I interrupted my thoughts on the marriage relationship for an extended digression on authority because it seemed impossible to me to finish the thought without being seriously misunderstood. Expectations different from contemporary standards color the New Testament perspective  on authority and freedom in general. In contemporary discourse we tend to conflate a whole bunch of issues into anything touching on Read More

Authority, for my purpose, is the ability to direct the activities of another person in a way that they would not otherwise chose and in which they do not see any direct benefit (other than avoiding the consequences of disobeying). In this sense the reason for the authority (governmental, spiritual, or otherwise) is not relevant. But in many cases the Read More

In keeping with our great distinction between experts and despots, we make much sharper distinctions between different types of authority than was common in the culture of the New Testament (or Old Testament, for that matter). Consider these two passages from Matthew: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire Read More

We have a bit of cultural schizophrenia about authority. Authority is something unpleasant people use to force us to do things we do not wish to do. “The authorities” are bad people summoned to punish people we dislike. But “an authority” is a wise person who knows what he is talking about. Changing from a plural to a singular noun Read More