THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION

• First of all, what is the Manhattan Declaration?  It is a declaration initially introduced by 20 key Christian leaders in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club on Friday, 20 November 2009.  The Declaration represents convictions of Christian leaders from every branch of American Christianity.  It is a wake-up call to the church, proclaiming that Christians will protect the sanctity of life, uphold the sacredness of marriage as a holy union between one man and one woman, and that religious liberty needs to be defended.  I have long argued that the typical American evangelical church is neglecting its duty in proclaiming what the Apostle Paul calls in the Pastoral Epistles “sound doctrine.”  I believe that the Manhattan Declaration can help revitalize the church by focusing on the foundational truths of biblical Christianity as they relate to culture.  It is not a political document; it is a clarion call for the renewal of American Christianity. 

• Second, what does the Declaration actually say?  Permit me the opportunity to quote extensively from the Declaration.  The actual title is “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” and the Preamble declares that “Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.”  The Preamble also states that “While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.”  The Declaration goes on:  “Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense.  In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society; and 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.”  The Preamble concludes that “We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths.  We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.  It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season.  May God help us not to fail in that duty.”

The body of the Declaration is comprised of three major parts.  Each part begins with quotations from Scripture both as a header for the respective part and within the Declaration itself.  The body of the Declaration is, therefore, rooted deeply in God’s Word.
 
Part 1:  Life.  This part calls “on all officials in our country, elected and appointed, to protect and serve every member of our society, including the most marginalized, voiceless and vulnerable among us.”  It also critically evaluates the pervasive “culture of death [that] inevitably cheapens life in all its stages and conditions by promoting the belief that lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable.  As predicted by many prescient persons, the cheapening of life that began with abortion has metastasized.”

Part 2: Marriage.  This part “confesses that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage.  Insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remained silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage, we repent, and call upon Christians to do the same.”  It also calls upon the culture “. . . to stop glamorizing promiscuity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery, and holiness of faithful marital love. . . We must work in the legal, cultural, and religious domains to instill in young people a sound understanding of what marriage is, what it requires and why it is worth the commitment and sacrifices that faithful spouses make.”  This part also argues that “. . . the impulse to redefine marriage in order to recognize same-sex and multiple partner relationships is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture.  It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil and religious law and in the philosophical tradition that contributed to shaping the law.”  Powerfully, this part also addresses the same-sex tendency of culture by contending that “the truth is that marriage is not something abstract or neutral that the law may legitimately define and re-define to please those who are powerful and influential.  No one has a civil right to have a non-marital relationship treated as a marriage.  Marriage is an objective reality—a covenantal union of husband and wife—that it is the duty of the law to recognize and support for the sake of justice and the common good.”  This section concludes with the pledge “to labor ceaselessly to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to rebuild the marriage culture.  How could we, as Christians, do otherwise?  The Bible teaches us that marriage is a central part of God’s creation covenant.  Indeed, the union of husband and wife mirrors the bond between Christ and His church.”

Part 3: Religious Liberty.  This part of the Declaration is profound and quite important.  It declares that “Christian confesses that God alone is Lord of the conscience. . . No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions.  What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well.”  It goes on claiming that “it is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged, and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law—such persons claiming these ‘rights’ are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.”  The Declaration also laments that “new hate-crime laws in America raise the specter [of prosecuting those who preach biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality].”

• Finally, I would encourage all Christians to go the www.manhattandeclaration.org and sign the declaration.  I was one of the first to sign this profoundly important statement of Christian belief and action.  My prayer is that ultimately millions of Christians will affirm their commitment to the principles that make up this important Declaration.  May God bless this effort and may He use it as a tool for spiritual renewal in the church.

See “Breakpoint” (20 and 25 November 2009), the text of the Manhattan Declaration at the website mentioned above and Cal Thomas’s editorial in the Omaha World Herald (9 November 2008).

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