Christians and Roman Rule in the New Testament

Christians and Roman Rule in the New Testament. By Richard J. Cassidy. New York: Crossroad, 2001, 146 pp., $25.95.

This work is part of the "Companions to the New Testament" series, which is intended to "unite New Testament study with theological concerns in a clear and concise manner" (ix). The writers in the series are academics from multiple denominational identities. Richard Cassidy is Professor of New Testament at Christ the King Seminary. His earlier volume, Jesus, Politics, and Society, has informed his approach, and he often makes reference to that title.

Cassidy seeks to illuminate the tensions and challenges that Christians faced during the first century as they lived in the Roman Empire. He first describes the characteristic features of Roman imperial rule beginning prior to and proceeding through NT times. The remaining chapters provide a discussion of the following: (1) Jesus' teaching that related to Roman rule in the Gospels; (2) the apostles' attitude in Acts; (3) Paul's changing position vis-a-vis Rome in his earlier and later epistles; and (4) the message of the Apocalypse in regards to the limits of Roman power.

One of the great strengths of Cassidy's book is his very clear organization and writing style. He begins each chapter with an explanation of what he will attempt to do and ends each chapter with a summary of his conclusions. His book ends with a brief "agenda" of how his conclusions have relevance for "disciples of Jesus living under highly varied political conditions of the third millennium" (p. 132). Unfortunately, Cassidy's clear writing style is marred by serious problems with his research methodology and exegetical conclusions.

Students of Christian history in the Roman world will quickly acknowledge the seminal contribution of A. N. Sherwin-White's Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament. Sherwin-White, an Oxford don, displayed his highly-regarded expertise in Roman jurisprudence and administration in his Sarum Lectures of 1960-61, which were then published under the above title. Even though Cassidy provides a bibliography of nearly fifty books and articles, Sherwin-White's work is not even mentioned. Furthermore, the classic work by Oscar Cullmann, The State in the New Testament (London: SCM, 1957), while included in the bibliography, is nowhere else referenced in Cassidy's book. It is a serious deficiency that two major contributions on this subject are not interacted with during Cassidy's discussions. It should also be noted that the conclusions of Cassidy are at variance with the conclusions of these respected scholars.

At the outset, Cassidy mentions that Luke 22:24-27 "will exercise a lapidary influence" in his later conclusions (p. 1). He proposes that Jesus"humility-service model" is set over against the Roman "domination model" (p. 19). Particular points made by Cassidy that raise serious issues for critical evaluation are: (1) Jesus probably did not pay Roman taxes (p. 27); (2) the famous "tribute" parallels (Matt 22;15-22; Luke 20:20-26) do not teach that there are two realms to be respected-God's and Caesar's. He concludes: "If Caesar is proving to be a reliable steward in terms of those things that God would have accomplished, then taxes may appropriately be given in support of Caesar's stewardship. However, if Caesar's policies and practices are antithetical to the things that God desires, then no obligation exists to pay the demanded taxes" (p. 29). This leaves the door open a bit too wide for refusal to pay taxes whenever we conclude that Caesar is deficient in his policies. At what point does Caesar become an "unreliable steward"? Cassidy does not answer that question.

Even more problematic is Cassidy's view about the attitude of Paul toward Rome in his epistles. Recognizing the difficulty of harmonizing Paul's teaching in Rom 13:1-- 7 with the above mentioned limitations on tax-paying, Cassidy simply deals with the problem by positing a change in the apostle's attitude on this subject between the time he wrote Romans (AD 54) and the time he wrote further about similar matters in Philippians (ca. AD 64). Cassidy argues that Phil 3:20 ("our citizenship is in heaven") cancels out his earlier counsel on unqualified obedience to Caesar in Romans 13. What is Cassidy's explanation for this change? Cassidy's answer is that Paul wrote to the Romans when he was free and wrote to the Philippians when he was "in chains" ten years later. "The Paul who authored Philippians as a chained prisoner in Rome effectively set aside the premises and the counsels he had earlier expressed in Romans 13:1-7" (p. 102).

Christians and Roman Rule in the New Testament is part of a cadre of modern works that delight in discovering tensions and contradictions in the NT and then exploiting them for the authors' own purposes. Cassidy's purposes may include a social program that serves more the agenda of liberation theology than biblical fidelity. In the meantime the interested reader can find better help in this area from Sherwin-White and Cullmann.