Bad Theology

Text for today: Romans 12 xvii-xx

In prudent preparation for the raising of the Jesus cult to the rank of Imperial doctrine, St Paul takes it upon himself to correct the Saviour on a couple of points. First, he orders that believers should do what is honourable "in the sight of all," thereby presumably allowing even their left hands to know what their right hands are doing. Given the Deity's ultimate ambition to utilise the army of Rome in persecuting those to whom He takes a dislike, the order to publicise one's good works constitutes a natural progression; as does the later order to submit to worldly authorities.

Second, Paul casually overrules the Saviour's commandment to love one's enemies: rather than imploring mercy upon those sinners who presumably need it the most, Paul orders his followers to abandon them to vengeance by the wrath of God. As befits a Jewish fanatic, albeit one less rabidly fundamentalist than Jesus, Paul returns the Saviour's commandment to the formula specified in Proverbs 25 xxi-xxii, where it is stated that by helping an enemy one heaps coals of fire on the enemy's head. Helping one's enemy, far from being a move towards peace and goodwill, is thus acknowledged as a method of attack and moral humiliation. In the interests of making the Church lukewarm enough to suit Rome's digestion, Paul promotes the comfortable advantages of passive aggression over the more difficult rigours of divine indifference. God was undoubtedly aware of His church's future alliance with the Roman Empire, and here cynically induces His apostle to begin smoothing the way.