I recently finish
ed reading David W. Hall’s Calvin in the Public Square: Liberal Democracies, Rights, and Civil Liberties, which is part of the eight volume Calvin 500 Series published by P&R and available here. Dr. Hall, who is senior pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Powder Springs, Georgia and editor of the Calvin 500 Series, has produced a fascinating read about the source of republican democratic political philosophy in Calvinistic theological circles. Among the ideas that stem from the thought of John Calvin and which have developed further in the Reformed tradition, are such things as limited government, representative government, the right of lesser magistrates to resist a tyrant, and the rejection of unfettered statism. There is much food for thought here. The other available volumes in the Calvin500 Series can be found here, here, and here.
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve. (Romans 16:17-18)