The Irish standard., 1917-11-03
Theory Of The Divine
Right Of The Kings

Mgnt VI Inc klngs
Never Sanctioned by the Catholic
church-Asserted First by James
! and Claimed by Henry vIll-onIy
in the Case of the Hebrew People
Has God Designated the Rulers Of
Nations-contrary to Natural Right
and Justice-Power Would Be Ir-
| responsible.
In the beginning of the seventeenth
century new gospel of civil govern
ment was preached. 1t taught that
kings received their powers by the
direct appointment OF Almighty God
and are not answerable to any human
tribunal. The doctrine was first
promulgated in concrete form by
King James of England and is known
as "the Divine right of kings and
passive obedience" 1t would be rash
to say that this WAS the first time
in history the divine right of kings
was held. 1t may be traced back to
the days of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
The Angelic Doctor clearly enunci-
ated the Aristotelean proposition that
civil authority is from God, that it
is an essential of human nature which
God has created. At the time of Saint
Thomas many churchmen belittled the
civil power. While they could not
deny that it was of God they con-
I tended that it was a result of the
Fall, that if man had not fallen he
would not be compelled to live under
coercive jurisdiction. They argued
that States generally originated in rob-
berry and injustice and cited Romulus,
robbers Certain theologians of the
time contended that the plentitude of
all power was given to the Pope by
Christ Himself. Even kings reigned
only as the viceregents of the Pope.
In opposition to this school there
arose the royal or impartial party.
/ While the one school would make an
emperor of the Pope, the royal party
made a Pope of the emperor. They
contended that civil government was
an institution of Christ just as was
the Church and that the king enjoyed
a God given authority like that of the
Pope which could not be taken from
him. This was the beginning of the
doctrine of the divine right Of kings.
1t enjoyed little popularity and Was
held by only a comparatively few I'M
til it received it's sympathetic devel-
opment under Henry VIII, who
claimed the fitness of spiritual as
we'll as civil authority. The first mon
arch to openly assert that he held his
throne by divine right was James l.
He claimed that the crown belonged
to him by an inalienable possession
and that no prerogative could ever
pass from the crown. Though it was
at first espoused by the Anglican Di-
vines they either forgot or abandoned
it in the revolution Of 1858 that ex-
PEELED James II, and Crowned Will
liam and Mary. Against the preten-
tions of this monarch the battles of
Marston Moor and Naceby were
fought. 1t lost the Stuarts the crown
of three kingdoms. The monstrous
doctrine found few hesitating de-
|
1t has had many able and Jealous
supporters, but has never been gen
orally held by any people. The Cath
Ollie Church has never sanctioned it
and it was conclusively refuted by
the Jesuit Suarez in his. reply to the
Remonstrance for the Divine Right
of Kings by James l. 1t was taken
up by a Spanish monk in Madrid I'M
der Philip II. The Inquisition forced
the monk to publicly retract it in the
place where he had asserted it.
The Church has never made definite
announcement on this subject. By
inference we may judge that it is not
in harmony with sound Catholic doc
trine. Popes have, claimed the right
to deprive princes of their power and
have absolved their subjects from the
oath of fidelity. While it may be a
question whether they had the right
to do this the fact that they claimed
and exercised the right proves that
the Church does not admit that the
power of any king cannot be lost and
that people are obliged to give pas
sive obedience. The Popes did not
claim the right to depose king until
the monarch had forfeited his power
by violation of the moral law or the
constitution of the State. When he
absolved people from their oath of
allegiance it was because they were
morally no longer bound to offer al
legiance.
1t is true that certain kings reigned
by divine right Saul and David were
personally chosen by Almighty God
but this was due to the special mis-
sion of the Hebrew people. The Pope
reigns by divine right, but the person
who is to be Pope is selected through
human means. Even those pagan
peoples who claimed to receive their
laws from the gods did not claim that
the gods designated the person who
| I. Va ~ryS