Capitalism and the Bible 03 - Taxes to whom they are due

[Barney]

For because of this 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.

From a capitalist perspective, how can taxes be "owed" to anyone? All taxation is theft, so there are no taxes owed ever. Strictly speaking, this doesn't make Paul's sentence false: you should still pay taxes to whom they are owed. It's just that no tax is ever owed, so the sentence is moot. Still it does push the question: why would Paul command something that is moot because it never occurs?

[Ondrej]

Well I certainly recognize that I owe taxes even if I think they are theft. And I pay my taxes. Paul is suggesting that you work within the system of governance in which you find yourself. That you submit yourself to the authorities.

I don't think Paul is saying not to consider ways in which governance could improve or new ways of doing things.

[Barney]

I 100% agree with your last statement. I think we should absolutely consider ways in which governance could improve. This means we have to think about God's goal for how we should live together in society. God has an "ideal society" - which he calls the Kingdom of God. He is working to bring that Kingdom to earth, and it is happening, although slowly and with many twists and turns.

So that raises a really important question. Do we have any way of finding out what God's ideal society looks like? And if so, what is it?