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  • From: Robert M Schacht <bobschacht AT juno.com>
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Paul & Authority
  • Date: Sun, 4 Jul 1999 16:44:41 -0700




On Sat, 03 Jul 1999 17:56:57 -0400 Jeffrey Krantz <jkrantz AT optonline.net>
writes:
>... I was, however, a bit disappointed in his
>approach to Romans 13:1-7. Having pointed out over and over again
>through his book that Paul had definitely suffered at the hands of
>the
>authorities for "doing good," I still had difficulty imagining Paul
>suggesting sincerely that "Do you wish to have no fear of the
>authority?
>Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval." (13:3b)
>
>I have wondered about an alternative.
>...If what Elliot has suggested as the motive for ch's 1-2 (the
>condemnation of the imperial cult, not gentile culture in general) is
>valid, (and how could Paul suggest subjection to such an unholy
>authority?) then could not 13:7 be the beginning of a veiled, minimal
>sort of concession to authority (given the instability and
>vulnerability
>of the community) that contradicts the first six verses of the
>chapter?
>"Give only taxes and revenue to those to whom it is due. Keep
>respect
>and honor for those worthy of it..." After all, in the following
>verses
>Paul goes on to suggest another authority, that of the law, summed up
>in
>love for one another. ...

Paul's attitude towards authority was surely complex. First, of course,
were differences between human and divine authority. Divine authority
could be subdivided into the Law, and inspiration received from visions
(or whatever it is that Paul is referring to in Galatians 1:11, and when
he writes such things as, "not I, but the Lord" in 1 Cor 7:10). And the
category of human authority could be further subdivided into imperial
authority, the authority of the "pillars," and his own authority.

Regarding his attitude towards human authority, recently discussed here,
I suspect his views may have changed from the time around the first
Apostolic conference in the 40s, when he was the new kid on the block, to
the mid to late 50s, when he was considered an authority in the churches
he had established in Greece and Asia Minor.

Bob
Robert M. Schacht, Ph.D.
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ

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