Wulfie's Wurld
An island of questions in a sea of confusion.Thursday, August 17, 2006
Commentary: God and Governments
I want to carry on with the subject raised by the Death Penalty thoughts from a few days ago. I asked about how it's possible for a government to decide to kill/execute people when Exodus pretty much says "thou shalt not kill." I was waiting for someone to point out that there is no inconsistency in the government working in behalf of God because of what it says in Romans. I'll quote:
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1 (NIV)
Does anyone see an issue here? Look at it this way: if that is true, as many Christians think it is, then people like Kim Jong-il, Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin have been appointed by God. So what the hell is Bush, a God-appointee himself, doing waging war against another God-appointee by the name of Saddam Hussein.
If we extend this way of thinking, than God is basically playing a massive chess game against Himself, and we are but the pawns.
I've only had one Christian dare to attempt to answer this. The answer was reasonable. They said that God set up the "concept" of governments, but does not dictate how the governments are run. M'kay. Only the answer seems to beg off the concept of having the authority from God as suggested (state explicitly?) by Romans. That answer also returns us to the unanswered question of who will bear responsibility when a government sheds innocent blood.
To bring it down to the concrete, I would like to hear how a Christian responds to the following conundrum. Will President Bush receive eternal damnation for misusing God's government to create collateral damage (is there a heavenly version of unintentional manslaughter?) or will he be facing the music for attacking another of God's governments?
I want to carry on with the subject raised by the Death Penalty thoughts from a few days ago. I asked about how it's possible for a government to decide to kill/execute people when Exodus pretty much says "thou shalt not kill." I was waiting for someone to point out that there is no inconsistency in the government working in behalf of God because of what it says in Romans. I'll quote:
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1 (NIV)
Does anyone see an issue here? Look at it this way: if that is true, as many Christians think it is, then people like Kim Jong-il, Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin have been appointed by God. So what the hell is Bush, a God-appointee himself, doing waging war against another God-appointee by the name of Saddam Hussein.
If we extend this way of thinking, than God is basically playing a massive chess game against Himself, and we are but the pawns.
I've only had one Christian dare to attempt to answer this. The answer was reasonable. They said that God set up the "concept" of governments, but does not dictate how the governments are run. M'kay. Only the answer seems to beg off the concept of having the authority from God as suggested (state explicitly?) by Romans. That answer also returns us to the unanswered question of who will bear responsibility when a government sheds innocent blood.
To bring it down to the concrete, I would like to hear how a Christian responds to the following conundrum. Will President Bush receive eternal damnation for misusing God's government to create collateral damage (is there a heavenly version of unintentional manslaughter?) or will he be facing the music for attacking another of God's governments?
posted by Cynewulf # 8/17/2006 06:46:00 AM 
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