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?
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Kidd: "Does the Bible Prohibit Revolution?"
From Thomas Kidd here. A taste:
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4 comments:
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
In Kidd's article he distinguishes between "resistance" and "revolution." Hint: the word "overthrow" in the DOI.
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)
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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