St. Robert Bellarmine & the Constitution

[Catholig]

Hello everyone,

Today is the feast day of St. Robert Bellarmine, and this fact somehow led me again to think about something I read a while ago about him (and St. Thomas Aquinas as well to a certain extent) influencing either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. I read that a book quoting St. Robert Bellarmine was circulating at that time, and that it is quite probable that it really did have an effect on the founding fathers. I’m not sure if this is true, but at the very least is there a document outlining similarities between the theology & works of Sts. Aquinas & Bellarmine and either of the aforementioned documents?

Thanks,
Catholig

 

[pprimeau1976]

I googled “Robert Bellarmine 1776” and came up with this:

catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0003.html

Hope this is what you are looking for.

 

[Genesis315]

I have a copy of his treatise on civil government on a text file if you would like it emailed to you, just PM me.

Bellarmine’s ideas are slightly different than the classical Thomist idea that was strongly adopted by Popes like Gregory XVI, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, and Bl. John XXIII in their magisterium on this topic.

Their view is that the authority of the goverment is given by God to the rulers. The people can choose the kind of goverment they want, and who exercises the authority, but ultimately it is God who bestows the authority directly to they who are chosen to rule. Essentially authority comes from the top down.

On the other hand, St. Robert said that God vests the authority in the people as a whole first, and then they delegate it to rulers. It’s a subtle difference. Authority here goes from top to bottom and then up again.

In the practical sense, it is not that big of a deal, but St. Robert’s ideas were one step towards the classical Liberalism of people like Locke and Rouseau who say the authority is inherent in the people and then they bestow it on a government through a social contract. This leaves God out of the picture, making the “will of people” the supreme law–and it of course is easily tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

Another difference between Bellarmine and the classical Liberals is that they said there was a time when men wandered like animals with no actual government, but St. Robert argues from Scripture that Adam ruled his children, and Cain, after he left, founded a city and that therefore government began at the beginning of mankind and has always existed–it even would have existed without the fall–the difference would have been that there would be no unjust rulers and no rebels–but people still need to be organized even if they never sin.