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Romans Commentary Chapters 9-16  /  Romans 13:1-7 Submit to the Governing Authorities Part Two  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 2
Tertullian’s thought experiment about a Christian ruler lists what he would have to avoid (temple oversight, festivals, oaths, judging, indicting, chaining, imprisoning, torturing); which of those conflicts feel most “inevitable” if someone holds public office today, and where do modern Christians tend to assume compromises are acceptable that Tertullian treats as unbelievable?
Another way to ask: Tertullian lists many things a Christian ruler would have to avoid (like oaths, judging, imprisoning, or torturing). Which of these clashes seem unavoidable for public office today, and where do Christians today accept compromises that Tertullian would not?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests that the most “inevitable” conflicts today are judging/condemning people and enforcing punishment (chains, prison, coercion), because government authority normally involves some form of retaliation and coercive enforcement. Bercot presents Tertullian as seeing these compromises as basically unavoidable for a ruler who must still “govern.”

Support from Transcript:

  • Tertullian raises whether a “servant of God could take upon himself the administration of any rulership or power.”
  • He lists what a Christian ruler would have to avoid: not “sit in judgment on anyone’s life or character,” not “condemn nor indict,” not “chain…imprison nor torture.”
  • Then he asks: “Now, is it believable that all that would be possible?”—implying it isn’t.
  • Bercot comments: “Many of those same issues would face a ruler today.”
  • Tertullian presses the point: “Shall he apply the chain, the prison, the torture, and the punishment? He who is not the avenger of even his own wrongs.”
Discussion Follow-ups Which modern roles (police leadership, prosecutor, military command, executive office) most directly require actions Tertullian lists? Do Christians today rename these actions as “necessary” in ways the early church would not accept?

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