# A Study of Peter Chelčický's Life and a Translation from Czech of Part I of His Net of Faith (1947)/Part 2/Section 16

Layout 2
CHAPTER LXXXVI
INTERPRETATION OP ROMANS 13: 5–7
Saint Paul finishes his speech by saying,
These words of Saint Paul make it clear that . . . he is not speaking of authorities of the Christian faith but of pagans in Rome.. . . He admonishes them to be subject not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.
1) First, concerning wrath. (:If the subjects disobey their lord, they shall be punished by the might of the lords, through imprisonments, executions, expropriations. Pilate punished the Jews for their rebellion, and therefore Paul admonishes the faithful not to incite the anger of Emperor Nero or other pagans who shed the blood of the Christians.:)
2) Second, concerning conscience. (:If the governing authorities do good, to resist them would mean to scorn the law of God. For God asks us to live peaceably with all, as far as it depends on us. As Christians, we live – a small minority – among pagans, and the restraining power of authority is for their good.:)
1 Rom. 13:5–7, RSV.
2 Lk. 13:1.
3 Rom. 12:18.
CHAPTER LXXXVII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 5–7 (CONTINUED)
(:What does Paul mean by obedience to authority? Having once fallen away from the pure faith through the Donation of Constantine,Obedience Obedienceto Authority the Christians now consider their state of fallenness as normal and as expressing the apostolic faith. The priests have adopted state authority and with it a pagan mode of living.:) Therefore, the words of Saint Paul, addressed as they were to the congregation of believers living in Rome under a pagan power, urges them to be obedient to the existing authority. (: But this authority obedience must not beyond the limits of passivity; a Christian must take no active part in the government.:) Christ said,
Obey your lords, pay your taxes . . . but arrange your conduct among yourselves according to the law of Christ.
1 Luke 22: 25–26.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 5–7 (CONTINUED)
(:It is the prerogative of sovereignty to collect taxes on bridges, highways, and at city gates.Prerogatives Prerogativesof Sovereignty If a Christian minority lives in a pagan state, it must submit to this exercise of authority humbly. But it must not impose such pagan practices in its own ranks. Taxation cannot be imposed in a Christian society.:)
For, can you imagine Saint Paul preaching the gospel in the Roman Empire and converting two or three thousand of the subjects of Caesar, to appoint one of them an overlord with the (authority of the) sword who would lead in a war for the faith of Christ? How ridiculous! But the masters want to give their kings a firm Biblical foundation in the faith of Christ. They say that the words of Paul establish and sanction the authority of Christian princes.. . .
1 I.e. sovereignty with executive power of compulsion.
CHAPTER LXXXIX
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 5–7 (CONTINUED)
It is not true that Paul tried to introduce the right of the kings into (the system of) the people of God.Sovereignty Is Ethically Color-Blind He knew that in the beginning the Jews had no royal sovereignty until they asked for it and when they got their king he proved to be the punishment for their sins. And now our Christian lords think that they have the right to rule and to oppress!
But having obtained authority they seldom look to the Scriptures for the wisdom of how to rule. They are satisfied to know that authority is good, and they find their approbation and proof in their round belly, fattened at the expense and pain of the poor working class. They do not suspect for one moment that they might rule improperly over their Christians, without the sanction of faith.
1 1-Sam. 8: 4–9. Cf. NF, I, chaps. XXVII (pp.131*ff) and XC (pp.253*ff).
2 Hos.13:11, p.138*; chap.XXXV, pp155*ff; 1-Ki. 12.
CHAPTER XC
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 5–7 (CONTINUED)
Let us now look at the authority of the king. As it is,The Origins The Originsof Sovereignty the early Jews had no king with pagan sovereignty until the days of Samuel the prophet. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Ramah and there they said to him:
But the thing was evil in the sight of Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king.'
Nevertheless, Samuel prayed earnestly unto the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel:
Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking of him a king; and he said:
This will be the procedure of the king who shall rule over you: he will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots and for his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself ​commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvests and make his implements of war, and the equimpent for his chariots. He will take your daughters for perfumers, for cooks, and for bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards, and your olive orchards, and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain crops and of your vineyards and give it to his eunuchs and to his servants. Then you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you on that day!"
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and said:
The Scripture tells in detail how the king introduced his authority over the Jewish people, and how his successors oppressed the Israelites. Even though God said to the Jews that they are getting what they are asking for, in his love he rebuked the wicked kings through the prophet saying,
And the people will cry out unto the Lord, but He will not answer them, because they rejected His authority. This is His reward for their preference of a king. The kings, the princes, and all the lords have tasted the power of authority ​which allows them to do every injustice, to oppress the people of God, everything shall be measured, every iniquity contrary to brotherly love.
In oppressing a peasant they defile the pains of Christ. All this shall be counted and measured by God.The Oppressed Laboring Class Today authority is a sweet affair to the king opulent with fat and licentious in living. . . to whom the word "peasant" is repugnant.. . . But woe unto him when he shall meet the words of God face to face then his violences shall be met with great discomforts to his well-being, and he shall cry himself blind, "Alas! Woe is me! Why has my mother ever begotten me into this world!" . . .
When Paul commanded the Christians in Rome to pay taxes to Nero he did not contemplate to introduce among them and sanction the Neronian right to oppress, and to live off the fat of the land. (:When this authority was, in the end, brought into Christendom, Christianity has become paganized.:)
1 1-Samuel 8:5, AT.
2 1-Sam. 8: 7–20, AT.
3 Micah 3: 1–4, AT.
CHAPTER XCI
INTERPRETATION OF ROMANS 13: 5–7 (CONTINUED)
First, Paul speaks of the pagan powers, and then he addresses those of the household of faith, saying,
(This applies for the inner circle of the believers. From it the authority of the king is excluded, together with his right of fees, taxes, tolls, tithes, and customs. Here he cannot subjugate his brother. There is no fear in brotherly love, but brotherly love casts out fear.:)
You do not impose a bridge-toll on your brother, for – as a Christian – you would liefer carry him across on your shoulder. True Christian faith has no need of sovereignty and authority.
The Church of Rome has allied herself with the state, and now they both drink together the blood of Christ, one from a chalice, and the other from the ground where it was spilled by the sword.. . .
1 Rom. 13:8, RSV.
2 1-Jo.4:18.