... "The second Scriptural viewpoint overwhelmingly embraced by most Americans during the Revolutionary Era was that God would not honor an offensive war, but that He did permit civil self-defense (e.g., Nehemiah 4:13-14 & 20-21, Zechariah 9:8, 2 Samuel 10:12, etc.). The fact that the American Revolution was an act of self-defense and was not an offensive war undertaken by the Americans remained a point of frequent spiritual appeal for the Founding Fathers."

• Barton, David, 1954-present. Was the American Revolution a Biblically Justified Act? Also here.

Thornton, J. W. Historical introduction.--Discourses:
I. Mayhew, J. Sermon of Jan. 30, 1750.
II. Chauncy, C. Thanksgiving sermon on the repeal of the Stamp act, 1766.
III. Cooke S. Election sermon, 1770.
IV. Gordon, W. Thanksgiving sermon, 1774.
V. Langdon, S. Election sermon at Watertown, 1775.
VI. West, S. Election sermon, 1776.
VII. Payson, P. Election sermon, 1778.
VIII. Howard, S. Election sermon, 1780.
IX. Stiles, E. Election sermon, 1783.

• Jay, John. Henry P. Johnston, editor. The Correspondence and public papers of John Jay. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1890, Volume 4 (1794-1826) of 4. 554 pp.

  Morse, New Haven, August 9, 1809: "I have undertaken, should I have leisure to continue, A General History of the United States (particularly in reference to remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence in favor of this country, from its settlement to this day), begun by Revd. Dr. Trumbull, and which he has brought down to the year 1766, in MSS. ready for the press. With events in our country since that period, you, Sir, are more intimately acquainted than most other men. I have a great desire to avail myself of such information as to events and facts most prominent and interesting, as you possess, and shall be willing to communicate. In a personal interview I could more fully disclose my wishes and plan."

  Jay: "A proper history of the United States I would have much to recommend it: in some respects it would be singular, or unlike all others; it would develop the great plan of Providence, for causing this extensive part of our world to be discovered, and these 'uttermost parts of the earth' to be gradually filled with civilized and Christian people and nations. The means or second causes by which this great plan has long been and still is accomplishing, are materials for history, of which the writer ought well to know the use and bearings and proper places. In my opinion, the historian, in the course of the work, is never to lose sight of that great plan.

  "Remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence are fine subjects, but the exhibition cannot have a full effect, unless accompanied with a distinct view of the objects and state of things to which they relate; it is by discerning how admirably they are accommodated and fitted to answer their intended purposes, that the reader is made to reflect and feel properly.

  "Few among us have time and talent for such a work. I am pleased with the prospect of your undertaking it; and I do believe that, with a due allowance of time, that is, of several years, you would execute it well."

"Mr. Otis, ye. Son, understanding the Foibles of human Nature, although he did not always practise upon that Theory, advanced one shrewd Position, which seldom fails to promote popular Commotions, vizt. that it was necessary to secure the black Regiment, these were his Words, & his Meaning was to engage ye. dissenting Clergy on his Side. He had laid it down as a Maxim, in nomine Domini incipit omne malum; & where better could he fly for aid than to the Horns of the Altar? & this Order of Men might, in a literal Sense, be stiled such, for like their Predecessors of 1641 they have been unceasingly sounding the Yell of Rebellion in the Ears of an ignorant & deluded People."

... "It may not be amiss, now, to reconnoitre Mr. Otis's black Regiment, the dissenting Clergy, who took so active a Part in the Rebellion. ²⁴

²⁴ The term "black regiment" was used in Oliver's article in the Boston Weekly News-Letter, Jan. 11, 1776. It was used earlier by "Israelite" in the Boston Gazette, Dec. 7, 1772. [Also in Newport Mercury, Dec. 14, 1772.]

"The congregational persuasion of Religion might be properly termed the established Religion of the Massachusetts, as well as of some other of the New England Colonies; as the Laws were peculiarly adapted to secure ye Rights of this Sect; although all other Religions were tolerated, except the Romish. This Sect inherited from their Ancestors an Aversion to Episcopacy; & I much question, had it not been for the Supremacy of the British Government over them, which they dared not openly deny, whether Episcopacy itself would have been tolerated; at least it would have been more discountenanced than it was & here I can not but remark a great Mistake of the Governors of the Church of England, in proposing to the Colonies to have their consent to a Bishops residing among them for the purpose of Ordination."

... "The Town of Boston being the Metropolis, it was also the Metropolis of Sedition; and hence it was that their Clergy being dependent on the People for their daily Bread; by having frequent Intercourse with the People, imbibed their Principles. ²⁵

²⁵"Freeman" in the Censor for Jan. 4, 1772, p. 25, observed that the Boston clergy 'have temporised, against their own judgments, in compliance with the prejudices of their people!'

"In this Town was an annual Convention of the Clergy of the Province, the Day after the Election of his Majestys Charter Council; and at those Meetings were settled the religious Affairs of the Province; & as the Boston Clergy were esteemed by the others as an Order of Deities, so they were greatly influenced by them. There was also another annual Meeting of the Clergy at Cambridge, on the Commencement for graduating the Scholars of Harvard College, at these two Conventions, if much Good was effectuated, so there was much Evil. And some of the Boston Clergy, as they were capable of the Latter, so they missed no Opportunities of accomplishing their Purposes. Among those who were most distinguished of the Boston Clergy were Dr. Charles Chauncy, Dr. Jonathan Mayhew & Dr. Samuel Cooper. ²⁶ & they distinguished theirselves in encouraging Seditions & Riots, untill those lesser Offences were absorbed in Rebellion. ²⁷

²⁶ Other members of the "black regiment" were Jonas Clark, of Lexington, whose wife was Hancock's cousin; Andrew Eliot, who was a correspondent of Thomas Hollis; John Lathrop, of Old North Church; and Samuel Cooke, of Arlington, who was a good friend of Jonas Clark and John Cleaveland.

²⁷ Samuel Cooper and his successor were accused of "sowing sedition and conspiracy among parishioners" a practice that had gone on ever since the cornerstone of the church was laid. See Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (Durham, N.C., 1928), p. 94, n. 34.

• Adams, John, 1735-1826. The 'American Revolution', Letter to Hezekiah Niles, first editor of the National Register. Quincy, February 13, 1818. First published in Niles' Weekly Register, v. 2, n. 14, March 7, 1818.

  Later published as Revolutionary Reminiscences in Niles' National Register, containing political, historical, geographical, scientifical, statistical, economical, and biographical documents, essays and facts : together with notices of the arts and manufactures, and a record of the events of the times, August 6, 1842. Online as Niles' Weekly Register, Volume 62. Also here.

• The Farmer Refuted. February 23, 1775. Alexander Hamilton, The Works of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Henry Cabot Lodge (Federal Edition) (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904). In 12 vols. Vol. 1.

French Protestant Christian theologian and scholar. Read about Beza at the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Volume 2.

• The Right of Magistrates Over Their Subjects. Dv Droit Des Magistrats Svr Levrs Svbiets Traitté tres-necessaire en ce temps, pour aduertir de leur deuoir, tant les Magistrats que les Subiets ; publié par ceux de Magdebourg l'an MDL: & maintenant reueu & augmenté de plusieurs raisons & exemples. [S.l.] [s.n.] Edition: [Mikrofiche-Ausg.] 1574. 85 pp.

English reforming clergyman and writer. Read about Goodman here.

• How Superior Powers Ought to Be Obeyed by Their Subjects and wherin they may lawfully by Gods worde be disobeyed and resisted: wherin also is declared the cause of all this present miserie in England, and the onely way to remedy the same / [Geneva]: Printed at Geneua by Iohn Crispin, 1558. 234, [4] pp.; 14 cm. (8vo)

French Huguenot writer and diplomat. Read about Languet here.

• Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos, a defence of liberty against tyrants. Or, of the lawfull power of the prince over the people, and of the people over the prince. Being a treatise written in Latin and French by Junius Brutus, and translated out of both into English. Questions discussed in this treatise. I. Whether subjects are bound, and ought to obey princes, if they command that which is against the law of God. II. Whether it be lawfull to resist a prince which doth infringe the law of God, or ruine the Church, by whom, how, and how farre it is lawfull. III. Whether it be lawfull to resist a prince which doth oppresse or ruine a publique state, and how farre such resistance may be extended, by whome, how, and by what right, or law it is permitted. IV. Whether neighbour princes or states may be, or are bound by law, to give succours to the subjects of other princes, afflicted to the cause of true religion, or oppressed by manifest tyranny.

Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Rochester, and Protestant religious leader. Read about Ponet in Biographia evangelica by Erasmus Middleton.

• A short treatise of politique povver; and of the true obedience which subjects owe to Kings, and other civill governours: Being an answer to seven questions: viz. 1. Whereof politique power groweth, wherefore it was ordained, and the right use and duty of the same? Chap. I. 2. Whether kings, princes, and other governours, have an absolute power and authority over their subjects? Chap. II. 3. Whether kings, princes, and other politique governours, be subject to Gods lawes, and the positive lawes of their countries? Chap. III. 4. In what things, and how farre subjects are bound to obey their princes and governours? Chap. IV. 5. Whether all the subjects goods be the emperours or kings owne, and that they may lawfully take them as their owne? Chap. V. 6. Whether it be lawfull to depose an evill governour and kill a tyrant? Chap. VI. 7. What confidence is to be given to princes and potentates? Chap. VII. Psalm 118:9. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to trust in Princes. Edited for the Modern Reader from the 1556 Edition by Patrick S. Poole. Text-searchable. 1642 edition.
  • John Adams. The Works of John Adams, vol. 6 (Defence of the Constitutions Vol. III cont'd, Davila, Essays on the Constitution). 1851.
    There have been three periods in the history of England, in which the principles of government have been anxiously studied, and very valuable productions published, which, at this day, if they are not wholly forgotten in their native country, are perhaps more frequently read abroad than at home.
    The first of these periods was that of the Reformation, as early as the writings of Machiavel himself, who is called the great restorer of the true politics. The 'Shorte Treatise of Politicke Power, and of the True Obedience which Subjects owe to Kyngs and other Civile Governors, with an Exhortation to all True Natural Englishemen, compyled by John Poynet, D. D.,' was printed in 1556, and contains all the essential principles of liberty, which were afterwards dilated on by Sidney and Locke.
    ... Property is surely a right of mankind as really as liberty. Perhaps, at first, prejudice, habit, shame or fear, principle or religion, would restrain the poor from attacking the rich, and the idle from usurping on the industrious; but the time would not be long before courage and enterprise would come, and pretexts be invented by degrees, to countenance the majority in dividing all the property among them, or at least, in sharing it equally with its present possessors. Debts would be abolished first; taxes laid heavy on the rich, and not at all on the others; and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted. What would be the consequence of this? The idle, the vicious, the intemperate, would rush into the utmost extravagance of debauchery, sell and spend all their share, and then demand a new division of those who purchased from them. The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If 'Thou shalt not covet,' and 'Thou shalt not steal,' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.

English diplomat and pamphleteer.

• A seasonable discourse wherein is examined what is lawful during the confusions and revolutions of government especially in the case of a king deserting his kingdoms: and how far a man may lawfully conform to the powers and commands of those who with various successes hold kingdoms: as also, whether the nature of war be inconsistent with the nature of the Christian religion. London: Printed and are to be sold by Rich. Janeway ..., 1689. [2], 72 pp.

English puritan clergyman and co-founder of the American colony of New Haven. Read about Davenport here.

• Gods call to his people to turn unto him: together with his promise to turn unto them, opened and applied in II sermons at two publick fasting-dayes appointed by authority / by John Davenport. Cambridge [Mass.] : Printed by S.G. and M.J. for John Usher, 1669. 27 pp.
• A Sermon preach'd at the election of the governour, at Boston in New-England, May 19th 1669. [Cambridge, Mass. : s.n.], 1670. 16 pp. Also here.

  1. It is from the Light and Law of Nature, and the Law of Nature is God's Law.
  2. The orderly ruling of men over men, in general, is from God, in its root, though voluntary in the manner of coalescing: It being supposed that men be combined in Family-Society, it is necessary that they be joyned in a Civil-Society; that union being made, the power of Civil-Government, and of making Laws, followeth naturally, though the manner of union, in a Political Body, is voluntary. That we defend our selves from violence and wrong, is a consequent of pure Nature: but that we do it by devolving our Power into the hands of Civil Rulers, this seems to be rather positively moral, than natural.
  3. Because this special Form of Civil Government of Commonweales, by men orderly chosen, the Scripture ascribes unto God; and also Civil Government, administred by Judges and Magistrates, as Christ spake concerning Pilate, Joh. 19. 11. Jesus answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: and they are said to judge not for man, but for the Lord, 2 Chron. 19. 6. hence they are called Gods, Psal. 82. 6,7. as appointed by him, according to Christ's exposition of those words, Joh. 10. 35. If he calleth them Gods, unto whom the Word of God was given. See what the Wisdom of God, which is Jesus Christ, saith in Prov. 8. 15,16. By me Kings reign, and Princes decree justice. Object. In 1 Pet. 2. 13,14. Civil Government by Civil Rulers is called a humane Ordinance, Üíèñùðßíç êôßóåß.
  

• Franklin B. Dexter. Sketch of the Life and Writings of John Davenport. Read before the Society February 1, 1875. Published in PAPERS OF THE NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, vol. II (1877), pp. 205-238. Depositor's note: This is still the most complete published biography of John Davenport (1597-1670); it runs 29 pages, plus a bibliography of his works.

Jurist. Read more about Grotius here and here.

• On the Law of War and Peace. De Jure Belli ac Pacis, translated by A. C. Campbell. London, 1814.
• De Jure Belli ac Pacis, translated, with an introduction by W. S. M. Knight of New College, Oxford, and of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Sweet and Maxwell, Limited, London: 1822. 84 pp.
  Justice Joseph Story, A Discourse pronounced upon the inauguration of the author as Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University: on the twenty-fifth day of August, 1829. Boston; (Cambridge), 1829: "... Upon the general theory of the law of nations much has been written by authors of great ability and celebrity. At the head of the list stands that most extraordinary man, Grotius, whose treatise de Jure Belli et Pacis was the first great effort in modern times to reduce into any order the principles belonging to this branch of jurisprudence, by deducing them from the history and practice of nations, and the incidental opinions of philosophers, orators, and poets. His eulogy has been already pronounced in terms of high commendation, but so just and so true, that it were vain to follow, or add to his praise.*
  *Sir James MacKintosh, in his Introductory Discourse."
• de Jure Praedae.
• Rights of War and Peace.
• [Baptizatorum puerorum institutio. English.] The Whole Duty of a Christian, both in faith and practice: succinctly explain'd in familiar verse: by way of question and answer: with exact references to the texts of scripture. Done into English from the Latin catechism of Hugo Grotius. London: printed and sold by John Morphew, 1711. 16 pp.
• Clement Barksdale, translator. The Magistrate's Authority in matters of religion asserted. Or The right of the state in the Church. A discourse written in latine by Hugo Grotius: Englished by C.B. M.A.London: printed for Joshua Kirton at the Kings Armes in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1655. [8], 316, [34] pp.
• [De veritate religionis Christianæ. English.] Clement Barksdale, translator. Against paganism, Judaism, Mahumetism. Londoni: Printed for the author, and are to be sold by John Barksdale, 1676. [4], 95, [3] pp.

Minister. Disclaimer: Unitarian. Learn more about Hitchcock in Annals of the American Pulpit: Unitarian Congregational. 1865 by William Buell Sprague.

• A sermon preached in the 2d Precinct in Pembroke, N.E: before a company voluntarily formed, for the revival of military skill, &c. October 10, 1757. / By Gad Hitchcock, A.M. Pastor of the Second Church in Pembroke. Boston, N.E.: Printed and sold by Edes and Gill, in Queen-Street, M,DCC,LVII. [1757] 23, [1] pp.; 22 cm. (8vo)

English philosopher. Learn more about Locke here and from his entry in this list of scientists of Christian faith.

• Two Treatises of Government by John Locke. London, 1772. 385 pp.

  "Thus the law of nature stands as an eternal rule to all men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men's actions, must, as well as their own and other men's actions, be conformable to the law of nature, i.e. to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and the fundamental law of nature being the preservation of mankind, no human sanction can be good, or valid against it."
  Book II, p. 285, Chapter XI, §135.

  "Human laws are measures in respect of men whose actions they must direct, howbeit such measures they are as have also their higher rules to be measured by, which rules are two, the law of God, and the law of nature; so that laws human must be made according to the general laws of nature, and without contradiction to any positive law of scripture, otherwise they are ill made."
  Book II, p. 285, Chapter XI, §135. Citing Richard Hooker, from Eccl. Pol. 1. iii, sect. 9 (1888 edition):
  "The same Thomas, therefore, whose definition of human laws we mentioned before, doth add thereunto this caution concerning the rule and canon whereby to make them: 'Human laws are measures in respect of men whose actions they must direct, howbeit such measures they are, as have also their higher rules to be measured by, which rules are two, the law of God and the law of Nature. So that laws human must be made according to the general laws of Nature, and without contradiction unto any positive law in Scripture, otherwise they are ill made.'

New England reverend. Read about Mitchel here.

• With Sherman, John,1613-1685. Nehemiah on the wall in troublesom [sic] times; or, A serious and seasonable improvement of that great example of magistratical piety and prudence, self-denial and tenderness, fearlessness and fidelity, unto instruction and encouragement of present and succeeding rulers in our Israel. As it was delivered in a sermon preached at Boston in N.E. May 15. 1667. being the day of election there. Cambridge [Mass.] : Printed by S.G. [Samuel Green] and M.J. [Marmaduke Johnson], 1671. ([4], 34, [2] pp.) Text-searchable. University of Michigan.

Chaplain. Tutor, Fellow and Treasurer at Harvard. Read about Nowell in the Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 41, p. 250.

• Abraham in arms; or The first religious general with his army engaging in a vvar for which he had wisely prepared, and by which, not only an eminent victory was obtained, but a blessing gained also. Delivered in an artillery-election-sermon, June, 3. 1678. Boston : Printed by John Foster, 1678. ([4], 19, [1] p.) "Some scholars consider any hint of a right of self-preservation to be evidence of the influence of Thomas Hobbes and/or John Locke. However, the right to protect oneself had long been a part of the natural law tradition, and it is clearly present in Reformed works written well before Hobbes' Leviathan.
  "Puritans believed that if rulers violate natural law, they may legitimately be resisted. A striking expression of this idea is found in a 1678 sermon by Massachusetts's Samuel Nowell called "Abraham in Arms," where he contended that the "Law of nature . . . teachth men self-preservation." Moreover, he proclaimed that there "is such a thing as Liberty and Property given to us, both by the Laws of God & Men, when these are invaded, we may defend our selves."-Mark David Hall. Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos: The Influence of the Reformed Tradition on the American Founding. APSA 2010 Annual Meeting Paper. September 13, 2010.

English Puritan clergyman, member of the Westminster Assembly, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge. Read about Palmer in the Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 15.

• [Scripture and reason pleaded for defensive arms, or, The whole controversie about subjects taking up armes. Wherein besided other pamphlets, an answer is punctually directed to Dr. Fernes booke, entituled, Resolving of conscience, &c. The Scriptures alleadged are fully satisfied. The rational discourses are weighed in the ballance of right reason. Matters of fact concerning the present differences, are examined. London: Printed for Iohn Bellamy and Ralph Smith at the signe of the Three golden lions neare the Royall-exchange, 1643. 2 leaves, 80 pp.
• Memorials of godliness and Christianity. In three parts. Part I. Containing, meditations (I.) Of making religion ones business. (II.) An appendix, applied to the calling of a minister. By H. Palmer, B.D. Late master of Queens College Camb. The eighth edition. [2], ii, 36, [2], ii, 28, [2], ii, 18 p. 15 cm. (12mo)

Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author. Read about Rutherford here and here.

• With Buchanan, George, 1506-1582. [De jure regni apud Scotos--English.] Lex, rex or, The law and the prince a dispute for the just prerogative of king and people. Edinburgh: Robert Ogle and Oliver & Boyd, 1843. xxiv, 283 pp. ; 25 cm. Also
• here.

Philosopher. Read about Sidney here.

John Quincy Adams:

"Sidney, a son of the Earl of Leicester, allied by the female line, to the Northumberland Percys, was born of the noblest blood of England. Born in 1622, he came into active life precisely at the agony of the conflict between the Democracy and the Monarchy of England. -- Sidney, though not included in the number of the regicides, was one of the main pillars of the republican cause, and was personally obnoxious to Charles the second, for some occasional offensive remarks that he had recently made--especially for two Latin lines that he had written in the album of the royal library at Copenhagen:

"Manus haec inimica tyrannis
Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam."
"This hand, the rule of tyrants to oppose
Seeks with the sword fair freedom's soft repose,"

The second of which lines,

"Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam"

was adopted by the founders of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as the motto to the arms of the State; a motto lasting as the Commonwealth herself, and ever admonishing her sons that the enjoyment of quiet freedom is the only lawful motive for drawing the sword to shed blood in resistance to tyranny, and signally marking at the same time their approbation of this sublime sentiment and their profound veneration for the character of Algernon Sidney." --The Social Compact: exemplified in the Constitution of the commonwealth of Massachusetts: with remarks on the theories of divine right of Hobbes and of Filmer, and the counter theories of Sidneym, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, concerning the origin and nature of government, pp. 27-28.

• Discourses on Government, volume 1. Printed for Richard Lee, by Deare and Andrews, 1805.

  "I knowe my Redeemer liues [sic, lives]; and, as he hath in a great measure upheld me in the day of my calamity, hope that he will still uphold me by his Spirite in this last moment, and giving me grace to glorify him in my death, receive me into the glory prepared for those that feare him, when my body shall be dissolved. Amen."-- p. 306.

  "HAVING lately seen a book, intitled, 'Patriarcha,' written by Sir Robert Filmer, concerning the universal and undistinguished right of all kings, I thought a time of leisure might be well employed in examining his doctrine, and the questions arising from it: which seem so far to concern all mankind, that, besides the influence upon our future life, they may be said to comprehend all that in this world deserves to be cared for."-- p. 309.

  SECTION I.
  THE COMMON NOTIONS OF LIBERTY ARE NOT FROM SCHOOL DIVINES, BUT FROM NATURE.

  "IN the first lines of this book he seems to denounce war against mankind, endeavouring to overthrow the principle of liberty in which God created us, and which includes the chief advantages of the life we enjoy, as well as the greatest helps towards the felicity, that is the end of our hopes in the other. To this end he absurdly imputes to the school divines that which was taken up by them as a common notion, written in the heart of every man, denied by none, but such as were degenerated into beasts, from whence they might prove such points as of themselves were less evident. Thus did Euclid lay down certain axioms which none could deny that did not renounce common sense, from whence he drew the proofs of such propositions as were less obvious to the understanding; and they may with as much reason be accused of Paganism, who say that the whole is greater than a part, that two halves make the whole, or that a straight line is the shortest way from point to point, as to say, that they who in politics lay such foundations as have been taken up by schoolmen and others as undeniable truths, do therefore follow them, or have any regard to their authority. Though the schoolmen were corrupt, they were neither stupid nor unlearned: they could not but see that which all men saw, nor lay more approved foundations, than, that man is naturally free; that he cannot justly be deprived of that liberty without cause; and that he doth not resign it, nor any part of it, unless it be in consideration of a greater good, which he proposes to himself. But if he doth unjustly impute the invention of this to school divines, he in some measure repairs his fault in saying, 'this hath been fostered by all succeeding Papists for good divinity: the divines of the reformed churches have entertained it, and the common people every where tenderly embrace it.' That is to say, all Christian divines, whether reformed or unreformed, do approve it, and the people every where magnify it, as the height of human felicity. But Filmer, and such as are like him, being neither reformed or unreformed Christians, nor of the people, can have no title to Christianity; and, inasmuch as they set themselves against that which is the height of human felicity, they declare themselves enemies to all that are concerned in it; that is, to all mankind.

  "But, says he, 'they do not remember, that the desire of liberty was the first cause of the fall of man.' And I desire it may not be forgotten, that the liberty asserted is not a licentiousness of doing what is pleasing to every one against the command of God; but an exemption from all human laws, to which they have not given their assent. If he would make us believe there was any thing of this in Adam's sin, he ought to have proved, that the law which he transgressed was imposed upon him by man, and consequently that there was a man to impose it; for it will easily appear that neither the reformed nor unreformed divines, nor the people following them, do place the felicity of man in an exemption from the laws of God, but in a most perfect conformity to them. Our Saviour taught us, 'not to fear such as could kill the body, but him that could kill, and cast into hell:' and the apostle tells us, that 'we should obey God rather than man.' It hath been ever hereupon observed, that they who most precisely adhere to the laws of God, are least solicitous concerning the commands of men, unless they are well grounded; and those who most delight in the glorious liberty of the sons of God, do not only subject themselves to him, but are most regular observers of the just ordinances of man, made by the consent of such as are concerned, according to the will of God.

• John Adams. On Government: Algernon Sidney. From The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. Boston, 1851. Volume 4 of 10.

Second President of the United States. Read more about John Adams here. Note: Adams shifted from Congregationalist to Unitarian.

• The 'American Revolution', Letter to Hezekiah Niles, first editor of the National Register. Quincy, February 13, 1818. First published in Niles' Weekly Register, v. 2, n. 14, March 7, 1818.

  Later published as Revolutionary Reminiscences in Niles' National Register, containing political, historical, geographical, scientifical, statistical, economical, and biographical documents, essays and facts : together with notices of the arts and manufactures, and a record of the events of the times, August 6, 1842. Online as Niles' Weekly Register, Volume 62. Also here.

  The American Revolution was not a common event. Its effects and consequences have already been awful over a great part of the globe. And when and where are they to cease?
  But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.
  While the king, and all in authority under him, were believed to govern in justice and mercy according to the laws and constitution derived to them from the God of nature, and transmitted to them by their ancestors, they thought themselves bound to pray for the king and queen and all the royal family, and all in authority under them, as ministers ordained of God for their good. But when they saw those powers renouncing all the principles of authority, and bent upon the destruction of all the securities of their lives, liberties, and properties, they thought it their duty to pray for the Continental Congress and all the thirteen state congresses, etc.
  There might be, and there were, others who thought less about religion and conscience, but had certain habitual sentiments of allegiance and loyalty derived from their education; but believing allegiance and protection to be reciprocal, when protection was withdrawn, they thought allegiance was dissolved.
  

Pastor. First cousin of John Adams, the second president of the United States.

• The Evil Designs of men made subservient by God to the public good; particularly illustrated in the rise, progress and conclusion of the American war. A sermon preached at Lexington, on the nineteenth of April, 1783; being the anniversary of the commencement of the war between Britain and America, which broke out in that town on the 19th of April, 1775. By Zabdiel Adams, A.M. Pastor of the Church in Lunenburgh. [One line from I. Kings] 39, [1] p. 21 cm. (8vo)

Presbyterian minister. Read more about Carmichael here.

• A Self-defensive war lawful, proved in a sermon, preached at Lancaster, before Captain Ross's company of militia, in the Presbyterian Church, on Sabbath morning, June 4th, 1775. By the Rev. John Carmichael, A.M. Now published at the request of the author, and corrected by himself from the copy printed at Lancaster; humbly offered to the perusal of the military associators of the city, liberties and county of Philadelphia. [Five lines of quotations] Philadelphia: Printed [by John Henry Miller] for and sold by John Dean, bookbinder in Laetitia-Court, 1775. 32 pp. Also here.

Boston clergyman. Read more about Colman here.

• Christ standing for an ensign of the people: A Sermon preached at the Honourable and Ancient Artillery Company in Boston, June 5, 1738. Boston, 1738. 35 pp.

• Thomas Jefferson; John Dickinson. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms. [Watertown, Mass.] : Philadelphia : Printed. Watertown : Re-printed and sold by Benjamin Edes., July 6, 1775. 14 pp. One-sheet here. Text-searchable here courtesy The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library.

  If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the parliament of Great-Britain some evidence, that this dreadful authority over them, has been granted to that body. But a reverance for our Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be administered for the attainment of that end. The legislature of Great-Britain, however, stimulated by an inordinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which they know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitution of that kingdom, and desparate of success in any mode of contest, where regard should be had to truth, law, or right, have at length, deserting those, attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies by violence, and have thereby rendered it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from reason to arms. - Yet, however blinded that assembly may be, by their intemperate rage for unlimited domination, so to sight justice and the opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves bound by obligations of respect to the rest of the world, to make known the justice of our cause. ...

  • Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress. October 14, 1774.

Patriotic preacher of Middle Spring Presbyterian Church, Middle Spring, PA. Read about Cooper here.

• Courage in a good cause, or The Lawful and courageous use of the sword. Lancaster [Pa.: Printed by Francis Bailey, 1775. 30 pp.

• A sermon preached to the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company: in Boston, New-England, June 3. 1751. Being the anniversary of their election of officers. / By Samuel Cooper, A.M. Pastor of a church in Boston. Boston: Printed by J. Draper, for J. Edwards in Cornhill, and D. Gookin in Marlborough-Street, M,DCC,LI. [1751] 40 pp.; 21 cm. (8vo)

Preacher in New Castle, Delaware. Read about Currie here.

• A Treatise on the lawfulness of defensive war, In two parts. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by B. Franklin and D. Hall, at the new printing-office, in Market-Street; Philadelphia. 1748. xviii, 102 p.; 20 cm. (8vo)

Anglican clergyman of Christ Church, Philadelphia. Read more about Duché here.

"Inasmuch as all rulers are in fact the servants of the public and appointed for no other purpose than to be 'a terror to evil-doers and a praise to them that do well' [c.f., Rom. 13:3], whenever this Divine order is inverted--whenever these rulers abuse their sacred trust by unrighteous attempts to injure, oppress, and enslave those very persons from whom alone, under God, their power is derived ? does not humanity, does not reason, does not Scripture, call upon the man, the citizen, the Christian of such a community to 'stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ?hath made them free?!' [Galatians 5:1] The Apostle enjoins us to 'submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake,?but surely a submission to the unrighteous ordinances of unrighteous men, cannot be 'for the Lord's sake,'? for 'He loveth righteousness, and His countenance beholds the things that are just.'"??--pp. 13-14

Reverend.

• The Justice of the Present War against the French in America, and the principles that should influence us in this undertaking, asserted. A Sermon Preached to the soldiers, Sept. 22. A.D. 1755. from I Sam. xviii. 17. Also, the law condemning men's righteousness, and destroying their legal confidence, that Christ and grace may be exalted; shewn in a sermon from Gal. ii. 19. By J.E. Preacher of God's word at Little-Compton. Published at the desire of the hearers. Newport [R.I.]: Printed by J. Franklin, [1755]. 24 pp. ; 21 cm.

Pastor at South Church, Andover, Massachusetts. Read about French here.

• A Sermon Preached before His Excellency Samuel Adams, Esq. governour; His Honor Moses Gill, Esq. lieutenant-governour; the Honourable the Council, Senate, and House of Representatives, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 25, 1796. Being the day of general election. By Jonathan French, A.M. Pastor of a church in Andover. Printed in Boston, Massachusetts: At the State Press, by Adams & Larkin, printers to the Honourable the General Court, M,DCC,XCVI. [1796] 23, [1] pp.; 8^(0)

"Founding Father John Jay was appointed by President George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jay had a very distinguished history of public service. He was a member of the Continental Congress (1774-76, 1778-79) and served as President of Congress (1778-79); he helped write the New York State constitution (1777); he authored the first manual on military discipline (1777); he served as Chief-Justice of New York Supreme Court (1777-78); he was appointed minister to Spain (1779); he signed the final peace treaty with Great Britain (1783); and he was elected as Governor of New York (1795-1801). Jay is also famous as one of the three coauthors, along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, of the Federalist Papers, which were instrumental in securing the ratification of the federal Constitution. John Jay was a strong Christian, serving both as vice-president of the American Bible Society (1816-21) and its president (1821-27), and he was a member of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions."--David Barton.
Read about Jay here.

• Henry P. Johnston, editor. The Correspondence and public papers of John Jay. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1890, Volume 4 (1794-1826) of 4. 554 pp. On War and the Gospel. Extracts, Contents, pp. 391-393, 403-419, letters to John Murray, October 12, 1816 and April 15, 1818. "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
• John Jay on the Biblical View of War. Introduction by David Barton. See also here.

Missionary.

• The Lawfulness of Defensive War. A Sermon Preached before the Members of the Church, at Chiechester, in the county of Chester, and province of Pennsylvania, upon their Association for Defence, February 14. 1756. By John Abr. Lidenius, itin. miss. to the Swede congregations. [One line from Numbers] (4to) Philadelphia: Printed and sold by James Chattin, at the newest-printing-office, on the south side of the Jersey Market, 1756. (Price six-pence.) 16 pp.; (4to)

American Unitarian minister at Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts, the first Unitarian Congregational Church in New England. He is erroneously credited with coining the phrase "no taxation without representation." See John Joachim Zubly. Read more about Mayhew here.

• A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers: with some reflections on the resistance made to King Charles I. and on the anniversary of his death: in which the mysterious doctrine of that prince's saintship and martyrdom is unriddled: the substance of which was delivered in a sermon preached in the West Meeting-House in Boston the Lord's-Day after the 30th of January, 1749/50.: Published at the request of the hearers. / By Jonathan Mayhew, A.M. Pastor of the West Church in Boston; [Eight lines of quotations] Boston: printed and sold by D. Fowle in Queen-Street; and by D. Gookin over-against the South-Meeting-House, 1750. 62 pp.; 22 cm. (4to)
  • Adams, John, 1735-1826. To William Tudor, April 5, 1818, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. Boston, 1856. 659 pp. Volume 10 of 10. pp. 301-302.
    Mr. Otis made a speech, the outlines of which he has recorded in the pamphlet, urging a compliance with the governor's recommendation and General Amherst's requisition; and concluding with a motion for a committee to consider of both. A committee was appointed, of whom Mr. Otis was one, and reported, not only a continuance of the troops already in service, but an addition of nine hundred men with an augmented bounty to encourage their enlistment. If the orators, on the 4th of July, really wish to investigate the principles and feelings which produced the revolution, they ought to study this pamphlet and Dr. Mayhew's sermon on passive obedience and non-resistance, and all the documents of those days. They have departed from the object of their institution as much as the society for propagation of the gospel in foreign parts have from their charter. The institution had better be wholly abolished, than continued an engine of the politics and feelings of the day, instead of a memorial of the principles and feelings of the revolution half a century ago--I might have said for two centuries before. April 5, 1818.
• Adams, John, 1735-1826. The 'American Revolution', Letter to Hezekiah Niles, first editor of the National Register. Quincy, February 13, 1818. First published in Niles' Weekly Register, v. 2, n. 14, March 7, 1818.

  Later published as Revolutionary Reminiscences in Niles' National Register, containing political, historical, geographical, scientifical, statistical, economical, and biographical documents, essays and facts : together with notices of the arts and manufactures, and a record of the events of the times, August 6, 1842. Online as Niles' Weekly Register, Volume 62. Also here.
  "Another gentleman who had great influence in the commencement of the Revolution was Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, a descendant of the ancient governor of Martha's Vineyard. This divine had raised a great reputation both in Europe and America by the publication of a volume of seven sermons in the reign of King George II, 1749, and by many other writings, particularly a sermon in 1750 on January 30, on the subject of passive obedience and nonresistance, in which the saintship and martyrdom of King Charles I are considered, seasoned with wit and satire superior to any in Swift or Franklin. It was read by everybody, celebrated by friends, and abused by enemies.

  "During the reigns of King George I and King George II, the reigns of the Stuarts (the two Jameses and the two Charleses) were in general disgrace in England. In America they had always been held in abhorrence. The persecutions and cruelties suffered by their ancestors under those reigns had been transmitted by history and tradition, and Mayhew seemed to be raised up to revive all their animosity against tyranny in church and state, and at the same time to destroy their bigotry, fanaticism, and inconsistency. David Hume's plausible, elegant, fascinating, and fallacious apology, in which he varnished over the crimes of the Stuarts, had not then appeared.

  "To draw the character of Mayhew would be to transcribe a dozen volumes. This transcendent genius threw all the weight of his great fame into the scale of his country in 1761, and maintained it there with zeal and ardor till his death in 1766. In 1763 appeared the controversy between him and Mr. Apthorp, Mr. Caner, Dr. Johnson, and Archbishop Secker on the charter and conduct of the society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts. To form a judgment of this debate I beg leave to refer to a review of the whole, printed at the time and written by Samuel Adams, though by some very absurdly and erroneously ascribed to Mr. Apthorp. If I am not mistaken, it will be found a model of candor, sagacity, impartiality, and close correct reasoning.

  "If any gentleman supposes this controversy to be nothing to the present purpose, he is grossly mistaken. It spread a universal alarm against the authority of Parliament. It excited a general and just apprehension that bishops and dioceses and churches and priests and tithes were to be imposed upon us by Parliament. It was known that neither king, nor ministry, nor archbishops could appoint bishops in America without an act of Parliament; and if Parliament could tax us they could establish the Church of England with all its creeds, articles, tests, ceremonies, and tithes, and prohibit all other churches as conventicles and schism shops."

• The Snare Broken. A Thanksgiving-discourse, preached at the desire of the West Church in Boston, N.E. Friday May 23, 1766 Occasioned by the repeal of the stamp-act. By Jonathan Mayhew, D.D. Pastor of said Church. The second edition. [Three lines from St. Paul]. viii, 52 pp. 21 cm. (8vo)
• The Snare Broken, A Thanksgiving-discourse, preached at the desire of the West Church in Boston, N.E. Friday May 23, 1766. Occasioned by the repeal of the stamp-act. Boston: Printed and sold by R. & S. Draper, in Newbury-Street; Edes & Gill, in Queen-Street ; and T. & J. Fleet, in Cornhill., 1766. viii, 44 pp. From Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730-1805, 2 vols, Foreword by Ellis Sandoz (Second edition. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998). Vol. 1.

English divine and philosopher. Learn more about Paley here and here.

• The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. The 6th American edition, from the 12th English edition. Boston: Published by John West and Co., E.G. House, printer, 1810. xx, [23]-492 pp. 23 cm.

  The justifying causes of war are, deliberate invasions of right, and the necessity of maintaining such a balance of power amongst neighbouring nations, as that no single state, or confederacy of states, be strong enough to overwhelm the rest.-- The objects of just war are, precaution, defence, or reparation. In a larger sense, every just war is a defensive war, inasmuch as every just war supposes an injury perpetrated, attempted, or feared.

  The insufficient causes or unjustifiable motives of war, are the family alliances, the personal friendships, or the personal quarrels, of princes; the internal disputes which are carried on in other nations; the justice of other wars; the extension of territory, or of trade; the misfortunes or accidental weakness of a neighbouring or rival nation.

British abolitionist and classicist. Read more about Sharp here and here.

• The Law of Liberty, or, royal law, by which all mankind will certainly be judged! London, 1776. 55 pp.
• The Law of Passive Obedience, or Christian submission to personal injuries. [London], [1776?]. 106 pp.
• The Law of Retribution; or, a serious warning to Great Britain and her colonies, founded on unquestionable examples of God's temporal vengeance against tyrants, slave-holders, and oppressors. London, 1776. 363 pp. Also here.
• Tracts, concerning the ancient and only true legal means of national defence, by a free militia. London, 1781. 87 pp.

• The Candid retrospect: or, The American war examined, by Whig principles. Charlestown [S.C.]: Printed by John Wells, Jun. at no. 71, Tradd-Street, MDCCLXXX. [1780] 30 pp. ; 26 cm. (4to)

Reverend. Read more about Stillman here.

• A Sermon preached to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in Boston, New-England, June 4, 1770. : Being the anniversary of their election of officers.

Irish-born American Presbyterian clergyman and evangelist, contributed to the Great Awakening. Read about Tennent here.

• The late association for defence, encourag'd, or The lawfulness of a defensive war. Represented in a sermon preach'd at Philadelphia December 24. 1747 . 2nd edition. Philadelphia: Printed by William Bradford, 1748. [2], 46 pp.
• The Late association for defence farther encouraged: or, Defensive war defended; and its consistency with true Christianity represented. In a reply to some exceptions against war, in a late composure, intituled, the doctrine of Christianity, as held by the people called Quakers, vindicated. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1748.

• An Oration delivered at Watertown, March 5, 1776. To commemorate the bloody massacre at Boston: perpetrated March 5, 1770. By Peter Thacher, A.M. [Seven lines in Latin from Phaedrus]. Watertown [Mass.], M,DCC,LXXVI. [1776]. 14 pp.

• A Sermon, preached before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, June 3, 1793: being the day of their annual election of officers. / By Peter Thacher, D.D. Pastor of a church in Boston. Printed at Boston: by Manning and Loring, in Quaker Lane, --MDCCXCIII. [1793] 27, [1] pp.; 22 cm. (8vo). Also here.

American doctor and patriot. Died at Battle of Bunker Hill. Read about Warren here and here.

• An Oration delivered March 5th, 1772. At the request of the inhabitants of the town of Boston; to commemorate the bloody tragedy of the fifth of March, 1770. By Joseph Warren. [Three lines in Latin from Virgil]. (The second edition). Boston, 1772. 18 pp.
  If you, with united zeal and fortitude, oppose the torrent of oppression; if you feel the true fire of patriotism burning in your breasts: if you, from your souls, despise the most gaudy dress that slavery can wear; if you really prefer the lonely cottage (whilst blest with liberty) to gilded palaces, surrounded with thr ensigns of slavery, you may have the fullest assurance that tyranny, with her whole accursed train, will hide their hideous heads In confusion, shame, and despair--if you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable forefathers--who enabled them to turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful field, who so often made bare his arm for their salvation, will still be mindful of you, their offspring.

  May this Almighty Being graciously preside in all our councils. May he direct us to such measures as he himself shall approve, and be pleased to bless. May we ever be a people favored of God. May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum ot the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished ruin!

• An Oration; delivered March sixth, 1775. At the request of the inhabitants of the town of Boston; to commemorate the bloody tragedy of the fifth of March, 1770. By Dr. Joseph Warren. [Two lines of quotations in Latin]. Boston, M,DCC,LXXV. [1775]. 22 pp.
• In Provincial Congress, at Watertown, April 26, 1775. To the Inhabitants of Great Britain. From The Journals of each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775: and of the Committee of Safety, with an appendix, containing the proceedings of the county conventions-narratives of the events of the nineteenth of April, 1775-papers relating to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and other documents, illustrative of the early history of the American revolution. Dutton and Wentworth, Printers to the state, 1838. 778 pp. Also here.
  ... "We sincerely hope, that the Great Sovereign of the Universe, who hath so often appeared for the English nation, will support you in every rational and manly exertion with these colonies, for saving it from ruin, and that, in a constitutional connection with our mother country, we shall soon be altogether a free and happy people."
• n.g. An Elegy, occasion'd by the death of Major-General Joseph Warren, who fell fighting in defence of the glorious cause of his country, at Charlestown, in New-England, on the memorable 17th day of June, 1775. 1 sheet ([1] p.)
• Richard Frothingham. Life and Times of Joseph Warren. Little, Brown & Company, 1865. 558 pp.

Clergyman. Read more about West here. Disclaimer: West taught doctrine that became Unitarianism.

• [On the Right to Rebel Against Governors], A Sermon Preached before the Honorable Council, and the Honorable House of Representatives, of the colony of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England. May 29th, 1776. Being the anniversary for the election of the Honorable Council for the colony. By Samuel West, A.M. Pastor of a church in Dartmouth. [Fifteen lines of Scripture texts] Boston: Printed by John Gill, in Queen-Street, 1776. 70, [2] pp. Also here. Text-searchable. From Charles S. Hyneman, American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760-1805, vol. 1 [1983]
  
  • Samuel West, [Natural Law: The True Principles of Government] (1776).
• The Christian Soldier: a Sermon, preached before the ancient and honorable artillery company, on Monday, June 2d, 1794, being the anniversary of their election of officers. Boston, 1794. 16 pp.

Statesman. One of the six signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Read more about Wilson here and here.

• Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, 1774. Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 1. Edited by Kermit L. Hall and Mark David Hall, with an Introduction by Kermit L. Hall, and a Bibliographical Essay by Mark David Hall, collected by Maynard Garrison (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2007).

Reverend. Read more about Witherspoon here and here and here.

Ellis Sandoz, editor: ... "Witherspoon eschewed politics in America until 1774, but after that he steadily participated, directly and indirectly, in the leading events of the day. In 1776 he was elected to the Continental Congress in time to urge adoption of the Declaration of Independence and to be the only clergyman to sign it. To the assertion that America was not ripe for independence he retorted: 'In my judgment, sir, we are not only ripe, but rotting.'

"Witherspoon served intermittently in Congress until 1782 and was a member of over a hundred legislative committees, including two vital standing committees, the Board of War and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In the latter role, he took a leading part in drawing up the instructions for the American peace commissioners who concluded the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war in September 1783. He later served in the New Jersey legislature and was a member of that state's ratifying convention for the Constitution in 1787.

"Witherspoon has been called the most influential professor in American history, not only because of his powerful writing and speaking style--and he was carefully attended to on all subjects, both here and abroad--but also because of his long tenure at Princeton. His teaching and the reforms he made there radiated his influence across the country. He trained not only a substantial segment of the leadership among Presbyterians but a number of political leaders as well. Nine of the fifty-five participants in the Federal Convention in 1787 were Princeton graduates, chief among them James Madison (who, among other things, spent an extra year studying Hebrew and philosophy with Witherspoon after his graduation in 1771). Moreover, his pupils included a president and a vice-president of the United States, twenty-one senators, twenty-nine representatives, fifty-six state legislators, and thirty-three judges, three of whom were appointed to the Supreme Court. During the Revolution, his pupils were everywhere in positions of command in the American forces.

"Witherspoon's The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men caused a great stir when it was first preached in Princeton and published in Philadelphia in 1776, about a month before he was elected to the Continental Congress on June 22. He reminds his auditors that the sermon is his first address on political matters from the pulpit: ministers of the Gospel have more important business to attend to than secular crises, but, of course, liberty is more than a merely secular matter."

--Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730-1805, 2 vols, Foreword by Ellis Sandoz (2nd ed. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998). Vol. 1.

• The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Man. A Sermon, preached at Princeton, on the 17th of May, 1776. Being the general fast appointed by the Congress through the United Colonies. To which is added, an address to the natives of Scotland, residing in America. By John Witherspoon. The second edition, with elucidating remarks. [Glasgow]: Philadelphia, printed: Glasgow re-printed; sold by the booksellers in town and country, 1777. 54 pp. Editor "S.R." responds throughout Witherspoon's Sermon and Address. Advertisement: "It hath been frequently said, by many persons of the best intelligence, that the unhappy commotions in our American colonies, have been considerably promoted, if not primarly agitated, by clerical influence: and none of that order have had a greater share of it ascribed to them than Dr. Witherspoon, though not credited by many of his favourites in this country. The following Sermon and Address, however, will fully justify the allegation, and silence the doctor's friends." Text-searchable here.
• Varnum Lansing Collins, 1870-1936, editor. Lectures on Moral Philosophy. Also here. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1912. xxix, [2], 144 pp. 21 cm.
• The Charge of sedition and faction against good men, especially faithful ministers, considered and accounted for: A Sermon preached in the abbey-church of Paisley, on Thursday, Sept. 7th. 1758. At the ordination of Mr. Archibald Davidson, ... To which is subjoined, the charge to the minister, and the exhortation to the people. / by John Witherspoon. Boston: Re-printed and sold by Lincoln & Edmands, 1811. 36 pp.
• The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon, D.D. L.L.D. late president of the college, at Princeton New-Jersey. To which is prefixed an account of the author's life, in a Sermon occasioned by his death, by the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, of New York: In three volumes. Volume I[-III] Philadelphia: Printed and published by William W. Woodward, no. 17, Chesnut near Front Street, 1800. 3 volumes; 22 cm. (8vo). Sermon Delivered at Public Thanksgiving After Peace. November 28, 1782. vol. 2, 1800 edition. Date of delivery, Cf. Daniel L. Dreisbach, "John Witherspoon and 'The Public Interest of Religion,'" Journal of Church and State, v. 41, Summer 1999, pp. 557-558n. Sermon delivered in response to Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of October 11, 1782, in Journals of the Continental Congress, 23:647.

New Hampshire pastor. Read about Woodman here.

• A Discourse; delivered by the particular desire of the Military Society in Sandbornton, August 19th, 1794. [Concord, N.H.]: From the Mirrour Press of Russell and Davis, in Concord. M. DCC. XCIV. Printed for the Military Society, 1794. 16 pp.; (8vo)

Reverend, Pittsburgh, PA.

• A discourse upon war and capital punishments. from Gen. IX, 6 in which it is proved that a defensive war is just and the punishment of the murderer by death is lawful / Pittsburgh [Pa.]: Printed for the author, Cramer & Eichbaum), 1811. 49 pp.

Quaker moralist and peace advocate.

• With Thomas Smith Grimké. An Inquiry into the accordancy of war with the principles of Christianity and an examination of the philosophical reasoning by which it is defended: with observations on the causes of war and some of its effects. Philadelphia: Printed by I. Ashmead & co., 1834. xx, [13]-300 pp.; 19 cm.

Reverend, Bristol, England.

• War not inconsistent with Christianity; a discourse from John XVIII. 36. London: Printed for C. and R. Baldwin, 1804. 47 pp.

Author and minister.

• A Sermon preached before the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company, in Boston, June 5, 1809: being the anniversary of their election of officers. Boston: Munroe, Francis and Parker, 1809. 27, [1] pp.
• Artillery Sermon. Introduction by David Barton.

Pastor in Middletown, Vermont.

• A Sermon delivered by special request to the military department in Middletown, Vermont on May 10, 1814. Rutland [Vt.]: Printed by Fay & Davison, 1814.

American historian and a Pulitzer Prize winner. He taught history at the University of Michigan from 1903-1930, and wrote a number of books on the American Revolution. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History for The War of Independence in 1930.

• Influence of the Clergy, and of Religious and Sectarian Forces, on the American Revolution. New York: s.n., pp. 44-64. The American Historical Review, v. 19, n. 1. September 1913. Also here.
• The Causes of the War of Independence: Being the First Volume of a History of the Founding of the American Republic. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1922. 499 pp.
• The War of Independence: American Phase. Volume 2 of Founding of the American Republic. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1929. 518 pp.
  • Allen Sinclair Will. 1776 SEEN IN NEW PERSPECTIVE; Professor Van Tyne Thinks History Has Been Unjust to George III 1776 in New Perspective. New York Times. November 17, 1929. pp. BR1, BR32. Review of The War of Independence: American Phase.
• G. MacLaren Brydon, Historiographer, Diocese of Virginia. DISPUTING PROF. VAN TYNE.; Exception Is Taken to His Remarks About Churchmen's Loyalty. New York Times, May 30, 1927. p. 14.
• PROP. C.H. VAN TYNE, HISTORIAN, IS DEAD; Head of History Department at University of Michigan Succumbs at 60. AUTHORITY ON REVOLUTION Many of His Conclusions Ran Counter to Accepted Popular Traditions on War of 1776. New York Times, March 22, 1930. p. 14.

Research Professor of NT Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary. Read about Bock here.

• "Was Jesus a Pacifist? - No: Even for Christians, - war can be a 'necessary evil'"; aka "Jesus and Just War." Dallas Morning News, March 8, 2003, pg. 1G.
  Extract:

  What makes for a just war, one in keeping with a view that grows out of Jesus' and his disciples' recognition of the role of the state to defend her people? There are seven traditional criteria. I would add an eighth for our more globalized and dangerous world.

  (1) War must have a just cause, which means it is fundamentally a defensive war, not one of aggression.

  (2) It must have a just intention. The goal is to secure a fair peace for all parties. Wars of national revenge, economic exploitation, and ethnic cleansing are excluded.

  (3) It must be a last resort. All diplomatic efforts should be pursued and continue, even during war.

  (4) It must be formally declared with properly constituted authorities. War is the work of states, not vigilantes, individuals, or paramilitary groups.

  (5) It must have limited objectives. Annihilation of the enemy cannot be a goal.

  (6) It must use proportionate means, sufficient to deter the aggression. Here the use of nuclear weapons becomes a special point of debate.

  (7) It must respect the immunity of noncombatants. The goal is not to seek out or kill civilians, wounded soldiers, or prisoners of war. Here is where weapons of mass destruction are immoral.

  (8) The more international recognition and support that a war draws, the higher likelihood of the morally higher ground. This is especially important when a warring nation is accused of ideological or religious motivations. If support for the military action spans many religions or ideologies, the charge rings hollow.

  One point of debate in just war theory is whether a preemptive strike is ever justified. Those who say yes argue that if an attack is imminent, then a nation has a right to self-defense.

Associate Professor of Military Ethics U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I. Read about Demy here and here.

• With J. Daryl Charles. War, Peace, and Christianity: Questions and Answers from a Just-War Perspective.
• Reviews. Added 5/13/2011.
  Darrell L. Bock: "As one who has written about just-war theory in the media during times of conflict, I find it refreshing to be able to recommend a book that explains that just war is not a theory that gives license to the use of violence, but one that attempts morally and responsibly to address the issue of the proper use of force. This book is well done and repays the time one gives to grapple with the difficult area of human conflict."

Legal Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law and teacher of Professional Responsibility for the Oak Brook College of Law. Ordained pastor with the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations; teacher of Apologetics and other subjects for the Free Lutheran Seminary. Colonel, Alabama State Defense Force. Read more about Eidsmoe here. Website here.

"I am committed to the belief that the Bible is God's inspired and inerrant word, that the Bible is relevant to the issues of today, and that one of today's greatest needs is for the articulation of a comprehensive biblical view of current issues and a comprehensive biblical view of law. I am further committed to the belief that America's constitutional heritage is based on solid biblical principles and that an understanding of this constitutional heritage is essential to the preservation of American freedom. Christianity and the Constitution . . . [is] a detailed study of the religious beliefs of the founders of this nation and the role the United States of America plays in the plan of God. I urge writers in every field of academic discipline to think through their positions carefully, in the light of God's word, the Bible." --Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2007.

• The Doctrine of Interposition in Christian Theology. January 29, 2006.

Author from Birmingham, Alabama.

• We the People. The Biblical precedent for popular sovereignity. Also here.
• Which Revolution?. A comparison between the French and American Revolutions.
• Rebellion or Revolution?

Hall is Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Political Science at George Fox University. Read about Hall here.

• Mark David Hall; J Daryl Charles, editors. America and the Just War Tradition: A History of U.S. Conflicts. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2019. xvi, 321 pp.; 24 cm.
  Contents: The just war tradition and America's wars / J. Daryl Charles and Mark David Hall -- "Fear, honor, and interest": the unjust motivations and outcomes of the American Revolutionary War / John D. Roche -- The War of 1812 / Jonathan Den Hartog -- James K. Polk and the War with Mexico / Daniel Walker Howe -- The fractured Union and the justification for war / Gregory R. Jones -- Just war and the Spanish-American war / Timothy J. Demy -- The Great War, the United States, and just war thought / Jonathan H. Ebel -- The United States and Japan in the Second World War: a just war perspective / Kerry E. Irish -- America's ambiguous "police action": the Korean Conflict / Laura Jane Gifford -- Vietnam and the just war tradition / Mackubin Thomas Owens -- The First and Second Gulf Wars / Darrell Cole -- The War on Terror and Afghanistan / Rouven Steeves.

Apologist. Learn more about Geisler here.

Does the Bible Support a Just War?. Posted January 13, 2012.

Research director, American Independence Institute. Read about Kopel here.

• The Calvinist Connection. Liberty Magazine, October 2008, pp. 27-31.

American martial artist, action star and television and film actor. Read about Norris here.

• Would Jesus support war? Posted: December 17, 2007

Research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. He also serves as dean of the School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. Read about Patterson here.

• Was the American Revolution a Just War? Washington Post, July 4, 2013. Originally published in the Washington Post's Georgetown/On Faith blog.
• With Nathan Gill. The Declaration of the United Colonies: America's First Just War Statement. Journal of Military Ethics, v. 14, n. 1, pp. 7-34. Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia, USA, Department of Politics, Hillsdale College, Michigan, USA, Published online: May 15, 2015.
  Abstract: "Was the American War for Independence just? In July 1775, a full year before the Declaration of Independence, the colonists argued that they had the right to self-defense. They made this argument using language that accords with what we can broadly call classical just war thinking, based, inter alia, on their claim that their provincial authorities had a responsibility to defend the colonists from British violence. In the 1775 Declaration of the United Colonies, written two months after British troops attacked colonial citizens, such arguments are made. This essay carefully looks at the historical context of the 1775 Declaration, the arguments made by the colonists, and the philosophical and theological underpinnings of those claims, and concludes that the colonists made a compelling argument commensurate with just war thinking."