Page:The Net of Faith.pdf/601



Saint Paul goes on to say:

Here we are always caught between the fences, as it were, when we look to the interpretations of the Church of Rome (derived from the Emperor), and it is difficult to get to the true intention of Saint Paul's meaning. (:The Church applies these words to any authority and any prince. This interpretation caused the enslavamentenslavement [sic] of the people. But Paul always spoke of the rulers who lived before the time of Jesus Christ, who were not Christian, and when as yet nobody ever heard of the Christians. The Church giver her interpretation in order to please the rulers and thus to induce them to join her. But in Paul's days the pagan rulers persecuted the Christians. Having those cruel princes in mind, Paul says to the Christians: "Obey your authorities, do good, and do not antagonize the authorities against yourselves.":)

And concerning the sentence, "rulers are not a terror to Good conduct but to bad," we must remember that the rulers were Rom.13: 3–4,.

196*