uminated by a study of early Christian texts which laid out rules of conduct for early Christians.According to Christian texts, God instructed his followers to obey the law. Romans 13 proclaims Let every person be subject to the governing authoritiesfor those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists was God has appointed This passage shows that Paul, a leader of the ancient Church did not advocate uprisings and unlawful conduct. Rather, he teaches his followers to obey the law and be good citizens. He even equates good citizenry with being a good Christian. Paul stresses that it is Gods will that his followers pay their taxes, honor those who are worthy of honor and to follow the ten commandments. There seems to be no political perspective to these codes of conduct that Paul has outlines for his Churches. As ambassadors for Christ, Christians were to respect and subject themselves to civil government and according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 pray for such rulers and authorities so that they might live a tranquil life. Of course there are contradictions within the New Testament as well. For example, in Acts 5:29, the apostles proclaim, We must obey God rather than any human authority. It is easy to see why a lot of confusion on what was right and wrong and what God wanted and did not may have presenting many Christian communities. 1 Peter 2:13-17 is yet another example of confusing instructions that were taught by leaders. Here the author instructs believers in Christ to accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or governorsFear God. Honor the emperor. This passage can be very confusing. While followers of God are supposed to honor the emperor they are still supposed to worship God alone. Following state regulations meant worshiping the emperor and state gods. This would mean having to ignore the teaching of worshiping God alone and ...
