Quote Originally Posted by CitizenCain View Post
.....To be fair, it actually isn't.
That's what I said. Or is there a typo somewhere?

It was a clever evasion of a trap (are you unrighteous by supporting the evil Roman empire, are can we have you executed for treason by getting you to denounce the state), and the common interpretation is generally that God doesn't care about politics. Or, more specifically, Jesus didn't care about politics 2,000 years ago, because the job was to be a Messiah, and save the Jews' souls, rather than a political leader (whose job would be to free the Jews bodies from Roman rule).
The translation (as I see it) is that there are more rulers on earth than just God or the Messiah, and that's just fine. To recognize "Caesar" as a ruler in his own right, as a leader of government and people, is to recognize that earth and heaven are different 'places'. Jesus didn't automatically attribute nefarious or evil motivations to 'rulers on earth' or compare them to 'rulers in heaven'.

That's not to say that some rulers on earth weren't/aren't tyrannical despotic dictators. God was portrayed as a tyrannical despotic dictator, a fearful force, full of anger, smite and retribution. That was the Old Testament interpretation, but not the New Testament according to Jesus or His apostles. That's when God "became" man in order to speak to man, in a language that man could understand. Not created "of" man, but made "for" man, a Holy Trinity as Father (creator), Son (descendants), Holy spirit (soul).

But never mind my ramblings this late at night, early in the morning. Too many spirits or water turned to wine. Amen.