God or Caesar? Case Studies in Christian Subversion of Tyranny

Is a Christian ever obligated to disobey the state? And what is the nature of this “holy disobedience” and its consequences? Despite the injunction in Romans 13 for every person “to be subject unto the higher powers,” there is a long and honorable history of Christians in trouble with the “powers that be.” Throughout Western history, there has been a biblically-oriented segment of the Christian community which has been at odds with established governments. CASE STUDIES IN CHRISTIAN SUBVERSION OF TYRANNY These essays make clear that radically biblical Christians who take the commands of Christ with utmost seriousness often have become subversive in the eyes of the state for one main reason: a Christian’s highest loyalty is always to God rather than to a mere secular order and he lives by values often at odds with those of the state. In many ways, the crux of the evangelical political dilemma today is the unwillingness of many professing Christians to live up to the full claims of th