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8/12/2019 1988 Issue 10 - From the Editor's Desk - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/3
From the
Editor's
Desk
couple of years ago,
as
many of you
may
remember, we were offering a book
entitled Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos
A
Defence of Uberty
Against
Tyrants). We dis-
tributed several dozen copies at that time. When the special price from the publisher
expired,
we no longer offered
the book.
Recently, in listening to the outstanding taped series of lectures, America: The
First 350 Years by Steve Wilkins of Forest, Mississippi, lleamed that Vindiciae
Contra yrannos (probably written around 1579) was highly influential in the
thinking of the founding
fathers
of
the United States. I
also
discovered
some com-
ments by
RJ
Rushdoony in reference
to
this work.
In his book,
This Independent Republic
(1964),
Rushdoony
points out
that
Vindiciae was held by John
Adams
to
be
one of the .most influential books in
America on
the
eve of the
Revolution.
ln
a
footnote at
this
point,
Rushdoony
says, It is revelatory of modern historiography that the role of Vindiciae Contra
Tyrannos is rarely mentioned, whereas 1bomas Paine's works always are
in
accounts of.
the
American Revolution. 1be reason is
obvious:
Vindiciae is thorough-
ly Calvinistic; Paine is anti-Christian
and
a part of the intellectual milieu of the
French Revolution and
of
the modem university. And,
for
purposes
of
the liberal
midrash of history, the former
is
not acceptable. (p. 25)
Vindiciae deals
with
four questions. i. Whether Subjects are bound and ought to
obey Princes, i they
command
that
which
is against the Law of God. ii. Whether
it be lawful
to
resist a Prince
which
doth infringe
the
l..aw
of
God, or ruin the
.Church. By whom, how, and how far it is lawful. iii. Whether it be lawful to resist
a Prince which doth oppress or ruin a public State, and how far such resistance may
be extended. By whom, how, and by what right or law it is permitted. iv. Whether
neighbour Princes or States may be, or are, bound by Law to give succour to
the
subjects of other Princes, afflicted for the cause of
true
religion, or oppressed by
manifest
Tyranny.
This work was two hundred years old when it influenced John Adams and the
other leaders in the early days of our country. Now, two hundred years after
the
writing of
the
Constitution of the United States, I believe it offers singular u i d ~ e
to those of
us
who desire, under God, to oppose the ungodliness of our nation,
whether it be in the areaof abortion, pornography, Sabbath desecration, the promul
gation of every kind of u n i l i c ~ heresy, or any other violations of God's law in
America today. The authOr of Vilidiciae shows that it
is
the duty of all the people to
oppose the encroachments of a king
who
rules contrary to the Law of God. But he
makes clear what he means by all the people. When we speak of
all
the people,
we understand by that, only those who hold their authority from the people, to wit,
the magistrates, who are inferior to the king, and whom
the
people have substituted,
or
established, as it were, consorts in the empire,
and with
a kind of tribunitial
authority, to
restrain the encroachments of sovereignty, and to represent the whole
body of the people.
In other words, the civil magistrates in lower jurisdictions must resist the un-
godly pronouncements of higher rulers (in our day, the President, the Supreme
Court, the Congress), for they
are
ordained
of
God
to
protect the righteous
and
punish evildoers, and are, indeed, ministers of God (Rom.
13)
and have their author
ity from God Himself. Thus, the civil leaders in our cities, counties and states mus
resist the ungodliness at the federal level.
This book, written, as it was, some four hundred years ago, naturally does not
speak directly to issues of our day, such as fighting abortion and the other ungodli
ness of our federal government, but the principles set forth in
this
work are certainly
applicable to our situation. The book is imminently biblical,
the
logic impeccable.
Seldom, if ever, does a book come along, other than
the Bible,
regarding which
one
P a g e
The Cc,unsel of Cbalcedon, October,
1988
8/12/2019 1988 Issue 10 - From the Editor's Desk - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/3
may say there is nothing with which the reader can disagree. In my opinion this is
such a book. The hermeneutics, the exegesis, the logic, the application are
of
the
highest order. I believe any true solution to the problems of
our
day, such as abor
tion and the others, will not be out
of
accord with the truths set forth in this book.
God always uses His people and His ordained institutions to bring about lawful-
ness in a society. Therefore, we all must be about the work of evangelizing, edu
cating, instructing, informing and re-organizing in our society and its institutions.
One important aspect
of
bringing an end to abortion and
the
other sins
of
our day, is
to get involved in changing the civil rulers at
our
local levels, such as our towns and
cities, and our counties and states. As long
as
we let the ungodly rule we can little
expect to see godliness reign. We have become so accustomed to surrendering the
civil realm to the ungodly that we find it difficult to imagine that godliness not only
can reign, but must reign, because God has ordained the civil magistrate to be his
ministers of godliness in this fallen world
I have obtained 60 of the 71 copies of Vindiciae
ontra Tyrannos
left at the pub
lisher. This is all that remains of their 1963 reprint, and I do not get the impression
that they plan to reprint it again. If you do not have this work, you need it in your
library. You need to read it and apply it in your thinking and actions in resisting law
lessness in our day. For information on how you may receive a free copy
of
this clas
sic book, see the advertisement on page 15.
A couple of people have taken issue with my commendation {in the July issue)
of
the police officer in Jackson, Mississippi reported
to
have resigned because he felt he
could no longer arrest anti-abortion protesters. It would seem, first
of
all, that the
whole story was not told at first. Apparently the officer was going to have to resign
anyway because he had moved out of the Jackson city limits, and a city ordinance
there requires that officers live within the city limits. While
it
may be true that
we
did not have the whole story, that does not change the force
of
the main point I was
trying to make, namely that police officers should not arrest people trying to save
lives.
The main reason some opposed
my
view is that they insist that, in commending
the officer, I was supporting sit-ins at abortion clinics. In two years
of
pressing my
point on this issue I do not believe I have ever actually indicated that I support sit
ins, much le
ss
have I urged anyone to participate
in
a sit-in. Looking back
at
the
comments in the July issue I now realize that my words, commending people
n
Jackson, Mississippi for actively defying ungodly laws which allow murder in this
country and for doing something
to
save lives could hardly keep from giving the
impression that I support sit-ins. I realize I overstated the case, as all I intended to
say was that I was happy to know that something more than inactive apathy char
acterized some Christians
n
Jackson, Mississippi. There are appropriate occasions to
defy ungodly laws which allow murder, but I did not intend to imply that I support
sit-ins.
The important thing, as I see it, is that, ragardless of one's view
of
the legitimacy
of the law against trespassing at an abortion clinic, and regardless of one's view of
the legitimacy of Christian's sitting-in
or
otherwise trespassing
at
such clinics, I be
lieve it is illegitimate for the civil magistrate to arrest people in these situations, on
the basis (as I have stated over and over again over the pas t two years) that the civil
magistrate was ordained by God, according to Scripture, to protect the righteous and
to
punish evildoers, and there is no way to support the contention that anything but
the opposite
is
taking place when the civil magistrate arrests people
who
are seeking
to saves lives from abortion. Surely no
one
who claims even passing commitment
to the Bible will deny that the civil magistrate is obligated, under God, to prevent
abortion in their jurisdiction. Surely no Christian is going to say that, because the
Supreme Court of the United States allows murder, that the lesser magistrates, in the
(Continued
on
page 16)
Join us
n
the
Worship of God
halcedon
Presbyterian
hurch
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
Worship Service - 10:55 a.m.
Sunday evening 5:55p.m.
Thursday Bible
Study -
7:30p.m.
tteu
Joe
~ r e t r a i t 11 1111
1Jntutster
The church is located at 7901 Roberts
Drive (corner of Roberts Spalding,
one-half mile south
of
the Northridge
exit off highway 400)
Dunwoody, Georgia
(404) 396-0965
The Counsel
of
Chalcedon, October, 1988
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P ~ e 3
8/12/2019 1988 Issue 10 - From the Editor's Desk - Counsel of Chalcedon
3/3
Editor's Desk-
. Continued from
page
3 .
states, counties and cities,
are
somehow
properly submitting to God's
will by
allowing abortion in
theh
jurisdictions.
So;
i
Goo hates abortion, and
i
abor
tion is forbidden by God's Law (and it
is), and i the civil magistrate is obli
gated, as the ministers
of
God, to en-
force God's law, then they
are
obligated,
by the authority ofGod,
to
prevent abor
tion
in
their jurisdictions. This being ,
the case, it makes no sense whatsoever
to allow that it is r o ~ r to arrest those.
GOdly
citizens who attempt to save
lives.
It
certainly makes no sense to
hold that God's law properly protects
mass murderers. The bottom line is that
the civil authorities in every jurisdic
tion in
this
country, every
town,
city,
county .and state, are clearly breaking
God's law and committing gross sin,
if
they do not outlaw abortion in their
jurisdictions, period. That being so it
seems superfluous
to
have
to
debate the
question whether . it is proper for the
migistrate to harrass those who seek to
prevent that which the magistrate
should have disallowed
to begin
with.
A minister, writing in
an
obscure
newsletter from the backwaters
of
Mis-
sissippi, recently took me to task for
my views. on this subject. He says
my
fulminations on this subject are be
coming increasingly bizarre. He says,
If Mr. Goodrum
does
not wish to be
ridiculed, he would do well not to as
sume such ridiculous positions. He re
fers to
the
no trespassing laws at abor
tion clinics
as
laws designed to main
tain public order. Since maintaining
public order
in
this context means pro
tecting mass murder in the clinics, I
leave
it
to the perceptive reader tojudge
whose views are bizarre.
On the other hand, in reference to
this very subject,
Dr.
lU
.
Rushdoony,
on the recent tape, From the
Easy
Chair, program #173, discussing, along
with Otto Scott, the whole matter
of
cowardice as over against moral cour
age, said,
The Counsel
o
Chalcedon
has urged,
under
the
editorship
of
David
Goodrum, that police refuse to arrest
picketers at abortion clinics. He com.,.
Non-Profit Org
U.S. Postag
PAID
BULK
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Pennit No. 15
Check your mailing label above
If the
expiration code e J ~ : t
to
yoUr name is
8 8 lJl
or
lower, or i here
is no
code indicated after your name,
we would
very
much
appreciate
a
check
from
y
ou
in the
amount
of $25
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00 to
cover your subscription for the
coming
12
months.
(8810 means
your
sUbscription
expires the
lOth month [act,)
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8.)
For special free gift otTers
With
your
subscription, turn back one page to page 15.
mends
several police around
the
country
who have resigned their jobs rather than
be forced to arrest those who desire t
save
lives
.
While the approbation of
Dr.
Rush
doony does not necessarily guarantee
that we are right, nevertheless
I
shall al
ways be encouraged more
by
Rush
doony'scortunendation than discouraged
by the
ruminations
of the
minister from
backwater Mississippi.
On
the issue of sit-ins,
I
defer
to
Joe
Morecraft's taped message, How t
Stop Abortion in America, advertised
elsewhere in this issue, which I o -
~ e n d to every reader of these pages. D
The Failure of
First Generation
Reconstructionists
Continued from page 6
and farther from
God,
liberty, justice,
morality, prosperity, peace, and a
:regard
for the sanctity
of
human life. It has led
us
deeper and deeper into the suicidal
tenden.cies of
humanism.
[To
be
continued]
What Is Calvinism?
. Continued from page14
and typical,
it is not
surprising
that I
should be adopted by the apostles
in
the
organization of the primitive
That this
was
the .case, we have
abun
dant
evidence,
which is
so
conclusive
that
it
seems to
me a matter of wonder
that it should be controverted. At. a
future time, I will give
you
a brief
summary of the evidence that
the
primitive church was
trul
y Presby
teria
n,
and continued
1
so until it was
corrupted by Popery, which will,
I
thiOk, convince you of
the
Scriptura
warrant for Presbyterianism.
[To
be
continued]
Chalcedon Christian
School
is ac
cepting
immediate
applica
tions
for
a
history teacher.
Contact:
Robert
T. Lester,
Administrator
Chalcedon Christian School
P.O. Box888022
D u n w Q 3 5 6
4 0 4 3 ~ .
P a ~ 1 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The
Counsel of Chalcedon October, 1988