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¿Question #4997?
ssmooth: When Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," what do you suppose he had in mind, in the larger sense, as being "that which is Caesar's"?

pricero1: And that is why there is a casino called Caesar's Palace.
BOBBYCAN: Same as saying "Don't get eaten by the lions if you can help it, people".
DaveyJones6911: Nope, that shit was added by the romans themseves. not only does jesus not exist, it is claimed nowhere in the bible that he had a hand in writing it.
aleo09: pay your taxes.
Svengaard: Salad.
collapsing wave: He was obviously talking about turning the animal by products that belonged to Caesar into useful fats and greases and candles and suchlike
TunaSled: Mostly salads
Woelf: Kicks to the crotch.
Hendal: no I think he said just what he wanted to, He is the Man you understand
Cringing Dragon: A salad with bacon bits and croutons.
skrutsch: I always figured he just meant go ahead and pay your taxes, follow the laws and stuff, as long as they don't break God's laws.
Nikku: Self procreation
daveroswell: Maybe Ceasar ordered a salad
MisterCranky: I think there IS no larger sense. I think trying to add some larger sense to all that religious blather just encouraged Jesus to get himself crucified.
crashnct: At that moment was one of the earliest refrences to seperation of Church and State. As the monetary system was Roman, based on Roman gold with Roman images, the Jews were expected to pay taxes as Roman citizens and subjects. But as Jews they paid their tithings, and followed their religious practices. So, as Roman subjects they paid taxes and followed Roman laws, as a Jewish people they kept the Torah, worshiped in the temple and paid their tithes and alms.
projectmatter: i want to put something about tossed salad but I wont
Phil Fleischmann: Salad.
Narlgoth: Who can say? Just sounds like another over simplified philosophy to me, jesus did a lot of those :- 1
Randy Cox: I've never thought about it, but I suppose it means that just because you're pious, you're not absolved of your duties as a citizen. I could be wrong.
arkibet: salad dressing
Wibblenut: All of Caesars stuff including his MtG collection
DHEK: Maybe he just meant to say that people should not take what isn't theirs and for everyone to return whatever is rightfully some other person's property? I dunno.
TheArchAngel: material things
Cmot Dribbler: the dressing
gf_ripper: meaning give Caesar what he deserves.
Geosmores: not sure
2amp: ahh, the coin w/ caesar's face on it. ie: roman money
redjack11: Salad?
cowdog: Taxes, and the local law
vampywife: can you prove Jesus said such words?
Cut & Space: Pizza
sourwyrm: government
ZombyDawg: He was comparing the unimportance of secular matters to the importance of spiritual life. A life which is owed to the Almighty Creator.
heatherjberg: anchovies
brainrob: In context, it refers to that which is of the world
Taxers: I've seen both sides on that - one side saying that everything we have belongs to God, so Caesar gets nothing (John Dear wrote a good book on this) - while the other side says that the eternal is all that matters so give Ceasar whatever he wants that is physical. I think the truth is somewhere in between, but I think Jesus meant it to highlight the materialism of the questioners.
Sid Hawkins: An unpunched copy of Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage?
XenoMaster: He was saying to let government do what it has to do. God asks for your absolute obedience and willingly surrendering your soul. Government asks for basic loyalty, obedience to it's laws, and patriotism as your conscience dictates.
Shotmagnet: a good salad
ssmooth: This has long puzzled me. It's not a straight answer to the question and certainly not a straight endorsement of government, however bad. It does seem to contain an acknowledgment that we can't ignore life's practical considerations, whatever our relationship to the divine or sublime. But still I find it puzzling.
Nekura: Your physical posessions (leave your stuff behind, but pack your soul)
jellospike: the salad dressing
Helenoftroy: He was refering to Caesar's face on all the money. It was a metaphor, Caesar searches for wealthy while you should search for salvation through him.
Chris Page: A salad.
keldrak: pay him his respect or what not as an attempt at not causing strife in some unneccessary way
LemonyFresh: Salad
Critical Mass: Taxes due to the rulers of the area obviously. The much more important question is what does "render unto God what is God's" mean. I think it means our lives of service.
Whirlinghurly: dont remember that out of the bible
Jim_P: Eveything...
Fawkes: Taxes.
fubar awol: He was saying: "Stop trying to trap me you bozo, I'm smarter than you."
DaGen: Its a translation of a translation.. podering over things like that is stupid as its probably all lost in translation (yes, I do understand that I just stepped upon a lot of christian toes, not to mention bible group fanatics as they seem to exist in America.. For the record, Im Christian myself but not practicing)
puffinge: material things
Domokun: Caesar's sandals, Paul had stolen them
skelebone: I believe he was referring to money, or in a broader sense, worldly possessions.
jttm: Umm... Jesus said that?
CDRodeffer: This quote is one of Jesus' many double entendre. In Romans, Paul exponded upon its superficial meaning by telling the Roman Christians to obey the local authorities in all things that don't directly contradict their obediance to God, such as paying taxes to Caesar, not stealing or murdering, and fastening your seatbelt. The subtext, which Jesus' followers also surely understood, was a bit of a joke, and a proper explanation requires context. Jesus spoke these words when questioned about whether or not his followers should pay taxes, and before reaching this conclusion, asked whose face was imprinted on a coin he used as a prop. Of course, it was Caesar's face. Caesar (or his smiths) made the coin, so why should anyone place any special value upon such a worldly thing anyway? Why not just pay the taxes? But beneath it, the meaning was that everything was originally made by God for his use. So even the coin being given to Caesar in taxes really belonged to God all along, so it didn't really matter in the long run if Caesar or his cronies unjustly took money from the people. This was true whether the taxes were taken from Jesus' followers or others who understood only the superficial answer. What mattered was that his followers learn to recognize and distinguish between what was important and what was not.
chaddyboy_2000: I'm not really too familiar with that part of the Bible.
Lord_Prussian: worldly things as opposed to spiritual
heli: He meant that mundane life doesn't matter. It's spiritual life that concerned him and should concern you.