St. Paul and I Agree...
Taxation is not theft: "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. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." -- Romans 13 The key idea implicit here, and the one that turned me on the subject of whether or not taxation is theft, is that "every soul" owes obedience to the "governing authorities." Now, if that is a debt I truly owe , then, when those authorities levy the taxes they need to do the job of governing, I owe them those taxes, and attempts to collect them certainly do not constitute acts of theft. And obviously it doesn't matter at all, from this point of view, whether or not I "signed" any sort of "social contract." (In fact, the history of political thought since the Reformation can be read as an attempt to find a secular rep...
Just curious, what version of the Bible are you reading from. I only ask because I only have a King James version, and the text is quite a bit different.
ReplyDeleteJoseph, just Google the phrase and you can find it. (I'm heading out and can't look at the moment.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it makes a difference, but the Greek reads προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε. That is literally "prophecies [do] not despise," the word "prophecies" being the object rather than the subject of the verb.
ReplyDeletePaul appears to be saying that the Thessalonians should test those who come before them claiming to have the gift of prophecy.
I tried looking at various translations, and they didn't really help me decide the matter. But, I think Gene it's possible that you are totally misinterpreting what Paul is saying.
ReplyDeleteI think (though I'm not sure) he is saying, "Don't dismiss prophecies. Go ahead and actually check if they are fulfilled, because they will be if you just open your eyes."
For a similar thing, look at God talking about tithing in Malachi 3:10:
10(A) Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby(B) put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open(C) the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
I can't find the exact translation that made me think of that passage, but I'm pretty sure I've read it where the Lord says "test me in this."
Well clearly God isn't saying, "Don't assume you should literally believe my promises, because maybe I'll disappoint you."