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Tomos Press retweeted
Most Protestants have never heard of Lambert Daneau. That's a loss. His Christian Politics (1596) attempted something almost no one tries anymore: rebuilding political science from the ground up with Scripture as the governing norm.
Daneau wasn't naive about this. He'd trained in law at Orléans and Bourges, pastored in Geneva and beyond, and lived as a religious exile through the confessional wars of the 16th century. He didn't throw out Aristotle, Cicero, or the historians — he ordered them beneath the Word of God. Human learning received, compared, corrected.
Why does this matter for Protestants today? Because we've largely outsourced our political thinking. We baptize whatever framework is fashionable and call it Christian. Daneau's method rebukes that: start with Scripture, then let philosophy, law, and history serve in their proper place.
And his conclusions still cut. Rulers established by consent, bound by contract and fundamental laws. Law that isn't law merely because power enacted it — decrees against divine law and right reason can't become just by decree. Magistracy as entrusted office, not possession. Kings for the good of their subjects, never the reverse.
He even named the alternative and rejected it: Machiavelli. Not because Machiavelli used pagan sources — Daneau's book is full of them — but because a statecraft severed from justice misunderstands both the commonwealth and the government of God. "Advantage must never conquer true moral rightness." You can't tell me that's not a word for our moment.
This is the tradition Althusius drew on. It's part of the Protestant inheritance — a whole political science, not just scattered proof texts about Romans 13.
Own it. Read it. Recover it.
Tomos Press retweeted
As one of the principles in the Tomos Press project the goal is to quickly and affordably make editions of important but previously untranslated works available.
If you know of such works please let us know and we’ll try to get them out into print in English.
Timon smart. Be like Timon, buy book.
Devastating for @PerfInjust:
“Daneau criticizes fellow Christian writers for not relying on Scripture to philosophize about politics science.”
Tomos Press retweeted
Devastating for @PerfInjust:
“Daneau criticizes fellow Christian writers for not relying on Scripture to philosophize about politics science.”
Tomos Press retweeted
Retrieval stalled when certain publishers took liberties w/redactions, ceased publishing certain works from social pressure, or refused to retrieve certain works altogether, choosing activism instead. Thank God for @BerithPress & now @Tomos_Press, along w/a revamped @DavenantInst
Tomos Press retweeted
Long before anyone talked about dangerous "christian nationalism," a French Calvinist named Lambert Daneau (d. 1595) tried to derive the entire science of politics straight from Moses and St. Paul. It didn't catch on. But wouldn't it be worth reading if you're concerned?
Most Protestants have never heard of Lambert Daneau. That's a loss. His Christian Politics (1596) attempted something almost no one tries anymore: rebuilding political science from the ground up with Scripture as the governing norm.
Daneau wasn't naive about this. He'd trained in law at Orléans and Bourges, pastored in Geneva and beyond, and lived as a religious exile through the confessional wars of the 16th century. He didn't throw out Aristotle, Cicero, or the historians — he ordered them beneath the Word of God. Human learning received, compared, corrected.
Why does this matter for Protestants today? Because we've largely outsourced our political thinking. We baptize whatever framework is fashionable and call it Christian. Daneau's method rebukes that: start with Scripture, then let philosophy, law, and history serve in their proper place.
And his conclusions still cut. Rulers established by consent, bound by contract and fundamental laws. Law that isn't law merely because power enacted it — decrees against divine law and right reason can't become just by decree. Magistracy as entrusted office, not possession. Kings for the good of their subjects, never the reverse.
He even named the alternative and rejected it: Machiavelli. Not because Machiavelli used pagan sources — Daneau's book is full of them — but because a statecraft severed from justice misunderstands both the commonwealth and the government of God. "Advantage must never conquer true moral rightness." You can't tell me that's not a word for our moment.
This is the tradition Althusius drew on. It's part of the Protestant inheritance — a whole political science, not just scattered proof texts about Romans 13.
Own it. Read it. Recover it.
Long before anyone talked about dangerous "christian nationalism," a French Calvinist named Lambert Daneau (d. 1595) tried to derive the entire science of politics straight from Moses and St. Paul. It didn't catch on. But wouldn't it be worth reading if you're concerned?
Most Protestants have never heard of Lambert Daneau. That's a loss. His Christian Politics (1596) attempted something almost no one tries anymore: rebuilding political science from the ground up with Scripture as the governing norm.
Daneau wasn't naive about this. He'd trained in law at Orléans and Bourges, pastored in Geneva and beyond, and lived as a religious exile through the confessional wars of the 16th century. He didn't throw out Aristotle, Cicero, or the historians — he ordered them beneath the Word of God. Human learning received, compared, corrected.
Why does this matter for Protestants today? Because we've largely outsourced our political thinking. We baptize whatever framework is fashionable and call it Christian. Daneau's method rebukes that: start with Scripture, then let philosophy, law, and history serve in their proper place.
And his conclusions still cut. Rulers established by consent, bound by contract and fundamental laws. Law that isn't law merely because power enacted it — decrees against divine law and right reason can't become just by decree. Magistracy as entrusted office, not possession. Kings for the good of their subjects, never the reverse.
He even named the alternative and rejected it: Machiavelli. Not because Machiavelli used pagan sources — Daneau's book is full of them — but because a statecraft severed from justice misunderstands both the commonwealth and the government of God. "Advantage must never conquer true moral rightness." You can't tell me that's not a word for our moment.
This is the tradition Althusius drew on. It's part of the Protestant inheritance — a whole political science, not just scattered proof texts about Romans 13.
Own it. Read it. Recover it.
Tomos Press now allows non-Americans to buy Daneau.
Yes, even you, Europe.
Consider it foreign aid.
Most Protestants have never heard of Lambert Daneau. That's a loss. His Christian Politics (1596) attempted something almost no one tries anymore: rebuilding political science from the ground up with Scripture as the governing norm.
Daneau wasn't naive about this. He'd trained in law at Orléans and Bourges, pastored in Geneva and beyond, and lived as a religious exile through the confessional wars of the 16th century. He didn't throw out Aristotle, Cicero, or the historians — he ordered them beneath the Word of God. Human learning received, compared, corrected.
Why does this matter for Protestants today? Because we've largely outsourced our political thinking. We baptize whatever framework is fashionable and call it Christian. Daneau's method rebukes that: start with Scripture, then let philosophy, law, and history serve in their proper place.
And his conclusions still cut. Rulers established by consent, bound by contract and fundamental laws. Law that isn't law merely because power enacted it — decrees against divine law and right reason can't become just by decree. Magistracy as entrusted office, not possession. Kings for the good of their subjects, never the reverse.
He even named the alternative and rejected it: Machiavelli. Not because Machiavelli used pagan sources — Daneau's book is full of them — but because a statecraft severed from justice misunderstands both the commonwealth and the government of God. "Advantage must never conquer true moral rightness." You can't tell me that's not a word for our moment.
This is the tradition Althusius drew on. It's part of the Protestant inheritance — a whole political science, not just scattered proof texts about Romans 13.
Own it. Read it. Recover it.