Book Review – The Divine Right of Resistance – Biblical Options for Opposing Tyranny by Phillip Kayser

The Divine Right of Resistance

The Divine Right of Resistance – Biblical Options for Opposing Tyranny by Phillip Kayser

Synopsis:

What would Jesus do under tyranny? Well, what did Jesus do under tyranny? In this book, you’ll see how Jesus and countless heroes of the faith navigated unjust judges, illegal arrests, civil rights violations, weapons bans, street-preaching bans, being forbidden to meet together, and more. See over 200 Scriptural examples of resistance to these age-old challenges, and the saints’ legacy of overcoming “by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11). Discover Scripturally-based resistance tactics for individuals, churches, and magistrates. See why Romans 13 proves that tyrants are not ministers of God, and what makes a ruler a tyrant. Learn what the Great Commission says about your responsibilities to your magistrate, in good times, bad times, and everything in between. And get a peek at the Bible’s grid for individualized decision making, so that you can know “when to hold and when to fold” in exercising your Divine Right of Resistance. (Taken from Amazon page)

Review

This is one of the clearest and most well laid out books on the subject of Romans 13 that I’ve read. Kayser does a great job of establishing two ways to read Romans 13 either The Divine Right of Kings or The Regulative Principle. He then takes a historic and logical view of both theories and shows that Romans 13 is not some all-purpose allegiance to whatever government comes around and says.

However, with that acknowledgment, he also provides the rest of the book with the proper scopes of biblical authority like the family, the church, and lesser and greater magistrates. The other two parts are when is it appropriate to resist and the ethics of biblical resistance. These are great topics to discuss within the scope of the book.

Now, with the book being about 65 pages there’s not long, drawn-out coverage of everything that could be covered under these four headings. However, Kayser makes a point that this is just a starting point. He lays the gauntlet down to understand how and why the Bible is laid out in narrative fashion and that Christ-followers are to draw out from Scripture the ethical and logical needs and attitudes in biblical resistance (or non-resistance). He gives a good scenario about government weapon confiscation that is a great example for the topic at hand. However, he doesn’t seem to go far enough in helping others to a conclusion in the scenario he gives.

This book comes from a presuppositional viewpoint and really hits it out of the park on the topic. It walks through the reader in a clear and concise way to make the point needed. This is definitely going to be in one of my “must recommend” on the topic of Christianity and politics and AnarchoChristianity.

Final Grade