And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
“If their princes exceed their bounds, Madam, no doubt they may be resisted, even by power.” Those were John Knox’s words in response to Queen Mary when she queried him about the rights of subjects to resist their princes.
Was Knox right? I contend that he was. It is my contention that not only may an evil government be resisted, but it is in fact the duty of Christians to resist civil authorities when they, in Knox’s words, “exceed their bounds.”
Last week, we began our look at Christian resistance to an evil, usurping civil magistrate. Part of the answer given was what Christians should not do: engage in private rebellion. One example of sinful rebellion we looked at in the Word of God is found in II Kings 12:20 where we read that King Joash was murdered by two of his servants. When Joash’s son, Amaziah, came to power, he had the men responsible for the assassination of Joash put to death, and rightfully so.
But what is the positive duty of the Christian? If Christians are not to engage in private rebellion by assassinating a ruler, even if the ruler is unjust as was Joash in his later years as king, what are believers to do? We also explored that question last week in our discussion about the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate (DLM). The DLM tells us that when a higher authority becomes corrupt, it is the right, indeed it is the duty, for lesser civil authorities to interpose between the corrupt higher authority and the people. And not only do lesser magistrates have the right and duty to resist, but that right and duty extends up to and includes removing from office and, if the situation calls for it, executing the offending higher authority.
This week I’d like to look at one very clear example of this found in the books of II Kings and II Chronicles concerning the evil, usurping Queen Athaliah.
Although it is not the main purpose of this essay, it’s worth mentioning that the account of Queen Athaliah is an important text also for refuting feminism. Many today, including many Christians, have had their minds so twisted by 200-plus years of feminist dogma that they find it strange that anyone would oppose women serving as rulers of cities and nations. In fact, there a probably few ideas that can incite people to anger than to suggest that God has denied women the right to political leadership. But the thundering Scot John Knox was not so blinded and rightly argued against women rulers in his “First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women,” a work which this author considers among the greatest essays ever written by a Christian.
Lux Lucet 