Political Concepts in Apostolic Writings I

Sorry about the unexpected break in blog entries--I had a rather busy week and more.

Picking up this little exegetical exercise with the book of Acts, let's take a look at Acts 4:18-21 and compare Acts 5:17-42. What is at point in this and the comparison passage? Chiefly the point is contained in 5:29: "We must obey God rather than men." Now, in neither instance is the conflict between the people of God and governmental authorities, although the high priest and the Sanhedrin certainly possessed a societal authority. But the underlying principle applies to the Christian's relationship with any kind of secondary (to God) authority. Our highest allegiance is to the Lord. Any legitimate secondary authority that commands the Christian to disobey God has lost its legitimacy, at least regarding the point in contention. Nevertheless, the Christian may be called upon to submit to the consequences of refusing to heed the secondary authority. Note that the response of the apostles was not to call for the overthrow of the Sanhedrin or to foment a rebellion.