In the opening of "Tactics of Christian Resistance," a book written by Reconstructionists who are working toward the setting up of a religious government run by themselves, Gary North dedicates the book to Andrew Melville and Thomas Becket. Thomas Becket was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury who was killed by four officers of King Henry II of England in a political power struggle of the sort common when church and state are joined. Gary North justifies his dedication of the book to Becket with this note: "Protestants should keep in mind that at this time in history, the pope was premier bishop of the entire Western church." I disagree. The pope was never the bishop of the true churches of the Lord. Rather, he was their persecutor. However, it is instructional to know that the Reconstructionists consider themselves the proper conveyors of the Roman Catholic political tradition.
