Nov
23
2009
Timothy George on 'The Manhattan Declaration'
Writing for The Washington Post, Timothy George makes his case for the importance of The Manhattan Declaration. He closes by relating it to the activism of another Baptist minister, namely, Martin Luther King, Jr.:
As a resident of Birmingham, Alabama, I have frequently visited the jail cell from which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." King was an ordained Baptist minister and wrote from an explicitly Christian perspective drawing on the Holy Scriptures, the tradition of Christian faith through the centuries, and the use of the divinely bestowed gift of reason. In a time of great tension, he set forth an eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience. He declared that unjust laws had no power to bind the conscience and he called on his fellow citizens to join him in the struggle for civil rights.
King was willing to go to jail rather than to comply with legal injustices that violated human dignity itself. King's legacy lives on today in a new generation of Christian believers inspired by his passion and insight. Those who have embraced the Manhattan Declaration profess our commitment to Jesus Christ and his teachings. This commitment transcends all other loyalties. We have declared that we will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.
Read the whole thing. And please see Albert Mohler's commentary on The Manhattan Declaration below.