There’s been a lot of recent conversation about Romans 13 regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) especially the surge and deaths in Minneapolis. What does obedience to civil authorities entail? Here’s what St. Paul wrote in verses 1-5:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
We at Providence have often cited this passage against Christian pacifist absolutists who reject all physical force by the state. Based on this passage and others, Christians have always believed that God ordained the state to uphold civil order with force, when necessary, through police, the courts, prisons, and military. Absent this physical force in defense of justice, disorder and criminality prevail.
There is of course also the expectation that the civil authorities will defend justice and not exploit their power for injustice and their own form of criminality. There is 2 Samuel 23:3: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” Unjust rulers fall under God’s judgment. And when rulers are profoundly unjust and when they claim for themselves what belongs to God, then Christians may defy their law even if the consequences are dire.
In Daniel 6, the Persian king signs a decree that petitions must be directed only to him and not to any other man or god. But Daniel was undeterred and:
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
And so the Persian king was forced to cast Daniel into the lion’s den to be torn asunder, but for divine intervention, leading the king to acknowledge the power of Daniel’s God. But often, such defiance of earthly despots entails great suffering. The lions are undeterred, and the despots seem to prevail, at least for a time, by earthly standards. Faithful Christians are often called to suffering, since they hearken ultimately to God and not to man.
Thousands of Christians around the world are routinely jailed, or killed, for practicing their faith in defiance of earthly laws ordained by despots. Thousands of others around the world, Christian or not, suffer for righteousness, in jail or otherwise, because they defend human dignity against tyrants. The Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, a Catholic, could have easily left his city for a comfortable life. But instead he stayed and resisted the imposition of Beijing’s corrupt and despotic rule, refusing to bend, earning a prison sentence of 20 years.
Was Lai defying Romans 13 call to civil obedience? Certainly not. Lai was obedient to legitimate law and defied corrupt law, willing to pay a steep personal price, which is likely imprisonment for the rest of his life.
How does Romans 13 relate to U.S. immigration law? Romans 13 does not give any society and its Christians at any time counsel on specific political policies. It’s a broad affirmation of just civil authority. Christians are called to live lawfully and peacefully to the extent possible. Christians are not called to anarchy, nor should they be easily prone to revolution. Christians at all times must exercise prudence about political specifics and about how they respond to what they believe to be unjust laws. Christians will typically disagree among each other about these matters. The church’s unity is in Christ and his doctrines, not about transient political specifics, to which the Scriptures do not speak directly.
So how does Romans 13 relate to immigration law enforcement and the recent ICE surge in Minneapolis? Two U.S. citizens were killed by ICE while demonstrating against ICE and, ICE and its supporters assert, obstructing the work of ICE. Many others were rounded, some here lawfully, in ways that critics of ICE find profoundly unjust and justifying some level of protest if not active resistance.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler responded to Minneapolis with this commentary, citing Romans 13:
We have to understand that for Christians, we either believe in the rule of law or we do not. If we believe in the rule of law, and I think that comes right down to models on the Old Testament and to an authoritative text in the New Testament for us in this respect, such as Romans 13, I think it helps us to understand that we either understand that there is legitimate authority and it will have to handle this through processes of investigation and adjudication.
With a different perspective, Christianity Today editor Russell Moore writes:
Romans 13 is about refusing to become what oppresses you, not about baptizing whatever the oppressor does. And Romans 13 puts moral limits around what authorities can and cannot do—it tells them to use the sword against “the wrongdoer,” for instance. Paul wrote Romans 13 not to protect the state from critique but to shield the church from vengeance.
A Christian Realist stance admits the Romans 13 assignment to the state of coercive power while also warning against the constant threat of abusing that power. All people, whether civil authorities, or their critics, have self-interests, blind spots, and often a combination of legitimate aspirations. Orderly enforcement of the law is always important. So too is social harmony and maintaining social consensus behind the law.
Reinhold Niebuhr famously said: “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Even in the enforcement of just laws, state authorities can be captive to their own hubris. Just laws can be enforced injudiciously and even immorally. Democracy, unlike other systems, offers the channels for reform, protest, and correction. And laws ultimately lose their majesty and capacity for enforcement if they lack public consensus.
Romans 13 is a providential awning under which we arrange our understanding of the state’s vocation, interpreted through other scripture such as 2 Samuel 23:3, and supported by 2000 years of Christian insight. But the furniture beneath that awning, which are the particulars of political policy, must be arranged according to our best judgements, that emerge through debate, and rarely fully conclude.