's servant to the Romans for good, perhaps not so
much for other peoples? I'm not sure whether irony is possible here.

Regards,

Robert Brenchley
RSBrenchley AT aol.com
Birmingham UK




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