Manhattan Declaration – more necessary than ever?
Nathan Finn, in an editorial piece published Nov 20, 2019, by Baptist Press, argues that the 2009 Manhattan Declaration is “even more important in 2019” than it was on the day of publication. Is Finn right to make this conclusion?
Finn offers a summary of the Declaration this way:
The Manhattan Declaration outlined three issues that were under assault in American culture in 2009: the sanctity of every human life, the traditional biblical understanding of marriage and religious liberty for all people. The statement addressed each of these three issues from the complementary standpoints of holy Scripture (our ultimate authority), the best of the Christian intellectual tradition and human reason.
No theological conservative disagrees with the importance of the three issues of the sanctity of every human life, the traditional biblical understanding of marriage and religious liberty for all people. It matters not whether one describes himself as an “evangelical” or a “fundamentalist” or somewhere in between, theological conservatives will all agree, these are vital issues for our times.
Some 550,000 people are now signatories of the Declaration, according to Finn. I suppose there might even be some fundamentalists among them, but most fundamentalists would still find some aspects of the Manhattan Declaration troubling. At the end of its “Declaration” section, the statement says this:
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.
Early, the document acknowledges the signatories as “Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians.” The disparities of belief among these groups display a wide divergence on crucial doctrines, but nonetheless the signatories willingly joined hands in identifying themselves as Christians. Their statement thus reduces their differences to matters of some consequence denominationally, but of no consequence to a Christian testimony. In other words, they acknowledge each other as Christians despite their doctrinal differences. At this point, most fundamentalists dismissed the document, opting to avoid it as yet another ecumenical effort illustrating the folly of evangelical appeasement.
In Finn’s recent editorial on the Declaration, he points out subsequent history where abortion appears more available than ever (though perhaps rates in the USA reduced somewhat) and the rise of all kinds of rights and oppression of liberty under the banner of the homosexual and “gender” movements. He is quite right to point out these areas as matters of deep concern. He concludes:
Life, marriage, religious liberty — three biblical ideas that have significantly influenced American culture yet are under assault as never before in 2019. The Manhattan Declaration has proven to be a prophetic document, and believers need to heed its call now more than ever.
To the extent that the Declaration issues a call, yes, Christians need vigilance, courage, and wisdom in order to take their stand with God against the evils of our age. Yet can we really say the Manhattan Declaration itself is a necessary instrument for combat in these causes?
In the first place, in spite of its “clarion call,” the rapid decay of our society continued (and seemingly accelerated) over the last ten years. What effect did the Declaration have on a pragmatic level? It is really hard to see any effect at all in terms of the issues it addresses.
An area the Manhattan Declaration has some influence, however, is the erosion of the important divisions between professing Christians. As noted above, the document reduces those differences to matters of interpretation, not to matters of fundamental importance in defining “who is a Christian?” Conservative evangelicals, such as Finn and many others, gladly joined in signing the Declaration, and now continue to affirm its importance. This in spite of the fact that it is a monumental failure in slowing the tide of the very things it stands against.
As a fundamentalist, I am sensitive to the criticisms of my “near relations” on the theological spectrum, those called “conservative evangelicals.” They think my stance is too narrow. Yet I think they continue to miss a vital point in the battle for God’s truth. Their myopia remains a barrier between us. Many of them are willing to make common cause with enemies of the gospel in such causes as the Manhattan Declaration because we all happen to agree on right to life, marriage, and religious liberty issues. In my view, it is far more important to affirm the absolute authority of the Bible and celebrate loyalty to God’s cause, trusting God alone to stem the tide of societal decay, if he so wills. If an unbeliever, whether Catholic, or Orthodox, or otherwise happens to be an instrument in God’s hands for the success of God’s cause, so be it. Nevertheless, we need to be clear that though we might agree on social issues, we simply cannot join hands with unbelievers in any spiritual effort.
In closing, let me say that by these comments I don’t mean a personal attack on Dr. Finn. I have at least one book in my library that he co-authored. We may disagree on minor theological points, but we have far more areas of agreement. Yet there is one major difference, and that prompts this post. We would disagree that Christians have the liberty to make common cause with unbelievers in the service of God. The Manhattan Declaration remains a grievous mistake on the part of evangelicals and, even on the pragmatic test, a largely ineffectual effort.
Better to stand for God’s truth on our own, trusting in the Lord alone to bring about the needed changes.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.