The American Right to Revolt Against Tyranny: Part A—Ancient Roots

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Canada Free Press:

The American Right to Revolt Against Tyranny: Part A—Ancient Roots

By Kelly OConnellFull Story Sunday, August 4, 2013

 

The American Republic was founded upon Revolution. Talk of resisting King George’s tyranny had long been in the air in the colonies. When the crown refused to take heed of the colonists complaints, the Americans decided they had a right to take up arms in their grievance. Most importantly, the naturally religious Americans found biblical warrant for their armed resistance against tyranny in the ancient world and also in great theologians like Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Johanne Althusius and Samuel Rutherford.

 

Of course, Americans did not invent revolution, or the idea that a free people had the right to rebel against unjust authority. In fact, this idea goes back far into the recesses of history. First, in the classical world, both the Greeks and Romans declared the right to fight against tyrants. Second, the New Testament writers were opposed to tyranny. This is the first of a two-part historical explanation of the sources the Founders used to create a biblical argument for their defense against tyranny.