Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the Apostle Paul in Romans 13 as a clear and wise command to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order. Sessions said, “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”
Really?
I would caution Sessions to do a full study of the Book of Romans. Romans 13:10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Neither theology, nor inhumane immigration policy, can be justified by a few verses of the Bible. To interpret the Bible is to plumb its biblical and historical depths, guided by the Holy Spirit.
Obviously, I am a Christian, and I would caution our government’s use of Romans 13:1-5 to justify laws since this was the argument of the Nazis in the roundup of Jews to ghettos, concentration camps and then gas chambers, so that “good Christians” would not question. And, Jim Crow laws were about law and order that oppressed African Americans.
In the Hebrew Bible and Christian Testament there are many more verses about doing justice, as just sharing of provision; loving kindness; welcoming the stranger and foreigner; loving our neighbor as ourselves; and caring for the weak by protecting them against injustice. And, if we don’t know those verses and stories, then we don’t know the Bible.
How about this verse? “Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Rev. DAWN C. BERRY
Hopkinton