Chamburuka, A Theological reflection on Romans 13:1-7 in ...beneficiaries of the state-sponsored programmes such as the land re-
form. Some of them masquerade as religious leaders yet they are politi-
cal activists hence their assertions seek to foster a political agenda as
opposed to a theological motive. This has misrepresented the church as
whole and caused schism in many churches mainly on party grounds
other than on theological grounds. Unfortunately, some of these reli-
gious leaders who become political activists forget that they are shep-
herds of people from different political persuasions. Therefore, church
may have to review, reconstruct and reposition its role in political mat-
ters especially on how Rom 13:1-7 can be interpreted.
A Contextual theological application of Romans 13:1-7 in the
light of Church-State relations in Zimbabwe
Church and state issues continue to be the source of many conflicts
among Christians today, resulting in a massive confusion in what exactly
a Biblical theology of the state and public policy entails. The confusion
often prompts awkward answers to important questions regarding the
relationship of Christians to government, such as "What kind of gov-
ernment should a Christian support?" "What public policy should be
obeyed?," or "What does submission to government mean?" Most Chris-
tians attempt to justify their political philosophy Biblically with Rom 13
in some way, if they attempt at all. At first glance, this appears to be an
acceptable solution – Paul seems to call for submission to government.
But how do we reconcile this passage with the undeniable fact that indi-
viduals acting within the coercive machinations of states have been the
greatest culprits of criminal action and violence in the history of man-
kind? For instance, in Germany during the 1930s and 40s, theologians
used Rom 13 to encourage submission to the Nazi regime, especially
since it was democratically elected. It only took the brevity of theologians
like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his friends to resist Naziism when he
(Bonhoeffer) called for Christian action and self-sacrifice. In his earlier
stages of his career, Bonhoeffer accepted the traditional Lutheran view
that there was a sharp distinction between politics and religion (Bon-
hoeffer 1959:35). Gradually, however, he revised his opinion not because
he was a politician or because he refused to give Caesar his due, but
because he came to recognize that the political authority on Germany
had become entirely corrupt and immoral and that a false faith is capa-
ble of terrible and monstrous things (:36). This gave rise to the famous