and against God, then it falls back upon their own faith, for they should not obey the Emperor, in what they do not approve, nor help him, nor become partners of his sin; it is enough that the land and people are left unprotected and the Emperor unhindered, and they should say: If the Emperor wishes to persecute our subjects, as they are also his own, he may act according to his conscience; we are not able to prevent him. But we will not help him in it, nor approve of his course; for we must obey God rather than man."[3] In regard to the impropriety of all individual resistance to authority, Zwingli agreed with Luther, and just as severely condemned everything that bore the character of riot or rebellion; but entertained, on the other hand, far more liberal views concerning the rights of the people, in their collective capacity, against their rulers; and here, supported by passages from the Old Testament, whilst Luther relied exclusively on the New, he developed a theory (an assemblage of propositions), which must have no doubt appeared suspicious to the German Reformers, living as they did under monarchical forms of government, and indeed, just as readily as his freer exposition of the words of the Lord's Supper, might have called forth that saying of Luther: "You have quite another spirit than we." "Where a prince is overbearing and a wanton spendthrift," so he writes, "and the people undutiful and devoted to their own advantage, there tumults break out. But this also does not happen without that Divine Providence, which has numbered all the hairs of our heads, and by which the wantonness of the tyrant and the recklessness of the people are alike controlled. A seditious people are led only by wild passions; by rage and fury, not by reason. Rulers should then take care not to give occasion to the people to rebel. If they are truly wise and God-fearing, if they practice justice and equity, then God will not give them up to the wrath of the multitude; for He is mightier than they and does not forsake them, who trust in him and serve him. And we must warn the people also not to plunge themselves into ruin by sedition. Tumults are generally excited by those who aspire after honors and riches. Now, that it may not seem as if Christians care more for the human than the divine, they should obey even tyrants in things, that only oppress the body, and pay taxes to them, so that the Gospel may not be reviled on their account. A whole nation, on the other hand, can and should, in a lawful manner, with moderation and the fear of God, resist the unjust power of the tyrant, and if they do it not, then will they be punished by God along with the wicked prince. And how we may deal with such rulers, is shown by the clear example of Saul, whom God repudiated, although he had chosen him at first. Indeed if such wanton kings be not thrust away, the whole nation will be punished for it. Hence, when Manasseh, King of Judah, had done the most wicked