The Biblical Doctrine of Humanity Compels God-Fearing Christians to Oppose Tyranny
Every man…is, of common right, and by the laws of God, a freeman, and entitled to the free enjoyment of liberty.
—Benjamin Franklin—
If spiritual liberty calls upon its pious votaries to extend their views far forward to a glorious hereafter, civil liberty must at least be allowed to secure, in a considerable degree, our well-being here. And I believe it will be no difficult matter to prove, that the latter is as much the gift of God in Christ Jesus as the former, and consequently, that we are bound to stand fast in our civil as well as our spiritual freedom.
Jacob Duché, a clergyman from the colonial era of America who prayed the first prayer in Congress on September 7, 1774, in a sermon titled “The Duty of Standing Fast in Our Liberties,” which he preached on July 7, 1775
Key point: Where are the pastors willing and working to proclaim the truth on the front lines of a war in which lies appear to be winning?
What makes the United States of America special? What makes it extraordinary? I posed this question to one of my children recently, and I encouraged her never to forget what I was about to tell her.
A primary reason the United States is unique, I said, is this: It was founded on the ideal that the government exists for the people. Ordinarily, nations are formed on the premise that the people exist to serve the government.
Karl Marx, whose ideas were influential in the Russian Revolution and the founding of the USSR, among other nations, is a prime example of one who believed, not just that the people exist for the sake of government, but that exercise of religious faith in a nation hinders and weakens the all-important state. If you don’t believe me, read some of the statements Marx himself made about politics and government.
The Founders’ Perspective on the Purpose of Government
The Founders of the United States of America did not leave anyone to wonder what they believed was and is the purpose of government. They spoke with clarity and conviction. Further, they laid everything on the line and sacrificed a great deal to uphold what they believed. In the Declaration of Independence, they said,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure [protect] these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed [emphasis added], —
Moreover, they went on to add,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Note these important observations.
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- First, the Founders acknowledged God. The God they spoke of and wrote of was and is the God of the Bible.
- Second, they acknowledged God as Creator.
- Third, they affirmed, however implicitly, that human beings are special among God’s creation in that they possess “unalienable” or innate rights — rights that are theirs by virtue of the fact that God created them as people.
- Fourth, they therefore believed that unalienable rights find their source in the reality that God created human beings in His own image (go here and here).
- Fifth, it was the Founders’ conviction that government has a God-given duty to protect the rights of its people so that they can freely exercise those rights. The rights they upheld are not favors the government is to perform for anyone; nor are they gifts the government gives. God alone gave, or “endowed” human beings with rights, rights that include (as the Founders so powerfully expressed), “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are rights the people enjoy when they take the initiative to exercise them. It is the government’s job to stay out of the people’s way — and to make sure that citizens do not interfere, either. Significantly, when government protects unalienable rights, it simultaneously is fulfilling its biblical duty to maintain order by rewarding or to commending those who do right and by punishing those who do wrong (see Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17; 1 Tim. 2:1-4).
- Sixth, in light of the above realities, we cannot escape the conclusion that law and liberty are inseparably intertwined. In other words, ordered liberty cannot exist for any significant length of time without a respect for the law.
- Seventh, a nation can be free (and remain free) only when it understands that civil liberties are rooted in a recognition of God as Creator and of people as having been created in His image and accountable to Him. This makes government accountable to God as well.
The rights the Founders of America upheld are not favors the government is to perform for anyone; nor are they gifts the government gives. God alone gave, or “endowed” human beings with rights, rights that include (as the Founders so powerfully expressed it), “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Rights of Men Are Rooted in Human Uniqueness
Intertwined with law and liberty are unalienable rights — and these, as we said in item 4 above, are rooted in the reality that God makes human beings in His own image. In a previous Word Foundations article, we cited 31 traits that set human beings apart from the rest of God’s created order. We also previously discussed God’s cultural commission to humanity. God has instructed human beings to steward His creation in responsible, resourceful, and productive ways (see Gen. 1`:28). People cannot fully reflect God’s image, nor can they adequately fulfill the cultural commission God gave them, without being free to exercise their God-given, unalienable rights. The title of this post emphasizes this. People have been Created to Be Free! Not free in the sense of being able to do anything they get an urge to do, but free to fulfill their God-given purpose.
People cannot fully reflect God’s image, nor can they adequately fulfill the cultural commission God gave them, without being free to exercise their God-given, unalienable rights.
We come now to the main point of this article. Tyranny and tyrants thwart God’s plan for humanity because they hold false ideas about God and human beings. They therefore distort the purpose for which people were created by God. They stand opposed to legitimate expressions of God’s image in human beings and in human activity.
Because of all of this, tyranny and tyrants must be opposed. Opposing them is biblical. It is Christian. It aligns with the church’s duties to uphold the truth about God and humanity, to worship God only, and to make disciples. We can put it this way. Opposing tyranny involves upholding biblical teachings about creation, humanity, and God’s image as reflected in men, women, boys, and girls.
This means opposing government mandates that violate unalienable rights, including vaccine and mask mandates. It means supporting religious exemptions for those who resist taking the COVID vaccine because doing so would violate their consciences.
Where are the preachers who will uphold human dignity as taught in Scriptures and support the conscience rights of Christians, as my friend Pastor Sam Jones has done? Tyrants do not respect those rights, despite, or perhaps even because, they are God-given!
Does a pastor have to address every such issue from the pulpit? No, but if not from the pulpit, surely there are times and settings that churches can offer for addressing issues like this. Pastors must lead! I ask again — Where are the pastors willing to speak out against tyrants and tyranny? America needs them as much or more than she needed them at the time of her beginning! In the early days of America as an independent nation — fortunately — she and her leaders were ready and willing to stand.
Benjamin Franklin was an extremely influential Founding Father. Here was his design for the Great Seal of the United States. It depicts Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea as the Egyptians chased them. Printed on the proposed seal is this statement:
REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
Can we as Christians please take a cue from Franklin? Can the pastors of our churches take a cue from him?
Failing to Uphold the Biblical Doctrine of Man
Unfortunately, in our day, even many so-called “conservative” pastors who should know better are failing to uphold biblical teachings about how and why human beings are special. In this video from the Family Research Council (FRC) posted February 18, 2022, FRC President Tony Perkins and theologian Owen Strachan discuss the problem without naming anyone. Here is an audio clip from their discussion. Note that to Dr. Strachan, and to Tony Perkins as well, this is both a biblical and theological issue.
As you’ve heard if you listened to the clip, Perkins and Strachan talk about a conservative Baptist pastor who refuses to provide documentation for religious exemptions for the COVID vaccine.
Here is a copy of the Associated Press article Mr. Perkins cites. Mr. Perkins didn’t want to name anyone, but I will. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, is the Baptist leader who refuses to acknowledge the conscience rights of the believers he leads. I believe he has failed to present the “whole counsel of God.”
Note that at the end of the above clip, Tony Perkins asks what will be next if we surrender on vaccine mandates. Indeed. Dr. Strachan responded well: “Totally!”
Here’s how serious this is. If we won’t uphold biblical teachings that emphasize that human beings are special because God made them in His image, we effectively will have surrendered essential biblical arguments for natural marriage, for opposing abortion, and for advocating everything the Bible teaches about human sexuality. And that’s just for starters.
If we won’t uphold biblical teachings that emphasize that human beings are special because God made them in His image, we effectively will have surrendered essential biblical arguments for natural marriage, for opposing abortion, and for advocating everything the Bible teaches about human sexuality. And that’s just for starters.
The Cost of Shunning God-Given Duties — and the Importance of Reasserting Them
I strongly believe that when pastors refuse to educate their churches about the nature of man and refuse to call government to account for violating unalienable rights, they neglect their duty to faithfully uphold the biblical doctrine of man (humanity, all human beings). No wonder tyrants are seizing and tightening their grip on power in the United States! Despots are not being reminded that they are accountable to God.
As we have indicated, however, there was a time in America’s history when this nation’s leaders, and it’s clergymen in particular, boldly led the people to apply biblical teachings to all areas of life, including the arenas of government and public policy.
It is difficult to overemphasize just how important America’s pastors were during this era. Next time we’ll discuss the role they played and the difference they made.
Stay tuned!
Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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