The Emerging Right to Resist

The Emerging Right to Resist:
Theodore Beza's Contribution to Huguenot Political Philosophy

By Brian Douglas
Published in the Summer 2007 edition of
Christianity & Society, the journal of the Kuyper Foundation.

Theodore de Beze, or Theodore Beza as he is usually known, is most often remembered as the right hand of John Calvin during the Genevan Reformation and as Calvin’s successor upon his death. It would be a mistake, however, to understand Beza as simply carrying Calvin’s torch without making a significant contribution of his own. Rather, Beza was a skilled theologian, poet, linguist, and biographer in his own right, but perhaps his most lasting influence was on Protestant political philosophy.

Church historian Philip Schaff wrote, 'The history of the Swiss Reformation would not be complete without an account of Calvin's faithful friend and successor, Theodore Beza, who carried on his work in Geneva and France to the beginning of the seventeenth century.' Schaff rightly divided the geography of Beza's work, for although he labored with Calvin in Geneva, he had an equal impact on his native land of France. Whereas his influence upon Geneva was primarily theological, his labors in France were of a more political nature.

This article will outline Beza’s political thought by examining his most important political writing, Concerning the Rights of Rulers Over Their Subjects and the Duty of Subjects Towards Their Rulers, and underscore his key role in expanding the right of citizens to resist tyranny within the Protestant political philosophical tradition. . . .

View the entire article here.