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The role of natural law in the development of the political theory of John Owen (1616-1683) Jaime Daniel Caballero Vilchez (24292646) PUREID: 673048186 John Owen (1616–1683) natural law political theology English Revolution regicide (1649) Stuart divine right Cromwellian Protectorate / Commonwealth civil magistrate church–state relations Reformed scholasticism covenant theology covenantal Thomism Francisco Suárez Salamanca School intellectualism–voluntarism debate common notions (innate moral knowledge) general equity resistance theory toleration and liberty of conscience This thesis examines the function of natural law in the political theology of John Owen (1616–1683) during the English Revolution. Against narratives of discontinuity, it argues that natural law supplied a durable grammar of political reasoning across Owen’s work. Using a contextualist methodology, the study shows how Owen forged a form of “covenantal Thomism” to rebut Stuart defences of divine right and to render the regicide intelligible and licit within a Reformed framework. It then traces how Owen redeployed natural-law argument to delineate the scope and limits of Cromwellian magistracy, advancing a “magisterial Independency” that integrated a realist natural-law framework with the exigencies of revolutionary Protestant politics.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2031.</i> 2026-10-01T16:16:21Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32805347.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/The_role_of_natural_law_in_the_development_of_the_political_theory_of_John_Owen_1616-1683_/32805347 All Rights Reserved Open Access after 2031-07-31