INTERPRETATION OF 1 TIMOTHY 2:1–3: THERE CAN BE NO CHRISTIAN SOVEREIGNTY
Secular and pagan sovereignty is given Biblical foundation because, they say, Saint Paul urges supplications and prayers to be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way, for this is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.[517]
He seems to give a real sanction for everything that leads to manslaughter in our country; it looks as if he baptized a motley crowd of kings and noblemen, helping them with his prayers and admonishing them to defend with their swords their mother, the Holy Church, of whom they were begotten, so that she might sit on her Roman throne, leading a peaceful and contented life; nobody should wake her from her sleep behind castle fortifications.
[ But if Paul really preached all this, how does it happen that so many Christians died in martyrdom during the first three hundred years? They prayed for their authorities, and yet they were killed? This shows that Paul must have given a different sense to his words than that which is today presented by the Church. ]
[ In his day the pagan governing authorities were inimical to the Christian communities, and when the Christians prayed for them, they only obeyed the Scriptures which commanded that they should pray for their enemies.[518] ]
[ These early Christians did not have rulers from their own ranks, nor did they seek protection of the authorities through prayer. Their true sentiments are expressed in the Scripture that records their supplication to God: ]
“Sovereign God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them, who by the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “Why do the Gentiles rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers are gathered together against the Lord and against His Anointed.[519]
“For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom thou anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, O Lord, look upon their threats and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
