Thanks for the follow up!!!
Has a ways to go yet, but fixes most of the obvious issues that I grumble about here:
https://peakd.com/library/@creatr/the-curmudgeon-s-bible-my-library-shelf
Discussion
Sorry, it's been so long....
I've been locked out of my notifications by an update of Amethyst that has prevented me from scrolling down and reviewing things.
I appreciate the nice zap, but far more than that, I really appreciate that you're reading and listening to my work and that you seem to be finding it beneficial.🙏😄
God bless you, man.🙏💖💯😆
Hey Duncan, I just got around to reading Romans 13 in the 2001 translation. I read your article again as well where you covered Romans13:1, which made a compelling argument that 'governing authorities' might not be a good translation. However, later on in the same chapter Paul specifically calls upon Christians to pay taxes.
Given the context it definitely seems as though Paul is directing Christians to submit to the government.
So, you may recall my caveats about 2001?🤔😄 A very important area that I have found flawed is what appears to me to be a strong and unwarranted bias toward statism/authoritarianism. Sadly, their translation of Romans 13 exhibits that bias strongly. Nonetheless, I continue to recommend 2001 despite such evident bias in places, because of its uniformly good and consistent attention to details all other translations completely ignore...
That of course leaves me having to apologize for the bias and flaws that I do observe in 2001, and to work toward seeing them remedied.
It is clear to me that, despite widespread opinion, Romans 13 cannot possibly be describing "government as we know it." I've explained this (and had myself ejected from a church) for that observation:
https://peakd.com/church/@creatr/personal-exodusesa-new-series
Note: The article that got me booted is linked from within that article, but here's a direct link:
https://peakd.com/christianity/@creatr/this-is-not-that-a-comment-on-romans-13
To be clear regarding taxes, Paul's exhortation in verse seven is "pay what you owe." Have you entered into a contract with the state that puts you in debt to it? If you believe you owe the state something, by all means pay it...
I don't believe Romans 13 is about the state; rather, it's about God's preferred form of government, the ecclesia, which is a body in which we participate voluntarily. So if you're going to pay a tax, it ought to be voluntary and it should go to your local church to support its community efforts.