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In a world where we feel put upon if a pastor preaches for more than a half an hour, or the sermon actually exhorts us to some course of action, this volume is an eye-opening experience. We’re happy to have added the 33 sermons consuming some 670 pages of text, to our Pilgrims Tactics: The Liberty Church. In these historic volumes, you will find no shallow thinking here; each sermon is well organized, driving towards a single conclusion with a depth of argument rarely seen in modern thinking. Surprising, as well, is the breadth of topics discussed. These sermons were, of course, chosen specifically for their political value, but the political and the religious were deeply intertwined in the 1700s and 1800s. “…liberty is more than a secular matter,” as the editor says. Recurring topics include the divine right of kings, whether or not Christians should be active or passive in the face of tyranny, an examination of what tyranny actually is, the nature of liberty, and America’s case against the British Parliament.
Should Christians remain passive, or fight, in the face of tyranny?
The answer that thundered from these pulpits is they should fight. John Fletcher’s sermon provides the most extensive line of argument in this area, working from Romans, Luke, the Psalms, and the Davidic Kingdom to prove his point. The general line of reasoning is that Christians should obey government so long as the government is within the bounds God has given it; once government steps outside those bounds, it is no longer appointed by God, and therefore ought not to be obeyed. It’s interesting that both of the sides in the discussion –for there are voices here that supported England’s side as well as America’s followed this same line of argument.
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The nature of tyranny is closely tied to this line of reasoning. Tyranny, in this volume, is when 
“No doubt, Constantine the Great, who first established Christianity, had a good intention in the same; but all the darkness that has since overspread the Christian church, the exorbitant power of the popes and church of Rome, all the oceans of blood that have been shed in the contests about religion, between different sects of Christians, the almost total cessation of the progress of Christianity, the rise of Mahometanism, the rise and spread of deism, the general contempt into which Christianity is fallen; all may fairly be laid at the door of that establishment.” -Elhanan Winchester
America’s case against the British Parliament is somewhat different than what you might have read in a common history primer; the root cause is still taxation without representation, but it is much more nuanced, and well supported than that simple view might initially appear. The Americans argued that just as Ireland has its own parliament, which was able to lay taxes to present to the King, America has its own parliament as well. For the British Parliament to raise taxes on the Colonies was just as if they tried to raise taxes on some other part of the Empire. The Parliament had no right to raise taxes on the Colonies, a point shown by the lack of representation by the Colonies in the Parliament itself. In other words, they conceived of the Colonies and England itself as being two separate pieces of the British Empire, equal before the King. They objected to being treated as subservient to Parliament, rather than the King.
The prevailing replacement theology, well-grounded in strong Reformed Theology, shows through in many places in this volume; this will be of interest to students of historical theology. There are some points when a premillennial belief shows though, however, particularly in Elhanan Winchester’s sermon on the Glorious Revolution.
Overall, a lengthy, and sometimes difficult, read, but well worth it for any student of American History, Historical Theology, or students of logic and reason.
