Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. (Leviticus 25:10a)

If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. -- Jesus Christ (John 8:31b,32)

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. -- Jesus Christ (John 8:36)

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. -- (1 Corinthians 3:11)

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)
This was the Lord's public claiming of authority over Israel. He was the son of David, and so He was by natural right the King of the Jews. If He had taken possession of His own, He would have been sitting on the throne of the chosen dynasty of David by right of birth. Also as the Messiah, the Christ, He was the King of His people Israel. Concerning Him it had been said by the prophet, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold! thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). Our Lord Jesus literally came to Zion in this way. As King He rode to His capital and entered His palace. In His priestly royalty the Son of God went to His Father's house, to the temple of sacrifice and sovereignty. Among the tribes of Israel He is seen to be "One chosen out of the people," whom the Lord had given to be a leader and commander for the people. They might afterwards choose Barabbas and cry that they had no king but Caesar, yet Jesus was their King, as Pilate reminded them when he said, "Shall I crucify your king?" And also His cross declared, it, bearing the legal inscription, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews." Before His trial and condemnation He had put in a public claim to the rights and prerogatives of Zion's king, whom God has set on His holy hill. Would to God all fully recognized our Lord's kingdom, yielding to His sway! Oh, that you would bow before Him, and put your trust in Him! Part of His intent in riding through Jerusalem was that we also who dwell in the isles of the sea might know Him and reverence Him as King of kings and Lord of lords." -- C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Matthew 21:9 in Devotional Classics of C.H. Spurgeon, p. 86

"Whereas, we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace." -- The New England Confederation, May 19, 1643

The roots of liberty and limited government are in the Protestant Reformation. We believe the key to the maintenance of liberty and limited government are to be found in the Scottish covenanting struggle.

The question of Paul, Is Christ divided? is one to which professing Christians have not given sufficient heed, and the evil consequences are abundantly apparent.
It was deemed essential to the salvation of men that their Redeemer should possess the powers at once of a prophet, a priest, and a king. These offices, while essentially distinct, are necessarily and inseparably connected with one another. Such a union has been by some utterly denied; and its denial has laid foundation for some capital errors, which have exerted a pernicious influence on the Christian church. By others it has been criminally overlooked; and the neglect with which it has been treated has occasioned vague and conflicting conceptions regarding the great work of man's deliverance from sin and wrath by the mediation of the Son of God.
If, as we presume will be readily admitted, the whole of Christ's offices are necessary to the salvation of fallen man, it follows that they are all essential to the character of the Saviour, and that, of course, we can not suppose him to have existed for a moment without any one of them, as this would suppose him to have been, for the time at least, no Saviour. -- William Symington

Briefly stated, where Christ is demoted or limited, His Kingdom and crown rights are limited and demoted. There is then a shift of sovereignty from God to man, which means the triumph of the state. The state as the new sovereign becomes god walking on earth, and the result is the rapid death of all freedom. -- R.J. Rushdoony

In the final analysis, all modern ills, spiritual and temporal, are traceable to our continuing departure from the principles of the Second Reformation. . . . In particular, I am convinced that the Lord will not bless a church at peace with his enemies. Our departure from truth has led to our undernourished condition as a church; truth, as Thornwell argued, is the only food that the soul can digest.
It does no good to blame society or the church for our deficiencies before the Lord because Christ holds men, not churches and states, accountable. In the words of Hugh Miller, "Churches, however false and detestable, are never to be summoned to the bar of judgment. . . . To Christ, as his head and king, must every man render an account."
The great heresy of our times is that all men are children of God. Those within the church have lost their identity as a people of God, united in spirit and purpose. We have adopted the half-truths of our fathers for which Judah faced punishment: "Because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers have walked" (Amos 2:4b). Nevertheless, Christ loves his church, and he will see to it that his bride is prepared (Ephesians 5:27) for the great banquet. Based on the history of God's people, the needed corrections will result from either prayer or persecution, leading the people to renew their covenant promises. Let us pray that God's kingdom come, and let us covenant to fulfill our obligations to be his people. When persecution comes, let us pray that we would stand as firm as did the Scottish Covenanters. When covenanting comes, let us praise the Lord, for only in him will we stand firm. Let us ever strive to make it possible for our children to utter one of James Nisbet's praises, "O my soul! Bless and praise the Lord that I was born in a land where the glad tidings of the everlasting gospel are published and pressed with so much purity and plainness." This should be our prayer, "Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved" (Psalm 80:3). -- Edwin Nesbit Moore, from the conclusion to Our Covenant Heritage

Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. -- The Word of The Lord (Exodus 19:4-6a)
What a loving preface to the law! If anything could have engaged rebellious man to obedience, this would have done it, but, alas, the Lord has nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against him. -- C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Exodus 19:4-6a in Spurgeon's Devotional Bible, p. 92.

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How does a nation protect itself against terrorists who commit suicide to murder innocent citizens?
It is the presence of The Holy Spirit in society, The Third Person of the Holy Trinity -- it is His presence alone, that restrains evil in society. It is His presence alone that stops men from murdering their neighbors and from completely destroying society. See John Owen, "God's Presence With a People the Spring of Their Prosperity; With Their Special Interest in Abiding in Him"
In the absence of The Holy Spirit there is no restraint of evil.
Therefore, a nation that struggles to remove The Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, from all public life, that nation will lose all restrain of evil, and will succumb to self-destruction from within. It will also succumb to destruction from ememies without. It is the presence in a nation of The Holy One of Israel, The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the presence of The Triune God, that restrains evil, and that gives society order and life.
Honored citizens of The United States of America, your willful rebellion against Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has brought the judgment of God upon this nation. God punishes a people by putting godless leaders in command. All restraint of evil has disappeared from our nation, and our leaders are helpless to stop the spread of terrorism. Repent honored citizens of this beloved nation, partake of Christ, for you are the terrorists.
And now may the Grace, the Mercy, and the Peace, of God The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, rest and abide with you now and forevermore. Amen.

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The Treasury of David, Psalm 106
http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps106.htm

Q. What kind of submission may be rendered to immoral and tyrannical governments, the ordinance of Satan, such as now exist?

A. Christians, in the exercise of their Christian liberty, and in the performance of the duty of "proving all things, and holding fast what is good," can submit to such governments "for wrath's sake," ONLY, which kind of submission has no respect to the power as legitimate authority, but simply, from dread of the cruelty of the tyrant, who pours forth his fury upon all who oppose his misrule. To God's moral ordinance as described, is allegiance due for conscience sake. Submission to this, is submission to God.

Q. When Christians reside under an immoral government, is not conformity to the general order of society a duty, provided this can be done without violating the divine law ?

A. If the constituted authorities of a nation are not in voluntary subserviency to the Mediator, but opposed to his authority, law, and religion, for the sake of peace and order, and for the sake of contributing as much as possible to the ease and happiness of society, and from a spirit of resignation to the Divine providence, and in order to make legitimate provision for themselves and relatives, so much conformity to the prevailing system as is consistent with their oath of allegiance to Messiah, is a duty conscientiously to be practiced, although very distinct from that obedience for conscience sake which they would render to the government of their choice, to the authority which has the sanction of the Divine approbation. Jer. xxix. 4-7, "Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.:

Q. Whilst it is the duty of Christians thus to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, in conformity to the laws of Christ, which are everywhere, and at all times, obligatory upon them -- is it not their duty publicly to declare their dissent from an immoral constitution of civil government, within the reach of whose power they may reside ?

A. This is, indeed, their duty. Because, 1. They are bound to defend God's moral ordinance of civil government, in the purity of which, God's own honor as "the Governor of the nations," is deeply involved. Rev. ii. 25, 26, "That which you have already hold fast till I come; and he that overcometh -- and keepeth my works unto the end -- to him will I give power in the nations," &c. Isa. viii. 16, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." 2. The purity of this holy ordinance cannot be preserved, if it is confounded with the existing immoral systems, and by an indiscriminate exercise of allegiance. 3. Christians are witnesses for God among men; and having in their possession "the testimony of God," in the Holy Scriptures, respecting the true character of civil government, and the duty of national subjection to Christ and his law, and respect for his holy religion, it is their duty to apply the doctrines of inspiration upon this subject, in stating and defending the truth, and condemning the existing immoral systems, and in bearing public testimony against all who uphold them. Isa. xliii. 10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord." Rev. xi. 3, "I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth;" xii. 17, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." See also Rev. xvii. 14, Acts v. 32, xxvi. 16, Micah iv. 8-18, Mark vi. 11. 4. The witnesses in Revelation are raised up not only to testify against the ecclesiastical apostasy, "The scarlet woman," or Roman church -- and "the image of the beast," -- the Papacy -- but also against "the seven-headed and ten-horned" beast -- or the civil powers -- upon which the woman rides. The nations which sustain Antichrist, and are equally, with "the man of sin," Antichristian, and are at war with the Lamb. See passages last quoted, together with Rev. xiii. 1, 2, xvii. 3-14, and xii. 11, "And they overcame him, (the devil embodied in the Roman church papacy, and civil powers,) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;" xvii. 14, "These, (the civil powers,) shall make war with the Lamb-and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."

Q. Are not virtuous persons, who, in their private capacity, are endeavoring to further the true end of civil government -- the maintenance of peace and quietness in all godliness and honesty, although they dissent from the constitution of civil government of the nation in which they reside, entitled to protection ?

A. They certainly are entitled to protection in their lives, liberties, and property; "but they are not to act inconsistently with their declared dissent, and it would be tyranny to constrain them to such measures." Exod. xxii. 21, "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him." See also Rom. xiii. 3, 1 Tim. ii. 2, Jer. xxi. 12, Esther iii. 8, 9.

Q. Should not "Christians, testifying against national evils, and striving, in the use of moral means, to effect a reformation, relinquish temporal privileges, rather than do any thing which may appear to contradict their testimony, or lay a stumbling-block before their weaker brethren?"

A. This is unquestionably their duty. Because they cannot convince men of their own sincerity, and of the immorality of a principle or practice, whilst they themselves are found actually maintaining the immoral principle or practice, (by oath of allegiance, voting, and holding offices, &c.) and enjoying the emoluments of iniquity decreed by law. Heb. xi. 24, 26, 36, "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Esteeming the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments." Numb. xxiii. 9, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Rom. xiv. 21, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended."

Q. Will not such a public dissent from immoral governments, and faithful testimony against them, ultimately prevail to their overthrow?

A. Yes. By these means the witnesses will prevail, however much they may suffer in the meantime, and will be the honored instruments of establishing the millennial kingdom of the Lamb. Rev. xii. 11 , "And they overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Dan. vii. 22, "The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Rev. xx. 4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, (the civil powers,) neither his image, (the Papacy,) neither had received his mark, (yielded allegiance,) upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." -- William L. Roberts, The Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, p. 130-133

Traditionally, law was never construed as legalist. It was always construed as a result of covenant. If we can define the word covenant as bond, that lovely four letter word, b-o-n-d, then it's a relationship, it's a solidarity with God or with another person. And from that relationship flows duty. So we can think of convent as that marvelous combination of promise and duty. And so I really see law as a response to a relationship. -- Joseph Kickasola

True, the state as the policeman can be corrupt; in fact, if the society as a whole is corrupt, the state will also be corrupt. In a healthy and godly society, the state will function successfully to restrain the minority of evil-doers. The key to the situation is not the state but the religious health of the society. -- Rousas John Rushdoony, in Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 470

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven; and to be steady on all the battlefront besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. -- Martin Luther

It is a poor and pitiful kind of knowledge, to know many loose parcels, and broken members of truth, without knowing the whole, or the place and the relations which they have to the rest. To know letters and not syllables, or syllables and not words, or words and not sentences, or sentences and not the scope of the discourse, are all but an unprofitable knowledge. -- Richard Baxter (I:269)

Contents

Church and State
A Theological Interpretation of American History
Background and History of the Covenanted Reformation of Scotland
The Puritan Revolution
Sermons Preached Before Governing Bodies
The Reformed Presbytery of Scotland and The Reformed Presbytery of America
Covenant Theology and the Ordinance of Covenanting

• The Mediatorial Reign of Christ and the Crown Rights of Christ
• Suffrage and Reproductive Rights
• Theodicy
• The Question of the One and the Many
  
• Confession of National Sin and Covenant Renewal
• Servant Leadership
• Selection of Covenant Heads for Positions of Leadership
• Resolutions
• The Right to Petition
• Referendum Votes
• Bible Magistracy Turns Back the Wrath of God
• The Government Role of Punishing Wrongdoers
• Toleration, Liberty of Conscience, Pluralism, and Neutrality
• Unity and Uniformity in the Visible Church: Unity in the Truth
• National Establishment of Religion: Establishmentarianism
• Chapter 9 (part 2) Related WebLinks

Combined Interactive Contents for The Web Edition of Biblical Counsel: Resources for Renewal
http://www.lettermen2.com/combtoc.html

Chapter 9 (part 2)

Corporate Faithfulness and
Sanctification

Church and State

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But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last [shall be] first. -- Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:28-30)

The question of Paul, Is Christ divided? is one to which professing Christians have not given sufficient heed, and the evil consequences are abundantly apparent.
It was deemed essential to the salvation of men that their Redeemer should possess the powers at once of a prophet, a priest, and a king. These offices, while essentially distinct, are necessarily and inseparably connected with one another. Such a union has been by some utterly denied; and its denial has laid foundation for some capital errors, which have exerted a pernicious influence on the Christian church. By others it has been criminally overlooked; and the neglect with which it has been treated has occasioned vague and conflicting conceptions regarding the great work of man's deliverance from sin and wrath by the mediation of the Son of God.
If, as we presume will be readily admitted, the whole of Christ's offices are necessary to the salvation of fallen man, it follows that they are all essential to the character of the Saviour, and that, of course, we can not suppose him to have existed for a moment without any one of them, as this would suppose him to have been, for the time at least, no Saviour. -- William Symington

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. (1 Samuel 8:4-22)

In fact, the relationship between Church and State has been in decline since 1661. "In early 1661 . . . the Scottish Parliament passed the Act Rescissory, which established the king as supreme judge in all matters civil and ecclesiastical, and which made owning the covenants [National and Solemn League] unlawful. These acts undid all the works of Reformation from 1638 to 1650 and made it high treason to acknowledge Jesus Christ as head of the church. . . ." See Act, Declaration, And Testimony, 1876, Part II.
The roots of liberty and limited government are in the Protestant Reformation. We believe the key to the maintenance of liberty and limited government are to be found in the Scottish covenanting struggle.
Act, Declaration, And Testimony, 1876
http://www.covenanter.org/RefPres/actdeclarationandtestimony/acttitle.htm
The Covenanted Reformation of Scotland Short Title Listing
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chb.html#crsstl

Another turning point occurred in 1758 with the reunion of the Old Side and the New Side of American Presbyterian Church. "This signaled the end of the influence of Calvinism in American Politics." For a detailed discussion see:
"From Old School to New School" in Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/Chapter02.htm
Another turning point occurred in 1789 with the adoption of the American Version of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
In the same establishment may be found believers in nearly every dogma of the Popish creed, who nevertheless have declared their faith in articles which are distinctly Calvinistic; and now last, and, to our minds, most sorrowful of all, it comes out that there are men to be found among Caledonia's once sternly truthful sons who can occupy the pulpits and the manses of an orthodox Presbyterian church, and yet oppose her ancient confession of faith. Our complaint is in each case, not that the men changed their views, and threw up their former creeds, but that having done so they did not at once quit the office of minister to the community whose faith they could no longer uphold; their fault is not that they differed, but that, differing, they sought an office of which the prime necessity is agreement. All the elements of the lowest kind of knavery meet in the evil which we now denounce. Treachery is never more treacherous than when it leads a man to stab at a doctrine which he has solemnly engaged to uphold, and for the maintenance of which he receives a livelihood. The office of minister would never wittingly be entrusted by any community to a person who would use it for the overthrow of the principles upon which the community was founded. Such conduct would be suicidal. A sincere belief of the church's creed was avowedly or by implication a part of the qualification which helped the preacher to his stipend, and when that qualification ceases the most vital point of the compact between him and his church is infringed, and he is bound in honor to relinquish an office which he can no longer honestly fulfill." -- Charles Spurgeon in "Ministers Sailing Under False Colours," Sword and Trowel, February, 1870, quoted by John W. Robbins, February 10, 2006

Read what Charles Hodge says in support of the "newly discovered" relationship between Church and State in America. Then decide for yourself if he unscripturally conceded to delivering the Church into the hands of the State in the "American Version" of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The Biblical doctrine of Christian Magistracy functions correctly only when State leadership is Christian, and when the State can be depended upon to wield their sword to protect true religion. The history of the human depravity in State leadership, secular leaders who destroy true religion instead of protecting it, should not cause theologians to abandon sound doctrine as stated in the original Westminster Confession of Faith. Treachery in State leadership would be far less of a problem if the writers of the US Constitution had not removed the religious test clause of Colonial constitutions. This was done in America with the adoption of the "American Version" of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
Besides arguing in support of the "American Version" of the Westminster Confession "he [Charles Hodge] repudiated the unhistorical position of those who denied the validity of Roman Catholic baptism. . . Hodge supported slavery in the 1830s, and while he condemned the mistreatment of slaves he did not condemn the institution of slavery itself. The background to this attitude, however, was not primarily his understanding of the Bible's teaching on the matter, but rather his churchmanship. . . .
"In 1846, however, he became convinced that slavery was wrong, reversing his earlier anti-abolitionist stance, and he then publically denounced slavery and supported both the Abolitionist movement and President Lincoln (Adams, 2003)."
American Covenanters decried the "American Version." See the Covenanter document:
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, William L. Roberts D.D.
http://www.covenantedreformation.com/EssaysCR/RP%20Catechism/RP%20Index.html
We love Gordon Clark, and we hold him in highest esteem, one of the great minds of the 20th Century. However, astonishingly, he seems to have adopted Hodge's position on the "American Version." This relieves the State of judicial responsibilities to preserve true religion, and delivers the Church into the hands of the State. Hence, today we have the "church effeminate" and, consequently, a destabilization of every sphere of society, including that of the Reformed Church. Could this be one reason for the failure of Church courts today?
Church and State, Charles Hodge
http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=92
In "The Reformed Faith and the Westminster Confession," an address given at Weaverville, NC, August 17, 1955, found in the Appendix to this work [WHAT DO PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE?], Clark eloquently extols the virtues of the Westminster Confession of Faith and condemns neo-orthodoxy for departing from the Word of God found in the Bible.
Yet, incredibly, one year later, in 1956, he published this work, [WHAT DO PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE?] which is a commentary on the "American Version (1789)." To more fully understand Clark's error here and the consequences of such an error see:
"A Theological Interpretation of American History" http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#stiahis

Many scholars consider alterations to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), originally compiled by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, to be a "reverse plagiarism," analogous to plagiarism. "Plagiarize: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own use (a created production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source." (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
Revisers have altered the content of the original WCF (1647), have removed key doctrine related to Christ's Crown and Covenant, and yet have retained the name given by the Westminster Assembly. Consequently, revisers have deceived many in the Church into believing that their alterations are the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines in 1647.
Most Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and seminaries today prescribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1879), the "American Version." Included are The Presbyterian Church in America and the newly constituted Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Ideas have consequences. Because theology is truth, when men delete or alter key doctrines, or replace sound doctrine deducted from God's infallible Word by logic, with human imaginations, then the course of history is changed.
For a detailed analysis of the devastating consequences to American history caused by non-Biblical alterations in the Westminster Confession of Faith and non-Biblical alterations to constitutional government in the United States see the following:
"A Theological Interpretation of American History"
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#stiahis
In Great Britain the Independents and Calvinistic Baptists edited the Westminster Confession (1647) for their own use, but they gave the new confessions a different name, the Savoy Declaration and the Baptist Confession. Certainly this was the honest procedure.
American Revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1789)
http://www.opc.org/documents/WCF_orig.html
Appendix A: Major Changes of the Savoy Declaration
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappa.html
Appendix B: Major Changes of the PCUSA (1788-1958)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappb.html
Appendix C: Major Changes of the UPCUSA and PCUS (1958-1983)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappc.html

"In 1788 the U.S. Constitution and the revised Westminster Confession were ratified. For a detailed discussion see:
"Authority: Biblical, Confessional, Ecclesiastical" in Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/Chapter03.htm
Unfortunately these revisions (see listing of revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith above and under "The Westminster Confession (1647, The Westminster Standards) and Related Works)" removed Christian Magistracy from the Confession (WCF 1649), essentially emasculated Christianity, and set aside Christ's Crown and Covenant. Conveniently this removed churchmen and laymen from the battlefront of standing for Christ's Crown and Covenant and turned them into effeminate figureheads.

They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. (Hosea 8:4)

We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29b)

"In the history of the church-state relationship, two major errors have developed: Papalism and Erastianism. The former teaches that the church (i.e., the Pope) is to rule both church and state. The latter maintains that both institutions are under the headship of the civil magistrate. Calvin disavows both. "Biblical Christianity, says the Reformer, teaches that these two are separate God-ordained institutions, while at the same time they are both under his law (i.e., there is a separation in function, but not in authority [emphasis added]). In Romans 13:1-7, we read that civil rulers are God's ministers. Thus, it is incumbent upon civil magistrates to adopt the principles of civil law, i.e., The Ten Commandments and the general equity of the Mosaic judicials, as found in Scripture. Likewise, the church is to be governed by Scriptural ecclesiastical law. The church wields only the sword of the Spirit in dealing with sin, whereas the state wields the sword of iron in accordance with Scripture, in dealing with crime. The state is not to administer the Word of God or the sacraments. It has no authority over the keys of the Kingdom. And the church is not to enter into the affairs of the civil government, other than for advice and counsel (Institutes IV:11:3; 20:1-13; Commentary on Romans 13:1-7)." -- W. Gary Crampton in WHAT CALVIN SAYS

"A truth not generally known is that the ancient Biblical covenant was the taproot from which America, its constitution, its law, and its liberty grew. That ancient Biblical covenant was the solemn agreement, an everlasting mutual agreement between God and man and between man and God. God promised man great blessings, freedom and prosperity, providing man kept the conditions of the covenant -- conditions defined by God's law." -- Charles Hull Wolfe

To [James] Thornwell, the real issue is not the relation between states and the church, but the relation between states and Christ. Although Thornwell opposed the establishment of a single denomination over another, he clearly supported a Christian government: "The state realizes its religious character through the religious character of its subjects; and a state is and ought to be Christian, because all its subjects are and ought to be determined by the principles of the gospel." [Thornwell, "National Sins," p. 517] To this point, states must acknowledge Jesus Christ. Thornwell insisted that it is not enough for a state "to acknowledge in general terms the supremacy of God; it must also acknowledge in general terms the supremacy of His Son." Jesus "is the ruler of the nations, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords." [Thornwell, "Relation of the State to Christ," p. 554] Thornwell argued that "religion of the state is embodied in its constitution," and that it is legitimate for the state to have a religion (i.e., Christianity). Neutrality is impossible. . . . Further, the state must mold its institutions in conformance with Christian principles.
Although Thornwell sought less protection of the church than did the Covenanters, their beliefs regarding this topic are not inconsistent. They both held the state accountable as a moral agent to recognize Christ as king and to protect Christianity. Thornwell, like Christ, focused his attack on the false church, not the errant state, for Christ's zeal is for the house of the Lord. Exclusively attacking the externals of civil society was not the way of our Lord when on this earth; however, his silence is not an endorsement.
Thornwell contended that the gospel is the only solution for the state. Therefore, Christians should avoid conflicts that distract from the primary object of Christianity. The power of the gospel is the only force that can change the inner man and eventually transform the outer world. These changes can only take place in the context of the church, and reformation must begin with God's people. -- Edwin Nesbit Moore, Our Covenant Heritage, p. 351.

Examples of notable theologians who were, or are, unable to attain to covenanted reformation (It is not to be inferred that their work is not of value to Covenanted Reformation. To the contrary, some of their work is of exceptional value to those working toward a Third Reformation.-- sk):
Richard Baxter
Charles Hodge
Gordon Haddon Clark (subscribed to the "American Version (1789)" of the Westminster Confession of Faith.)
John W. Robbins
John Owen
Jonathan Edwards
James Thornwell
C.H. Spurgeon

"Moral habits... cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits... Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens." -- Daniel Webster

Adler, Mortimer, in GREAT BOOKS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, concluded that more problems are caused by the denial of God than by anything else -- it changes the whole tenure of life.

Augustine, St. (author), Philip Schaff (editor), Marcus Dods (translator), St. Augustine's City of God and Christian Doctrine [A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church - Volume 2], new edition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, September 2002), hardcover, 624 pages, English.
Augustine is said to be the greatest Christian thinker next to the Apostle Paul. Luther set the BIBLE and the CONFESSIONS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE above all other books.
"One of the classic texts of Western civilization [originally 22 volumes it explains the fall of Roman in terms of Scripture-- sk]. . . . DE CIVITATE DEI is an important contribution of interest to students of theology, philosophy, ecclesiastical history, the history of political thought, and late antiquity." -- Publisher's Annotation (from the Cambridge University Press edition)
"Augustine began writing THE CITY OF GOD at age 59 [shortly after the city of Rome had been sacked by the Goths in 410 A.D., much to the surprise, it is said, of both the Romans and the Goths.-- sk] and worked on it, off and on, for much of the next 14 years. The impetus for the beginning of this vast work (and its recurring focus) was the charge of Pagans (polytheists) that Christianity was responsible for the decay and demise of the Roman Empire. The charge put forward the claim that the prosperity and social stability of the state was dependent upon polytheistic worship. In response, Augustine arrays several lines of argument, rebutting the assumed 'goodness' of the Pagan state, as such, and detailing the ethical/moral and logical failings of Paganism. Augustine displays tremendous scholarship, employing the writings of Paganism's greatest historians and philosophers in his case against their religious claims. The result is a giant literary, philosophical, historical, theological and exegetical work. . . .
"Against the 'city', i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King David's psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the 'city' of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two 'cities,' two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:

"The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self." XIV:13.
"The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: 'Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head.' (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . ." XIV:28-- Wesley L. Janssen, Reader's Comment

Baxter, Richard, William Lamont (editor) A Holy Commonwealth (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
"Written in 1659 by the Puritan minister (1615-91) who publicly repudiated the work in 1670, this modern edition of a controversial text represents a candid confession as to why a conservative Puritan fought for Parliament in the Civil War and gave his support to the Cromwells." -- Publisher's Annotation

BEGG, JAMES, Anarchy in Worship or Recent Innovation Contrasted with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church and the Vows of Her Office-Bearers, 1875 (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
The principles upheld in this book are extremely important today, for as the title page notes 'When nations are to perish in their sins, 'Tis in the Church the leprosy begins.' Begg lays his foundations in the second commandment and deals with all man-made innovations in the worship of God. The four types of innovators exposed are especially interesting, being: 1.) the presumptuous and blasphemous innovator; 2.) the popularity-hunting innovator; 3.) the politic and scheming innovator; 4.) the asthetic innovator. Women preachers, drama, dance and numerous other modern inventions in public worship would all be rejected outright if these Biblical principles were faithfully followed. Herein we also see why those holding to the Scriptural law of worship and the Westminster Confession of Faith must reject musical instruments in public worship as just another Popish and Judaizing innovation -- a resurrecting of the abrogated ceremonial law -- and thus a denial of the finished work of Christ. The discussion of vows taken by office holders to the Westminster Confession of Faith, as they relate to worship, is also extremely important and should be read not only by all elders who have bound themselves to uphold the WCF, but also by all Christians who love the truth and want to maintain the church in purity." -- SWRB

Brett, Thomas. The independency of the Church upon the state, as to its pure spiritual powers: proved from the Holy Scriptures, and the writings of the primitive Fathers. With answers to the most material objections. By Thomas Brett, LL.D. London, 1717. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3320236434

*BROWN, THOMAS, Church and State: A Narrative of the Struggle for Independence From 1560 to 1843 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books) and ATLA 1988-0160.
"Hits all the historical high points surrounding the great Scottish struggle for the spiritual independence of the church -- against unbiblical usurpation by statist forces. From Knox to the author's day, the cause of civil liberty and the interests of vital (Reformed) religion, in church and state, are both set forth." -- SWRB

*Calvin, John, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960). A Christian classic.
"Edited by John McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles, this is the definitive English language edition of one of the monumental works of the Christian church -- Calvin's INSTITUTES.
"Still considered by many to be the finest explanation and defense of the Protestant Reformation available.
"The work is divided into four books: I. The Knowledge of God the Creator, II. The Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ, III. The Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ, IV. The External Means or Helps by Which God Allures Us Into Fellowship With Christ and Keeps Us in It. . . . THE INSTITUTES is praised by the secular philosopher, Will Durant, as one of the ten books that shook the world." -- GCB
Calvin spent a lifetime writing and perfecting INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. His Prefatory Address makes it clear that he intended the work to be a defense of Christianity to the King of France.
Therefore, plainly stated, one of the most influential works ever published in the English language is a defense of Christianity to leaders of State.
Prefatory Address to His Most Christian Majesty, The Most Mighty and Illustrious Monarch, Francis, King of the French, His Sovereign, John Calvin
"Indeed, this consideration makes a true king: to recognize himself a minister of God in governing his kingdom. Now, that king, who in ruling over his realm does not serve God's glory, exercises not kingly rule but brigandage. [Footnote: 'Nec iam regnum ille sed latrocinium exercet.' An echo of Augustine's famous phrase: 'When justice is taken away, what are kingdoms [[regna]] but a vast banditry [[magna latocinia]]?' City of God IV. iv (MPL [[Migne, J.P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina]] 41. 115; tr. NPNF [[A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series]] II. 66).] Furthermore, he is deceived who looks for enduring prosperity in his kingdom when it is not ruled by God's scepter, that is, his Holy Word; for the heavenly oracle that proclaims that 'where prophecy fails the people are scattered' [Prov. 29:18] cannot lie." (Battles translation)
"The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18). (Beveridge translation)"
See the entire Prefatory Address, Beveridge translation:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.ii.viii.html
"The doctrines of covenant liberty were rediscovered in the Reformation. John Calvin went further than anyone else in defining liberty and what Christians need to do to maintain it. Includes bibliographies."
It is recommended that INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION be used for daily devotions and may be used in combination with Ford Lewis Battles and John Walchenbach, AN ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF JOHN CALVIN (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) and with CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES.
Nelson's Ultimate Bible Reference Library, Logos Library System format (LLS) (CD-ROM)
This library systems includes CALVIN'S INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE HOLY BIBLE KING JAMES VERSION, THE NEW TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE, AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS, WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH, WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM, WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM, MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY, NEW NAVE'S TOPICAL BIBLE, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, and other classic Bible study aids. THE REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE (Other title: THE NEW GENEVA STUDY BIBLE,) in LLS format, may be added to this library. Therefore, all the above works may be used in combination with each other in Bible study.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/3247
Calvin, Spurgeon and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) (LLS)
Contains Calvin's Commentaries.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/889
Calvin's Commentaries (22 Volumes) (LLS)
http://www.logos.com/products/details/887
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
Calvin's Commentaries (online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom
One Hundred Aphorisms, Containing, Within a Narrow Compass, the Substance and Order of the Four Books of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
http://www.lettermen2.com/pringle.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection
From Ages Software. Includes both the Battles and the Beveridge translation of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES, and other works by Calvin.
http://www.ageslibrary.com/ages_calvin_collection_1.html
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.i.html

Carson, Herbert M., Christians and the State (London, England: Tyndale Press, 1957). 90415
"A brief, informative study. Evangelical." -- Cyril J. Barber

Cobbett, William, ???A History of the Last Hundred Days of English Freedom
With an introduction, "Main events of Cobbett's life," and a biographical index.

*Cunningham, John, The Church History of Scotland: From the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Present Time [90071]

*CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM, Church and State, the Biblical View: A Compilation of Articles From Some of the Best Christian Minds in History (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic. ISBN-10:
"A compilation of articles from some of the best Christian minds in history, including Cunningham, Smeaton, M'Crie, Symington, Gillespie, the Westminster Divines, Bannerman, Owen and Shaw. This book shows that, generally speaking, the leaders of the Reformed faith have all come to substantial agreement regarding what the Scriptures teach about Christ's Kingship over the nations and the Church. Establishmentarianism is clearly seen to be the historically Reformed consensus, and this has a huge impact on the way one views both the Church and the state, in relation to Scripture." -- SWRB

*CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM, The Westminster Confession on the Relations Between Church and State (1843) (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Chapter eight excerpted from Discussions on Church Principles. Answers the false claims that the Westminster Divines contradicted themselves on this issue and/or that they were Erastians. Proves that changes made to the original Westminster Confession, concerning church and state issues, were in error -- clearly demonstrating why this is so." -- SWRB

*DAVIES, SAMUEL, The Divine Government the Joy of the World (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Expands upon the reign and rule of King Jesus and the great blessings that this entails." -- SWRB

Davies, Samuel, The Godly Family: A Series of Essays on the Duties of Parents and Children

DAVIES, SAMUEL, The Necessity and Excellence of Family Religion

Fox, John. An earnest persuasive to a manly defence of our happy constitution in church and state; a sermon, preached in the parish-church of Kildwick-Piercy, in the county of York, on Friday, February 17, 1758, ... By John Fox, ... York, 1758. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3319916615

Hall, David W., The Early Church and the State
http://capo.org/premise/96/feb/p960208.html

Hall, David W., Savior or Servant? Putting Government in Its Place (Kuyper Institute).
Table of Contents
"Savior or Servant? is the single best volume of Christian thinking on the issue of the increasingly intrusive state . . . Theology at its very best: orthodox, relevant, and provocative." -- George Grant
"SAVIOR OR SERVANT? PUTTING GOVERNMENT IN ITS PLACE is an attempt to define the role of the state: Shall it be a minister or a Messiah? Using ancient but timeless information, David W. Hall has surveyed the Bible and arrived at a coherent theology of the state. This study succeeds in identifying the responsibilities that the civil state is mandated to do, permitted to do, and prohibited from doing. Along the way, it is discovered that all political schemes and issues are fraught with theological value. Moreover, the most enduring grid to keep government in its rightful place is found in the Bible. Drawing upon thousands of verses and hundreds of thinkers, this volume is comprehensive yet readable. Theologians from Augustine to Calvin and from Aquinas to Barth are studied and presented in a non-technical manner. The Christian who is interested in politics should absorb these summaries before launching out into unstudied political activism. Rather than adopting a politics-as-usual posture, Hall challenges partisans from the right and from the left. He summons Christians to the old paths, which God's Word has occupied for centuries. Discussed in these chapters are perennial matters of practical importance, such as: taxation; resistance to evil governments; methods of influence; the escalation of rights; limited government; moral qualities for leaders; separation of powers. This book will provide excellent fodder for discussion and guidance. It returns spiritual principles to their place, while seeking to put government in its proper place.
Savior or Servant? Is a revival of a classic approach to limited government. In a time when nations are finally beginning to shrink bloated governments, a surprising source commends itself as an able assistant in reform. The scriptural view of the state, removed from the varied fads of political science, provides an enduring perspective by which to measure all states. This study begins with a survey of biblical teaching on pressing matters of state today. Following the contours of the Old and New Testaments, Savior or Servant? calls all levels of government to a servant posture, rather than allowing officials to dominate. A historical tracing of the best and most pertinent that theology has to offer on the subject is contained in these pages." -- Publisher's Annotation

*JOHNSTON, JOHN C., Treasury of the Scottish Covenant (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #27, ISBN: 0921148240 9780921148241. Available on
The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Five, CD #25, ATLA 1988-6070. A Christian classic.
"A massive listing (over 671 pages) covering Covenanting literature from the period of the Reformation to its publication in 1887. Contains not only the principal literary productions of the Covenanters (in the course of the long-sustained and heroic resistance offered by them to the spiritual despotism thrust against them in both church and state), but all of the chief historical documents connected with this period of history. Inspiration and courage can be drawn from the memories and associations of these events and writings. Here is one example of what you will find (from page 349 in the book): '(Richard) Camerons' head and hands, cut from his body at Airsmoss, were taken to his father, then suffering in prison in Edinburgh for the Covenant. He was asked if he knew them. 'His words,' says Dr. Kerr, 'were surely the most touching of all the memories of that cruel time: 'I know, I know them! they are my son's, my dear son's! It is the Lord: good is the will of the Lord, who cannot wrong me nor mine, but has made goodness and mercy to follow us all our days.' After which, by order of the Council, his head was fixed upon the Netherbow Port, and his hands beside it, with the fingers upward, a kind of preaching 'at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors,' that told more for his cause and against the persecutors than all the words he could have spoken.' A must for every serious theological student, religious library, or rare book collector who has any interest in Reformation thought and/or literature. It is a veritable gold mine of information, facts, documents, book listings and more!" -- SWRB

*Kelly, Douglas F., The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th Through 18th Centuries (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.). [10910, D1037]
"Examines Calvin's influence on the civil governments of Geneva, Huguenot France, Knox's Scotland, Puritan England, and Colonial America. Shows how Calvin's legacy continues to bear upon the issues that guide and agitate Western nations today." --Publisher's Annotation

*Kennedy, D. James, with Jim Nelson Black, Character and Destiny: A Nation in Search of Its Soul (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994).
"America faces a crisis of moral authority. In this penetrating, informative book, Dr. D. James Kennedy takes readers to the core of today's cultural erosion. The United States' rich heritage of Christian liberty is now being corrupted by those who are trying to rewrite or reinterpret history. Even our traditional values are being undermined by our educational system. More than ever, we need to assert the truth -- the truth of the existence of sin and of the absolute nature of morality." -- Publisher's Annotation. Dr. Kennedy regards this work as his most important book to date. Highly recommended.

*Kennedy, D. James with Jerry Newcombe, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, c1994).
Hospitals, universities, literacy and education, capitalism and free-enterprise, representative government, separation of political powers, justice and common law, civil liberties, abolition of slavery, modern science, and so forth, can all be attributed to Christianity. Highly recommended.

Koo Jeon, Jeong, Covenant Theology: John Murray's and Meredith G. Kline's Response to the Historical Development of Federal Theology in Reformed Thought

McCLURE, DONALD, First Amendment a Master Piece of Satan Contra Antiestablishmentarianism (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"This article was sent to 278 members of the Canadian Parliament. It debunks the idea that it is right for majorities to determine law through their elected officials in opposition to God's holy law. It also opposes the false theories of human rights found in the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In short, and in agreement with both the Belgic and Westminster Confessions, it opposes 'the presumption that a government, ordained of God, can be neutral, and can make no law stating that Jesus Christ is King of the Nation, and that it can hold all religions, which are repugnant to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, equal before it'." -- SWRB

*M'CRIE, THOMAS, Statement of the Difference . . . Particularly on the Power of Civil Magistrates Respecting Religion, National Reformation, National Churches, and National Covenants, 1871 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
" 'The ablest exposition in the English language of the Establishment Principle . . . Dr. (George) Smeaton describes the Statement as a masterly defense of the principles of establishments as Scripture truth: and the most complete vindication ever given to the world of the position occupied by the Reformed Church of Scotland, on the whole subject of national religion and the magistrates legitimate power in promoting it. 'The same thoroughness,' wrote the late Rev. D. Beaton, 'which gave such abiding value to his great biography of Knox, is shown in this, his less known work . . . Dr. McCrie in his Statement shows that all the Confessions of the Protestant and Presbyterian Churches of the Reformation, both in Britain and on the Continent of Europe, held and maintained the Establishment Principle. 'These harmoniously agree,' he writes, 'in declaring as with one mouth that civil authority is not limited to the secular affairs of men, and that the public care and advancement of religion is a principle part of the official duty of magistrates.' He goes on to give extracts from The Confession of Helvetia; The Confession of Bohemia; The Confession of Saxony; The French Confession; The Belgic or Dutch Confession; The Confession of the English Congregation in Geneva; The Scots Confession and The Westminster Confession of Faith. 'Such is the harmony of doctrine in the Protestant churches on this head,' he remarks, 'expressed in their confessions and public formularies drawn from the Word of God; a harmony which deserves great attention, and from which none should rashly depart' (as cited in Christ's Kingship Over the Nations by C.J. Brown). Concerning the doctrine of national obedience to Christ, M'Crie demonstrates in the most convincing way that there are few doctrines 'of the practical kind, in which the best interests of mankind and the general state of religion in the world, are more deeply concerned, than in the right and wrong determination of this question.' Contains an excellent preface by George Smeaton. Considered one of the definitive works on Church/State relations, defending the historic Reformed position. An extremely rare and very expensive item if located as a rare book." -- SWRB

*North, Gary, Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989). 90577
"Political pluralism is not simply a political philosophy; it is a theology. This theology teaches that there must never be a nation that identifies itself with any religion." -- Publisher's Annotation
"This book presents a new vision of politics and a new vision of America, a vision self-consciously tied to the Bible. . . . Dr. North, a trained historian, seeks to lead us from this downward spiral to full recovery." -- GCB
Institute for Christian Economics Freebooks.com
http://www.freebooks.com/

Muirhead, John. Dissertations on the foederal transactions between God and his church, both before and since the canon of scripture was completed. By John Muirhead, ... Kelso, 1782. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3321936861

*Morey, Robert A., The New Atheism and the Erosion of Freedom (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, c1986). 90075
"Exposes the godless suppression of religious freedom today and presents effective ways to convert atheists to Christ. In case you have not noticed atheism/secular humanism is gaining ground. Are you grounded in what these philosophies teach? Can you refute them? Dr. Morey will show you how." -- GCB
The American Atheist Union has said this is the most dangerous book ever written about religion. Includes bibliography.

*REFORMED PRESBYTERY, Auchensaugh Renovation of the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant; With the Acknowledgement of Sins and Engagement to Duties as They Were Renewed at Auchensaugh in 1712 . . . Also the Renovation of These Public Federal Deeds Ordained at Philadelphia, Oct. 8, 1880, by the Reformed Presbytery, With Accommodation of the Original Covenants, in Both Transactions, to Their Times and Positions Respectively (1880 edition) (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1880).
" 'In 1712, at Auchensaugh, the Covenants, National and Solemn League, were renewed . . . At the renewal the covenant bonds were recognized as binding the descendants of those who first entered into those bonds. The Covenanters, however, sought to display the true intent of those Covenants with marginal notes. These notes explained that the Church of Jesus Christ, in Scotland (and around the world), must not join hands with any political power in rebellion to the crown rights of King Jesus. The Covenanters pledged the Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church to the support of lawful magistracy (i.e. magistracy which conformed itself to the precepts of God's Word) and declared themselves and their posterity against support of any power, in Church or State, which lacked biblical authority.' (From 'About the Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Church' P.O. Box 131, Pottstown, PA 19464). An excellent introduction (historical and moral) regarding the reasons, motives and manner of fulfilling the duty of covenanting with God. Especially helpful concerning the Biblical view of the blessings (for covenant-keepers) and cursings (for covenant breakers) related to covenanting. As noted on page 37, 'the godly usually in times of great defection from the purity and power of religion, and corruption of the ordinances of God's worship, set about renewing their covenant, thereby to prevent covenant curses, and procure covenant blessing; as we find both in scripture record, 2 Chron. 15:12-13; 29:10; 34:30-31; Ezra 10:3, and in our own ecclesiastical history.' Times like ours certainly call for a revival of the Scriptural ordinance of covenanting, for '[t]he nations throughout Christendom, continue in league with Antichrist and give their strength to the beast. They still refuse to profess and defend the true religion in doctrine, worship, government and discipline, contrary to the example of the kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland in the seventeenth century' (p. 136 in this book)." -- SWRB
The Auchensaugh Renovation
http://www.covenanter.org/RefPres/auchensaugh.htm

*REFORMED PRESBYTERY, Act, Declaration, And Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To, And Established In, Britain and Ireland; Particularly Betwixt The Years 1638 and 1649, Inclusive. As, Also, Against All The Steps Of Defection From Said Reformation, Whether In Former Or Later Times, Since The Overthrow Of That Glorious Work, Down To This Present Day (1876) (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Upholds the original work of the Westminster Assembly and testifies to the abiding worth and truth formulated in the Westminster family of documents. Upholds and defends the crown rights of King Jesus in church and state, denouncing those who would remove the crown from Christ's head by denying His right to rule (by His law) in both the civil and ecclesiastical spheres. Testifies to the received doctrine, government, worship, and discipline of the Church of Scotland in her purest (reforming) periods. Applies God's Word to the Church's corporate attainments 'with a judicial approbation of the earnest contendings and attainments of the faithful, and a strong and pointed judicial condemnation of error and the promoters thereof' (The Original Covenanter and Contending Witness, Dec. 17/93, p. 558). Shows the church's great historical victories (such as the National and Solemn League and Covenant, leading to the Westminster Assembly) and exposes her enemies actions (e.g. the Prelacy of Laud; the Independency, sectarianism, covenant breaking and ungodly toleration set forth by the likes of Cromwell [and the Independents that conspired with him]; the Erastianism and civil sectarianism of William of Orange, etc.). It is not likely that you will find a more consistent working out of the principles of Calvinism anywhere. Deals with the most important matters relating to the individual, the family, the church and the state. Sets forth a faithful historical testimony of God's dealings with men during some of the most important days of church history. A basic text that should be mastered by all Christians." -- SWRB
Act, Declaration, And Testimony (1876)
http://www.covenanter.org/RefPres/actdeclarationandtestimony/acttitle.htm

*REFORMED PRESBYTERY, A Short Vindication of our Covenanted Reformation (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1879).
"Until the church comes to terms with what is written in this book it will remain weak and divided. Covenant breakers will not prosper, as this rare item demonstrates from both Scripture and history. The power packed ordinance of covenanting (the National and Solemn League and Covenant in particular), was foundational to the second Reformation and the work of the Westminster Assembly. 'By the National Covenant our fathers laid Popery prostrate. By the Solemn League and Covenant they were successful in resisting prelatic encroachments and civil tyranny. By it they were enabled to achieve the Second Reformation... They were setting up landmarks by which the location and limits of the city of God will be known at the dawn of the millennial day... How can they be said to go forth by the footsteps of the flock, who have declined from the attainments, renounced the covenants and contradicted the testimony of 'the cloud of witnesses....All the schisms (separations) that disfigure the body mystical of Christ... are the legitimate consequences of the abandonment of reformation attainments, the violation of covenant engagements.' If you are interested in knowing how to recognize a faithful church (or state), when and why to separate from unfaithful institutions, who has held up the standard of covenanted Reformation attainments and who has backslidden (and why), what it means to subscribe to the Westminster Confession (and why most that say they do so today do not have any idea of what that means), and much more concerning individual, family, church and civilindividual, family, church and civil duties, this is one of the best books you will ever lay your hands on. It chronicles 'some instances of worldly conformity and mark(s) some steps of defection from our 'covenanted unity and uniformity,' noting how it is necessary to take a retrospect of our history for many years; for we did not all at once reach our present condition of sinfuPresbyterian and the Reformed churches lay under the heavy hand of God's judgement in our day, because of the very defections noted throughout this fine work. "We heard (hear) from various quarters the cry, ''maintain the truth, stand up for the principles of the Second Reformation;'' and yet many of those who are the most loud in uttering this cry, appear desirous to bury in oblivion those imperishable national and ecclesiastical deeds, by which the church and kingdom of Scotland became ''married to the Lord''." Are we married to the Lord, or have we thrown off the covenants of our forefathers; are we the chaste bride of Christ, or a harlot who is found in the bedchambers of every devilish suitor (whether ecclesiastical or civil) who tempts us with the favors of this world? Let us cry out, as with 'the noble Marquis of Argyle, upon the scaffold,' when he said, 'God hath tied us by covenants to religion and reformation. These that were then unborn are yet engaged, and it passeth the power of all the magistrates under heaven to absolve them from the oath of God. They deceive themselves, and it may be, would deceive others, who think otherwise.' Not for the weak of heart. 50 pages." -- SWRB
A Short Vindication of our Covenanted Reformation, Reformed Presbytery
http://www.covenanter.org/RPCCov/shortvindication.htm

*REID, H.M.B., A Cameronian Apostle: Being Some Account of John Macmillan of Balmaghie, 1896 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997).
"The author wrote this book 'considering the renewed interest taken at present in questions of Church government and establishment,' noting that 'there seemed to be some room for a detailed treatment of a career which covers so interesting a period as that embraced between 1690 and 1750.' Macmillan is an important historical link to those who still fight for Christ's Crown and Covenant. 'For many years he fought the battle of the Covenants alone, and he fought it on lines of policy and wisdom.' states Reid. Furthermore, the author continues, 'I have tried to indicate his position among the 'Suffering Remnant' by calling him 'a Cameronian Apostle;' for, during the long period of 36 years, he was the sole ordained minister among the scattered congregations of the 'Society' people. The name seems not unfitting, and it receives a certain sanction from the authority of Dr. Cunningham, who styled him the 'high-priest' of the Societies . . . Further, Macmillan's story is also the record of the development of a most interesting side of Scottish Church life. He may be said, indeed, to have made the history of what, at last, became the Reformed Presbyterian Church. This is so true, that that Church long bore the popular name of the 'Macmillanites.' And the name of Macmillan is bound up with more than one congregation still existing.' An important book for those who would trace the backsliding of modern Presbyterianism (the neopresbyterians) and also be encouraged by the remnant of those who remain faithful to the position of the original Covenanters (the paleopresbyterians). This book's 308 pages includes illustrations and a detailed appendix containing important church documents." -- SWRB

REID, H.M.B., The Kirk Above Dee Water, 1895 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
" `This little book (128 pages)... embodies a few scattered notices of (the) Balmaghie Church since the year 1615... The dominating figure in the following pages is, of course, the great Macmillan' (Preface). Here 'they went to hear the word of God properly preached' in the Kirk of the Hill Folk, which had never fyled its hands with 'an Erastian Establishment!' (Introduction). An interesting look at a Covenanter congregation." -- SWRB

Richman, Sheldon, Separating School and State (The Future of Freedom Foundation).

*ROBERTS, WILLIAM L., The Duty of Nations, in Their National Capacity, to Acknowledge and Support the True Religion, 1853 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Excerpted from the Reformed Presbyterian Catechism below, this book deals with the inescapable necessity, of the demand found in the Word of God, for the Civil establishment of Christ as King and Lawgiver over every nation on earth. If you are sick of the cease-fire with humanism, set forth by the syncretistic, Satanic and pragmatic pagan politicians of our day, those who bargain with votaries of Antichrist (the Pope), publicly tolerate all manner of false religions (e.g. Islam) and idolatry, and compose their policy and draw their pretended authority from the beast (and not the Word of God), this book is for you! For all pagan politics is summed up in the words of the Cameronian (Covenanter) political philosopher Alexander Shields, as 'rotting away under the destructive distempers of detestable neutrality, loathsome lukewarmness, declining, and decaying in corruptions, defections, divisions, distractions, confusions; and so judicially infatuated with darkness and delusions, that they forget and forego the necessary testimony of the day' (A Hind Let Loose,, 1797 edition, p. 20). Pick up this book and begin the political walk in the 'footsteps of the flock,' traveling the covenanting road of Reformation and Scripture (with the magisterial Reformers of the past)!
On the Duty of Covenanting and the Permanent Obligations of Religious Covenants, being section 11 in the Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, 1853, by William L. Roberts
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/PresCatCov.htm
A Hind Let Loose; Or An Historical Representation OF THE TESTIMONIES OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. . . . by Mr. ALEXANDER SHIELDS, Minister of the Gospel, in St. Andrews. , EEBO.
http://www.covenanter.org/AShields/Hind/Hindletloosetitle.htm
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, William L. Roberts D.D.
http://www.covenantedreformation.com/EssaysCR/RP%20Catechism/RP%20Index.html

*Rushdoony, Rousas J., Christianity and the State (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books)
"The need to return to a Biblical doctrine of civil government is evidenced by our century's worldwide drift into tyranny. Humanism invariably rushes in to fill the world's theological vacuums: the need of the hour is to restore a full-orbed, Biblical, theology of the state. This work sets forth that theology." -- GCB

*Rutherford, Samuel, Lex, Rex (Harrisonburg, VA [Sprinkle Publications, P.O. Box 1094, Harrisonburg, 22803]: Sprinkle Publications), EEBO.
Lex, rex is Latin for "law is king."
"LEX, REX is `the great political text of the Covenanters' (Johnston citing Innes in TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, p. 305.) `Rutherford was the first to formulate the great constitutional principle Lex est Rex -- the law is King . . . much of the doctrine has become the constitutional inheritance of all countries in modern times.' (Idem.)"
"Gilmour writes [in SAMUEL RUTHERFORD], 'that, as regards religious fervour, scholastic subtlety of intellect, and intensity of ecclesiastical conviction, Samuel Rutherford is the most distinctively representative Scotsman in the first half of the seventeenth century'." -- SWRB
"Without a doubt one of the greatest books on political philosophy ever written. Rutherford here has penned a great Christian charter of liberty against all forms of civil tyranny -- vindicating the Scriptural duty to resist tyrants as an act of loyalty to God." -- SWRB
"That resistance to lawful authority -- even when that authority so called has, in point of fact, set at nought all law -- is in no instance to be vindicated, will be held by those only who are the devotees of arbitrary power and passive obedience. The principles of Mr. Rutherford's LEX, REX, however obnoxious they may be to such men, are substantially the principles on which all government is founded, and without which the civil magistrate would become a curse rather than a blessing to a country. They are the very principles which lie at the basis of the British Constitution, and by whose tenure the House of Brunswick does at this very moment hold possession of the throne of these realms." -- Rev. Robert Burns, D.D., in his Preliminary Dissertation to WODROW'S CHURCH HISTORY
"Though Rutherford is affectionately remembered in our day for his Letters, or for laying the foundations of constitutional government (against the divine right of kings) in his unsurpassed LEX, REX, his Free Disputation should not be overlooked for it contains the same searing insights as Lex, Rex. In fact, this book should probably be known as Rutherford's 'politically incorrect' companion volume to LEX, REX. A sort of sequel aimed at driving pluralists and antinomians insane. Written against 'the Belgick Arminians, Socinians, and other Authors contending for lawlesse liberty, or licentious Tolerations of Sects and Heresies,' Rutherford explains the undiluted Biblical solution to moral relativism, especially as it is expressed in ecclesiastical and civil pluralism! (Corporate pluralism being a violation of the first commandment and an affront to the holy God of Scripture)." -- SWRB
"This [THE DUE RIGHT OF PRESBYTERIES OR A PEACEABLE PLEA FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND . . . ,] could be considered the LEX, REX of church government -- another exceedingly rare masterpiece of Presbyterianism! Characterized by Walker as sweeping `over a wider field than most'." -- SWRB
A HIND LET LOOSE by Alexander Shields is sometimes referred to as 'Lex, Rex volume two.'
Lex, Rex, or The Law and the Prince, Samuel Rutherford
"Rutherford is to be praised for his teaching that the king is subject to the law of God. The Bible has nothing but condemnation for those who 'frame mischief by a law' and declares rhetorically, 'Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee?' (Ps. 94:20). Deuteronomy 17 is the classic passage in defense of Lex, Rex, wherein the king is charged to '...read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law....' (Deut. 17:19)."
http://www.natreformassn.org/lexrex/index.html
Lex, Rex, "Lawfulness to Resist Tyranny" (Samuel Rutherford)
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7947/LexRex.html
The Covenant Between God and Kings, from A DEFENSE OF LIBERTY
http://www.constitution.org/vct/vindiciae1a.htm

*Robbins, John W., Ecclesiastical Megalomania: The Economic and Political Thought of the Roman Catholic Church (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation), ISBN: 0940931753 9780940931756.
The following presents, by contrast, what a Christian society should look like.
"This book is a detailed examination of the official statements of the Vatican on economic and political matters. It demonstrates the collectivism and totalitarianism of the Roman Catholic Church-State. It is the only such book written by a Christian in the twentieth century.
"This book explores the conflict between Roman Catholic social thought and human freedom, relying on official pronouncements from the Vatican to show that the political and economic theory of the Roman Church-State justifies feudalism, corporativism, liberation theology, the welfare state, and fascism.
"Dr. John W. Robbins attended Grove City College (A.B. 1969) and The Johns Hopkins University (M.A. 1970, Ph.D. 1973). He has served as chief of staff for a Member of Congress [Ron Paul of Texas], editor of The Freeman magazine, Economist for The Heritage Foundation, and Professor of Political Philosophy in The Freedom School." -- Publisher's Annotation

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. -- John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) in a letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887 quoted by Gertrude Himmelfarb in Acton, Essays on Freedom and Power, pp. 335-36 (1972)

[The] object of the Inquisition [was] not to combat sin -- for the sin was not judged by it unless accompanied by [theological] error. Nor even to put down error. For it punished untimely and unseemly remarks the same as blasphemy. Only unity. This became an outward, fictitious, hypocritical unity. The gravest sin was pardoned, but it was death to deny the donation of Constantine. [The Donation of Constantine was a document forged in the eighth century in which the Roman Emperor Constantine willed the Western Roman Empire to the Pope. The Roman Church taught that the Donation was genuine, and the legal basis for the pope's civil authority, for centuries. -- JR] So men learnt that outward submission must be given. All this [was] to promote authority more than faith. When ideas were punished more severely than actions -- for all this time the Church was softening the criminal law, and saving men from the consequences of crime: – and the Donation was put on a level with God's own law -- men understood that authority went before sincerity.

I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. . . . For many years my view of Catholic controversy has been governed by the following chain of reasoning: 1. A crime does not become a good deed by being committed for the good of a church. 2. The theorist who approves the act is no better than the culprit who commits it. 3. The divine or historian who defends the theorist incurs the same blame. . . . To commit murder is the mark of a moment, exceptional. To defend it is constant, and shows a more perverted conscience.

The story is much more abominable than we all believed. . . . S.B. [St. Bartholomew's] is the greatest crime of modern times. It was committed on principles professed by Rome. It was approved, sanctioned, and praised by the papacy. The Holy See went out of its way to signify to the world, by permanent and solemn acts, how entirely it admired a king who slaughtered his subjects treacherously, because they were Protestants. To proclaim forever that because a man is a Protestant it is a pious deed to cut his throat in the night. . . .

A man is not honest who accepts all the Papal decisions in questions of morality, for they have often been distinctly immoral; or who approves the conduct of the Popes in engrossing power, for it was stained with perfidy and falsehood; or who is ready to alter his convictions at their command, for his conscience is guided by no principle.

The papacy contrived murder and massacre on the largest and also on the most cruel and inhuman scale. They were not only wholesale assassins but they made the principle of assassination a law of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation. . . . [The Papacy] is the fiend skulking behind the Crucifix.

Sharp, Shelby, "The Coming Attack on Christianity," Rutherford Journal (Charlottesville, VA: The Rutherford Institute). 90413
Shelby Sharp is director of the Texas branch of the Rutherford Institute. In this article he explains the plans to use tort laws to attack Christianity in the courts.

*Shaw, J.W., Hephzibah Beulah. Our Covenants the National and Solemn League; and Covenanting by the Reformed Presbyterian Synod in America: Considered (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1872).
"A very useful, easy-to-read, introductory work (by an RPCNA minister) to the topics it deals with. General Scriptural pripciples upon which this book is based are:
"1. Departure from former laudable attainments, is a great evil, severely threatened in the Holy Scriptures; and that for which every one, who is guilty, must be accountable to the Righteous Judge of all the earth.
"2. They who consent unto the unrighteous deeds of others, are chargeable with guilt, as well as the principal actors.
"3. Societies, or individuals, having once publicly and solemnly vowed unto the Most High God; and still, after the strictest enquiry, remain satisfied in their own mind, that their vows were scriptural; should seriously endeavor to act up to the true spirit and intention of these vows; and no power upon earth, nor any class of men, whether majority or minority, in a nation, can ever possibly dissolve the obligation.
"Chapters include: The National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant reviewed; Their Binding Obligations Shown; The Possibility That Adherence to them May Be Professed, While They are Virtually Abandoned; The Covenant Sworn and Subscribed by Synod at Pittsburgh, May 27th, 1871; Is It a Renovation or a New Covenant?; The Covenant Does Not Contain All That the Church is Bound to in America; Charges Against the Covenant; Reason Why Some Who Do Not Like It, Swear It; The Covenants National and Solemn League Must Be Maintained." -- SWRB
Shaw, Rev. J. W., HEPHZIBAH BEULAH OUR COVENANTS THE NATIONAL AND SOLEMN LEAGUE; AND COVENANTING BY THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD IN AMERICA: C O N S I D E R E D
http://truecovenanter.com/covenants/shaw_hephzibah_beulah.html

SMITH, B.M., Family Religion, or the Domestic Relations as Regulated by Christian Principles (1859), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Smith's family was greatly influenced by Samuel Davies. Smith himself was a friend of R.L. Dabney. As the editor notes, the importance of this book is seen in the fact that '[r]eform of the family would soon diffuse itself throughout the whole constitution of society, a higher tone of morals would be inspired, and not only would the moral influence of the church be enlarged, but the stability and security of the state would be perpetuated.' Or as the 'Directory for Family Worship,' appended to the Westminster Confession, so wisely points out, '[b]esides the public worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestic, be advanced.' This was a prize winning essay, covering, in depth, the family and its duties." -- SWRB

*SYMINGTON, ANDREW, Headship of Christ Over the Nations, 1841 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Provides Scriptural evidences for Christ's headship over the nations and the church, demonstrating the importance of this doctrine to the Kingdom of Christ. A lecture excerpted from the book Lectures on the Principles of the Second Reformation, edited by Andrew Symington." -- SWRB
Lectures on the Principles of the Second Reformation
http://www.covenanter.org/RPScotland/Principles/lecturesonthesecondreformation.htm

*Symington, William, Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ (Pittsburgh, PA: The Christian Statesman Press [National Reform Association], 1999, 1884) and (Hardbound [ISBN: 0921148054] or Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1990, 1884). The 1884 edition is also included on the Reformation Bookshelf CD #13 (Still Waters Revival Books).
"It was deemed essential to the salvation of men that their Redeemer should possess the powers at once of a prophet, a priest, and a king. These offices, while essentially distinct, are necessarily and inseparably connected with one another. Such a union has been by some utterly denied; and its denial has laid foundation for some capital errors, which have exerted a pernicious influence on the Christian church. By others it has been criminally overlooked; and the neglect with which it has been treated has occasioned vague and conflicting conceptions regarding the great work of man's deliverance from sin and wrath by the mediation of the Son of God." -- William Symington
"It is the standard work on the kingdom of God in English! There is nothing else like it; it is one-of-a kind! It covers the necessity, reality, and qualifications of Christ's dominion over not only the church, but all nations too. Anything less is to rob Christ of His magnificent, majestic, mediatorial glory -- for He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. 'While books on the priestly work of the Redeemer, and especially on the Atonement, are numerous,' notes the introduction to the American edition, 'no formal and exhaustive discussion of the kingly office of the Messiah . . . and its application to various classes of moral agents is elsewhere to be found . . . It is cause for satisfaction that the only treatise, as yet, upon this subject, is a work of signal ability, lucid in arrangement, reverent in spirit, and with hardly an exception, sound and judicious in its conclusion. Its very merits are probably, in part, the reason why no other work on the same subject has appeared, and until it is supplanted by a better work--an event not likely soon to occur--it will have a value peculiar to itself'." -- SWRB
Chapters include "The Necessity of the Mediatorial Dominion," "The Universality of the Mediatorial Dominion," "The Mediatorial Dominion Over the Church," and "Over the Nations," plus much more.
Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ, William Symington
Online free etext of the 1999 Christian Statesman Press edition.
http://www.reformed.org/eschaton/symington/index.html?mainframe=/eschaton/symington/index_mtp.html

*Symington, William, Nature and Obligation of Public Vows; With an Explanation and Defense of the British Covenants, 1841 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"More from the author of the classic, Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ. A lecture excerpted from the book Lectures on the Principles of the Second Reformation, edited by Andrew Symington." -- SWRB
Lectures on the Principles of the Second Reformation
http://www.covenanter.org/RPScotland/Principles/lecturesonthesecondreformation.htm

*Symington, William, On the Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ, 1854 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"This is the companion volume to Symington's classic Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ. In part one, we find an extensive work comparing differing views regarding the nature, necessity, matter, value, extent, and result of the atonement. Part two deals with the reality, nature, matter, properties and results of the intercessory work of Christ. Encouraging and precise. Over 300 pages." -- SWRB

*Thornwell, James H., Collected Writings of James Henley Thornwell (Banner of Truth, 1991), ISBN: 0524059632 9780524059630. Available on the forthcoming (as of September 2008) Protestant Bookshelf 30 CD Set, #16
Vol. I. Lectures on the Doctrine of God and on Divine Government (672 pages)
Vol. II. The Doctrines of Grace; Sermons; Discourses on Truth (632 pages)
Vol. III. Theological and Controversial; Rationalist Controversy: Reason, Revelation and Miracles; Papal Controversy; Baptism, Justification, Infallibility, the Apocrypha (824 pages)
Vol. IV. Writings on the Church: Church Officers; Church Operations; Church Disciplines; The Southern Presbyterian Church, etc., Sermons and Appendices (640 pages)
"J.W. Alexander once wrote the following of one of Thornwell's sermons, 'His sermon was a model of what is rare, viz.: burning hot argument, logic in ignition, and glowing more and more to the end.'
"Henry Ward Beecher, the famous Northern liberal minister, wrote after Thornwell's death, 'By common fame, Dr. Thornwell was the most brilliant minister in the Old School Presbyterian Church, and the most brilliant debater in the General Assembly. This reputation he early gained and never lost. Whenever he was present in the Assembly, he was always the first person pointed out to a stranger.'
"Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of him, 'Thornwell was one of the greatest preachers that America has ever produced'." -- SWRB
See particularly, "Relation of the State to Christ" and "National Sins: a fast-day sermon, preached in the Presbyterian Church, Columbia, Wednesday, November 21, 1860.
THE RELATION OF THE STATE TO CHRIST "is the petition of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America to the Congress of the Confederate States of America, then sitting in Richmond, Virginia. It argues that though the newly formed Confederate Constitution was admirable in many respects, it still laboured 'under one capital defect,' that being that it was not 'distinctively Christian.' It asks the Confederate Congress to 'express the precise relations which the Government of these States ought to sustain to the religion of Jesus Christ.' Suggests 'the following or equivalent terms, to be added to the section providing for liberty of conscience: Nevertheless we, the people of these Confederate States, distinctly acknowledge our responsibility to God, and the supremacy of His Son, Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords; and hereby ordain that no law shall be passed by the Congress of these Confederate States inconsistent with the will of God, as revealed in the Holy Scripture'." -- SWRB

*Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America, 2 volumes, revised edition (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1988). 90103
Translated by Henry Reeve and revised by Francis Bowen. Edited by Philip Bradley
"Tocqueville in the early part of the 19th century was commissioned by the French government to travel throughout the United States in order to discover the secret of the astounding success of this experiment in democracy. . . . A classic of political and sociological reporting and analysis . . ." -- Publisher's Annotation
Democracy in America
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/home.html

Wilson, John F. (editor), Church and State in America: A Bibliographic Guide--The Civil War to the Present (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press). 90414

Woods, Dennis, Discipling the Nations (Franklin, TN: Legacy Communications, 1996).
http://www.ismellarat.com/defaultprime.htm

*Wylie, James A., History of The Scottish Nation in 3 volumes (London, England: Hamilton, Adams, and Company and Edinburg, Scotland: Andrew Elliot, 1886)
http://www.reformation.org/history1.html

*WYLIE, JAMES A., Story of the Covenant and the Service of the Covenanters to the Reformation in Christendom and the Liberties of Great Britain, 1880 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"A fine historical introduction to the battle for Godly government and liberty against the forces of anti-Christian bondage (to national sin and Satanic deception). The Covenanters are responsible, more than any other group historically, for maintaining 'the crown rights of King Jesus' -- even at peril of severe torture and the loss of their earthly lives. Their covenanting principles are still the purest and most faithful form of Christianity known to man, and the revival of these eminently Biblical views are a sure hope for the future! For a more extensive 'Camerionian' treatment of this subject: Howie's Scots Worthies." -- SWRB

See also: The civil magistrate, Reform of the church, Corporate faithfulness and sanctification, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, The application of scripture to the corporate bodies of church and state, The covenanted reformation, The westminster confession (1647, the westminster standards) and related works, The westminster confession of faith (the westminster standards) and related works: a study guide, Persecution, The one and the many, Unity and uniformity in the visible church: unity in the truth, Toleration, liberty of conscience, pluralism, and neutrality, Separation, The Protestant Reformation, Freedom: a gift of God's Grace, Calvinism, , A theological interpretation of american history, Church and state, Conspiracy and corruption, The courts and the law base, Politics, The Counter Reformation, Politics and government, Modern myths and fallacies, The decline of American society, Spiritual warfare, The banking system, Selection of Covenant Heads for Positions of Leadership

Related WebLinks

Calvin's Commentary on Hosea
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/m.sion/calvhose.htm

Excerpts From Church and State in the United States by Philip Schaff-1888
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7947/ChurchState.html

American Revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1789)
http://www.opc.org/documents/WCF_orig.html
Appendix A: Major Changes of the Savoy Declaration
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappa.html
Appendix B: Major Changes of the PCUSA (1788-1958)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappb.html
Appendix C: Major Changes of the UPCUSA and PCUS (1958-1983)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappc.html

"The Relation of Church and State," Charles Hodge, in a Trinity Review, July/August, 1988
"Hodge was one of the greatest exponents and defenders of historical Calvinism in America during the 19th century." He was the principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878.
Read here what he says in support of the "newly discovered" relationship between Church and State in America. Then decide for yourself if he unscripturally conceded to delivering the Church into the hands of the State in the "American Version" of the Westminster Confession of Faith adopted in 1789.
The Biblical doctrine of Christian Magistracy functions correctly only when State leadership is Christian, and when the S