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  • From: Tim Harris <tim.harris AT stmatts.asn.au>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Romans 13:1-7
  • Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 18:05:44 +0930


This is also tied up with the emergence of the Imperial Cult and emperor worship, which was particularly strong in the east - ie. the Greek cities of Asia Minor, rather than the Italian peninsular. The standard text is S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Imperial Cult in Asia Minor, Cambridge UP, 1984 (an extract is also found in Richard Horsley (ed) Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society, Trinity Press, 1997).

Augustus was deified after his death; Tiberius coveted the title 'Son of God' during his life, and the claims in reference to Jesus as 'Son of God' would have conveyed a political dimension (compare John 19:7-8). The antics of Caligula and Nero were considered scandalous in their own times, especially the closer you get to Rome. However, the emergence of the Imperial Cult in the east was tied to a whole range of civic, political and economic issues that were more problematic for Christian communities in the east rather than Rome (at this stage, ie. pre-Neronian persecution).

I would still regard Paul in Romans 13:1-7 to be in a genuinely positive mind-set in regard to Roman authority, in general terms. It is not dissimilar to the perspective portrayed in Acts, where representatives of the Christian movement are portrayed positively before the key elite Roman authorities of status (especially Sergius Paulus and Gallio). There seems to be a bit of an agenda to absolve Christian mission of any charge of being un-Roman or anti-imperial. How long this lasted is another matter, and whether any particular experiences or episodes prior to the Neronian persecutions changed such an outlook is worth exploring. It is not just that Christian movement was on a collision course with the imperial culture, but I believe conflict was also tied up with Christian challenges to Graeco-Roman social order. Amongst the most radical of Pauline challenges to local social order was the clear rejection of status conventions, and the development of an alternative (subversive) social order within the Pauline communities - see Gerd Theissen, The Religion of the Earliest Churches, Fortress 1999 - especially Part 2; and Peter Marshall, Enmity in Corinth: Social Conventions in Paul's Relations with the Corinthians. J.C.B. Mohr, 1983.

Tim Harris
Flinders University
South Australia

At 02:41 AM 18/05/2002 -0400, you wrote:

In a message dated 5/18/02 5:08:50 AM, cettel AT shoreham.net writes:

>Re: Romans 13:1-7Isn't Steve Black's historical assumption wrong here?
>It was my understanding that Roman emperors were deified after their deaths,
>not during their lifetimes. Is this incorrect?

That was the case most of the time, but there were fairly early exceptions to
this such as Caligula who deified himself during his own lifetime.

Regards,
Fred Rich.

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