Why I Love the Great Freedom Documents

For thousands of years of recorded history prior to the coming of Christ, men typically lived in every state of dire slavery, with despotic rulers the norm rather than the exception. Common men had no rights, the courts were rigged, and the upper classes most often did as they pleased. The freedom documents are monuments in the advancement of Christian liberty as the nations are brought to freedom under the gracious rule of Christ. 

 It took about a thousand years for the Christian faith to become the faith of Europe. When King Olaf made the Ten Commandments the law of the land around 1000 AD it marked the establishment of Christianity as the dominant religion of the western world. Yet, even with this landmark made, the fight for liberty was only just beginning. Cultures that had been steeped in brutal paganism for seeming endless centuries did not become Biblical in their outlook without a fight. Old habits of sin and debauchery die slowly over centuries of steady teaching, debate, and application of God’s Word to every aspect of life. Cultural ground once gained for Christ can be lost as a people retract and re-embrace the sins of their past, the sins of the fathers.

 Hence, the battle for liberty has not seen a steady line upward. We do not trace only victories, unwavering stands for the right, and every turn of history graced by marvelous acts of Christian heroes standing against the darkness. What we do see however, is that over time, as the Biblical message has penetrated cultures and societies, the oppressive acts of men are thrown down and more righteous societies are built. The freedom documents of the western world are a testimony to the progress of the law and gospel of God. They trace the fight for liberty and righteous society across the continents and spanning the centuries. This is why we love the Christian freedom documents. Besides their marvelous language on an individual basis, they together, tell a beautiful story.

 In England, the Charter of Liberties of Henry I (1100 AD) marked the beginning of the great freedom documents. In it King Henry recognizes that it is by God’s mercy that he has been crowned king and claims the fear of God as a first principle. It declares freedom for the church, protects widows, and promotes righteousness in the kingdom. The Charter of Liberties was signed first by three bishops of the church and it was forced on the king as a prerequisite for him to rule. The charter of liberties marked a direction in history where rulers were subject to God and the people and retained only limited powers. This was a beginning of change in five thousand years of recorded history. It was a landmark and it was Christian.

 The Charter of Liberties laid the legal groundwork for the much better known Magna Charta (Great Charter), signed in the year 1215. Once again it was the representatives of the church who wrote the document attempting to secure liberty for the English people. Written by the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton, the Magna Charta declared that justice cannot be ‘sold, denied, or delayed’ freemen could not be stripped of their rights without due process, and that the English church is free. Witnesses first listed are the Archbishop, bishops, and abbots and then following, earls, barons, … many other men of high office. King John’s obedience was short lived and the Charter bore numerous revisions as it was forcibly placed before the king and then his son. However, the lasting effect was to help establish once again that kings were not above the law, particularly God’s law.

 It is impossible to review all of the great freedom documents here but the trail is well represented, perhaps most stirringly represented, in the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath (1320 AD) where we find the immortal words, ‘…For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself’. These were not mere libertarian boastings mind you. This was written by clearly self-identified Christians fighting for liberty from English rule.

 It was Christian leaders who continued the fight writing numerous Scottish and English and Heugonot freedom documents including eventually Lex Rex (The Law is King), Vindicia Contra Tyrannos (The Case Against Tyrants), and William Penn’s beautiful Charter of Liberties the First Frame  of which was written in 1682 establishing the first government for Pennsylvania. With all of these and more the western church has left an inspiring set of historical trail markers that to this day may encourage our people and help us remember the things that matter.

 For Christian Culture,

 Don Schanzenbach   5-5-11