Should Christians Obey Government?

Fr Steven Allen wrote an essay titled, "Rendering Unto Caesar" of which this program is an adaptation. The essay discusses what it means to live as an Orthodox Christian and somehow also to be American. This discussion is useful not only for those living in the United States, of course, because “American” ideas about society and government have come to influence the whole world in one way or another. The essay asks the reader to ponder a specific moral question and its application to life in the United States and other nations that have adopted republican government inspired by the American example: What does it mean, in general, to obey the civil authority, as commanded by the Old and New Testaments and the Tradition of the Church? What does it mean, in particular, to those under a republican constitutional authority as opposed to a monarchy? The original essay can be found here: http://orthodoxtruth.org/uncategorized/orthodox-survival-course-class-72-orthodoxy-in-america-rendering-unto-caesar-part-i/