Praying for Kings: The Place of Human Rulers in the Divine Plan of Salvation

Abstract

Abstract THE PLACE OF THE CIVIL RULER IN Goo’s PLAN OF SALVATION IS RAISED BY AT least four New Testament texts that are of liturgical interest: 1 Peter 2:11-17, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Titus 3:1-2, and Revelation 13:1-10. Taken in themselves or in literary context, all four passages also raise broader questions concerning the content of salvation, its extension, and the nature of the church. The civil ruler has to be seen in relation to these other matters, all of which have been of ecumenical concern both historically and in our times. The first three texts envision a benign role for the civil ruler in the larger drama; the fourth text, with perhaps an anticipation in the penumbra of the third, presents an altogether darker picture. That the themes of worship and prayer are present or close to all these four passages concerning civil rule is not surprising if we hold, with the Westminster Catechism, the implicitly political belief that “man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.”