By St. Anastasius of Sinai**
Question 16: When the apostle says that the authorities of this world are appointed by God, does this mean that every ruler, king, and bishop is raised up by God?
Answer: From what God said in the Law – “And I will give you shepherds after your own heart” (Jer. 3:15) – it is clear that those rulers and kings who are worthy of this honor are appointed by God; while those who are not worthy are placed over the unworthy people according to their unworthiness, by God’s permission or will. Hear some stories on this subject.
When the tyrant Phocas became king and began to commit bloodshed through the executioner Vosonius, a monk of Constantinople, who was a holy man and had great boldness before God, turned to Him with simplicity, saying: “Lord, why did you make this man king?” And after he had repeated this for many days, an answer came from God, which said: “Because I have not found a worse one.”
There was another very sinful city near the Thebaid, in which many vile and indecent things were happening. In this city, a very depraved inhabitant of it suddenly fell into some false love, went, took his tonsure and put on a monastic schema, but did not at all cease from doing his wicked deeds. It so happened that the bishop of this city died. An angel of the Lord appeared to a holy man and said to him: “Go and prepare the city, so that they may elect as bishop one who comes from the ranks of the laity.” The holy man went and fulfilled the command. And when the one who came from the ranks of the laity, that is, the same layman whom we have mentioned, was ordained, dreams and high-mindedness appeared in his mind (the new bishop). Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him: “Why do you think highly of yourself, wretched one? You did not become a bishop because you were worthy of the priesthood, but because this city is worthy of such a bishop.”
Therefore, if you see an unworthy and evil king, ruler or bishop, do not be surprised, nor blame God’s providence, but teach and believe that because of our sins we have been handed over to such tyrants. But even so, we do not move away from evils.
*Source: Φιλοκαλία τῶν Νηπτικῶν καί Ἀσκητῶν (Ἀναστάσιος ὁ Σιναΐτης), τόμ. 13Β, Ε.Π.Ε., ἐκδ. “Γρηγόριος ὁ Παλαμᾶς”, Thessaloniki 1998, p. 225 ἑξ.
**Church writer, also known as Anastasius the Third, Metropolitan of Nicaea, lived in the 8th century.
