Opus 2011-304, Plow and Crown: We Are Losing

We are losing the battle between the plow and the crown. 

The Magna Carta got the ball rolling.  The Declaration of Rights of 1689 gave it a big push.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were big steps forward.  The Bill of Rights seemed to seal the deal.  Things were looking good, at least here in America.  But that has changed.  In my lifetime, at least, the ball has been fumbled and we are still waiting to see who will recover.  Every day it seems like the elite nobility of our generation pushes liberty back a few more yards.

In 1789 the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteed us freedom of religion and freedom of speech.  It went well for a long time.  Now the courts of the elites are killing both.  Pastors can now be charged with a hate crime for preaching what the Bible has to say about homosexuality.  Once again the crown is telling the churches what they are to teach.  In his book From Tyndale to Madison, Michael Farris outlines how the freedoms we think of as being political were really brought about by people seeking the freedom to worship as they felt they must.  Think about the first amendment.  The following items were necessary for free worship:  No government establishment or control, freedom of preach (speech), freedom of congregation (assembly), freedom of the press (Bibles), redress of grievances (criticism of the government).  If not for the spiritual battles, the political victories would not have happened.

Henry VIII was the sovereign who broke England away from the Roman Catholic Church.  He still considered himself a good Catholic but he thought the crown was above the church.  He was simply substituting himself for the Pope or local archbishop.  He went so far as to tell pastors what they could preach and what they could not preach.  If you went against his will you could be tried for heresy and burned at the stake.  It happened.  Our current culture is trying to turn the clock back to those days and shut up those who believe in the Bible. 

As people who call themselves Christian fall away from the teaching of the Word it will be easier for the new nobility to dictate to the church.  We will see things going in the opposite direction because people are adapting to the culture instead of adapting the culture.  There will be martyrs but they will be silenced by the courts, not the bishops.

The battle continues.  Which side are you on?

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