What Does Romans 13 Mean? (The Most Controversial Bible Passage In History)

Romans 13 is a very hard passage to wrap one's brain around. It's been used in all kinds of weird and ugly ways, but why is it in the Bible and what does it actually mean?

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References and Notes:

Early Christian Beliefs About the Return of Christ - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/62846/why-did-the-early-christians-think-jesus-would-return-soon

Constantine and Theodosius -
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/quotes/emperors-constantine-and-licinius-edict-of-milan-on-the-freedom-to-worship-for-christianity-and-other-religions-313-ce

https://www.svspress.com/christianity-and-the-roman-empire

http://www.earlychristianhistory.info/chr-power.html

Augustine on Government –
https://www.iep.utm.edu/aug-poso/

https://perspectivesjournal.org/posts/church-and-state-in-defense-of-augustines-allegory-of-the-two-cities/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3160702?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

City of God –
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45304/45304-h/45304-h.htm

Two Swords Theology –
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-1638-1_12

Popes Appointing and Deposing Kings –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_Controversy

Aquinas on Government –
https://www.iep.utm.edu/aqui-pol/

Luther on Government –
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-34/political-luther.html

https://lutheranreformation.org/theology/kingdom-left-luther-temporal-authority/

https://www.elca.org/JLE/Articles/947

Calvin on Government –
http://www.libertylawsite.org/book-review/the-political-philosophy-of-john-calvin/

http://thefielder.net/26/11/2012/john-calvin-on-politics-and-state/

Michael Servetus and His Execution in Geneva –
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-12/servetus-affair.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Servetus

Zwingli on Government –
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/urban-reformation-the-life-and-thought-of-zwingli

https://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/zwingli/

Jefferson on Separation of Church and State –
https://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html

http://www.ushistory.org/us/20b.asp

Sermon on the Mount Series –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iO30rNAkhc

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