WEBVTT NOTE New Testament Theology of the State 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for being here. It's my pleasure to present to you today on work that I've been doing over the process of years called New Testament Theology of the State. 2 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:16.000 First of all, let me give you a little bit of background about myself and just so you know where I'm coming from here. 3 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Currently, I'm a PhD student at University of Texas at Austin and a student also at Austin Graduate School of Theology. 4 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:36.000 But probably one of my most passionate projects is libertarianchristians.com, which is a growing community of people, writers, talking about the relationship and intersections between Christianity and libertarian thought. 5 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:51.000 And so what I'd like to do today is describe some of this work that you will find all over the place on my website and then kind of synthesize into a more cohesive theory of theology of the state from a New Testament point of view. 6 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:56.000 So my objective today is to kind of give you a new vision here. 7 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.280 A lot of time when Christians talk about the state, 8 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.360 they tend to just immediately jump to one particular passage. 9 00:01:02.360 --> 00:01:05.320 And most of you, if you have a background in Christian 10 00:01:05.320 --> 00:01:07.040 theology at all, you know what it is. 11 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.520 It's Romans 13. 12 00:01:08.520 --> 00:01:12.040 And so that's typically what is just thrown out tacitly. 13 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:13.200 And people just accept this. 14 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:14.560 Oh, well, this is the justification 15 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:15.280 of the state that we need. 16 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:15.960 We'll just move on. 17 00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:18.080 We don't have to talk about this anymore. 18 00:01:18.080 --> 00:01:20.440 But my point of view is that we really 19 00:01:20.440 --> 00:01:31.440 So we shouldn't start there at all. In fact, I think even my views have evolved over time to where I used to say actually that you can't really develop a lot of theology of the state in the Gospels or even in the New Testament. 20 00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:38.440 I'm thinking I was actually more wrong than I thought. So what we're going to do is I'm going to kind of guide you through a little whirlwind tour. 21 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:42.440 We're going to go through sort of a naive reading in a sense of the New Testament. 22 00:01:42.440 --> 00:01:49.440 And what I think that you see here when you do this is that you kind of are led to a path of a certain kind of anarchism even. 23 00:01:49.440 --> 00:01:57.440 And so, as we go through this, I'll read some scriptures and just discuss a little bit about what I'm thinking these are meaning and, you know, what's going on here. 24 00:01:57.440 --> 00:02:04.440 So let's begin with the very beginning. And actually, let's think about the birth of Christ. 25 00:02:04.440 --> 00:02:17.440 Isn't it ironic? I think this is absolutely astounding that the birth of Christ is actually not taken as commentary at all on the relationship between the powers that be and God. 26 00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:24.040 Jesus' life, ironically enough, begins with a government committing genocide. 27 00:02:24.040 --> 00:02:29.800 And nobody seems to take any notice of this, but here's the point. 28 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:33.920 When the birth of Christ is announced and Herod finds out about it, what does he do? 29 00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:38.080 Well, he gets all worried that there is this threat to his power. 30 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.840 There was an implicit understanding in the messianic theology that had developed over 31 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:48.440 for the course of the previous centuries, that the Messiah, this person who is to come 32 00:02:48.440 --> 00:02:58.800 and save Israel, had at least, if not necessarily a true political king, that he was certainly 33 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.320 going to disrupt the powers that be. 34 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:05.000 And this is something that does come across in the New Testament. 35 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.520 Even if the people at the time were wrong about Christ and that he wasn't coming to 36 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:24.560 And perhaps more important than that, though, is actually when you turn to Matthew 4. And 37 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.800 this is another place where, again, it's baffling to me that nobody seems to recognize this 38 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:34.360 as a commentary on the nature of the state itself. In the temptations of Christ, and 39 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:37.120 This is in Matthew chapter 4. 40 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.640 The third temptation is rather striking. 41 00:03:39.640 --> 00:03:41.320 And I'm gonna turn to it real quick 42 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:43.120 and just read this particular verse. 43 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:43.960 We'll start in verse eight. 44 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.440 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain 45 00:03:46.440 --> 00:03:48.120 and showed him all the kingdoms of the world 46 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:49.200 in their splendor. 47 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:50.680 All this I will give you, he said, 48 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.040 if you will bow down and worship me. 49 00:03:53.040 --> 00:03:55.240 Jesus said to him, away from me, Satan, 50 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:56.880 for it is written, worship the Lord your God 51 00:03:56.880 --> 00:03:58.080 and serve him only. 52 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.680 Now, this is particularly interesting to me 53 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.240 because Jesus does not say, 54 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.800 Oh, Satan, you're just a liar. 55 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:09.480 All the kingdoms of the earth, you know, God put them there and it's all, they're all under 56 00:04:09.480 --> 00:04:10.720 his control anyway. 57 00:04:10.720 --> 00:04:11.720 It's no big deal. 58 00:04:11.720 --> 00:04:13.560 No, he doesn't say that at all. 59 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:19.040 He says, in fact, he kind of implicitly says, you're correct, you could do that, and instead 60 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.120 responds with the command of God to worship the Lord your God, serve him only. 61 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:30.040 The implied, the implication here that I see is the kingdoms of the world belong to Satan. 62 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:32.960 There is an inherent evilness to them. 63 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:38.920 And I don't hear that coming from really anybody in the Christian tradition, especially the 64 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.120 evangelical tradition of the last hundred years. 65 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:46.380 This is not something people tend to notice, and so I think it's just particularly odd. 66 00:04:46.380 --> 00:04:48.480 There's another interesting little point here. 67 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:54.720 The word that is translated devil or Satan is the word diabolos in the Greek. 68 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:59.960 Etymologically, what this word really means is the accuser, or more importantly for our 69 00:04:59.960 --> 00:05:02.580 interpretation, the divider. 70 00:05:02.580 --> 00:05:07.620 There seems to be even in the background of the language itself that the state is a reason 71 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:09.780 for division between people. 72 00:05:09.780 --> 00:05:15.140 And we know from our understanding of economics and ethics that the state drives a wedge between 73 00:05:15.140 --> 00:05:16.140 people. 74 00:05:16.140 --> 00:05:20.620 It pits them against each other and causes violence. 75 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:26.820 And so, again, we begin to see that as Jesus enters the picture, his intention is to bring 76 00:05:26.820 --> 00:05:33.660 and Peace and Reconciliation between Peoples rather than further division. 77 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:40.600 So turning to a little later in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 17 and verse 24, 78 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.620 this is a selection that's often called the temple tax. 79 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:52.300 And in this particular section, someone questions the disciples and asks if Jesus pays the temple 80 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:53.300 tax. 81 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:55.660 And so they go and ask him, hey, what are we going to do here? 82 00:05:55.660 --> 00:06:02.460 And Jesus has this kind of strange response, it's really unusual, and it doesn't make 83 00:06:02.460 --> 00:06:07.200 a lot of sense until you kind of think about the background and what he's actually saying. 84 00:06:07.200 --> 00:06:16.220 What Jesus ends up saying is, look, do princes pay the king a tax? 85 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:17.220 No. 86 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:22.060 So the sons are exempt, he says, and he basically is saying, I am not obligated to pay a religious 87 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:23.060 tax. 88 00:06:23.060 --> 00:06:25.420 But in order to not cause offense, we're going to do it anyway. 89 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:55.420 Here's how we're going to do it. Go to the pond, catch a fish, open its mouth, and you're going to find a coin, as though it basically is causing a miracle in a sense, but it's really bizarre because it's just absurd when you think about it, and it's an interesting point because the point actually isn't the miracle itself. Jesus never did miracles just to impress people. In fact, he only did miracles out of love and compassion. In fact, he refuses to do miracles sometimes because 90 00:06:55.420 --> 00:07:02.420 Jesus doesn't want them to become the basis of faith. Rather, he's calling for a different type of belief. 91 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:07.420 So Jesus says he doesn't owe the tax, and yet it's still not worth causing offense. 92 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:11.420 So he calls them on this absurd power that they are creating for themselves, 93 00:07:11.420 --> 00:07:14.420 and thus he resolves the problem with an absurd miracle. 94 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:19.420 Go and catch a fish and pull a coin out of its mouth. That's just bizarro. 95 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:23.420 But what we find here is Jesus is showing his indifference to the powers. 96 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:29.420 So, he doesn't regard them with any authority or any power, he just ignores them in a sense. 97 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:36.420 So, it's just an interesting comment on the way that Jesus actually views power above. 98 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:45.420 Okay, so just even a couple chapters later, in Matthew chapter 20, we have another really strange discussion. 99 00:07:45.420 --> 00:07:50.420 In this particular selection, the disciples are arguing amongst one another 100 00:07:50.420 --> 00:07:54.780 about who will be closest to him in the coming kingdom. 101 00:07:54.780 --> 00:07:56.900 They're still thinking, after all this time, 102 00:07:56.900 --> 00:07:58.820 that Jesus is meant to go and establish 103 00:07:58.820 --> 00:08:02.460 some kind of earthly kingdom, even though just a few verses 104 00:08:02.460 --> 00:08:05.300 before, he tells them that we're going up to Jerusalem, 105 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:10.260 and I'm going to be violently killed by the people that hate 106 00:08:10.260 --> 00:08:10.940 me. 107 00:08:10.940 --> 00:08:13.460 And they're just showing their lack of understanding 108 00:08:13.460 --> 00:08:15.460 in this particular instance. 109 00:08:15.460 --> 00:08:17.380 I want to read a couple of verses out of it, 110 00:08:17.380 --> 00:08:19.380 because I think they're particularly significant, 111 00:08:19.380 --> 00:08:24.380 This is how Jesus views power and the relationship between the Christian and power. 112 00:08:24.380 --> 00:08:28.380 So these are verses 25 through 28 in Matthew chapter 20. 113 00:08:28.380 --> 00:08:32.380 Jesus called them together and said, 114 00:08:32.380 --> 00:08:36.380 You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, 115 00:08:36.380 --> 00:08:40.380 and their high officials exercise authority over them, but not so with you. 116 00:08:40.380 --> 00:08:44.380 Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 117 00:08:44.380 --> 00:08:48.380 and whoever wants to be the first must be your slave. 118 00:08:48.380 --> 00:08:53.780 The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom 119 00:08:53.780 --> 00:08:56.580 for many. 120 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:02.060 So we note here is that in this discussion of power, he makes no distinction and no reservation, 121 00:09:02.060 --> 00:09:06.580 no exception to the powers as to what power is good and what's bad. 122 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:07.980 He says they're all bad. 123 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.420 He says this is just the way it works. 124 00:09:10.420 --> 00:09:13.900 There is no political power without tyranny. 125 00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:17.860 That is that they lord it over other people. 126 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:24.220 We turn now to the oft-talked about Render to Caesar passage in Matthew 22. I don't want 127 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:28.320 to spend a whole lot of time here because I think it's somewhat trivial, actually, although 128 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:34.460 I will comment that Jeff Barr had a great paper last year in 2010 at the Austrian Scholars 129 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:39.260 Conference that you can pick up online where he discusses this, and I thought he did a 130 00:09:39.260 --> 00:09:44.320 great job. But I think it suffices to say a few choice things about it, and we'll quickly 131 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:49.200 The Pharisees and the Herodians in this case are the ones who come and question him, should 132 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.040 we pay taxes to Caesar? And these people, the Pharisees, the Herodians, they're bitter 133 00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:58.720 enemies. Why would they get together and try and trap him? Well, they're united because 134 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.840 they both hate Jesus that much. They're willing to put aside these particular differences, 135 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:10.240 which by the way, were political in nature, in order to try and send him over to the state 136 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:15.360 in order to be, you know, to be killed. They're going to try and pin him as a rebellion leader 137 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:20.240 as opposed to something else. So, of course, Jesus sees through this ruse and turns the 138 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:26.040 tables on them entirely. For one thing, he exposes the triviality of their question in 139 00:10:26.040 --> 00:10:32.280 the first place. The coin that he says for them to produce bears Caesar's mark. And in 140 00:10:32.280 --> 00:10:38.920 this time, Caesar claimed all money for himself. In fact, there is a history that shows that 141 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:47.920 At any time, he could confiscate all money because it bore his mark. Marks were a way of discerning ownership at this time. 142 00:10:47.920 --> 00:10:52.920 Well, that's funny because it's not unlike today, but we'll move beyond that. 143 00:10:52.920 --> 00:10:58.920 The implication, though, is that if something doesn't have Caesar's mark, it's not Caesar's. 144 00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:04.920 And it all belongs to God at that point. And Caesar has no right whatsoever to the rest. 145 00:11:04.920 --> 00:11:12.920 So in this case, fine, pay the tax. It's no big deal. Caesar is of no consequence in the long run. 146 00:11:12.920 --> 00:11:18.920 Moreover, he also is exposing their particular form of treachery by having them even show that coin, 147 00:11:18.920 --> 00:11:22.920 which is called the denarius, in the temple. 148 00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:29.920 This coin is kind of ironic that it would be in the temple of the Jews at the time because it had a graven image on it. 149 00:11:29.920 --> 00:11:33.920 One of the Ten Commandments is, you shall not have idols, right? 150 00:11:33.920 --> 00:11:37.920 Well, this coin, if you read it, there's text on there that says, 151 00:11:37.920 --> 00:11:42.920 This is Tiberius Caesar, son of the deified Augustus chief priest. 152 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:47.920 In other words, this is an idol image proclaiming Caesar to be God. 153 00:11:47.920 --> 00:11:50.920 Why on earth would they allow that to be in the temple? 154 00:11:50.920 --> 00:11:57.920 For the Pharisees and the Herodians, to show that off in the temple was actually idolatry, in a sense. 155 00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:04.920 And so, again, Jesus really turns the tables on them and shows them for who they are. 156 00:12:04.920 --> 00:12:10.520 A little later in Matthew chapter 26, there's a rather famous saying of Jesus where this 157 00:12:10.520 --> 00:12:15.240 is when he's being arrested and he says, you know, those who live by the sword will die 158 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:16.240 by the sword. 159 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.360 Or actually, I think it says, those who draw the sword will have the sword, the sword will 160 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.000 be drawn upon them to get there. 161 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.000 Yeah, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 162 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:39.000 Now this is a slight difficulty for us on one level because just a few verses before, before they go out, Jesus has the disciples go by two swords. 163 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.000 And so they're actually carrying around weapons at this point. 164 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:50.000 But I think it's kind of absurd to think that this is some kind of implication that violence is just okay to do. 165 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.000 In fact, it's actually a conscious fulfillment of prophecy. 166 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:05.000 If you start taking a look at it. But when Jesus says those who draw the sword will die by the sword, he's really giving an absolute judgment on systems of violence entirely. 167 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000 And in fact we hear echoes here of Matthew chapter 5 and turning the other cheek. 168 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:20.000 Interestingly enough, this saying is repeated in the book of Revelation in chapter 13 in the context of the two great beasts which we'll talk about in a minute. 169 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:25.800 The point of this selection is really to say that we have this orientation automatically 170 00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:33.120 as Christians toward nonviolence. If we are not to draw the sword at all, then we have 171 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:38.600 this particular new perspective on how to behave and how to act. 172 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:44.880 Now of course, one other section that is often overlooked with regard to our attitudes toward 173 00:13:44.880 --> 00:13:50.320 of the State and Power is the trial of Jesus just before his death. 174 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:54.320 The Romans, incidentally, were known very, I mean, most of you guys know this, they're 175 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.680 known for their legal accomplishment. 176 00:13:56.680 --> 00:14:00.920 And some people say, and I'm just going to take their word for it, that it's the best 177 00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:01.920 ever system. 178 00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:05.880 It's one of the best devised systems of justice in history. 179 00:14:05.880 --> 00:14:12.120 Now regardless of where we fall on that particular question, what did this such amazing system 180 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:14.440 of justice actually accomplish? 181 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:19.440 Well, condemnation of an innocent man to death. They was given over to a mob rule. 182 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:26.440 And it reveals, in my opinion, it reveals a basic injustice of a system that purports to be just. 183 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:33.440 And in fact it echoes from Ecclesiastes chapter 316 where it says, 184 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.440 in the place of judgment, in the seat of judgment, wickedness was there. 185 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.440 In the place of justice, wickedness was there. 186 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:44.440 In other translations it says the power of wickedness reigns. 187 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:57.440 This is a really interesting point to me because it shows that there is no system of justice that's provided by some type of monopoly of force that is ever going to end up being just. 188 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:05.440 And in fact the attitude of Jesus shows his particular orientation against it. 189 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.880 In Jesus' silence, he shows his rejection and scorn for the political authority above 190 00:15:11.880 --> 00:15:12.980 him at the time. 191 00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:18.000 He regards them as nothing, and thus it's useless for him to defend himself even. 192 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:23.200 And in fact, there are multiple occasions, such as Luke 22, 52, where he accuses the 193 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:28.440 powers of being part of the power of darkness itself, and we've noted in various cases 194 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.960 already how he's alluded to this. 195 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:39.920 Jesus' encounters with authority overall show his irony, scorn, non-cooperation, indifference, 196 00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:42.280 and sometimes even accusation against those people. 197 00:15:42.280 --> 00:15:48.400 And in fact, I like how Jacques Ellul describes him as an essential disputer. 198 00:15:48.400 --> 00:15:51.760 It's a rather interesting description of him. 199 00:15:51.760 --> 00:15:57.900 Turning now to the book of Revelation, we see that this book is a book of symbols. 200 00:15:57.900 --> 00:16:01.940 And in fact, it's full of challenges to power itself. 201 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:07.120 And just to go through it more very quickly, we'll just discuss the two greatest symbols 202 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.380 in the book. 203 00:16:09.380 --> 00:16:12.180 First off, there's the symbol of the two beasts. 204 00:16:12.180 --> 00:16:15.820 The first beast comes out of the sea and the second beast out of the earth. 205 00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:18.380 The first beast is called Babylon. 206 00:16:18.380 --> 00:16:22.540 And what's particularly interesting about this, Babylon is used throughout scripture 207 00:16:22.540 --> 00:16:30.460 as being a type of overarching authority of the devil, of Satan. 208 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:33.300 And one of the things that is often overlooked about this 209 00:16:33.300 --> 00:16:36.660 is that this also goes back to Genesis. 210 00:16:36.660 --> 00:16:39.820 In fact, some of my other research in Old Testament 211 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:42.780 has shown that when you begin to look 212 00:16:42.780 --> 00:16:45.500 at the story of the Tower of Babel, 213 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:48.900 this is actually the origin story of the state. 214 00:16:48.900 --> 00:16:50.820 And that in the Tower of Babel, you 215 00:16:50.820 --> 00:17:19.820 In my opinion, this is an explanation and origin story of the state itself. It is enacted upon, it is begun with a rebellion against God in mind, and it ends up dispersing people as a result. It drives wedges between them. 216 00:17:19.820 --> 00:17:25.620 and so that we see allusions to this all throughout scripture and including finally in the book of Revelation. 217 00:17:25.620 --> 00:17:34.120 Now the second beast that comes out of the earth is described as one that compels people to obey the first beast. 218 00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:43.120 And I think that after thinking about this a long time, I'm becoming more convinced of Jacques Ellul's interpretation of the second beast 219 00:17:43.120 --> 00:17:52.920 that it represents the propaganda of states and the instrumentation that they use in order to compel people to obey. 220 00:17:52.920 --> 00:18:05.120 And in particular, that includes things like the police and the military and all these institutions that purport to protect us or something to that effect. 221 00:18:05.120 --> 00:18:15.080 and yet, if we decide to go even minorly against them, they come and begin to violate individual 222 00:18:15.080 --> 00:18:16.080 rights. 223 00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:22.240 So, the second great challenge or the second great symbol in the book I want to briefly 224 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.560 mention is the fall of Babylon itself. 225 00:18:25.560 --> 00:18:31.960 And it's interesting here because the way that it describes the people at the time is 226 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:39.320 is that this Babylon becomes drunk with the wine of the fury of their vices and so it's 227 00:18:39.320 --> 00:18:45.880 just amazing how you go through these series of things that this Babylon is going about 228 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.840 selling and controlling the economic system at the time and it looks a whole lot like 229 00:18:50.840 --> 00:18:55.720 fascism even or corporate statism and it looks terrible. 230 00:18:55.720 --> 00:19:00.160 But then the final thing that it says that they trade in are bodies and souls. 231 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:04.180 is that they have the ability to control people. 232 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:06.000 And so my time is almost up here. 233 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:12.560 I want to briefly say that when you begin to look at the context of Romans 13 and other 234 00:19:12.560 --> 00:19:17.800 parts of the New Testament, with this type of theology in mind, you begin to read different 235 00:19:17.800 --> 00:19:18.800 things. 236 00:19:18.800 --> 00:19:20.960 You see different things in the text. 237 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:26.240 I think it's amazing, finally, that even in Romans 13, if we actually back up a little 238 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.680 A little bit more, we find that there's a verse that says do not conform any longer 239 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.560 to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 240 00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:38.540 And so I would call us all to begin that process. 241 00:19:38.540 --> 00:19:42.760 There is a better way of viewing the state from the perspective of scripture. 242 00:19:42.760 --> 00:19:45.760 And with that, I will cede the balance of my time.