slowmutant wrote:
Anarchists reject all authority on principle, do they not? And Christians are instructed to obey both earthly and heavenly authority, ie. "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's." That quote was the reply Jesus gave to the Jewish pharisees when they asked him if it was a just thing to pay taxes to the state, ie. acknowledge the authority of the state.
Wouold a "Christarchist" recognize the authority of the priesthood? The authority of God Himself?
Well, Christian anarchists are a unique variant by most standards. Basically, how they see the issue is that God is meant to be obeyed, and government is usually meant to be respected to some extent.
They will usually pay taxes, and to them, this is really more a matter of respect and a lack of concern for ruling authorities. I mean, the Christarchist would take this verse in the context of Matt 17:25-27, where the governments of the world are shown to be unjust but are still respected for the sake of offending nobody.
Matthew 17:25-27 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying,
"What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?" (26) And when he said,
"From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. (27)
However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."
The Christarchist view, thus recognizes the state as something to not directly fight, but it also recognizes the state as being rather negative.
Luke 4:5-7 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, (6) and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it
has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. (7) If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."
As can be seen in Luke 4, these governments, while existent and things to be respected as seen in prior passages, are also seen as servants of evil.
A Christarchist would accept the priesthood based upon the validity of that priesthood. For one part, they recognize that nobody is to be called rabbis or instructors but rather that all are equal before Christ, and thus would likely be more opposed to highly hierarchical priesthoods.
Matthew 23:8-11 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. (10) Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. (11) The greatest among you shall be your servant.
As for God, that is in the name. Christarchist reflects that the view that the only true authority is God, and that others have no necessary meaning. Now, that latter may seem questionable, but it is ultimately true upon reflection. If a Christian lived in Nazi Germany, would he consider such a government proper? No, of course not, and because of that, the pro-government verses are likely already being improperly interpreted, for their original background was in a situation with a government somewhere along the lines of being as evil as Nazi Germany.(Nero killed some of the authors of the Bible) Ergo, authority dies down to polite respect, and a lack of outward belligerence, but not loyalty/obedience, and more akin to a desire for this authority to fall before God's authority.