Our Political Theology Shouldn’t Start at Romans 13

All of these ideas are presented as being assumed to be true in Romans 13, meaning Paul either outlined them earlier in Romans and/or is referencing other Scripture. It is beyond the scope of this essay to detail all the references, but it’s enough to say that Romans 13 is something of a summary statement on a biblical theology of politics and that we should probably take a similar “all of Scripture” approach when thinking about the state and our relationship to it. Suffice to say, Paul is not suggesting that his readers be doormats.