Will you sign?
November 20, 2009, undoubtedly will prove to be an historic day in the life of the Christian Church in America.
It was on that day that a group of prominent clergy and ministry leaders – from evangelical, Catholic and orthodox traditions – met at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce to the nation what we at CCV consider one of the most important documents of this generation.
Titled the “Manhattan Declaration,” the 4,700-word document is first a statement of unified commitment to three foundational truths: the sanctity of life; the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman; and religious liberty.
The Declaration begins by reminding readers that for over 2,000 years Christians have steadfastly borne witness to the truths of their faith, often at great cost. It discloses a fascinating and humbling history.
The document also comprises a message to civil authorities that the signers will not, regardless of the circumstances or cost, yield to efforts to suppress these foundational truths.
Further, the text of the Manhattan Declaration makes clear that its formal commitment to these three foundational truths is not a political statement. Rather, it is a deeply Biblical and spiritual statement. Life, marriage and religious liberty are grounded in God’s creation covenant and thus are foundational to the Christian faith.
Please click here to read, to download, and to sign the Manhattan Document.
Over 140 prominent leaders representing every branch of American Christianity became the first signers of the Manhattan Declaration. The document was drafted on their behalf by Chuck Colson, Founder of Prison Fellowship and the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview; Dr. Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University; and Dr. Timothy George, Dean and Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University.
Among the other signers…
• Kay Arthur, CEO and Co-founder, Precept Ministries International
• Dr. Mark L. Bailey, President, Dallas Theological Seminary
• Gary Bauer, President, American Values
• Steve Brown, National radio broadcaster, Key Life
• Jim Daly, President and CEO, Focus on the Family
• Dr. James Dobson, Founder, Focus on the Family
• Dr. William Edgar, Westminster Theological Seminary
• Dr. Richard Land, President The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC
• Dr. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• David Neff, Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today
• Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
• His Eminence Justin Cardinal Regali, Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA
• Alan Sears, President, CEO and General Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund
• Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Founder and Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
• Fr. Robert Sirico, Founder, Acton Institute
• Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center
• Ravi Zacharias, Founder and Chairman of the board, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
After you have signed the Manhattan Declaration, please download a copy and take it to the leadership of your church. God has clearly proclaimed Truth on these three issues. These truths are foundational to our faith, foundational to human dignity, and foundational to the well-being of society. Followers of Christ must be united in drawing a line in the sand on these fundamental truths.
Here are three excerpts from the Declaration:
“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.”
“We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral.”
“…We will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriage or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.”
Please click here to sign the Manhattan Declaration. Then take a copy to your church leadership and ask that they sign on.
