Correct answer:
<h2>B. God</h2>
Explanation:
The word "divine" refers to God (the Deity). Divine right of kings' theory asserted that kings could not be challenged by the people, because kings were appointed by God to rule over people. King James I (1566-1625) and King Charles I (1600-1649) and other monarchs of their era used this argument to bolster their control of government.
In the 17th century, the divine right theory was challenged by philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, who argued the idea of a "social contract." According to this view, a government's power to govern comes from the consent of the people themselves -- those who are to be governed. This was a change from the previous ideas of "divine right monarchy" -- that a king ruled because God appointed him to be the ruler.
John Locke repudiated the views of divine right monarchy in his<em> First Treatise on Civil Government </em>(1690). Locke took aim at the arguments of a particular divine right monarchy theorist, Robert Filmer, who traced authority to rule back to Adam, the first man created by God. Locke gave logical rebuttal to show that if that if that were so, then there should only be one true heir in the world today that would rule by divine right as the one king over the whole world. (Locke also presented other reasoned arguments against divine right theory, but that's one example of how his thinking proceeded.)
In his <em>Second Treatise on Civil Government</em> (1690), Locke argued for the rights of the people to create their own governments according to their own desires and for the sake of protecting their own life, liberty, and property. Locke maintained that the people always remain in charge, and asserted that the people have the power to change their government and remove government leaders if the government is not properly serving the needs and well-being of the people.
