Gary L. Steward
Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Colorado Christian University
Dr. Gary Steward is an Associate Professor of History and Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Colorado Christian University. He received a Ph.D. in Church History and Historical Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and he is the author of Justifying Revolution: The American Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance, 1750–1776, published by Oxford University Press in 2021. He was a pastor for many years in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, and he currently lives with his wife and three children in the Denver area.
Talks and Topics
The Patriot Clergy’s Argument for Political Resistance to the British, 1750-1776
This talk covers the arguments used by the American clergy to justify armed resistance to the British in the lead up to the Declaration of Independence. The talk provides historical context and theological background for the patriot clergy’s views, going back to the Protestant Reformation. The talk argues that the clergy justified political resistance to the British in ways that were in continuity with their historical and theological heritage, especially with the historical developments that took place in seventeenth-century Britain.
