ABSTRACT
The church first developed a concept of authority in accordance with its own position in the ancient world. It lived without any designs on power and understood what was necessary to remain in good standing with Rome. The Reformation took the tensions of the late medieval period, furthered its teachings, and produced a doctrine of rebellion, which encompassed all of society. Of course, this process did not transpire over night. The paradigm for limited government was embodied for generations to come within the struggles of Charles I and Parliament. Those who spoke of a separation or balance of powers typically looked to England and its struggles in the seventeenth century as a historical precedent for their own convictions. The law of nature is the supreme rule of all people, whether they exist inside or outside of nature in a commonwealth.
