Jonathan Boucher

¨Obedience to government is every man's duty ... when Christians are disobedient to human ordinances, they are also disobedient to God."

WHO HE WAS:  Jonathan Boucher was a minister in Maryland who gave many sermons that supported the loyalist cause. He was born in England in 1738 but moved to Virginia when he was twenty-one in order to be a tutor for wealthy families in Virginia. In fact, one of his students was John Parke Custis, who was George Washington's stepson. He and George Washington often wrote friendly letters to one another. 

Later he became a minister and felt strongly that people should be obedient to the king's government because it was their Christian duty. He used hs sermons to explain his belief that that the King's power came from God so everyone should be loyal to he King. It would be a sin against God to disobey the King's rules. He was also very worried that a war with Great Britian could be very dangerous for the colonists. 

WHAT HE SAID:  

"Obedience for conscience sake" [is the] "cornerstone of all good government.  Obedience to government is every man's duty, because it is every man's interest; but it is particularly incumbent on Christians, because (in addition to its moral fitness) it is enjoined by the positive commands of God; and, therefore, when Christians are disobedient to human ordinances, they are also disobedient to God.¨ -- From ON CIVIL LIBERTY, PASSIVE OBEDIENCE, AND NONRESISTANCE