“REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD”

A Statesman’s Legacy: Sir Rowland Hill, the Geneva Bible, and Echoes Across the Atlantic

The ancient walls of Soulton Hall hold a number of secrets. Here, Sir Rowland Hill, a man of remarkable vision, not only built this magnificent Tudor residence, but also played a pivotal role in shaping the religious and cultural landscape of England in the C16th.

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Today, we look how his work stretches far beyond the shores of the United Kingdom and the Tudor period, reaching to the foundations of the United States.

Sir Rowland Hill was a champion of culture and publishing and knowlege. He was instrumental in publishing the Geneva Bible.

Geneva Bible 1560 edition – showing the Red Sea being parted and the Israelites escaping the Pharaoh.

This influential translation, with its clear and accessible language, resonated deeply with the burgeoning Protestant movement, and had political outputs.

It advocated for good governement, and justified work to imporve the constitution.

It resonated not just in England, but also across the Atlantic.

Many of the American Founding Fathers embraced the Geneva Bible.

Its message of liberation and resistance to tyranny found fertile ground amongst those yearning for independence from despotic rule.

This influence is evident in Benjamin Franklin’s proposed design for the first Great Seal of the United States, which took the frontispiece of Hill’s Geneva Bible for its design.

Franklin’s Design for the Great Seal of the United States, taken from the frontispiece of Old Sir Rowland’s Geneva Bible – also showing the Red Sea being parted and the Israelites escaping the Pharaoh.

This resonates deeply with Sir Rowland Hill’s own beliefs and the spirit of reasoned defiance to abuse that permeated the halls of Soulton Hall during his time.

Though Franklin’s design was not ultimately chosen, the motto he proposed:

REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD

echoed Hill’s own commitment to challenging injustice.

This sentiment found a home on Thomas Jefferson’s personal seal, a testament to the enduring influence of the Geneva Bible and the ideals it embodied.

Portrait of Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bibel, in the Hall Mercers’ Company

Here, at Soulton Hall, we are often in awe of Sir Rowland Hill’s legacy.

His vision for a more accessible phillopshy and fairer society and his unwavering commitment to freedom transcended geographical boundaries, leaving a lasting mark on a nation yet to be born.

His story serves as a reminder that the ideas that took root within these walls had a profound impact on the world stage.