Fire And Fury

Yesterday’s Boston Globe had an article on page 5 of Section A entitled, “Pastor backs Trump’s fire and fury.”  It quoted one of President Trump’s evangelical advisors, pastor Robert Jeffress of Texas, as saying that Romans 13, “gives the government the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment, or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong-un.”  The quote continued, “A Christian writer asked me, ‘Don’t you want the president to embody the Sermon on the Mount?’ he said referring to Jesus’ famous sermon. I said, ‘Absolutely not.”

Such a poor and inappropriate interpretation of Paul!   This is the “Christian advice” our president is taking?!   We surely hope not.

No one will know exactly what Paul meant, but great theologians have ventured their own interpretations based on the fact that Paul was speaking to Christians living in Rome under imperial control.  

Much of Paul’s Letter to the Roman Christians emphasized love, nonviolence, acceptance of imperial authority (even as they resisted it), and non-judgment of one another.  It appears Paul recognized that the government (state) provided services and needed to be supported.

According to William Barclay, “To the state a man owes protection.  It was the Platonic idea that the state existed for the sake of justice and safety and secured for a man security against wild beasts  and savage men…A state is essentially a body of men who have covenanted together to maintain certain relationships between each other by observance of certain laws.  Without these laws and the mutual agreement to observe them, the bad and selfish strong man would be supreme; the weaker would go to the wall; life would become ruled by the law of the jungle.  Every ordinary man owes his security to the state, and is therefore under a responsibility to it.”

It appears President Trump’s pastor advisor provided his own interpretation of Paul’s intent, and in doing so, inflamed the passions of those wanting the government to cause “fire and fury.”   Saving the world from chaos is a laudable goal of wisely led governments.   Causing “fire and fury” and using the Bible in support of that cause is true blasphemy and certainly runs counter to Jesus oft-spoken advice, “Do not fear.”  

Deacon David Pierce