These Sections teach as follows :

1st. Civil government is a divine institution, and hence the duty of obedience to our legitimate rulers is a duty owed to God, as well as to our fellow-men. Some have supposed that the right or legitimate authority of human government has its foundation ultimately in "the consent of the governed," "the will of the majority," or in some imaginary " social compact" entered into by the forefathers of the race at the origin of social life. It is self-evident, however, that the divine will is

the source of all government, and the obligajion to obey that will resting upon all moral agents the ultimate ground of all obligation to obey human governments. This is ('.ertain — [a.) Because God is the Creator and absolute Possessor of all men. (6.) Because he has formed their constitution as intelligent, morally responsible free agents, and is the Lord of the conscience, (c.) Because he is the supreme moral Governor of all moral agents, and because his all-embracing moral law of absolute perfection requires all that is morally right of every kind, and forbids all that is morally wrong. Hence every moral obligation of every kind is a duty owed to God. (d.) Because God has constituted man a social being ii his creation, and has providentially organized him ii families and communities, and thus made civil govern • ment an absolute necessity, (e.) Because as a providential Ruler of the world God uses civil government as his instrument in promoting the great ends of redemption in the upbuilding of his kingdom in the world. (/.) This is explicitly affirmed in Scripture : " There is no power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God." Rom. xiii. 1, 2. To the good the magistrate is "a minister of God for good," and to the evil he is *'a minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rom. xiii. 4. Of course God has not prescribed for all men any particular form or order of succession of civil government. He has laid the general foundation both for the duty and necessity of government ;n the consciences and in the social natures of all men and in the circumstances of all communities, while he has left eveiy

people free to choose their o vn form of government in their own way, according to their various degrees of civilization, their social and political condition, their hi&*torical antecedents, and as they are instructed by his word and led and sustained by his providence.

In this sense God as Creator, as revealed in the light of nature, has established civil government among men from the beginning, and among all peoples and nations of all ages and generations. But in the development of the plan of redemption the God-man as mediatorial King has assumed the government of the universe. Matt, xxviii. 18; Phil. ii. 9-11; Eph. i. 17-23. As the universe constitutes one physical and moral system, it was necessary that his headship as Mediator should extend to the whole and to every department thereof, in order that all things should work together for good to his people and for his glory, that all his enemies should be subdued and finally judged and punished, and that all creatures should worship him, as his Father had determined. Rom. viii. 28; 1 Cor. xv. 25; Heb. x. 13; i. 6; Rev. v. 9-13. Hence the present providential Governor of the physical universe and *^ Ruler among the nations" is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, to whose will all law^s should be conformed, and whom all nations and all rulers of men should acknowledge and serve. " He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of v)rds." Rev. xix. 16.

2d. The proximate end for which God has ordained magistrates is the promotion of the public good, and the ultimate end is the promotion of his own glory. This evidently follows from the revealed fact that the

glory or manifested excellence of the Creator is the chief end he had in the general system of things, and hence the appointed chief end of each intelligent agent. Eom. ix. 22, 23 ; xi. 36 ; Col. i. 16 ; Eph. i. 5, 6 ; 1 Pet. iv. 11. If the glory of God is the chief end of every man, it must be the chief end equally of all nations and communities of men, and it ought to be made the governing purpose of every individual in all his relations and actions, public and official, as well as private and personal. And if the glory of God is his chief end, it is that to which all other objects and designs are subordinated as ends. The specific way in which the civil magistrate is to endeavour to advance the glory of God is through the promotion of the good of the community (Rom. xiii. 4) in temporal concerns, including education, morals, physical prosperity and the protection of life and property, and the preservation of order; and

3d. Christian magistrates should also seek in their influential positions to promote piety as well as order. 2 Tim. ii. 1. This they are to do, not by assuming the functions of the Church, nor by attempting by endowments officially to patronize or control the Church, but personally by their example, and officially by giving impartial protection and all due facility for the Church in its work, by. the explicit recognition of God and of Jesus Christ " as Rule» among the nations," and by the enactment and enforcement of all laws conceived in the true Spirit of the Gospel, touching all questions upon which the Scriptures indicate the will of God specifically or in general principle, and especially as touching questions of the Sabbath day, the oath, mar 'iage and divorce, capital punishments, etc., etc.

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402 CiONFESSION OF FAITH.

4th. It is lawful for Christians to accept ai d execute the office of a magistrate. This is evident enough. Indeed in the highest sense it is lawful for none other than Christians to be magistrates or anything else, since it is a violation of God's will that any man is not a Christian. And the greater the number and the importance of the relations a man assumes, the greater becomes his obligation to be a Christian, in order that he may be qualified to discharge them all for the glory of God and the good of all concerned.

5th. Christian magistrates may lawfully, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions. The right and duty of self-defence is established by the inalienable instincts of nature, by reason, conscience, the word of God and the universal consent of mankind. If it is right for an individual to take life in self-defence, it must be equally right for a community to do so on the same principle.

It is very difficult to decide in particular cases when it is right for a Christian nation to go to war, and it is not our place to consider such questions. But the following general j)rinciples are very plain and very certain. War is an incalculable evil, because of the lives it destroys, the misery it occasions and the moral degradation it infallibly works on all sides — upon the vanquished and the victor, the party originally in the right and the party in the wrong. Jn every war one party at least must be in the wrong, involved in the tremendous guilt of unjustifiable war, and in the vast majority of cases both parties are thus in the wrong. No plea of honour, glory or aggrandizement, policy or profit can excuse, much less justify, wai-; nothing short of necessity

THE CI\IL MAGISTRATE. 403

to the end of the preservation of national existence. In order to make a war right in God's sight, it is not on^y necessary that onr enemy should aim to do us a wrong, but also (a) that the wrong he attempts should directly or remotely threaten the national life, and (b) that war be the only means to avert it. Evetn in this case every other means of securing justice and maintaining national safety should be exhausted before recourse is had to this last resort. A war may be purely defensive in spirit and intent while it is aggressive in the manner in which it is conducted. The question of right depends upon the former, not the latter — upon the purpose for which, and not upon the mere order in which, or theatre upon which, the attack is made.

The Sacred Scriptures are a perfect " rule of faith and manners." They prescribe the duty incumbent upon men in every station and relation, whether as members of the Church or of the commonwealth — whether as rulers or as subjects. Any summary of Christian doctrine, therefore, which did not exhibit the duty of civil rulers, especially in reference to religion and the kingdom of Christ, wovild be extremely defective. This subject, accordingly, occupies a prominent place in the Confessions of all the Reformed Churches; and the harmony of these Confessions is a strong presumptive proof that the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures on this interesting topic is neither ambiguous nor " hard to be understood."

It is true that sects have sprung up, at various periods, which have held principles subversive of all civil government, and hostile especially to all interference of the civil magistrate about matters of religion. The German Anabaptists who, in the sixteenth century, produced such dreadful commotions, maintained that, " in the kingdom of Christ civil magistrates were absolutely useless." And even after their principles were modified by Menno, they " neither admitted civil rulers into their communion, nor allowed any of their members to perform the functions of magistracy." They also denied "the lawfulness of repelling force by force, and considered war, in all its shapes, as unchristian and unjust." * Similar sentiments were broached by the English sectaries, at the period when the Westminster Assembly was sitting. Among the many pernicious errors vented at that time, we find the following : — " That 'tis not lawful for a Christian to be a magistrate; but, upon turning Christian, he should lay down his magistracy : That it is unlawful for Christians to fight, and take up arms for their laws and civil liberties." + It is well known that the lawful-

* Mosheim's Eccl. Hist., cent, xvi., sect. 3, part 2, chap. 3, cap. 5, 16. f Edward* Gangrjena, part i., pp. 29, 30.

242 CONFESSION OF FAITH. \ CHAP. XXIII.

ness of war is still denied by the Society of Friends, or Quakers.

In opposition to such opinions, our Confession here teaches — I. That magistracy or civil government is the ordinance of God. II. That magistrates are appointed for the promotion of the public good, in subordination to the glory of God, III. That Christians may lawfully accept the office of a magistrate. IV. That magistrates ought to maintain piety as well as peace and justice. V. That they may lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage w^ar upon just and necessary occasions.

I. Magistracy, or civil government, is the ordinance of God. Several eminent writers have supposed that government is founded in the social compact; but it has been more generally held that government is founded in the will of God. * When it is asserted that magistracy is a divine institution, it is not meant that it is of direct and express divine appointment, like the office of the gospel ministry. Nothing more is intended than that government is agreeable to the will of God. It is his will that the happiness of mankind be promoted. But government is indispensable to their happiness— to the preservation of peace and order — to the safety of life, liberty, and property. Nay, it is necessary to th? very existence of any considerable number of mankind in a social state. The deduction natively follows, that it is the will of God that government should exist; and this deduction of reason is amply confirmed by the express declaration of an inspired apostle : " There is no power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." — Rom. xiii. 1,2. It is to be observed, that magistracy was instituted by God, as the moral Governor of the world, and is not derived from Christ as Mediator. This forms an important distinction between the civil and the ecclesiastical powers. " The King of nations," says Gillespie, " hath instituted the civil power ; the King of saints hath instituted the ecclesiastical power. I mean, the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, who exerciseth sovereignty over the workmanship of -his own hands, and so over all mankind, hath instituted magistrates to be in his stead, as gods upon earth ; but Jesus Christ, as Mediator and King of the Church, whom his Father hath set upon his holy hill of Zion (Ps. ii. 6), to ~ * Among those who have pleaded for a social compact as the fouiidation of government, the venerable name of Locke may be specified; and among those who have advocated the opposite opinion, w^e may refer to Paley " Moral and political Philosophy," book vi., chap. 3) and to Dwight (Ser. 113).

reign over the house of Jacob for ever (Luke i. 33), who hath the key of the house of David upon his shoulder (Isa. xxii. 22), hath instituted an ecclesiastical power and government in the hands of Church officers, w^hom, in his name, he sendeth forth." * It may be further remarked, that, although God has instituted civil government, yet he has not enjoined any one form of government as obligatory upon all communities ; he has left it free to the several countries to choose that form which they think fittest for themselves ; and in this respect the Apostle Peter calls it " the ordinance of man."— 1 Pet. ii. 13.

II. JNIagistrates are appointed for the promotion of the public good, in subordination to the glory of God. Magistrates are called " the ministers of God for good." — Rom. xiii. 4. They are invested with dignity and power, not for their own honour and advantage, but for promoting the welfare of society ; especially " for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well." As this is the design of civil government, so this end is in some measure gained even by the worst of governments. But when this design is systematically and notoriously disregarded — when rulers become habitual tyrants, invading and overthrowing the liberties and privileges of the nation — the governed must have a right to remedy the evil. This is a principle essential to true liberty, and it was acted upon in our own country at the Revolution.

III. Christians may lawfully accept of the office of a magistrate. It cannot be questioned that, under the former dispensation, some of the most pious men, such as David, Josiah, and Hezekiah, exercised this office with the divine approbation. There are also many predictions which clearly intimate that Christians should execute this office under the New Testament dispensation. — Isa. xlix. 23; Ps. Ixxii. 10, 11. Those who consider it unlawful for Christians to bear such an office, chiefly rest their opinion upon the example of Christ (Luke xii. 14), and upon his declaration to his disciples. — Matt. XX. 25, 26. But though Christ came not to exercise temporal dominion, and though he repressed the ambitious temper which then manifested itself among his apostles, and interdicted them and the ministers of the gospel in succeeding ages from holding such an office, this does not exclude all Christians from executing that function. Were it unlawful for Christians to accept of the office of a magistrate, it would follow, either that there must be no magistrate at all in Christian countries — which would involve them in anarchy and dissolution — or else, that magistrates who aie not

• Gillespie's Aaron's Rod p. 185.

244 CONFESSION OF FAITH. []CHAP. XXIIT.

Christians must be established among them ; and who does not perceive the absurdity of this ? *

IV. Christian magistrates ou:j^ht to maintain pieti/, as well as justice and peace. The apostle (2 Tim. ii. 1) exhorts, that prayers be made by Christians " for kings, and for all that are in authority ; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." " What Christians are here to pray for, that magistrates must be bound to promote as their end ; and this is not simply * a quiet and peafteable life,' but ' in all godliness and honesty.' Rulers are not, in their official capacity, to be indifferent to godliness any more than to honesty; both ai'e to be countenanced and promoted by them. — Ezra vi. 8-10." f

V. Christian magistrates may lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions. War must be regarded as a great evil, but in the present state of the world it is sometimes necessary; and if a nation were to adopt and act upon the principle that war is absolutely unlawful, it would soon become a prey to its ambitious neighbours. Under the Old Testament, wars were undertaken by the express command and with the approbation of God; but he could never'^ommand and approve of what is morally wrong. In the New Testament, too, there are various circumstances stated which countenance the lawfulness of magistrates waging war, and of Christians bearing arms. When the soldiers inquired of John what they should do, he said unto them, " l3oviolenceto£0maD, neither accuse any falsely ;" but he"did^ not command them to relinquish their profession, as unlawful; on the contrary, the precept which he added, " Be content with your wages," supposed them to continue in their situation. — Luke iii. 14. The first Gentile convert who was received into the Christian Church was a centurion ; but Peter, when he baptized him, did not require him to give up his situation in the Roman army. — Acts x. To determine the several cases in which war may be justifiable would be out of place here ; it may, however, be generally stated, that aggressive wars, or such as are undertaken to gratify views of ambition or worldly aggrandizement, cannot be justified; but that defensive wars, or those which, as to the first occasion of them, are defensive, though in their progress they must often be offensive, are lawful.