Article one: does the Bible teach us to obey authority?
- Does the Bible teach us to obey authority?
- Is it worse for Christians now than it has ever been?
Framed by 2 Timothy 4:3-4 ('people will not put up with sound doctrine'), the hosts push back on nostalgia: persecution is real in some places but not worse than ever (Nero's garden torches; the sack-with-animals martyrdom). The article's claim — the Bible does NOT teach obedience to authority — gets a nuanced no: Romans 13, Titus 3, Hebrews 13, 1 Peter 2, and Ephesians 6:2 teach honor/respect for governing authority, but not moral submission to it; early Christians prayed FOR the emperor, not TO him. The Philemon example: Paul doesn't abolish debt slavery, he presses the master to receive Onesimus as a brother — changing hearts rather than just laws. Jubilee (every 50 years; the host self-corrects from 70) shows God's built-in economic reset against permanent land empires. Application: obey the laws, but when conscience demands otherwise, accept the consequences like MLK in Birmingham Jail — or serve within the system like the Hacksaw Ridge medic. Jesus is 'subversive in service': obey Caesar on taxes, obey Jesus on everything.
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