Romans 13 and the American Revolution
The Founding Fathers Believed Government was of God
and UnGodly Tyranny Must be Resisted
Modern secularists have problems understanding the American relationship
between religion and government because they do not understand that the Founders
believed that all governments were accountable to God. This concept of
Godly Government was grounded on the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans.
Revolution against unGodly government also appealed to this passage of
Scripture. The Revolutionary Birth of America was based on the Bible.
The ironic thing about the use of Romans 13 in Western political science is
that the passage, though clearly intended to inculcate non-resistance to the
magistrates, has been most frequently cited in treatises which advocate violent
revolution. Richard Gardiner, in his impressive collection of "Primary
Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History, lists many sources
which introduce the average Secular Humanist to the now-unknown religious
foundations of American Revolution and Government.
A
Short Treatise on Political Power, John Ponet, D.D. (1556) President John
Adams credited this
Calvinist document as being at the root of the theory of government
adopted by the the Americans. According to Adams, Ponet's work contained
"all the essential principles of liberty, which were afterward dilated on
by Sidney and Locke" including the idea of a three-branched government.
(Adams, Works, vol. 6, pg. 4). Published in Strassbourg in 1556, it is
one of the first works out of the Reformation to advocate active resistance to
tyrannical magistrates, with the exception of the Magdeburg Bekkentis (the
Magdeburg Confession).
How
Superior Powers Ought to Be Obeyed by Their Subjects, Christopher Goodman
(1558). Justifying a Christian's right to resist a tyrannical ruler. Goodman
indicated that he had presented the thesis of this book to John Calvin, and
Calvin endorsed it.
The
Right of Magistrates Over Their Subjects, Theodore Beza (1574). Expanding
upon Calvin's political resistance theory set forth in the final chapters of
his Institutes, this work by Calvin's successor in Geneva, Theodore Beza, was
published in response to the growing tensions between Protestant and Catholic
in France, which culminated in the St. Bartholomew Day Massacre in 1572. This
text suggests that it is the right of a Christian to revolt against a
tyrannical King: a principle central to the American colonists' cause.
Vindiciae
Contra Tyrannos, or, A Vindication Against Tyrants (1579). This Calvinist
document is one of the first to set forth the theory of "social
contract" upon which the United States was founded. The idea was
disseminated through the English Calvinists to the pen of John Locke, and
eventually into the Declaration of Independence. John Adams reported the
relevance of this document to the American struggle.
The
Dutch Declaration of Independence (1581); This Calvinistic document served
as a model for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In his Autobiography,
Jefferson indicated that the "Dutch Revolution" gave evidence and
confidence to the Second Continental Congress that the American Revolution
could likewise commence and succeed. Recent scholarship
has has suggested that Jefferson may have consciously drawn on this document.
John Adams said that the Dutch charters had "been particularly studied,
admired, and imitated in every State" in America, and he stated that
"the analogy between the means by which the two republics [Holland and
U.S.A.] arrived at independency... will infallibly draw them together."
Lex
Rex, Samuel Rutherford (1644). This treatise systematized the Calvinistic
political theories which had developed over the previous century. Rutherford
was a colleague of John Locke's parents. Most of John Locke's Second
Treatise on Government is reflective of Lex Rex. From Rutherford
and other Commonwealthmen such as George Lawson, through Locke, these
theorists provided the roots of the Declaration of Independence. This page
provides the list of questions Lex Rex addresses.
Lex,
Rex, Samuel Rutherford (1644). This excerpt shows Rutherford's social
contract theory and includes the Puritan theory of resistance to a tyrant.
Election Day Sermons
Yale Historian Harry Stout has shown the centrality of
the sermon in the formation of the American Revolution and Government. Richard
Gardiner's invaluable archive
of links contains the following:
A
Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher
Powers, Jonathan Mayhew (1750) About this document,
John Adams wrote, "It was read by everybody; celebrated by friends, and
abused by enemies... It spread an universal alarm against the authority of
Parliament. It excited a general and just apprehension, that bishops, and
dioceses, and churches, and priests, and tithes, were to be imposed on us by
Parliament." This sermon has been called the spark which ignited the
American Revolution. This illustrates that the Revolution was not only about
stamps and taxes but also about religious liberty. [Anarcho-Calvinist
rebuttal]
Religion
and Patriotism the Constituents of a Good Soldier, Samuel Davies (1755).
Davies, a Presbyterian preacher and president of the College at Princeton,
here interprets the French and Indian war as a religious war. In this excerpt
from a sermon preached in Virginia, Davies rouses the anti-Catholic sentiment
of his hearers to rally them to arms against the French in the Ohio country.
An
Election Sermon, Daniel Shute; Delivered in Boston, Massachusetts-Bay, 26
May 1768.
An
Oration on the Beauties of Liberty, Reverend John Allen (1772)
Oration
Delivered at Boston, Joseph Warren (1772)
Second
Oration Delivered at Boston, Joseph Warren (1772)
An
Election Sermon, Simeon Howard (1773) Demonstrating that an armed war
against a tyrant was a Christian's duty.
Early
Virginia Religious Petitions (1774-1802)
Boston
Massacre Oration, John Hancock (1774)
A
Plea Before the Massachusetts Legislature, Isaac Backus (1774)
First
Prayer Given in the Continental Congress, Rev. Jacob Duche (1774)
Sermon
on Civil Liberty, Nathaniel Niles (1774) An example of how clergymen
stoked the revolutionary spirit
Defensive
War in a Just Cause Sinless, David Jones (1775). Sermon justifying the
revolution.
Government
Corrupted by Vice, and Recovered by Righteousness, Samuel Langdon, May 31,
1775; This sermon preached a year before Jefferson wrote his declaration,
included this phrase: "By the law of nature, any body of people,
destitute of order and government, may form themselves into a civil society,
according to their best prudence, and so provide for their common safety and
advantage."
On
Civil Liberty, Passive Obedience, and Nonresistance, Jonathan Boucher
(1775)
A
Calm Address To Our American Colonies, John Wesley (1775)
The
American Vine, Jacob Duche (1775)
The
Church's Flight into the Wilderness, Samuel Sherwood, January 17, 1776; A
sermon which labels British tyranny Satanic.
The
Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, John Witherspoon, May
1776. This sermon was preached by a member of the Second Continental Congress
during the period in which the members were deciding upon American
Independence.
On
the Right to Rebel against Governors, Samuel West (1776)
Divine
Judgements Upon Tyrants, Jacob Cushing, April 20, 1778; a sermon on the
three year anniversary of the war.
Election
Sermon, Phillips Payson (1778)
Defensive
Arms Vindicated (1779) A sermon vindicating the activity of General George
Washington.
A
Sermon on the Day of the Commencement of the Constitution, Samuel Cooper
(1780)
These sermons were often preached in the state capitols before governors and
legislators at the request of the governments. These legislators would then
carry their obligation to be a "minister of God" into their public
office. See an example in the Proclamation of March 6,
1799, by President John Adams.
Common
Sense (1776) Thomas Paine agitated for revolution against Britain by
appealing to the chronicle of history in Scripture. Paine
on 1 Samuel 8.
The E Pluribus Unum Project
Nothing in American history suggests that the Framers of the Constitution
intended the Constitution to overthrow or repudiate the idea that Government was
ordained by God, or that unGodly governments should be resisted. The final nail
in the coffin of the myth of "separation of church and state" can
be found here.
Anti-Pluralism Home Page
The pages below are designed to expose the myth of pluralism and to show that
pluralism was universally denied by the Founding Fathers. The truths found in
the links below stem from the belief of our Founding Fathers that the
institution of civil government is ordained by God. The
"separation of church and state," as understood today (the separation
of religion and civil government) is a myth.
Vine
& Fig Tree's Romans 13 Home Page
The most disastrously misunderstood Biblical text in history!
|| Romans 13 and Parallel Texts || Romans
13 in American History || Romans 13 in Western
Political Thought || Romans 13 and the American
Revolution || Romans 13 and the "Separation
of Church and State" ||
Christian
"Anarchism" is Our Goal | | All
Evil is Predestined by God | | Pray
for a Servant's Understanding | | Angels
and God's Throne of Government | | Stars
and Idolatry | | Why
the State Always Encourages Immorality | | Unlucky
13 -- Romans 13, Revelation 13 and Isaiah 13 | | A
Roman's-Eye View of Romans 13 | | "Principalities
and Powers" | | Lakes
of Fire in "Smoke-Filled Rooms" | | Romans
13: The Burden is on the Archists | | Taxation,
Representation, and the Myth of the State | | Why
the State is not a "Divine Institution" | | Angels
and Autarchy | | 95 Theses
Against the State | | Here
is what a Christian Anarchist looks like after he has joined The
Christmas
Conspiracy.
The Christmas
Conspiracy
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