Samuel Williams Quotes
… infinite wisdom had seen fit to put that people under a more excellent form of government, than any nation has ever had. God himself was their King. And they might have been long happy under a government, in which, the Ruler of the world condescended himself to execute the office of Chief-Magistrate. But such was their impiety and folly, that in many instances they greatly abused and perverted the privileges they were favoured with.
the Jews of Ancient Israel
Samuel Williams, Salem, Massachusetts Protestant Minister, A Discourse on the Love of Our Country, Sermon, 1775
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
During the American Revolution many patriot clerics argued against the monarchy by claiming that God has given Kings to the Ancient Jews—who had a type of Republic—as a punishment. Therefore monarchy is to be avoided.
Joseph ben Matthias. There a different kinds of theocracy, There can be a Pope, a King, or a Supreme Leader who acts as the chief magistrate using a religious tract as the law of the land. The Ancient Jews had a Republican Theocracy were the leaders were chosen by the people but they did not promulgate any laws. The Torah—the first 5 books of the Old Testament—was the law of the land. In comparison. 21st century Iran recognized the Koran as the source of Laws. However, their chief magistrate was a cleric—the supreme leader who is not elected but appointed by a few other clerics. None of the other Iranian leaders are chosen by the people because all candidates must be approved by the Supreme Leader in order to even stand for election. So the ancient Jews had a republican theocracy, while Iran was an autocratic theocracy.
While most American leaders in 1776 advocated separation of church and state, others did not. There probably has been no better statement for religion in government than this one. Essentially, this view has been held by orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims and has been at the heart of every theocracy such as Iran.
While the author represents the views of most Islamic Fundamentalists, a similar view is held by many ulta-orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians also.
The photo is Rev, Hunting’s original house—a historical landmark in Connecticut.
She was running for the United States Senate. God must have chosen her opponent as she lost.
This proposal and others like it over the years have never even gotten out of Committee.
There is a striking similarity of speech between Menelik and the monarchs of Europe with respect to his Divine right of rule and dependence on God. Ethiopia, in contrast to the rest of Africa, was a Christian kingdom and had been so for centuries. Menelik mobilized his people and produced a humiliating defeat for the Italians at Adowa in 1896 who never forgot and returned to conquer Ethiopia in the early part of World War II.
The Torah consists of the first 5 books of the Old Testament. For Orthodox Jews, the Torah is central and fundamental to their belief structure. In most democracies, a statement such as this might be made by a religions fundamentalist, but is unexpected when uttered by a high government official. However, in Israel there are several small religious political parties which oftem become very powerful when the major policies are of approximate equal strength. To entice them to join their coalition, the major parties give the religious parties cabinet positions. In this particular instance, Neeman’s party in the governing coalition could cause the government to fall, So a Justice Minister of a Modern Democracy can actually repudiate the laws and supreme court whenever they are not in harmony with “the word of God” and not lose his post or even be repudiated. There is probably no other country in the world where the Minister of Justice has repudiated the law of the land and the nation’s highest court.
Pastor of the First Church in Bradford. Delievered, A Discourse on the Love of Our Country on December 15,1774.
