• Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    God’s delegation of governance

    Hawley is a US Senator and got his job by winning an election. The use of this phrase suggests something very dark to me. This phrase is rooted in the belief that all authority comes from God based on Romans 13 and that everyone should submit to government because God has granted those in governance authority. Resisting the government is essentially a sin and you will be judged for it.

    Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Rom. 13:1–2).

    Hawley, in a feet of mental gymnastics that doesn’t quite parallel the gymnastic skills of a 6-year old doing her first cartwheel, turns it all around. He claims, “Should the authorities break the terms of God’s “delegation of governance” and assault the people’s freedoms, then the people had a right to defend themselves, even to rebel.” This is nearly exactly the opposite of what Paul said.

    By his reasoning (and I use that term loosely), God gave Biden authority because “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Yet he says the people should rebel - his word mind you - against Biden because he is somehow breaking the terms of that granted authority. Terms that are not specified anywhere in the Bible. Yet the Bible says that if the people resist the government, they will incur the judgement of God.