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Rights, Resistance, and Revolution in the Western Tradition: Early Protestant Foundations
- Author(s):
- John Witte, Jr. (see profile)
- Date:
- 2008
- Subject(s):
- Human rights, Protestantism, Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Theodore Beza, Tyranny, Resistance, Subjective rights, Contract theory, Law and religion, Calvinism, John Calvin
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/pzts-n151
- Abstract:
- This Article analyzes the development of rights talk in the pre-Enlightenment Protestant tradition, especially as formulated by the sixteenth-century Calvinist theologian and jurist, Theodore Beza. Responding to the horrific persecution born of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572, Beza mobilized classical, Catholic, and Protestant sources alike to develop a coherent Calvinist theory of rights, resistance, and revolution against tyrants. This Article details Beza's arguments, places his work in its historical and intellectual context, and highlights the innovations Beza contributed to the intersection of legal, political, and theological teachings. It concludes by showing how Beza's theory of subjective rights and resistance to tyranny helped to plot the course of modern democratic and constitutional theory.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 4 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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