Bodin on Sovereignty … McAtee Teases Out Implications

“If we insist that absolute power means exemption from all law whatsoever, there is no prince in the world who can be regarded as sovereign, since all the princes of the earth are subject to the laws of God and of nature, and even to certain human laws, common to all nations.”

Jean Bodin
16th century French Political Philosopher

Of course the implication of this is that the triune God alone is sovereign as the Scripture teaches and the implication of that is to observe that Biblical Christians are under no obligation to obey those stewards assigned by God to rule in their various jurisdictions if those stewards are commanding that which is contrary to God’s revealed Law-Word. This applies to Magistrates, Pastors, Elders, Husbands, Fathers, Teachers and Employers. Man is to be ruled by God and His revelation and not by man if he rules adamantly in opposition to God’s revelation.

Another implication here is that the triune God, as Creator, is not bound by His law for the creature. The triune God indeed has absolute power and having absolute power the great divine King is not subject to His law for His subjects. This is why Scripture teaches,

Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

As sovereign the triune God of Scripture is not answerable to man. He is under no obligation to be “fair” as the creature counts fair. God’s law for the creature can not be turned against the triune God to somehow prove His unworthiness. To think that God is answerable to man because they are both under the law for the creature is to think like an Arminian. It is also to think like an egalitarian. God and man are not on the same plane. Rex Lex was always correct. Where it was rightly railed against is when the Rex in question was a mere mortal under God. The triune God does make the law for His subjects and in turn is not subject to His law for the creature.

Failure to understand this explains why men will act as if God is answerable or responsible to man. Humanist/Arminian man tends to think that the triune God has to answer the question of why bad things happen to “good” people. The Humanist/Arminian fails to remember that the triune God, being a good sovereign, always acts in His own interest and in doing so acts for the best interest of His people. That alone is often the answer that we have to accept as belonging to a good sovereign.

We currently live with ignoring all this. We have reduced the triune God so that He has to answer to us, so that His laws to the creature need to apply also to the creator. We have forgot the meaning of God’s sovereignty.

Finally, this quote puts an end to a small movement that desires to invest the State with all authority either through a Statist regime or through a return to monarchy. There is a desire abroad that would place sovereignty in a State that is on the side of the angels. However, a state once invested with this kind of sovereignty becomes God walking on the earth. Once a state claims sovereignty, no law can bind it. That is the nature of sovereignty. As such the only way out of our current Statist environment is not to champion for a state that is run by the “good guys.” No, the only way out of our current Statist environment is a return to jurisdictionalism (Sphere Stewardship) wherein God alone is owned as sovereign and the stewards appointed by the triune God in different ordained spheres rule as stewards consistent with His Law-Word.

As our founding fathers took up the motto against the crown of England, so let us believe again,

“No King but King Jesus.”

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him. View all posts by jetbrane