Osama bin Laden and Romans 13

The recent news of Osama bin Laden’s execution has caused many to wonder what the Christian response to such news is. Whenever these things happen, people will ask me about Romans 13 –

Doesn’t Romans 13 say it is the government’ s job to punish evil, and aren’t we doing just that?

I believe there are multiple problems with the standard interpretation of Romans 13 that is floating around our churches. It is not my intention to speak to foreign policy or to determine how to rid the world of war. Rather, I would agree with Hauerwas when he says,

…Christians are called to nonviolence not because we believe nonviolence is a strategy to rid the world of war—though we certainly want to rid the world of war. Rather, as faithful followers of Christ in a world at war, we cannot imagine being anything other than nonviolent. Of course we want to make war less likely. But nonviolence is a sign of hope that there is an alternative to war. And that alternative is called church (p. 55, Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness).

But, if you would like to know how I would interpret Romans 13, I spoke about Romans 13 last May so here’s my answer…