Resist Tyrants, Obey God: Lessons Learned from the Life and Times of John Knox

When the author writes of Knox, “Yet these three things—his courageous and open defiance of tyrants, his obedience to God, and his unwavering commitment to Scripture and the lordship of Christ—make him one of the most important historical figures for modern Christians to study and learn from, even if they find occasional points of disagreement with his theology, speech, or actions,” he gives a succinct and inviting summary of his book. Much later in the book, when Tanner writes of us, “When we determine within our hearts that our standard is God’s Word and that nothing can cause us to defy God’s Word, all the secularism in the world cannot shift our perspectives,” he distills the driving force of Knox while he recommends the way a Christian should live in this world. The sections on prayer, preaching, and culture-shaping reach deeply into the truth of God and the Christian conscience to prompt a more consistent, faithful, and courageous God-shaped discipleship in a world that will ever seek to smother the light of truth with its godless darkness.

Tom J. Nettles
Founding Faculty, The Institute of Public Theology