John Knox (1514-1572)
"Kings then have not absolute power to do in their regiment what pleaseth them; but their power is limited by God’s Word. So that if they strike where God commandeth not, they are but murderers; and if, they spare, where God commandeth to strike, they and their throne are criminal, and guilty of the wickedness that aboundeth upon the face of the earth for lack of punishment. Oh, if kings and princes would consider what account shall be craved of them, as well of their ignorance and misknowledge of God’s will, as for the neglecting of their office!" -John Knox, ‘A sermon preached by John Knox, minister of Christ Jesus, in the church of Edinburgh, upon Sunday, August 19, 1565, Select practical writings of John Knox (1845; Edinburgh, 2011), pp 212-14.
"we find, the Word of GOD gives an express and particular Rule and Direction anent the Election and Duty of Kings, Exod. 18.21, and Deut. 17.14, to the End, which we look upon as a Moral Precept, and therefore binding upon Christians under the New Testament, as well as upon Israel under the Old." - Act, Declaration and Testimony of 1741
“The New Testament gives a definitive statement of civil
government in Roman 13 and 1 Timothy ch. 2; which is a summary of the pattern
also found in the Old Testament. ... Thus the qualifications of those who
exercise civil rule are that, They must be men of truth, fearing God and hating
covetousness (Ex. 18:21,Nehemiah 7:2,Romans 13); they must be just, and
not deceitful, false or oppressive: He that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God (2 Sam. 23:2-3); they must be men of understanding,
they must be of the same nation, (Deut. 13 v. 1 & 17; Jer. 30 v.21). They
are to be elected by all the people, that is, by the adult men among whom they
are to rule: The men of Judah made David king (2 Sam. 2 v. 4) or again: The
people made Saul king (1 Sam. 11:15) and as also in the words of Hushai: Whom
the Lord and this people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be (1
Sam. 16:18). Any perversion of this order by those who trust in upon the people
however they accomplish it, is usurpation; as in Hos. 8:4 “They made kings but
not by me”; that is, strictly and only in the way appointed by God, and which
is said to be by him as if God himself had actually done it.” -Alexander Shield, A Hind Let Loose
"We further
assert and maintain, that the constituting of the relation betwixt rulers and
ruled, is voluntary and mutual; and that the lawful constitution of civil
magistrates, is, by the mutual election of the people (in whom is the radical
right, or intermediate voice of God, of choosing and appointing such as are to
sway the scepter of government over them) and consent of those who are elated
and chosen for the exercise of that office, with certain stipulations according
to scripture and right reason, obliging each other unto the duty of their
different stations and relations. And further they affirm that when magistrates
are so constituted, christians are bound by the law of God to pray for the
divine blessing upon their persons and government, reverence and highly esteem
them, yield a conscientious subjection and obedience to their lawful commands,
defend and support then in the due exercise of their power; which power
magistrates are especially to exert for the outward defense of the church of
God, against all her external enemies, restraining or otherwise punishing, as
the case may require, all open blasphemers, idolaters, false-worshipers,
heretics, with all avowed contemners of the worship and discipline of the house
of God; and by his civil sanction to corroborate all the laws and ordinances of
Christ’s house, providing and enjoining that every thing in the house of the
God of heaven, be done according to the law of the God of heaven.
Proof Text
Deut. 17:14; 2 Kings 11:17; 1 Sam. 11:15; 1 Tim. 2:1,2; 1 Peter 2:17; Rom. 13:2 to 8; 2 Kings 18:4, and 23:1 to 26; 2 Chron. 29, and 30, chapter throughout; Ezra 7:28. Confess. chap. 23, sec. 3, coronation oath of Scotland, sworn and subscribed by Charles II. at Scone, January 1st, 1651, and oath of fidelity by the people." - Act Declaration and Testimony of 1761 regarding Election of Magistrates
"And how this place and argument do require, that I speak
somewhat touching the office or authority of the magistrate: which (by God’s help) I will assay to do, not
that I mean or can allege all that may be said thereof, but that which shall
seem most properly to declare the meaning of it, and is most necessary for this
present treatise. Magistratus (which word we use for the room wherein the
magistrate is) doth take the name a magistris populi designandis, “of assigning
the masters, guiders, and captains of the people.” That room and place is
called by the name of “power” or “authority,” by reason of the power that is
given to it of God. It is called by the name of “domination,” for the dominion
that the Lord doth grant it upon the earth. They are called princes that have
that dominion: for they have a pre-eminence above the people. They are called
consuls, of counseling; and kings, of commanding, ruling, and governing the
people. So, then, the magistracy (that I may henceforward use this word of the
magistrate’s power and place) is an office, and an action in executing of the
same. ... The magistracy, by the scriptures, may be defined to be a
divine ordinance or action, whereby the good being defended by the prince’s
aid, and the evil suppressed by the same authority, godliness, justice,
honesty, peace, and tranquility, both public and private, are safely preserved.
Whereby we gather, that to govern a commonwealth, and to execute the office of
a magistrate, is a worship and service to God himself. God verily is delighted
therein. For the office of a magistrate is a thing most excellent, and
abounding with all good works, as in my former sermon I have declared. Here I have to speak somewhat touching the election of
magistrates: and first, to whom the choice and ordering of the magistrate doth
belong secondarily, whom and what kind of men it is best to choose to be
magistrates; and lastly, the manner and order of consecrating those which once
are chosen. Touching the election of magistrates, to whom that office
should belong… Now for the good election of magistrates, the Lord himself
declareth whom and what kind of men he will have to be chosen, in these very
words: “Look over all the people, consider them diligently, and choose from
among them men of courage, such as fear God, speakers of truth, and haters of
covetousness, and make them rulers over thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers
of fifties, and rulers of tens, to judge the people at all seasons.” Four
things the Lord requireth in a good
governour. First, that he be a man of courage, of strength or force,
that is, which hath ability to do the thing whereunto he is appointed. That
ability consisteth in mind rather than in body. For it is required, that he be
not a fool, but wise and skilful in that which he hath to do: because the office of a captain is to know
how to set his army in order of battle, rather than to fight himself; or as a
chariot-man ought rather to know how to guide his cart in driving, than to draw
it himself. And therewithal too, there is demanded a boldness of stomach to
dare to do the things that he already knoweth; for constancy and sufferance are
very needful in every captain. In the second place
that is set down, which indeed is the first; let him fear God, let him be
religious and not superstitious. No idolater preserveth the commonwealth, but
rather destroyeth it; and a wicked man defendeth not truth and true religion,
but persecuteth and driveth them out of his jurisdiction. Let this magistrate
of ours therefore be of the right religion, sound in faith, believing the word
of God, and knowing that God is present among men and doth repay to whom he
list according to their deserts. … Thirdly, there is required of him, which msut be chosen and
called to be magistrate, that he be true in word and deed, so that he be not
found to be an hypocrite, a liar, a deceiver, a turncoat, nor one which out of
one mouth doth blow both hot and cold; but faithful, simple, a plain dealer,
and blameless. He must not be more liberal in promising than in performing. He
must not be one that setteth light by an oath, not a false swearer, nor a
perjured man. Fourthly, because many are
in the office desires riches, and seek to increase their wealth by bribes, the Lord
removeth such from the magistracy and forbiddeth good magistrates to be
covetous: yea, he doth expressly charge them to hate and abhor it; as he both
also, in another place, not only forbid
them to take bribes, but also command them to shake off and rid their
hands of all rewards. Covetousness and greedy desires of bribes are the very
plagues that choke good magistrates. … This place is made more manifest by conferring it with other
places in the law of God. Moses, in Deuteronomy, saith to the people: “Bring
men of wisdom, of understanding, and of an honest life, according to your
tribes.” [Deuteronomy 1:13] Three things here again doth the wise man, Moses,
require in them that are to be appointed magistrates in his commonweal. First,
saith he, let them be wise. But the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the
Lord. Let them therefore be ordained as magistrates, that are friends to God
and true religion; let them be wise, and not foolish idiots. Secondarily, they
must be men of understanding; that is, men of experience, who by long and continual
exercise in handling of matters are able at the first brunt to deal in all
cases according to the law. Lastly, they must be men of honest report, whose
life and sound conversation are by their deeds perfectly tried and sufficiently
witnessed of unto the people: and finally, they must be such as bear authority,
and not be despised as rascal and vile knaves." -Henry Bullinger, The Decades
“And ye peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that ye do not forfeit this favor, by electing to the positions of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God.” -John Calvin
“And ye peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that ye do not forfeit this favor, by electing to the positions of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God.” -John Calvin
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