Under a Romans 13 political framework, there’s no room for moral confusion in international law. Paul presumes that states, acting under the auspices of God’s sovereign authority, aim at real, objective goods and that leaders can be evaluated by whether or not they move their country domestically and internationally in the direction of those goods. Given that this represents the end of all just governments, states therefore have a duty to defend it.
As applied to internationalism, Paul’s articulation of role of the state and its sword of justice implies a moral hierarchy that legitimizes state action, especially in the murky waters of international conflict, relevant to Just War Theory and Christian Realism more broadly.
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