Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 23:1 (NA 2018)
Article: John Knox, Tyranny, And Radical Resistance Theory
Author: Mark J. Larson

DBSJ 23 (2018) p. 77

John Knox, Tyranny, And Radical Resistance Theory

Mark J. Larson1

John Knox (1514–1572) was always a colorful figure, presenting himself not only as a pastor, but also as a prophet of God.2 The drama of his personality was also there in his early years when he served as the bodyguard of the preacher George Wishart, bearing a two-handed sword, ready and willing to use it in defense of God’s servant. He wielded the sword even though he had been ordained as a Catholic priest before he came under the influence of Wishart.3 Such a determination took place against the backdrop of the medieval prohibition laid down by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. The great Dominican theologian had maintained that for “bishops and clerics” it was “not lawful for them to fight.”4 In fact, according to Aquinas, it was not only “unbecoming for them to slay or shed blood,” but “they should be ready to shed their own blood for Christ, so as to imitate in deed what they portray in their ministry.”5

The Protestant community as a whole likewise frowned upon this kind of conduct for a minister. Luther, for example, affirmed that the popes would be “deserting their calling and office to fight with the sword.” They were in fact “forbidden” to do this.6 Philip Melanchthon similarly asserted that the civil magistrate “bears the sword and watches over the civil peace,” while ecclesiastical magistrates have one

DBSJ 23 (2018) p. 78

fundamental duty, being “enjoined only to preach the Word of God.”7

We find the same perspective within the Reformed community. Johannes Wollebius in Early Orthodoxy affirmed the classic position that the defense of the true religion was a task that was committed to the state. “Religion,” he said, “may be defended by arms, but not propagated by arms.” In defense of his thesis, he appealed to “examples of pious kings, the Maccabees, emperors, as Constantine and Theodosius.”8 He articulated the mainstream position in these words: “Although the church is built by the Word, not by the sword; yet being built, is justly defended by the sword against unjust violence.”9 The sword in this scenario was to be wielded exclusively by the civil authority.