Politics & Power Quote by Charles Inglis

A clever piece of Loyalist tightrope-walking: Inglis concedes the obvious (some governments work better than others) while yanking political certainty out from under anyone trying to baptize a constitution. The sentence is built like a trapdoor. First he grants the premise of political judgment, then he denies Christians the right to claim a divine receipt for their preferred regime. That “cannot be doubted” is rhetorical muscle; the pivot on “yet” is theological restraint turned into political argument.

Inglis was an Anglican clergyman writing in the revolutionary era, when sermons and pamphlets doubled as campaign literature. Patriots routinely framed rebellion as a holy duty and painted monarchy as moral rot. Inglis refuses that framing. By invoking “our Saviour” and “his Apostles,” he appeals to the highest authority in his audience’s world, then notes their conspicuous silence on institutional design. The subtext is pointed: if Jesus didn’t endorse your system, your certainty is ideology dressed up as piety.

The intent isn’t neutral, though. This posture of scriptural modesty functions as a conservative weapon. If Scripture doesn’t assign “Preference,” then Christians should be suspicious of revolutionary fervor and defer to existing authority, tradition, and order. He’s also protecting the Church’s legitimacy: tying Christianity to any single political model risks making faith rise and fall with regimes.

The line works because it weaponizes moderation. It sounds like humility, but it’s a boundary-setting move: keep Christianity out of constitutional branding, and keep dissent from masquerading as divine mandate.