The Divine Right of Kings: 3

Those who upheld a right of resistance had to argue that St Paul's teaching could be interpreted in another way. For example, they said that Paul commanded obedience to 'powers' in the plural, and that 'lesser powers' like parliament or noblemen or clergy could restrain the 'greater power' of the monarch. Or they pointed out that Paul went on to say that earthly powers are ordained 'for good', so that Paul only referred to good powers. Or, if truly revolutionary, they could argue that the power of the revolutionary was ordained by God, since 'all' powers are, and that providence favoured the righteous in a war against a tyrant.