Bahnsen on the War for Independence

Question to Dr. Bahnsen:
Could you briefly address the biblical legality of the American Revolution?

”I am not aware that there was an American Revolution, was there? What are we referring to here? All right, I’ll take the tongue out of the cheek and answer you straightly.

”You’ll notice that the question uses a nomenclature that has been imposed upon us. We refer to that as the American Revolution. But it was not a revolution, it was a war of independence. Am I just playing with words? Absolutely not. People must do their reading. Do your homework. If you wish to talk about this time in American history read the Declaration of Independence beyond the Preamble which is strong rhetoric, I love it and so forth. But the Declaration of Independence tells you what the Colonists were doing. They had declared the king out of order because he violated rights of English free men. That is to say, they imposed the sanctions of the covenant on the king because he had violated their rights. They didn’t say, “You know we don’t like this guys breath, he’s gotten a little overweight, we think he speaks in a funny way and so we are going to get rid of him.”

“They said you have violated our rights over and over again. They brought a lawsuit against him, found him guilty and declared their independence. In essence their argument was you are the revolutionary and have broken covenant with us. We are no longer bound by your government. By the way, that understanding is part of English political history.

”The Puritans are remembered as “king killers.” There was only one king that they killed but that was enough. Charles 1 was executed because the Puritans found him guilty of plotting against his own countrymen, going into a pact with France to have him put back on his throne in England. He was brought to trial because it was understood, and properly so, that no one was above the law not even the king. And, therefore, kings will be subject to legal indictment and punishment and for this treason in plotting the death of his countrymen he was executed. People throughout history say, “Oh, the Puritans were terrible for doing that.” Praise God for the Puritans doing that. From them we have learned that everybody is impeachable. No one is above the law and King George 3 was impeachable, too, and the Colonists impeached him.”

Crown Rights, Political Wrongs Q and A Session with Dr. Greg Bahnsen