Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Kidd: "Does the Bible Prohibit Revolution?"

From Thomas Kidd here. A taste:
My graduate students and I recently read James Byrd’s terrific Sacred Scripture, Sacred War: The Bible and the American Revolution. This book is a treasure trove of information about how the Patriots and Loyalists actually used the Bible during the Revolution. The most surprising fact I learned from the book is that Romans 13 – in which Paul commands submission to the “higher powers” – was the most commonly cited biblical text in Revolutionary America. This passage, alongside a similar passage in I Peter 2, are precisely the texts I might have imagined that Patriots would have avoided. How does one “honor the king” while engaging in revolution?

4 comments:

Bill Fortenberry said...

No surprise there. In my article, "We the People," I quoted Christian philosophers teaching the right of resistance against unjust magistrates from Irenaeus c. AD 180 to Robert Persons in the 16th century.

http://www.increasinglearning.com/we-the-people.html

Jonathan Rowe said...

In Kidd's article he distinguishes between "resistance" and "revolution." Hint: the word "overthrow" in the DOI.

JMS said...

Since I am also currently reading "Sacred Scripture, Sacred War," (all too slowly), I am surprised Kidd's article did not include James Byrd's explanation. In short, He states that,
"Patriots read these passages [1 Peter 2 and Romans 13] through the prism of republican ideology, arguing that obedience was due only to just rulers who fostered liberty, not to evil tyrants." (p. 116)

Tom Van Dyke said...

Anonymous JMS said...
Since I am also currently reading "Sacred Scripture, Sacred War," (all too slowly), I am surprised Kidd's article did not include James Byrd's explanation. In short, He states that,
"Patriots read these passages [1 Peter 2 and Romans 13] through the prism of republican ideology, arguing that obedience was due only to just rulers who fostered liberty, not to evil tyrants." (p. 116)


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