Constitutional Law – Division of Power

How many ways can sovereignty be divided?  Monarchy – rule of one over the many  Oligarchy – rule of a few over the many  Democracy – rule of the many over themselves  Republic – The elect representative of the many under established law.

THE BIBLICAL CONNECTION TO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Isaiah 33:22 For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. (WEB) The sovereignty of Lord God is divided into three parts: judicial (judge), legislative (lawgiver), and executive (king).

* Find Isaiah 33:22 in the U.S. Constitution… Research Link: overview overview Answer - Next Slide FINDING FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

ANSWER : Article I of US Constitution creates the legislative for making law Article II creates the executive for enforcing law Article III creates the judicial for adjudicating violations of law

Research Link:

Why is the judicial, executive, and legislature divided into three separate branches of government? What would happen if the executive also functioned as the legislature and judicial? What are some other ways sovereign power can be divided, horizontally and vertically? Hint: Amendment 10 Who determines the division of sovereignty? How are divisions of sovereignty ordained? Class Discussion

MISSING FOURTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT ? Leviticus 23:3 “‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.” Note: Convocation is an assembly convoked, and it was schedule once a week on the 7 th day. The Sabbath means 7 th day of the week. It’s a day free from personal labor, but it also required joining in a community wide public assembly. See Exodus 18:21

JB: “Keeping the Sabbath – 7 th Day – is part of the Ten Commandments. This commandment is not a holiday but a day for holy assemblies. Holy assemblies are public assemblies for doing the work of public business by the people for the people. Jethro introduced Moses to a system of assemblies or polities in Ex.18:21. On this day, the people are to review the law of the land and the magistrates who execute them. It is a day of election and citizenship training. The Sabbath day God gave to His people so that they may be vigilant over the use of public authority and to direct that authority in order to improve their communities. The American people need the Sabbath; it is their seat of authority; it is the fourth branch of government, and to neglect the Sabbath, the cornerstone of a free republic, is the cause of the abuse and misuse of civil power by unaccountable public agents. The Sabbath is so essential to the right use of the police and military powers of the state that God has instituted the death penalty for its violation. This is perfectly sensible when we consider it is the misuse of civil power that has led to the great atrocities within the human community.”

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Preamble of the U.S. Constitution The U.S. Constitution was ordained and established by We the People through special conventions of the states.

Class Discussion Where does the U.S. Constitution’s preamble place the American people in the hierarchy of power? Does the weekly Sabbath offer We the People a system for executing its sovereign powers? What political powers can you think of that could be exercised by the People on the Sabbath? How essential does God make the Sabbath as a political unit in society?

BUILDING A BETTER CONSTITUTION You are a citizen of the Republic, and you are asked to write a constitution. You sit down with paper in hand. One of your objectives is to divide the powers of government into different branches. How would you write a clause(s) in your constitution that addresses the issue of division of power.