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That’s fine. You, for example.

I typically don’t read / reply to long posts. I’m here for casual conversation. I will say though that I don’t believe everyone is a minister of God.

Yes. For the benefit of all mankind. Just between you, me and the hat rack, do you think I’m promoting lawlessness?

As a minister of God, Paul writes.

The Book / Epistle of Romans was written by Paul to Christians who were living in Rome. The concern Paul is addressing is how they are to live under the government of the Roman Empire. No.

Yes. Nero was the Emperor of the Roman Empire when Paul wrote Romans. While Paul was alluding to Nero - who by no stretch of the imagination was a follower of Jesus - he wasn't alluding only to Nero. Fair game for what? In short, Romans 13 is about the role of the state and the Christian...

Yes. “We [followers of Jesus] do not use the weapons of the world.” - Paul That’s right. The thought of followers of Jesus killing one another is far from the mind of Paul.

Christians killing fellow Christians and trying to rationalize it. We are here. Christians killing non-Christians -> the mission field has become the killing field. We can’t get to that when we can’t get past Christians killing fellow Christians.

“Deck stacking”? If you want to harden me in my position, that’s how to do it. How would you respond if I said things like that about you? From what you’ve written, it isn’t clear to me that you understand what “my“ concept of converting to Christianity is. (In “my“ concept, and based on...

“The Shift in Perspective The consensus shifted as Christianity transitioned from a persecuted minority to the state religion of the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine. Facing threats to the empire and new civic responsibilities, Church leaders began to adapt their teachings.” AI Overview...

“Before 313 AD, the Early Church Fathers and prominent writers almost universally taught that Christian participation in war was forbidden. They viewed killing and military service as incompatible with Jesus Christ’s commands to love enemies and refrain from violence. Key early Christian...

Good points. If the control measures are as bad as the disease, then God assigning that role to Caesar and his worldly government in this age makes Romans 13 understandable to me. I don’t believe that Jesus and the apostles had in mind Christians living in nation X killing Christians living in...