THE APOSTLE PAUL AUTHORISES SUBMISSION TO CIVIL RULERS

Paul was clear that his message came from Jesus via inspiration and visions.

A major proof that the gospels tell nothing but lies is in his Romans 13. It goes, “Let every person be loyal subject to the governing (civil) authorities. For there is no authority except from God. Therefore he who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged. And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves. For civil authorities are not a terror to people of good conduct, but to those of bad behaviour. Would you have no dread of him who is in authority? Then do what is right and you will receive his approval and commendation. For he is God’s servant for your good. One must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath and escape punishment, but also as a matter of principle and for the sake of conscience” (1-5).
 
This refers specifically to the corrupt, lying, thieving and brutal Roman empire. Paul would not have written this way had the gospels been telling the truth that Pilate, the Roman governor of Palestine, and the Roman Empire had put Jesus to death. Jesus and his apostles openly defied the authority of the Jewish leaders according to the gospels and they were by no means as despicable as the Romans.

Jesus also defied Rome according to the gospels by claiming to be the Messiah, a political title meaning he was saying he was the true king of the Jews not the Emperor, and did what Messiahs do going into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim the city and accept the praises of the people. Jesus claiming to be the Son of God meant he was happy to make the Romans lose faith in their many gods which was also treasonous for the Romans believed that their future in power depended on their gods.

Jesus broke Roman and religious law by wrecking the money changing area in the Temple. The fact that he got doing a lot of damage (Matthew 21:12; John 2:15) shows he got others to help him do this. You can’t wreck a public area swarming with people without somebody stopping you immediately. When Jesus got as far as he did it shows he sought and got help. He organised a riot. Had this event really happened Paul would not have been able to write as he did for the gospels may have put in the story to explain why the Jews decided that they would wait no more but get Jesus despatched off to the next world as soon as they could. To deny the possible major cause of the crucifixion could be tantamount to denying that Jesus was crucified on earth at all. Mark 11:16 says Jesus stopped people from carrying vessels in the Temple which indicates that he had a huge pile of manpower, real mean fighting man-machines, which contradicts the fact that they did nothing later to help save him from his death a few days later.
 
That nobody mentioned the cleansing of the Temple outside the gospels shows that it never happened. Josephus writing a few decades later mentioned lesser events happening in the Temple but never mentioned this one. He didn’t have to mention Jesus if he didn’t want to but not mentioning that a riot took place surely shows it never happened. When such a plausible story is false we cannot trust the gospels at all.

Jesus encouraged people to hope the world would end soon which meant he wanted God to come and overthrow the Roman Empire and being in a Roman province that was treason and would rouse a smug attitude towards the Empire and make people less keen on living up to its demands.

What this chapter from Romans tells us is that most of what is in the gospels isn’t true. Paul commended the authorities despite their injustice. Despite what the hypocrite says, good people did have to fear the authorities. Had the authorities destroyed the good man Jesus he would not have written this way. He says that his command to obey the authorities is just a good idea. He says it is a matter of conscience. If you disrupt the authorities then you are committing sin – it is objectively wrong. He is saying that true Christians cannot break the law of Rome even though Jesus indicates the opposite in the gospels. It makes it more likely that when he said that the authorities or rulers slew Jesus that he did not mean political authorities but that Jesus was slain by supernatural beings who had no real authority though they just had powers. The Jesus of Paul and the primitive Church was not killed by the Romans. His crucifixion must have taken place in the distant past or in a celestial world for a more recent crucifixion would mean the Romans had to have been responsible.

Paul’s emphasis on living in peace with everybody and even putting up with people who still had superstitious scruples despite being Christians does not fit a Jesus who uses violence, hate speech and gets others involved in them too. The gospel Jesus has been an encouragement to people who believe they have a right to send hate-mail to homosexuals or people of a despised religion and sneer at them on the street.

The Bible does speak of God ordering punishments in this world and sending chastisements. The Bible says these threats and their imposition can put people off doing evil (Eccl 8:11 and Rom 13:1-5). But they are justice according to the Bible and are not about deterrence at all. They are retroactive not preventative. See Exodus 21:28-30. So while the Bible says it is good if civil and punitive justice avert evil things from happening that is not what it is aimed to do. It is obvious that this justice does not really care about stopping harm but about getting revenge. Monstrous Paul in Romans 13 dares to validate that teaching and make it part of the New Testament. None of that is surprising for nobody has a good enough idea of how to be fair to a criminal. If a person steals a car nobody will agree on how the punishment will affect him where it counts - his heart and mind. A lot of guessing and disagreement will take place over what kind of punishment and how long.  No person metes out justice, just a guess that they call just and fair and wise. 

Finally, the murderous law of Moses was considered valid by many then who wished to make it their constitution.  Paul covers that too.  Romans 13 is saying that if the law commands as Moses did that women and witches and homosexuals must be stoned to death then respect it and obey it.