I can’t say if the Founders were wrong or not. What I do know is that our current Constitution is the law that God has appointed for us to live by.
That Constitution does not grant us freedom of speech, religion, to bear arms, etc. It makes it illegal for the authorities to stop us from exercising those rights.
That makes the authorities the criminals when the abridge them. They are the ones sowing disorder. They are the ones rebelling against the Lord.
Jesus said something about giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.
Our Founders were trained in the best moral philosophy based on virtue and human dignity in relation to God.
The premise of this article is irritating.
Paul continued on:
“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good.”
Such a government is what we are to subject ourselves to.
I liked the author’s breakdown of the word “authority”, as opposed to the words for “power”. It is significant. In the movie “Doctor Zhivago”, the good doctor was abruptly taken from his hospital work by a local soviet deputy to investigate an illness in a communal house. Zhivago said “You had no right whatsoever to take me from my work”. The deputy asserted, “As soviet deputy...” Zhivago cut him off: “That gives you the power, not the right.” Profound, I though.
Jehoiada the priest and the captains of the guard took down the usurper queen Athaliah, and it was a godly act.
The Maccabees fought against and took down Greek tyranny and it was a godly act.
So the key here is the illegitimacy of tyranny (as opposed to legitimate governance, which is peaceable and godly, and we’re to pray for that).
In Romans 2 (I know, it is speaking about the Law of Moses, but the principle is similar if not the same) it says “When they who are without the law do what is contained in the law, they become a law unto themselves”. I think that is at least partially germane.
Peter, James and John were adamant that they were to obey God rather than man. So that principle is also afoot.
And nowhere is that principle more elegantly stated than in said Declaration.
If the Founders were wrong, then why did God smite the British with all of Nature’s fury when the bastards tried burning Washington DC to ashes during their revenge in the War of 1812?
Such Divine Intervention is considered a huge contributor as to why the city was spared from absolute ruin from British hands.
Good reminder about godly leadership. Thanks for sharing this! Praying. Soli Deo Gloria!
There is no human authority that is perfect. The author appears to provide an excuse to disobeying authority anytime we can find fault with it.
The Founders were not rebelling against lawful authority, they were resisting aggression by a tyrannical power.
Anyone here going to sit back and allow Herod to slaughter all children in Bethlehem 3 yrs and younger?