Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Samuel Rutherford - 1678 Words

In 1642 England was starting to seek for changes in the way their government was set up. John Locke and Samuel Rutherford were the leaders of this change, calling for the removal of an absolute monarch. Their works would be opposed by the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, during this eighteen-year civil war in England. The ideas represented in this period would heavily influence the way England’s government would be set up in the eighteenth century. In 1644 Bishop Ross, also known as John Maxwell, published Sacro-Sancta Regum Majestas.The article’s ideas centered on Calvinist resistance theory and the political theory of Spanish neo-scholastics. In response Samuel Rutherford came out with his publication, Lex Rex, which translates to â€Å"Law is King†.†¦show more content†¦Thomas Hobbes was the young contemporary of Jean Bodin, though he had contrasting views than him. He was in support of absolute monarchy as he heavily thought that a king was absolutely necessary to protect the subjects of his land. He, like Locke and Rutherford, wrote many great pieces during his life. The two that relate are Elements of Law Natural and Political and Leviathan, his most major piece. Hobbes’ Elements of Law Natural and Political was a direct product of the intellectual and political conflict going on during the seventeenth century. During the time it was written, Parliament was fighting for power against King Cha rles I. In this writing he claims that society could only function if it is submitted to the governance of an absolute sovereign. His work was accepted with hostility causing him to flee to Paris where he would use this work as the basis to Leviathan. After the execution of Charles I, Hobbes started writing Leviathan. It is composed into four books; â€Å"Of Man†, â€Å"Of Common-wealth†, â€Å"Of a Christian Common-wealth† and â€Å"Of the Kingdome of Darkness†. No differently than Elements of Law Natural and Political, his work was received with hostility as it offended both Loyalists and Parliamentarians. Even the exiled Prince Charles, who Hobbes had tutored, refused to read the document after seeing how the general public reacted to it. The method in Leviathan is modeled after a geometric proof, founded up principles of; each step