God against the Revolution: The Loyalist Clergy's Case against the American Revolution

by Gregg L. Frazer

Because, it’s said, history is written by the victors, we know plenty about the Patriots’ cause in the American Revolution. But what about the perhaps one-third of the population who opposed independence? They too were Americans who loved the land they lived in, but their position is largely missing from our understanding of Revolution-era American political thought. With God against the Revolution , the first comprehensive account of the political thought of the American Loyalists, Gregg L. Frazer seeks to close this gap.

Because the Loyalists’ position was most clearly expressed by clergymen, God against the Revolution investigates the biblical, philosophical, and legal arguments articulated in Loyalist ministers’ writings, pamphlets, and sermons. The Loyalist ministers Frazer consults were not blind apologists for Great Britain; they criticized British excesses. But they challenged the Patriots claiming rights as Englishmen to be subject to English law. This is one of the many instances identified by Frazer in which the Loyalist arguments mirrored or inverted those of the Patriots, who demanded natural and English rights while denying freedom of religion, expression, and assembly, and due process of law to those with opposing views. Similarly the Loyalist ministers’ biblical arguments against revolution and in favor of subjection to authority resonate oddly with still familiar notions of Bible-invoking patriotism.

For a revolution built on demands for liberty, equality, and fairness of representation, God against Revolution raises sobering questions—about whether the Patriots were rational, legitimate representatives of the people, working in the best interests of Americans. A critical amendment to the history of American political thought, the book also serves as a cautionary tale in the heated political atmosphere of our time.

Genres: History, American Revolution, Politics, American History, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Gregg L. Frazer is professor of history and political studies and Dean of the School of Humanities at The Master’s University.

Reviews

[Robert Heckner · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and important study of the ideas of Loyalist clergy during the Revolutionary period. It is packed with various lines of arguments that Loyalists used against the Revolution — mostly letting their own words speak for themselves.
I think this is an important book for theologians/ church historians interested in US history as well as historians interesting in the Revolution. A good read and a useful reference.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

God Against the Revolution is a wonderful piece of historical work. Fraser does an amazing job in sourcing, gathering, and distilling the message of clergy who were loyalists in the American Revolution. Lots of books have been written that talk about the importance of the Patriot pulpit, but this is the only, as far as I know that looks at the opposite side. This may seem very niche, but clergy were major figures not only in the lives of their parishioners, but in the country at large during this time. So their words matter if we want to understand the Revolutionary period bette. This book does a great job with that and was important to me for two reasons.
The first and broadly applicable one is that loyalists during the American Revolution are incredibly misunderstood. Usually dumbed down and mocked as fuddy duties, sheep, or conservative idiots. Think of Samuel Seabury as presented in the Hamilton musical. Seabury is one of the major figures of this book and is by no means a fool or an arch-conservative who is scared of the king. This book does a good job a rehabilitating some of these misconceptions and even turns the mirror back on the Patriots who were quick to talk of rights and offer them to those who agree, but would deny these “universal” rights to their enemies. Loyalist clergy, for instance, were regularly subject to jail and worse for their sermons on Sundays. So, this book is important for revising this error.

Second, for a more personal reason, I found the religious dialogues of these men to be fascinating. Those who know the Bible know that it is friendly towards government. Romans 13 and the epistles of Peter are especially cited on this point. So to me I have always wondered if it is ever appropriate to rebel in an armed insurrection. This problem hasn’t been solved for me, but I appreciated the time spent to analyzing their use of scripture (among many other argumentations) to see how they interpreted these passages.
This is a deep historical work. It is written for a scholarly audience and I wouldn’t recommend it for those who like popular history or don’t like deep dives. My historical focus has never been on the American Revolution, and while I couldn’t really slack when reading I still was able to follow along quite well. I imagine someone who is more familiar with that time period would enjoy this work even more than I do. Overall, this is great and is definitely an important historical work and I hope it leads to a growth in a field of historians who look at the loyalist side of the Revolutionary conflict here in America.

[Jonathan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frazer does an excellent job of researching the loyalist position. Five clergy, four Anglicans and one Presbyterian, are selected as representatives of loyalist clergy. Their writings in the newspaper articles, and printed sermons, are used to present the case against the patriots and their push for rebellion against King George and the English parliament. Fraser breaks down the arguments of the loyalists into five categories: biblical arguments, theoretical arguments from the nature of government, legal arguments, and rational argument regarding the American situation, and rational argument based on colonial actions.

Both sides of the issue appealed to the same texts in the same truth. The hermeneutics of the loyalists/Tories was profoundly more grammatical and historical to the biblical texts. The patriots/Whigs tended to use extremely complicated arguments to justify their position from Romans 13. There was a shocking similarity between the Patriot arguments and tactics, and today’s left. Both took control of the press and media and censored all articulation of any opinion to the contrary. However, it was also a remarkable similarities between the patriots and the post millennial activism of today. Both of these groups argue with me on the scripture for the Christian obligation to find government have a fear that if we give government an inch they will take a mile. The Loyalists experienced persecution, death, loss of privilege, free speech, and possessions without due process. It was a tragic violation of freedom.

The highlights of the book were the chapters on the biblical arguments and the legal arguments. In the first, the hermeneutics used in the pulpit on both sides, the patriots in the loyalist, or compared and contrast is in a helpful way. Almost invariably the loyalist puppets stuck to the biblical phrases, interpreted literally in their context. In the chapter on legal arguments, the discussion revolved around the nature of colonial charters and submission to England. The loyalist pointed out that even the patriots had to admit that the charters were written with the intent, and received by colonists in that same intent, that the colony was subordinate to England. Finally, that chapter pointed out the inconsistency of claiming to be submissive to King George but rebellious to parliament. As the patriots admitted before the revolution, if their actions were successful, it would be called revolution revolution; but, if not, it would be called a rebellion.

[Joelendil · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.” – John Harrington

This book helped fill a gap in my understanding of US history. In school (kindergarten through master’s degree), I remember only one teacher who (rather tentatively) expressed any serious doubt over whether the American Revolution was morally justifiable. After all, if you’re a red-blooded American, you know that the patriots were absolutely justified in their rebellion against English tyranny. We won against all odds, so that must prove that God was on our side.

If such a facile argument doesn’t work for you, this book provides interesting historical (and theological/philosophical) information that should be integrated into your understanding of the American Revolution. Gregg Frazer dares to stir the waters by presenting the arguments and life circumstances of colonists who stayed loyal to their king.

Because most writings by such people were repressed and destroyed (so much for freedom of speech and of the press), he is limited in his sources to the writings of five or six loyalist clergymen. He presents their arguments largely without direct comment on whether or not he finds them convincing (though he is clearly sympathetic to some of them). The arguments are divided into categories: biblical, theoretical on the nature of government, legal, rational regarding the American situation, and rational based on colonial actions.

Personally, I was most interested in the biblical arguments since I views the principles and commands of Scripture as my basis for morality. As I suspected, most arguments revolved around Romans 13:1-7 & 1 Peter 2:13-17 which both command Christians to be law-abiding citizens who honor, obey, and pay taxes to the existing authorities (with the exception that laws commanding a Christian to directly disobey God must be disobeyed with a willingness to accept the consequences-e.g. Acts 5:29). The point was well-argued, and I myself have preached/taught these passages in a similar way (to similar, though less violent, pushback from “patriotic Americans”)…there truly is nothing new under the sun!

Overall, this is a fascinating book. If you are at all interested in the American Revolution and/or the nature of a Christian’s responsibility toward human government, I challenge you to read it. Don’t settle for the “fan fiction” version of American history. You may or may not agree with the loyalist clergy view of “God against the revolution,” but for the sake of intellectual integrity, it is good to hear out both sides in a complex issue. And of course, examining the triumphs and failures (military, cultural, moral, etc.) of the past helps us make wiser decisions in the present.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

When is rebellion justified? Is it ever justified? As Americans, we don’t spend much time debating the arguments for and against the American Revolution. We are inheritors of our forefathers’ victory and everything seems to have worked out just fine. But rebellion and revolution are dangerous subjects that shouldn’t been treated lightly, even for Americans who can celebrate our own. For people to rebel against their government, they must be fully convinced of their standing and their cause. As such, it would be foolish not to give attention to the discussion between the “Patriots” and “Loyalists” during the era of the American Revolution. There is a lot we can learn from the Loyalist’s arguments against the American revolution, even if we do not agree with them in toto. 

Gregg Frazer succinctly provides the arguments of the most prominent Loyalist ministers. The main names he relies on are Jonathan Boucher (a friend of George Washington), Thomas Bradbury Chandler, Charles Inglis, Samuel Seabury, and John Joachim Zubly (one of the few Presbyterians). These men loved God, served His church faithfully, and they loved America. These men were not cowards (in fact their position cost them dearly), and they were not sycophants of King George. Most of the Loyalist spoke out against English overreach, but they stopped short of joining in with the revolution.  Their reasons for not doing so were biblical (drawing mainly from Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, and Old Testament passages), legal (based on the colonies’ charters, the authority of Parliament, and the limited authority of the colonies), historical (based on the context of the American colonies, the military support from England, the concessions made by the English government, and the lack of conciliation efforts), and practical (based on the destructiveness of revolution and the preference for stability and order).

An interesting aspect of these arguments, which Frazer highlights, is the commonality between the Loyalists and the Union side of the Civil War. Nearly all the same arguments were made by the North (pro-union, pro-centralized authority, strong sense of loyalty to central government) that were previously raised by the Loyalist. “American changed their views of loyalty during the Civil War. They learned that ‘loyalty’ was a virtue, that the supporters of ‘the powers that be’ were worthy of honor, and that ‘rebels’ and ‘rebellion’ were to be put down at any cost by the strong hand.’ . . There are certainly significant parallels between British and Union claims of the national government’s authority to legislate for all regions under their jurisdiction and between Patriot and Southern Confederate desires to reject all but local autonomy.”

I learned of this book from a podcast discussing the different strands of Reformed resistance theory, in which the speaker discusses the “Continental,” “Anglo,” and “Lockean-Reformed” views. There is not much literature out there which distinguishes the various lines of Protestant resistance theory. But this book is one of the few I know of that presents a more limited view of rebellion (though not overtly), which seems to be more in line with John Calvin (Continental?) than with Knox and Rutherford (Anglo?).

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

182 Loyalist clergy from all faith groups in the colonies addressed the theological issues in their sermons and published articles decrying the Revolutionary War. Gregg Frazer presents their compelling arguments in God Against the Revolution. Why are we mostly unaware of Loyalist opposition? Frazer reminds the reader that “The voices and ideas of the losers are virtually unknown.” The winners write the history.

Frazer begins by showing just how divided the Americans were. There were large numbers of Patriots, Loyalists, and many who were neutral. In time, however, neutrality was no longer an option, and Patriots who insisted on liberty and freedom suppressed the voices of dissent. The Loyalists were initially afraid of England taking away some of their liberties and ended up being afraid of the Patriots. Frazer notes that “Americans who would later celebrate their Bill of Rights denied to Loyalists virtually every right on the list.” The Patriot decision to rebel is pictured as primarily based on worldly self-interest, people “dissatisfied with their level of liberty.” They believed they had the right to decide whether someone was a “legitimate magistrate,” while Loyalists insisted only God has this authority. Theological justification was difficult to prove.

Frazer presents the hermeneutics of the debate, showing that the patriots had a nuanced view of the Bible (“creative exegesis”), allowing them to be governed more by impressions than by exegesis, and more influenced by John Locke than the Apostle Paul. Loyalists were literalists, upholding the authority of Scripture, despite their dissatisfaction with taxation without a seat in Parliament. They sought biblical answers even if they didn’t like the conclusions. They sought peaceful protest resistance and believed reform was possible. “Although disobedience might be called for, rebellion was not the proper response.”

Evangelicals are likely to agree with the Loyalists’ interpretation of Scripture, but may be less likely to agree with their take on political theory. They believed that submission to patriarchal government (monarchy) was the most ideal and rejected representative government based on consent, social contract, and equality. Loyalist clergy pleaded for reconciliation with England and blamed “troublemakers” (especially the Sons of Liberty) for stirring dissent, rejecting British and fomenting revolution. Loyalists realized the futility of their efforts when British attempts to offer diplomatic solutions were rebuffed by the Continental Congress. As war loomed, they appealed to just-war theory and declared the conflict an unjust war. They also were convinced a war against England was unwinnable.

Loyalist voices were largely silenced by the closure of churches, persecution of dissenters, and the destruction of pro-British pamphlets and printed sermons (no freedom of the press). Many Loyalists had their property seized, opposition was silenced, some were tarred and feathered and forcibly deported. Frazer points out, “It is important to remember that these men (the Loyalists) committed no crime. They were not punished for espionage or sabotage but simply for maintaining loyalty to the legal established government and for disagreeing with the rebels.” This is a sad chapter of American history I suspect most Americans are unaware of.

It would be interesting to learn more about the personal stories of loyalist clergy and their followers following the war. Many returned to England, but how did those who remained manage? Did any who returned to England later visit America, and what did they think of the new nation?

We might well respond with a shrug, “So what? The rebellion established a good nation.” But was the American Revolution legitimate? When we find ourselves at odds with the governing authorities, how ought we respond? This is something we could face if and when we are subjects of an unjust ruler. There is much to ponder in this provocative book that offers a rare look at the birth of our nation from an alternative perspective.

[Hudson Christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the precursor to the American rebellion against Great Britain, there were two realms of thought: those who thought that Britain should be opposed for "oppressive" acts against the rights of the American colonists (the Patriots) and those who thought that loyalty to Britain should continue (the Loyalists). In history, the Patriots won the fight between the two and miraculously won the rebellion against Great Britain. And the voices of those who argued for the Loyalist side of the argument where silenced and rarely heard from after. Now, in his book God Against the Revolution, Dr. Gregg Frazer seeks to allow the voices of the Loyalists to be heard. The biggest proponents of the Loyalist viewpoint were the clergy, who were able to argue from God's word against the rebellion. However, those same clergymen were also educated and intelligent individuals who were able to argue against the rebellion using reason and logic. Dr. Frazer seeks to show the reader that these individuals were intelligent, educated people who reasoned from God's Word and logic, contrary to how the history books have commonly portrayed them.
Academic and insightful, God Against the Revolution was a fascinating read. To read this book is to read the personal viewpoints of five men who sought to fight for what they believed regardless of the opposition against them. In this book, Dr. Frazer gives free rein to the clergymen's arguments while also explaining the context behind the points that they made. The arguments of the clergymen themselves are clear and profound, offering philosophical and biblical arguments against the Patriots' arguments. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves history and wants to see the truth behind the pre-American Revolution period. It was a great book to start the year off with.

[Joshua Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed it. The problem I had is that it felt as though I was being shown 'the other side of the story' and correcting the misconceptions there, but as an Englishman, I don't really know the story so I don't have an image that needs correcting. I realise this is a subjective problem with me as a reader more than an objective one with the book's content, especially as an assumption of familiarity with the history is fair for most of the audience. That said, I would have loved to have heard more about the opponents of the loyalists, especiallly about the exegetical gymnastics that were attributed to the Patriot preachers, I felt as though they didn't get a fair hearing.

On the positive, I really appreciated the way you could feel the frustration and real concern from the Loyalist clergy, they were not presented as mere quotations on a page but as real, thinking and feeling people grappling with a potential major shift in their society. Their arguments really made me ponder a more profound application of Romans 13 for my own life. Good stuff.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

I hate to say that when you've read 4,000 books not many of them change your thinking significantly. But that's one of the reasons that you keep reading. You hope that you will find books that change your life or thinking. This book did change my thinking. It makes a strong historical case that Christians should not have supported the American revolution and that most of the leaders of the American revolution were not Christian in their thinking. In other words loyalty to God and His Word are much more important that nationalism. I hope to do a real review someday.

[Robin Eschliman · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered how one reconciles the scriptural commands to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar" and "this is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants" with our national sensibility about tea parties and tax watchdog groups, this book will make you very uncomfortable. If you read for the first time how Christians in the Revolutionary War persecuted other Christians for believing they should obey these commands, bullied them, took away their property, and imprisoned them, you will be squirming and sweating. The book, since it is an academic treatise, is expensive to purchase, repetitive and lengthy; but it has some good quotes from Christian pastors in letters (which fortunately were not burned by rebels) who made a religious and intellectual case for why the Revolutionary War wasn't the right thing to do.

[Timothy Durey · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the author’s unique contribution to the history of the Revolution, I give this book 5 stars. I was amazed and enlightened as I read various pieces of information that I had never heard before while growing up. The Loyalist’s were thoughtful and the clergy held faithfully to the authority of Scripture. I genuinely hope that more Christians would read this work.

From a personal perspective, I did find certain parts of the book a little tedious and overly repetitious. Chapter 1 was probably the most difficult to wade through. However, this book is well worth your time.

[Erik Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book denounces the glorification of our founding rebellion that pervades the thinking of many American Christians. Dr. Gregg Frazer records the Biblical cases made by our Loyalist Christian brothers who tried to hold fast to the Scriptures while experiencing intense tyranny from Patriot agitators under the sanction of the Continental Congress. As a reward for the faithfulness of these pastors to their eternal Lord and their temporal king, the Patriots committed many illegal and unjust persecutions against those who sought to live in submission to God and the authority that He had established. The foundations of Christian nationalism are severely undermined by a proper assessment of our nation’s history, which my former professor, Dr. Frazer does aptly in this book. While I am grateful for the blessings I experience in these United States, this book has forger altered my perspective —as a Christian—on the foundations of our Republic.