and political resistance
Here I am discussing with PresbyCast the historical Reformed view that we are not obligated to "submit to civil rulers unless they require sin." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC95p88UzKg
0:14 music intro
1:30 Wresby's intro
2:28 Chortles intros guest
8:17 topic intro
10:30 recent events
12:40 clip from NY governor statement
17:30 Rom13 often misunderstood
25:28 why Reformed view not taught
28:19 lesser magistrates
30:28 Paul's example
37:57 wrong view deeply ingrained
39:30 helpful bibliography
43:35 defining 'tyranny'
55:14 affirmed in Reformed Confessions
1:02:29 Scotland's tyranny
1:11:55 confessional summary
1:15:06 what to do
1:22:52 the Boetie strategy
1:27:01 final remarks
1:35:38 Wresby's outro
0:14 music intro
1:30 Wresby's intro
2:28 Chortles intros guest
+ about Gregory: https://sites.google.com/site/
+ Reformed 'mongrel': 1 Cor 3:21-23 "whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas... all are yours"
8:17 topic intro
+
any ostensibly confessional Reformed church that teaches "people are
obligated to obey the (providential) de facto powers that claim civil
authority, unless they require sin" are contradicting the historical
Reformed teaching promulgated in the Reformed doctrinal standards (on
the teaching of Scripture)
+central point is not political theory, but exegesis and the teaching of Scripture
10:30 recent events
+
regrettably, some Reformed churches have enacted policies with the
rationale that in these things they must "obey govt requirements"
12:40 clip from NY governor statement
+ "I need you to be my apostles [to promote the vax]"
https://www.getreligion.org/
17:30
Why shouldn't NAPARC (or other orthodox Reformed) congregations do
whatever a civil governor says? How has Rom 13 been misunderstood?
+ some indulge in false piety
+
important difference between policy based on church-determined
prudential considerations vs. supposed obligation to civil edicts (even
if 'constitutional')
+ historical Reformed teaching is that
Scripture, in such passages as Rom 13, does not require anyone to
acknowledge de facto (providential) powers/persons that claim civil
authority as actually ordained by God
+ rather, we should know
that what God actually ordains (prescriptively, not providentially)
specified in verses 3-4 is the legitimate (office) use of responsive
coercion (the sword) to punish wrongdoers (those who commit civil
injustice)
+ any de facto power that oversteps this limited
God-ordained jurisdiction is unlawful or exercising unlawful power (so,
themselves wrongdoers), and no one's conscience should be bound to obey
in such matters
25:28 Why hasn't this been taught in churches and seminaries in America?
+ influence of theological liberalism
+ particular influence of govt propaganda in recruiting churches to promote (unlawful) war efforts (at least since WWI)
+ heretical groups were more faithful in opposing unjust wars than otherwise true churches; this is a shame
28:19 What about doctrine of 'lesser magistrates' (eg, Magdeburg Confession)?
+
certainly, while all magistrates have obligation to oppose tyranny, in
this case Reformers were addressing a particular civil constitutional
arrangement, and resisting tyrants is not only for lesser magistrates
30:28 Scriptural example of disobeying civil rulers when not an issue of sin
+ 2 Cor 11:32-33; Acts 9:25
+
submitting to arrest is not a sin, but Paul evades arrest, and so he
resists rulers when they weren't requiring him to sin, and Paul's
actions are not condemned
+ this confirms that Paul isn't teaching in Rom 13 that we are obligated to submit to rulers only unless they require sin
37:57
this is important because the erroneous [edit] "providential" view is
so ingrained in our minds and in the popular consciousness
39:30 Reformed Political Resistance Theology Annotated Bibliography
https://tinyurl.com/
+ a Scriptural teaching also found in Patristic era
+ explained in Francis Schaeffer's 1981 book A Christian Manifesto
https://www.amazon.com/dp/
43:35 How do we define 'tyranny'?
+ Reformed anarchism on this point: https://tinyurl.com/
(monopolization of civil governance functions, ie the 'state', is inherently, systemically unjust/tyrannical)
+ basic principle: what God prescriptively ordains as civil govt is limited to punishment of wrongdoers
+
Scripture teaches no political theory as such, and particulars of what
is involved (and what is outside the God-ordained limit) must be
discerned (from creation or general revelation) by believers
+
C.Hodge (1835) says "the right of deciding on all these points, and
determining where the obligation to obedience ceases, and the duty of
resistance begins, must, from the nature of the case, rest with the
subject, and not with the ruler"
+ if taxes are properly due for
limited function, it follows that taxes for other things are not due.
Also, no Scripture teaches we owe taxes, but only that if we owe, we
should pay what we owe
+ Reformers advised we should understand
'tyranny' generally as not simply a single act of civil injustice by a would-be
ruler (tho that is tyrannous, may be resisted, and should be punished), but habitual or systemic civil
injustice (including among other things, failure to punish wrongdoers
and violations of the God-ordained limited 'jurisdiction')
55:14 A view taught by the Reformed Confessions
+ not invented by Rutherford
+ separable from 'establishmentarianism'
(credit due to Savoy congregationalists and London baptists for getting this correct before most Presbies)
+ WCF 20.4 "lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it"
1:02:29 clip from London Calling podcast. Why is Scotland presently so authoritarian/tyrannical?
+
while there are other sources of authoritarianism and its stockholm-ish
internalization, certainly secularized "puritanism"/pietism and
millennialism/millenarianism immanentizes zeal for God and the
consummation into statist idolatry.
See "the secularization of postmillennialism": https://www.jstor.org/stable/
+ one distortion of a "two kingdoms" view also erroneously tends to give civil government carte blanche
1:11:55 summary of Reformed Confessional statements
https://tinyurl.com/
(See 3.g.)
1:15:06 What can Reformed church officers and other members do?
+
many Reformed pastors and elders may have never learned or even heard
about the historical "prescriptive" (non-providential) view
+ if you cannot bear the policies in your congregation, leave peaceably and find a congregation with better policies if possible
+ you can also have a peaceable and pragmatic discussion about policies without raising the exegetical issues
+
however, if you want to discuss with church officers about their view
of whether they think Scripture obligates us "to submit to those who
claim civil authority unless they require sin", then the bibliography is
a great place to start
1:22:52 So then what, violent revolt?
+
1553 work Discourse on Voluntary Servitude by Etienne de la Boetie (friend of
Montaigne) presents our strategy, namely, ignore the tyrants.
a. https://mises.org/library/
b. https://mises.org/library/
+
Ignoring them (also practiced in "nullification" and "secession") is
our first line of defense, and it is in keeping with the Bible's exhortation
to "live peaceably with all, so far as it depends on you"
1:27:01 final remarks
+ will address other objections in future blog post: https://honest2blog.blogspot.
+ key links
a. Reformed political resistance theology bibliography: https://tinyurl.com/
b. Baus article on Romans 13: https://tinyurl.com/r13civgov
c. audio (on which the article is based): https://tinyurl.com/
d. What is Reformed anarchism? : https://tinyurl.com/
e. further resources: https://mereliberty.com/
+ no one minds extra hand sanitizer
+ 'zero C19' will never be
+ build back better theology (with the historical Reformed view of Rom 13)
1:35:38 Wresby's outro
+ don't be an Erdman
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