基督徒可以參與「公民抗命」嗎？

我們相信聖經教導我們要順服政府，縱使這個政府不是完全的履行職責、甚至基本上不完全履行職責，順服政府是聖經的原則（羅馬書13：1-7），這個原則在彼得致那些為奴僕的信徒的信息中也是明確的（彼得前書2：18-19），這與他一貫論到政府的見解是一脈相承的（彼得前書2：13-17），而這封信一遍又一遍地以各種方式教導同樣的事情：就算你要受苦，也當順服，因為你如此行就肯定你是屬基督的，而且是蒙福的（參看彼得前書2：21-24 ：3:1-2; 4:12-14; 5:9-10）有些時候，我們必須遵從神而不是人，但是我們相信只有當他們命令我們做一些直接違反神律法的事情（例如使徒行傳5:29及上下文），我們才應該違抗政權。

這是一個很清晰的區分，但它又恰恰是問題的所在。如果說，基督徒只是當政府按著聖經的原則運作，才需要遵從他們的政府的話，我們就廢棄了羅馬書13:1-7和彼得前書2:13-17幾乎在歷史上任何時代的教導，特別是寫下這篇章的時代。當時的羅馬政府就好像歷史中那些腐敗的和邪惡的政府一樣，然而，保羅和彼得告訴基督徒「活在順服中」、「順服一切掌權的」，而且「恭敬帝王」。

因此，我們相信只有當政府迫使我們去犯罪，或是當沒有合法的申訴途徑來對抗不公義的時候，「公民抗命」才是合情合理的，我們在此處劃出這界線的原因非常簡單，就是因為所有在聖經裡「公民抗命」的例子，都是正正落在這兩種情況下，任何其他種類的行動在神話語聖經中沒有先例的話，都是違背了羅馬書13章和彼得前書2章的精意。

譯自John MacArthur "Can Christians Participate in Civil Disobedience?"
原文網址：http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A120

原文如下：

Can Christians Participate in Civil Disobedience?
By John MacArthur

We believe the Scripture teaches that we are to submit to government even if that government does not function entirely (or even primarily) by biblical principles (Romans 13:1-7). That principle is explicit in Peter's message to servants (1 Peter 2:18-19), which directly follows his more general comments regarding government (1 Peter 2:13-17). And that epistle teaches the same thing over and over again in varied ways: Submit even if you suffer, because in doing so you identify with Christ and are blessed (cf. 1 Peter 2:21-24; 3:1-2; 4:12-14; 5:9-10). There are times when we must obey God rather than men, but we believe that we should disobey the authorities only if they command us to do something directly against God's law (e.g. Acts 5:29 and its surrounding context).

That is a fine distinction, but it is precisely where the issue lies. If we say that Christians are only required to obey their government when it is functioning by scriptural principles, we then nullify the teaching of Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 in just about any age of history-especially the time during which those passages were written! The Roman government was as corrupt and godless as any in history, and yet Paul and Peter told Christians to "live in subjection," "submit to every ordinance," and "honor the king."

So we believe that civil disobedience is justified only when government compels us to sin, or when there is no legal recourse for fighting injustice. The reason we draw the line there is simply because all the scriptural examples of civil disobedience fall squarely into those two situations. Any other kind of activism has no precedent in the Word of God and violates the spirit of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.