Skip to content
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 4 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
The Myth of Christian America  /  MCA (4 of 14): Geneva: When Puritans Ruled  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 4
In the excerpts from Christopher Goodman, disobedience to a ruler is framed as rescuing “neighbor’s sheep” from wolves, and Mary is declared worthy of death as an “open idolater”; how does Goodman’s argument reshape Paul’s command to be subject to governing authorities, and what do the early Christians seem to have assumed about suffering under unjust rulers?
Another way to ask: Goodman says resisting a ruler is like saving a neighbor’s sheep from wolves and calls Mary worthy of death for idolatry. How does that change Paul’s command to submit to rulers, and what did early Christians seem to expect when rulers were unjust?

Direct Answer Goodman narrows Paul’s command by claiming Christians must obey only rulers “lawfully” appointed by God, and that tyrannical or “idolatrous” rulers lose their status and may be tried and executed; Bercot implies this logic can justify almost any revolt.

Support from Transcript:

  • Goodman compares resisting rulers to saving a neighbor’s animals from “wolves,” arguing Christians must “put out our hands and power to deliver our brothers.”
  • He argues Paul’s “subject to the higher powers” applies only to rulers God has “ordained…lawfully according to His Word.”
  • Goodman calls Mary an “imposter” partly because God told Israel to choose a king “from the midst of your brethren,” not “sisters,” so a female monarch couldn’t be God-appointed.
  • He claims rulers who become “murderers of their subjects…should no longer be accounted…kings,” but “private men,” to be “accused…condemned, and punished.”
  • He explicitly says idolaters—“king, queen, or emperor”—“must die the death.”
  • Bercot comments this language “could be adapted to justify…just about any revolt.”
Discussion Follow-ups The transcript doesn’t directly summarize early Christian assumptions here, but earlier Bercot mentions their teaching on “two kingdoms and separation from the world.” How might that early Christian posture challenge Goodman’s revolution logic?

Jumpstarter 4 of 10
Back Questions Next