The Christian Legitimation of Non– Christian powers in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2

Sa？etak Rom 13 and 1 Pet 2 deal with the question of how a Christian shall behave towards the non–Christian Roman authority. Both texts have a remarkably positive attitude towards the Roman government and provide practical and theological arguments in order to convince their readers to submit to the authorities. To a certain extent, Christians and non–Christians share certain values. 1 Pet 2 and even more Rom 13 appreciate these values (basic moral competence, conscience, idea of order) as long as they do not contradict the Judeo –Christian belief