A short introduction and synopsis of Calvin regarding biblical government. Calvin argued that the office of the magistrate was “a most sacred office,” a noble profession worthy of any Christian’s respect. Magistrates were “the viceregents of God,” said Calvin, established by his authority and accountable to him for their actions. Even tyranny was preferable to anarchy, and only where the tyrant contradicted the commands of God was peaceful resistance warranted. [Institutes Book IV Chapter 20] According to Calvin, government had a divinely-instituted purpose: to protect the public order and defend God’s moral law. When it came to the question of how best to order the state, Calvin offered an opinion: a mix of republicanism and aristocracy. I have no capacity in this short order to get to all that can be discussed back and forth as to all that Calvin proposes and even rejects in this chapter. But for me, the bottom line is that we now have a Constitutional Republic and that is what must be supported and kept in good order for good government. Yes and Christians have a responsibility in doing so.
In the last two segments I again do not have time to fully contrast what Hamilton writes in the referenced Federalists Papers nor do I get into the details of Yates writing as Brutus which predicts our present Judicial system breakdown. The Courts have in every essence fulfilled all that Hamilton indicated would be their jurisdictional authority… and then some. With this short time we have, I am taking you through only a couple high level points of Hamilton’s approval of the structure and intent of Article III that has more than exceeded any perspective of his simplicity in argument for the supremacy of the Court.
Join me on the program to value the Founders perspective of the mirrors of history and the reality of the present.
And because you keep asking!