Everything that is Caesar's

[God_fearer]

is it wrong not to pay taxes?

[renascor]

You already answered your own question.

Give unto Caesar what is his, and give unto the LORD all that is His.

[Via Crucis]

is it wrong not to pay taxes?
I think you meant to post this in the politics section and not the theology section.

[renascor]

This has as much to do with theology as with politics.

[Via Crucis]

This has as much to do with theology as with politics.
He's using a horrible example to try and illustrate what "Render onto Caesar" means.

[Gamma]

well taxes are one form of income for the state, incoem that can be used to pay the bill in the medical system, or pay the salaries of public officers etc etc

so decide is wrong to take the money for this people, make them work for free, or not helping in the proper education, and health of your peers???

[BeProf]

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Romans 13:1-7 ESV, emphasis mine.

This, of course, is not to say that the governing authority has carte blanche to just do whatever the heck it pleases. Our primary allegiance is to God, and we, like Him, must not hesitate to disobey the earthly authority when it is in clear contradiction of the heavenly one. Taxes, however, are essentially amoral. There is nothing inherently wrong with paying taxes. What the government does with those taxes may be wrong, but that's not your problem.

That last point deserves a little elaboration, I think. A common objection to paying taxes is that our tax dolars go to support bad things, but consider the historical context of this passage. When Paul was commanding the bretheren to pay their taxes, he was commanding them to, at least indirectly, pay the salaries of the very Roman officials who were persecuting the early church. They were, in a very real sense, paying for their own prisons.

To sum up:

- We are commanded by God to obey the earthly authorities that He has placed over us, except where those earthly authorities command something that clearly contradicts the commandments of God.

- Paying taxes doesn't directly prohibit a commandment of God.

Ergo, you had better pay your taxes. QED.

[Pete5]

Why wouldn't you pay taxes? It is extremely hard to live in peace when you are running from the IRS.

[fang]

God would want us to pay our taxes. We owe the money to the government; we cant expect to be able to live in a country and not support it financially.

[5minutes]

I think you meant to post this in the politics section and not the theology section.

There's a politics section?

[slamdancer777]

There's a politics section?
I wish...THAT would be fun:D

[Via Crucis]

There's a politics section?
There used to be...didn't realize that it didn't make the cut on FS 2.0

[axeman2415]

Give unto Caesar what is his, and give unto the LORD all that is His.

Let us all be aware, though, that what Caesar may demand will often cut into what God demands. It is then when we Christians may have to choose our allegiances.

God would want us to pay our taxes. We owe the money to the government; we cant expect to be able to live in a country and not support it financially.

While on the surface, this statement has truth in it, there are some myths that are implied. We only "owe" that money to ourselves, as we in the United States are a Representative Republic. The Federal Government is supposed to be the steward of our tax dollars, not the profiteer. When the Federal Government chooses, without the consent of the Electorate, to spend that money in nefarious ways, then the Government is not "rendering to Caesar." Because in the United States, "Caesar" is the People, not the other way around. Our President, Congress, and Judiciary is supposed to be answerable to the People. That is why they are called Public Servants. When we, the People, as rendered in the Constitution, fail to hold our public officials to account, then WE are the ones to blame.

And before anyone throws the "separation of Church and state" clause at me, two things: #1,That is not found anywhere in the Constitution. And #2: What I wrote applies to all American citizens, regardless of religious affiliation.

I cannot speak for any other nation. But as an American, while I agree that paying taxes is certainly proper and Biblical (for Jesus Himself declared the "render to Caesar" point), we do not have a dictatorial government (well, okay, we're not supposed to...lol) and if we have an out of control Government, it is because most of the Citizenry abdicated their responsibility to hold them to account.

God will hold Kings, and Emporers, Pharoah's, and other "leaders" to account. In a nation that doesn't have a "king", and the government is supposed to be accountable to the people, who do you think God is going to judge here?

[BEHN]

axeman2415 makes some very good points.


remember that the Jews would have considered Caesar the equivalent to living under Hitler's regime in europe... they would have seen taxes to Caesar as paying to keep their own nation oppressed.
whatever criticism or reasons you might have to not pay taxes to your government, Jesus clearly implies that political reasons should not stop you