Bossuet Reading
JACQUES-BÉNIGNE BOSSUET
Politics Drawn for the Very Words of Scripture (1679)
French cleric Jacques-Bégnigne Bossuet’s (1627-1704) sermons earned him the favor of Louis XIV. He preached to the court regularly from 1660 to 1669 and was especially renowned for his funeral orations. In 1670 he was appointed tutor to Louis’ eldest son, and thus had the weighty task of instructing the heir to the throne on the duties of the king. The work from which the following excerpts are taken was composed in 1679 for the Dauphin’s guidance.
All power is of God. The ruler, [states] St. Paul, "is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rulers then act as the ministers of God and as his lieutenants on earth. It is through them that God exercises his empire….Consequently, as we have seen, the royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself. The Lord "hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel." And again, "Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord."
Moreover, that no one may assume that the Israelites were peculiar in having kings over them who were established by God, note what is said in Ecclesiasticus: "God has given to every people its ruler, and Israel is manifestly reserved to him." He therefore governs all peoples and gives them their kings, although he governed Israel in a more intimate and obvious manner.
It appears from all this that the person of the king is sacred, and that to attack him in any way is sacrilege. God has the kings anointed by his prophets with the holy unction in like manner as he has bishops and altars anointed. But even without the external application in thus being anointed, they are by their very office the representatives of the divine majesty deputed by Providence for the execution of his purposes. Accordingly
Politics Drawn for the Very Words of Scripture (1679)
French cleric Jacques-Bégnigne Bossuet’s (1627-1704) sermons earned him the favor of Louis XIV. He preached to the court regularly from 1660 to 1669 and was especially renowned for his funeral orations. In 1670 he was appointed tutor to Louis’ eldest son, and thus had the weighty task of instructing the heir to the throne on the duties of the king. The work from which the following excerpts are taken was composed in 1679 for the Dauphin’s guidance.
All power is of God. The ruler, [states] St. Paul, "is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rulers then act as the ministers of God and as his lieutenants on earth. It is through them that God exercises his empire….Consequently, as we have seen, the royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself. The Lord "hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel." And again, "Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord."
Moreover, that no one may assume that the Israelites were peculiar in having kings over them who were established by God, note what is said in Ecclesiasticus: "God has given to every people its ruler, and Israel is manifestly reserved to him." He therefore governs all peoples and gives them their kings, although he governed Israel in a more intimate and obvious manner.
It appears from all this that the person of the king is sacred, and that to attack him in any way is sacrilege. God has the kings anointed by his prophets with the holy unction in like manner as he has bishops and altars anointed. But even without the external application in thus being anointed, they are by their very office the representatives of the divine majesty deputed by Providence for the execution of his purposes. Accordingly