Replying to Avatar Jordan Eskovitz

Good questions.

So the root meaning is basically "dominion" which ties back to Genesis.

As for your second question about coercion, that is a bit more complicated.

The simple answer is that there are plenty of just ways a person may attain authority and rule. That someone would attain authority isn't in itself wrong but, again, an inevitability.

I also should say that coercion once someone is IN authority is baked into the pie. It is not a matter of if they will be coercive but how they will be coercive. Or, put another way, to what end.

For example, I am coercive with my children—I will discipline them if they are rebellious to my authority—but my coercion is aimed in the direction of them being self-disciplined, respectful, and responsible individuals who are not mastered by their emotions and impulses and sins but rather learn how to submit themselves in righteousness to God. My authority as a father is to love them enough to teach them to obey all that God has commanded. That involves coercion.

On the flip side, If I were a tyrannical father I would still have authority over them because of my "governing office" as father but my rule would be using coercion for MY OWN gain, not my children's gain.

This, in principle, is true of magisterial rulers. God calls rulers to love their people and place. To use coercion in righteous ways for the benefit and flourishing of the people.

You specifically asked about attaining power through coercive means. On that note, and this is a harder reality to grapple with, God allows, for his purposes, selfish and evil men to do such things. Just as men can come to power through just means, so they can through unjust means. God is infinitely wise and we often do not understand why he allows all that he does. But, as was stated before, sometimes it is to discipline an unruly peoples. To discipline and rebuke in order to call them back into righteous submission to Christ.

Pardon the novel I wrote in response here. Does all that make sense?

I'll add one more thing, that despite God using unjust and tyrannical rulers for his good purposes, it is equally true that we are to resist unjust rulers and unjust coercion. John Calvin considered governing officials who betray their office to essentially be reduced to private persons, what's more, mere "brigands" and "criminals".

We are to respect the office but rebel against the office holder if that man rules unjustly.

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I love the novel, keep 'em coming!

Arguably, if the child is nasty, he is initiating harm, and thus starting aggression. So you have the right to defend and put an end to the violence, including by using violence. Applying defensive force is not coercion.

Did you ever read A Lodging of Wayfaring Men? There are fascinating dialogs about the history of religious thought, it is quite related to our conversation, and far more eloquent than my blabbering. Specifically Appendix B where Philip speaks with Steven.

https://podcastindex.org/podcast/531078?episode=26839193639

Agreed on the importance to address aggression, though I would also say that righteous authority, especially in the home, is not only enforced to stem aggression but also to shape and mold the heart of the child. Modern people have developed a hatred/distrust/resistance to all authority structures but authority is both inevitable and essential. There will always be people in authority over other people—in the home, in the workplace, in the church, and in government—and part of my job is to teach my children what just authority looks like and what right submission to just authority looks like. Likewise, I am to point to unjust authority and help them navigate how to submit to the office said ruler holds while righteously resisting or rejecting the injustice being enacted by the occupant of that office. If my children do not learn how to submit to the authority of someone who loves them, they will not have the tools to honor God in circumstances where authorities that do not love them attempt their compliance/subjugation.

I am not familiar with the book. Thanks for the recommendation!