Lesser magistrate
The doctrine of the lesser magistrate is a concept in
The doctrine of the lesser magistrate is dependent on the private citizen argument from before the Reformation, which stated that any evil done by an officeholder is committed as a private citizen, rather than by the office.[1]
The use of the doctrine of the lesser magistrates carries with it the possibility of violence and war.
Reformation
The doctrine of the lesser magistrate was first popularized in a simpler form by John Calvin, who wrote that private Christians must submit to the ruling authorities, but there may be "popular magistrates" who have "been appointed to curb the tyranny of kings". When these magistrates "connive at kings when they tyrannise and insult over the humbler of the people" they "fraudulently betray the liberty of the people" when God has appointed them guardians of that liberty.[2]
A more elaborate doctrine of the lesser magistrate was first employed in the
Variations on this doctrine of the lesser magistrate were commonly taught by orthodox Calvinists such as Theodore Beza.
Gary M. Simpson suggests that after the
Both the private citizen argument and the doctrine of the lesser magistrates were used in the
Later developments of the concept
Following the spread of
See also
- Resistance theory in the Early Modern period
- Monarchomachs
- Interposition
- Nullification (U.S. Constitution)
References
- ^ a b c Whitford, David (2001). Tyranny and Resistance: The Magdeburg Confession and the Lutheran Tradition. Concordia Publishing House.
- ^ John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV.xx.31.
- ^ Wernham, R. B. (1968). Counter-Reformation and Price Revolution, 1559-1610. Cambridge University Press. p. 98.
- ^ R. von Friedeburg, "Althusius," in Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Dutch Philosophers, ed. W. van Bunge (Bristol, 2003), 11–18.
- ^ Gary M. Simpson, "Toward a Lutheran "Delight in the Law of the Lord": Church and State in the Context of Civil Society," in Church & State: Lutheran Perspectives, p. 43.
- ^ Wolterstorff, Nicholas (2012). The Mighty and the Almighty: An Essay in Political Theology. Cambridge University Press. p. 76. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ Kelly OConnell of Canada Free Press, August 4, 2014, parts II. Magdeburg Confession and III. Doctrine of Lesser Magistrates
- ^ p.4 of Hegel on Sovereignty and Monarchy, Philip J. Kain, 2015