Thesis 56: Statism At The Time Of Christ

Greco-Roman religion was worship and service to the State (polis), its legal interests and customs,[1] the wealth it secured,[2] and the demons behind it.[3] Rulers were not just in a different economic class from the masses; they were considered to be in a different class of being, a pseudo-ontological participation with the “principalities and powers” in a continuum of evolutionary progress in the “Chain of Being.” The Early Church thus spoke of politicians (humans) and powers (demons) as a unity.[4] The civil officials which killed infants to get at Christ and persecuted Christ's Body (the Apostolic Church) were dominated by demonic powers,[5] but the powers were ordered by God.[6]
Roman Law has served as the cradle of the Church.[7]

Notes
1. Acts 16:21; 17:7
2. Acts 19:23-28
3. Acts 17:18,22; cf. 8:9-11; 14:11-16
4. Romans 13:1-4; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15; Ephesians 1:21
5. 2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:18 + Acts 17:8,15
6. Romans 13:1
7. Isaiah 44:27-28; 60:16; Daniel 2:34-35,40-44; Galatians 4:4; #94.

References
Daniel predicted that the Messiah would come during the Roman Empire, and Paul explained that this was the perfect time (note 7). Many apologists have noted that Koine Greek served as a universal language, and the Roman roads facilitated the spread of the Gospel. But more than this is involved. The Greco-Roman world marked a kind of "epistemological self-consciousness" in terms of the "principalities and powers" of the ancient world. The false religions of the Old Testament era were destroyed by Christ at His coming.

The Demonic Origin of the State
"Principalities and Powers" -- pt. 1
"Principalities and Powers" - pt 2
Unlucky 13 -- Romans 13, Revelation 13 and Isaiah 13
A Roman's-Eye View of Romans 13
Lakes of Fire in "Smoke-Filled Rooms"


39 Theses til Election Day