The Bible instructed them that it was their duty to submit to authority. Whether their submission should be absolute was subject to debate and created division between the Colonists.
Those who favored revolution argued that submission was not unlimited and all encompassing. In 1750, Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, in his Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission, concluded that only those rulers who were serving in the best interest of the people deserve infinite respect and obedience. He states that "If those who bear the title of civil rulers do not perform the duty of civil rulers, but act directly counter to the sole end design of their office they have not the least pretense to be honored, obeyed, and rewarded, according to the Apostle's argument rulers have no authority from God to do mischief it is blasphemy to call tyrants and oppressors God's ministers." While Mayhew concluded his sermon by urging Colonists to "pay all due regard to the government over us", his earlier points freed them to revolt against perceived injustices and tyrannical acts by authority. .
The Colonists viewed each additional tax imposed by Great Britain as abuse and tyranny. The Quartering Act, which required Colonists to house and feed British Troops, was an infringement on the independence that the Colonists desired. The taxes imposed by the Townshend Revenue Acts, were further sources of infuriation. When Britain passed the Stamp Act in 1765, Colonists saw the taxation of newspapers, pamphlets, bills and legal documents as a violation of their civil rights. They felt that taxation without representation was illegal and unfair. When Mayhew returned to the pulpit to express his outrage at the Stamp Act, the mobs took this as the church's blessing to revolt against tyranny and oppression. While Mayhew was surprised and frightened at the reaction his sermon received, it would become the basis for such leaders as John Adams" view of the role of revolution in a nation's development.
