Rom 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

“GIVE PLACE TO WRATH” IS NOT ONLY FOR THE HEREAFTER! GOD WILL REPAY IN ETERNITY, BUT HERE ON EARTH AS WELL VIA THE AUTHORITIES THAT ENFORCE GODLY LAWS.

Rom 13:4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

If God’s people condone vigilantism a-la Scott Roeder mankind, in our fallen state, will devolve into uncontrolled brutality and murder. And there will be no justice.

And just to be clear, “Authorities appointed by God” does not necessarily mean the persons in office, or even the system of government in place at any given time. But clearly God has instructed that there must be a human government to restrain evil people. And even evil governments enforce righteous laws justly. And in those cases the authorities must be respected.

And a government does not lose ALL credibility just because it is run by evil people and enforces their evil directives. It loses some credibility, and the people earn the right to resist. But not to take up arms an kill. God is wise and he knows that even his people cannot escape the soul corrupting power of wanton bloodshed, (see King David 1Ch 28:3 But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’)

But there must be justice, and it is for this reason God instituted human governmnet:

Gen 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

Deu 17:6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

And whatever authorities one finds oneself under by happenstance of birth or travel, to the degree that we are able we must submit to them. And we must not violate the clear concept in scripture that killing anyone without due process of law is murder.

Of course the authorities were not scheduled to take up a case against Tiller anytime soon. But Roeder could have worked within the constraints of biblical teaching in many ways to elevate tension, and prevent the killing of children, even to the point of sacrificing his own life. (Now that would be heroic).

On the other hand, Bonhoeffer and the German conspirators were in communications with, and actively soliciting assistance from other nations who had formally declared war against the corrupt Hitler regime. So here we have “authorities appointed by God” at war with a leader clearly identified as an enemy of God.

So the conspirators were “covered” so to speak, and could kill Hitler in act of war, (they also had a plan to transfer power to a new government once Hitler was dead, preserving as best they could the social order). And Bonhoeffer eventually did sacrifice his own life for his opposition to wickedness. That’s heroic.

That being said, if another nation declared war and announced their intent to invade America in order to protect themselves from our corruption and immorality, (because it is clear and present danger to them and their posterity), and in order that the American people might be liberated from the evil men who rule over them , one would be justified in joining them either overtly or covertly.

Can anyone think of a nation that might one day take that position?
.-= Doug´s last blog ..The Reviews are in- Metaxas’ “Bonhoeffer” =-.

Thanks for listening!!

The charge against Lockner is attempted murder, (which I probably failed to mention). I believe the scripture supports capital punishment for attempted murder.

As for Kevorkian’s mom… You just gotta feel for her, but seeing her son on judgment day will be even worse that having endured this life as a relative of his.

And while it may be illegal to kill lawyers… you know what I always say, “some things are illegal, and some things are immoral, and they’re not always both…” (he said jokingly).

And, regarding the execution of Ronnie Gardner, I was surprised to find out that it’s actually illegal to kill a lawyer. For personal reasons, I hope there’s a statute of limitations for that.

On a serious note, you advocated death for Calvin Lockner, the guy who beat a black man and had a tattoo of Hitler on his chest. Did you misspeak there? I would think a sever beating would be the correct punishment.