“This question is really only for Christians who take the Bible seriously and submit to it as the highest authority for faith and practice.”
Sounds like the classic “I’m the one taking the Bible seriously and therefore you aren’t” claim. The Black Robe Regiment begged to differ.
The “Black Robe Regiment” was a label given by Loyalists to the Colonial pastors in favor of liberty and the right to equal treatment as Englishmen.
Lutheran minister Peter Muhlenberg being perhaps the most famous but he was just one of many. They were so influental that the Tories blamed them for winning American independence.
RE: Sounds like the classic “I’m the one taking the Bible seriously and therefore you aren’t” claim
Ok, forget the ad hominem attack for the meantime, how do you interpret the following verse from the Apostle Paul in light of the American Revolution :
ROMANS 13: 1-7
“ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Keep in mind that the Roman Emperor at the time of St. Paul was Nero ( the man who burned Rome, fiddled as it happened, and used Christians as the scapegoat).