On the back of Paul's sermon on Politics from Sunday we're devoting this episode of our Talking Points series to the subject. Agnes, Willie, and Paul pick up on some of the key issues arising from Paul's sermon from Proverbs on Sunday, discussing how human authorities are fundamentally a good gift from God but also exploring how we should respond to them when things go wrong and human authorities overreach.
The Bible certainly calls Christians to be submissive and respectful to authorities but this is not an absolute unquestioning submission in all circumstances as is evident from many examples throughout Scripture of God's people not obeying human authorities when they see them and their actions or decrees come into conflict with what God has commanded.
The conversation delves into some of the issues to consider in determining when to submit and when not to as well as considering the issue of children and how we might prepare them well for life as a Christian in a society increasingly more hostile to God and His word.
If you haven't yet listened to the sermons from Sunday, you can find them right here on our podcast feed. It may help you to listen to the sermon first before returning to listen to this conversation.
This is a big topic and cannot be exhausted in half an hour (or even 35 minutes!) but in the course of the discussion a number of helpful resources to read further on this topic are mentioned. Some of them you can find linked below:
Karl Barth - The Christian Community and the Civil Community - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58a1a3d586e6c01db801af19/t/63c7c8c108638914cd595e4a/1674037445331/barth-community-state-and-church-1.pdf (highlighted for emphasis)
Joe Boot - The Limits of Civil Obedience - https://www.ezrainstitute.com/resource-library/blog-entries/the-limits-of-civil-obedience/
Donald Macleod - Therefore the Truth I Speak - https://www.christianfocus.com/products/2910/therefore-the-truth-i-speak
Samuel Rutherford - Lex Rex - https://www.portagepub.com/dl/caa/sr-lexrex17.pdf
William Philip - Let the Church be the Church - https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58a1a3d586e6c01db801af19/t/63c7c844fec51b4766638a4a/1674037316739/Let+the+Church+be+the+Church.pdf
Get in touch:
If you have any questions on the back of this discussion or any of our previous discussions or episodes then please get in touch with us by emailing podcast@tron.church
