The best treatise ever written on the doctrine of the lesser magistrates was by John Knox in his Appellation to the Nobility and Estates of Scotland (1558). Knox made clear that lesser magistrates are not to hide behind the excuse that they must simply obey those in authority above them. John Knox stated disdainfully, “For now the common song of all men is, ‘We must obey our kings, be they good or be they bad; for God has so commanded.'”
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