My apologies if I misunderstood your comment. It sounded like you said my criticism of Hitler was "shortsighted but misguided". Again, my apologies.AGC said:RetiredAg said:Sorry if criticizing Hitler offended you. I did reference Caesar earlier if you prefer. Yes, they lived under an evil state when Paul wrote those words, so perhaps Paul meant something other than to endorse the actions of the state. As we see with the quotes referenced above, the early church views of capital punishment didn't include some asterisk to differentiate between "good state" and "evil state".AGC said:RetiredAg said:Quote:
for he is the minister of God to thee for good
So was Hitler a minister of God to "thee for good"?
Given that you can quote church fathers you undoubtedly realize they lived under Roman rule and that the Romans weren't nice people either. I don't know that I'd say Hitler is an objectively worse person than they were, so perhaps your criticism is not only shortsighted but misguided. What was Paul saying when he wrote it, and would inserting Hitler make it different?
Offended by you criticizing Hitler? What the hell is wrong with you? For all the crap you give MQB you're not exactly out of line with his posts right now.
The point is that Romans were brutal and Paul was well aware of the government's power over human life when he wrote that.
And yes, Paul was well aware of the government's power over human life when he wrote that. I think it's foolish to say that Paul endorsed or supported Caesar's actions, which leads me to believe that that section of misunderstood by those who use it as a reason for Christians to support the state's anti-life policies.
I really just wanted to respond w/ my apology though, as I clearly must have misunderstood you. On that note, I think this is the right time to bow out for good.