Note: All quotes are from sources as noted. The only fictitious elements in this diary posts are to treat these thoughts as from John Calvin.
I send greetings to all Protestants at the Inauguration of the 45th President of the US. Believe it or not, some of our tradition’s ideas have led you to this point. After a spirited campaign, perhaps a voice removed from the political fray could offer some modest, principled advice. With all the parades and traditions of this Inaugural—the losing party probably praying for a repeat of William Henry Harrison’s Inaugural (the longest with over 8,000 words or two lengthy sermons), which led to him contracting pneumonia and dying before he had many days in office—while this national liturgy is being enacted, a TULIP of guiding principles may be timely.
Let me begin with a quote and see if you can guess the author’s identity (hint: this thought is virtually plagiarized in Federalist #51). I offer one beginning tweet on human government: “If we were all like angels, blameless and freely able to exercise perfect self-control, we would not need rules or regulations. Why, then, do we have so many laws and statutes? Because of man’s wickedness, for he is constantly overflowing with evil; this is why a remedy is required.” **
Two centuries later, James Madison, steeped in the Knoxian tradition learned from his Princeton President John Witherspoon—almost as if copying me without attribution—referred to an innate tendency toward sinfulness and the exploitation of others that required governmental power to be circumscribed. To Madison, it was but “a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government.” Madison reflected Reformation thought when he tweeted: “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary” (Federalist #51). Had Madison derived his view from human experience alone, this reference would merit little comment. However, it appears remarkably similar to a particular theological formulation from several centuries earlier and derived from a common well.
These founding fathers, affected consciously or unconsciously by Reformation innovations of power in governance, also favored
Madison added this definition of the republican ideal, invoking the memory of the 1579 Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos
In keeping with the Huguenot thought of Theodore Bezaand others, Federalist #69 denounced a hereditary monarchy as “an absolute negative” on representative government. Perhaps as a counterweight to the Enlightenment idea that man is innately good, Alexander Hamilton reminded his readers of a balance to be maintained: “The supposition of universal venality in human nature is little less an error in political reasoning than the supposition of universal rectitude” (#77).
Surely, some political wisdom from the past could be offered during on this inaugur
Prayer Requests:
- For final preparations, travelers’ mercies, and even more registrations for The Bethlehem Conference for Pastors + Church Leaders.
- For students and faculty as they return to the classroom and the rigors of the new semester.
- For every rising graduate of the college and seminary to receive a calling from God to ministry in the church, mission field, academy, or marketplace.
- For more to rise to the $100,000 Building Fund matching grant opportunity by March 31.
** John Calvin, Sermons on Galatians, p. 313.
Rev. Dr. David Hall is Pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church, Powder Springs, Georgia, and General Editor of The Calvin 500 Series, P&R Publishing.
Meet Dr. Hall when he lectures at Bethlehem College & Seminary on Wednesday, February 8.
