Many Christians believe that the Bible establishes human political authority as a means of ensuring social order. Passages such as Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:17, and Christ’s statement to “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” are commonly referred to in the Christian argument for legitimizing human political authority. However, there is good reason to be highly skeptical of human political authority and its perceived legitimacy on biblical grounds. Jason Hughey takes us on a deeper dive into the context of these passages (and more) to discover that they may not be as convincing when used for the purposes of divinely legitimizing human political authority or demanding our allegiance to such authority.
