From Magna Carta to the abolition of slavery: the development of Britain's biblical laws.

Last week we looked at how the Gospel spread around Anglo-Saxon England and, independently, the Celtic fringes of Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland. We saw that Christianity was readily adopted by successive Anglo-Saxon kings, influencing their law codes and building into our developing nation early on a close relationship between Church and state. By the time of the Norman conquest, England could be viewed as one nation under God.

Over the next centuries, enormous battles proceeded as our political structures developed and matured. Major upheavals condensed around the introduction of checks and balances to the power of the monarchy, the development of Parliament and the judiciary; also the English Reformation and our departure from Roman Catholicism; also the fragmentation of British Protestantism thereafter.

This week, we look at how, through all this turbulence and complexity, our ‘unwritten’ constitution nevertheless came to reflect biblical principles and beliefs.

Six Centuries in Brief

Foundational to the British constitution and rule of law is Magna Carta (1215, confirmed as statute law 1297) - particularly its clauses guaranteeing freedom for the Church and the right to due legal process for all citizens. However, even though Magna Carta established in principle that the king was not above the law, it took several centuries to move Britain from the absolute rule of one sovereign (reliant on advisors and the support of regional landowners) to a Parliamentary democracy with checks and balances in place to hold both monarch and government accountable.

Although no political system is perfect, the fundamental idea of limiting the king’s power introduced a notable principle of humility into Britain’s governmental system, framed by the Christian belief that all men are answerable to God. During Henry III’s reign our first elected Parliament was convened (1265), starting the nation on a journey towards a representative democracy. Meanwhile, a parallel move away from autocracy also began within the Church, first with protest against Catholicism and then with dissent against the Church of England, and always with criticism of corrupt and unaccountable clergy.

Through six centuries of upheaval, our ‘unwritten’ constitution nevertheless came to reflect biblical beliefs and principles.

Several turbulent centuries of both international and internal conflict eventually culminated in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, when the ascent of William and Mary to the throne led to a new Bill of Rights being introduced guaranteeing, not least, freedom of speech and free elections,¹ as well as a Toleration Act granting freedom of worship to Dissenters. Importantly, the Coronation Oath was also revised to include a promise before God to “maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel” – a promise still made by our current Queen, to which we believe the Lord holds her.

These were truly landmark moments in the history of Britain’s politics and her position before God. Though they did not rid the nation of violence, poverty and persecution, they undoubtedly laid the foundation for later outpourings of Christian belief and repentance, not least by ensuring key Gospel freedoms. Over the next two or three centuries, Britain saw mass revivals of religious fervour, from the grassroots right up to the uppermost echelons of society, led by evangelists both within and without the established Church.

It was these revivals which changed British culture sufficiently that a host of righteous laws could then be passed including the abolition of slavery, laws preventing child labour and cruelty to animals, and laws promoting family values and protecting the vulnerable, all of which were added to the statute books in the 19^th Century.

Reflections

There are many ways of analysing the developments outlined above, which were in reality far more complex than my brief summary permits. Here, I want to highlight two ways in which the Bible was brought to bear on Britain’s political system and thence its people - by force and by free will – and to ask where God was in all of this.

Faith by Force

The explosion of the Reformation in Europe under Luther galvanised pressure for Church reform across the British Isles. However, Protestantism’s top-down, politicised introduction to England through Henry VIII’s notorious split from Rome in 1534 over the matter of his marriages, did not reflect popular critiques of Catholicism but rather political wrangling, and led to several decades of violent conflict, persecution, execution, revolt and exile. Ambition and power play combined with varying levels of piety and zeal in the persons of several different rulers, passing England back and forth between the two branches of Christianity.

The 16^th-17^th Centuries were marked by attempts to enforce either Catholic or Protestant belief and practice on the general public. Under Elizabeth I’s God-given lengthy reign, Protestantism finally triumphed and was firmly embedded into our national consciousness, but in the process, dissent and genuine calls for reform of the Church of England were outlawed and punished.

Charles I’s attempts to force English Anglicanism on Presbyterian Scotland prompted numerous military conflicts and fuelled the English Civil Wars. Cromwell’s ascent to power led to Puritanical standards being imposed - albeit probably in good conscience, but without long-lasting success.

Landmark constitutional freedoms combined with popular revivals to transform the fabric of British culture, such that a host of righteous laws could then be passed.

Then, following the restoration of the monarchy in the 1660s and the return of traditional Anglicanism, dissent was once again stifled through a series of laws known as the Clarendon Code, together with the infamous Test Act. Dissenters (later known as non-conformists) may have been allowed freedom to worship, but they were barred from holding public office or attending Oxbridge. Unofficial small group meetings were also banned.² Thousands of non-conformist clergy resigned and nearly two centuries of discrimination against Dissenters ensued.

Faith by Free Will

These centuries teach us, amongst other things, that the top-down enforcement of any kind of religious practice by the state cannot change men’s hearts. God has given mankind a measure of free will and the Gospel was ordained to spread by the preaching and hearing of the word, not by violence and coercion. Nevertheless, true faith was alive and well during those centuries and the Lord did not reject entirely the zeal of our rulers, nor did he abandon our island to tyranny. Instead, in ways we cannot fully comprehend, he worked in the midst of the upheaval and conflict.

John Wesley, preaching outside the church walls. See Photo Credits.He did this, vitally, through successive generations of individuals and groups who were raised up, often from the grassroots, to campaign for repentance, reform and a return to the plain truths of Scripture. Through all the ups and downs of Britain’s history, as soon as any one form of the faith became codified and ‘established’, particularly in the sense of outward displays of religiosity not reflective of genuine inner transformation, the Lord raised up prophetic servants to hold the establishment to account.

From Wycliffe’s outspoken criticism of Catholicism (mentioned last week) through Puritanism in Tudor England to non-conformist movements of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, it has been the faithful living and witness of ordinary Christians, often in the face of significant persecution, that has born lasting spiritual fruit in our nation and gradually steered our parliamentary and judicial systems in a godly direction.³

For example, I have already mentioned that the 19^th Century saw a host of righteous laws added to our statute books, such as those campaigned for by the Clapham Sect (including, most famously, the abolition of slavery). These laws were the culmination of decades of faithful campaigning but they also owed significant debts to a general evangelical revival throughout Britain that, in the space of a generation, completely transformed its socio-cultural fabric (more on this next week). The Lord had raised up John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield outside of the institutional Church, and inside vocal evangelicals such as Charles Simeon, Henry Ryder and JC Ryle, to thunder Gospel truths from their pulpits and in the highways and byways, saving and inspiring millions. Their faithful service laid the cultural foundation for laws which in turn blessed a countless number.

It has been the faithful witness of ordinary Christians, often in the face of significant persecution, that has born lasting spiritual fruit in our nation and gradually steered our parliamentary and judicial systems in a godly direction.

Blessing Through Struggle

Arguably, Britain has been the more blessed for having a professing Christian monarchy and government over the years, even though this has also brought bloodshed and sorrow and has been shaped by the vagaries of political necessity as much as genuine belief. However, although the development of Godly laws in our nation and the general acceptance of biblical principles into our culture are due in part to this overarching system, they are just as much if not more due to successive generations of faithful ordinary believers, raised up by the Lord as prophets to the nation, calling people to account and crying for justice in the streets and in the pulpits.

It is God’s faithfulness to Britain that the failings of our professing Christian establishment have always galvanised passionate believers to pray, speak and work for change, for his glory. We cannot forget, especially today, that our godly heritage developed as the Lord blessed the struggle and sacrifice of many believers over long centuries of difficulty, which forced people to think seriously about what they believed and what they were willing to live and die for.

In biblical terms, Britain has taken after Jacob/Israel, wrestling long and hard to receive the blessing of a God-given identity. And by God’s grace, the result of this struggle by the 19^th Century was a degree of individual freedom and popular religious fervour which, combined with Britain’s imperial might, led to the Gospel being taken to virtually the whole world.

Next week: How God blessed Britain through successive revivals.

Notes

1 The 1689 Bill of Rights is credited with inspiring and influencing the US Constitution and Bill of Rights in the 18^th Century.

2 Similar penal laws were introduced to Ireland in 1695, mainly affecting Catholics, who were not emancipated until 1829.

3 These dissenting groups have always been split between those seeking to reform the establishment from within and those seeking to work outside of it. History seems to confirm that both strands are needed.

A call to prayer.

Several significant anniversaries in recent years have reminded us of what it has taken to defend our nation against physical enemies through two world wars: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, D-Day and - last week - the horrific Battle of the Somme.

Through such battles Christians have recognised that wars are not fought on earth alone and, through intercessory prayer, they have joined in a spiritual battle that parallels what is experienced on earth.

We are in such a time today. There is a spiritual battle raging right now for the heart of our nation, as evidenced by the confusion among our national leaders following the Referendum. God granted us a door of opportunity through the vote to come out of Europe, but this is no more the end of the battle for Britain than Dunkirk was the end of the Second World War. It is another 'end of the beginning', to remember Winston Churchill's stirring speech after Dunkirk.

Responsibility of Christians

The divided Britain that has been exposed as a result of the Referendum exists because we have lost the biblical principles that once united and defined our nation. Now is the time to re-discover these principles, which brought us through other dark days in our history.

The vote to leave the EU was no more an end of the battle for Britain than Dunkirk was the end of the Second World War.

The topics on top of the Referendum agenda were business, finance, border control, immigration and sovereignty. Across the spectrum of the mainstream debate, the arguments being put forward about these topics were based on humanistic objectives. These objectives have not united Britain – neither have they inspired any party or campaign group to put forward a positive vision for the nation's future.

In the aftermath of the Leave vote, it is now time to re-discover deeper principles that God can bless - or we will simply shift from one set of humanistic objectives to another.

It has fallen to Christians to steer the country through, primarily in prayer and increasingly in witness. We, out of the entire nation, are able to interpret the times in biblical perspective and are able to access and articulate God's vision for Britain and the British people.

Defining 'Britishness'

What is it to be British? Attempts to define what it means to be part of a particular community or nation are where constitutions come in.

If Britain's constitution were left to believers, I would hope that we would use biblical principles to frame the governance of our land in a way that would ensure God's blessing and protection. That would be our constitution – our definition of 'Britishness'.

But we do not need to start all over again. Over many centuries, thanks to God's grace and the faithful efforts of believers down through the ages, Britain has developed the best constitutional framework of any Gentile nation (albeit that it has been betrayed by successive leaders of the nation).

It is time to re-discover principles of governance that God can bless - or we will simply shift from one set of humanistic objectives to another.

Now that we are freeing ourselves from Europe and its secular humanist constitution, a window of opportunity has been opened up for us to re-group on the ancient foundations of our own constitution that God has blessed in times past.

Britain's Unwritten Constitution

Britain has a largely unwritten constitution bound up in laws and customs, but that does not mean that it is vague or difficult to pin down.

At its heart, a key principle is the concept of the Crown, which distributes responsibility for governance interactively among the Monarch, the two Houses of Parliament, the Courts and other tribunals, the servants of the Crown, local authorities, the police and the armed forces.

This principle has been developed and refined over the years, especially through Magna Carta in 1215 and the Coronation Oath Act of 1688, keeping the Monarch central to our constitutional framework but in healthy balance.

The following summaries, taken from Halsbury's Laws of England,¹ illustrate this sharing of power, as well as the balance between laws and customs in the constitution of the UK:

By law the Monarch is the Head of State.
By custom she acts on the advice of her ministers.
By law she has no power in judicial systems.
By custom she can only give opinion and advice.
By law she is not responsible for the acts and decisions made on her behalf.
By law she can choose whichever minister she wishes.
(p26)

The Monarch is the principle source of legislative, executive and judicial power.
By custom the term "Crown" can mean either the Monarch or the body that is delegated to execute the responsibilities of the Monarch.
By custom, Parliament sets out primary legislation.
By law, the Monarch gives Royal Assent to laws presented to her by Parliament.
By law, the courts administer justice. This power has been taken from the Monarch.
(p27)

The Principles Behind our Constitution

Behind the laws and customs which are applied by our leaders lie deeper moral principles which, again, have developed in Britain over centuries. According to AV Dicey, these include the idea that everyone is equal before the law (including those in power), as well as the notion that people are only punishable if they breach the law. Such principles are designed to protect people and to hold authorities to account.²

These deeper principles owe a great debt to scriptural values and ethics. This is nowhere stated more clearly than in the Coronation Oath, the importance of which we have highlighted elsewhere. The Oath acknowledges God and his word as central to the governance of our nation. Its main tenet, sworn by the Monarch, is to "maintain the laws of God [and] the true profession of the Gospel".³

The promises to God made by the Monarch as the Coronation proceeds illustrate a wonderful balance in our constitution between law and Gospel, justice and mercy, dependence on God, responsibility of Christian leaders within Government, responsibility to the Commonwealth - with all parts of the nation held before God for his help and blessing.

Is it any wonder that there is difficulty for our Government to get its hands firmly on the rudder to steer the nation into the future, when these principles are neglected? Is it any wonder that this wake-up call from God seems like the shaking of an earthquake? The shaking is intended to stir us to repentance – a return to our constitutional principles, which we will also find is a pathway back to God.

The current shaking is intended to stir us to repentance and take us back to our constitutional principles – which we will also find is a pathway back to God.

The Bible Central

In a British Coronation, the Bible is placed on the altar along with the paten and chalice, which are used for the Communion Service. This takes place after the taking of the Oath and before the Anointing, prior to events leading up to the Crowning. The entire ceremony is drawn from biblical parallels for the crowning of kings.

The Monarch takes the Oath with their right hand on the Bible, with these words being said:

...to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.

Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.⁴

Today, the Bible is no longer central to the life of Britain and our Oath to God is betrayed. But what if, with repentant hearts, we were to confess this to God and seek his help to restore biblical precepts in our nation?

Christians must lead the way at this time of appointing new leaders, praying that eyes will be opened and that Godly men and women will come into office. If we are open to such prayer, God will give us the understanding that we need as we engage in the spiritual battle that lies ahead.

Dare We Believe?

Additionally, we might all do well to revise the Oath itself, as there is a sense in which every British citizen has been committed to it because of the declarations made by our Queen.

If we return to its principles, then God will look after those priorities that prompted fear in our nation as Referendum day drew near. He will help us protect our borders and show us how to care for the strangers in our midst. He will help us reverse laws that displease him. He will help us in our businesses, hospitals, schools and homes.

Dare we believe this? Surely God has opened the door for us - so surely he will help us.

There are Christians in our Government, among them some seeking to take leadership roles. Now let eyes be opened, clarity of understanding re-kindled, and with repentant hearts let us go forward to put our constitution back on the rock of biblical intent. Let this again be how our nation as a whole is identified in the world – what it is to be British.

Postscript

If, as a nation, we had more deeply sought God's guidance, we would not have been led into the errors that currently beset our generation. The results of the Chilcot Inquiry illustrate the serious consequences that we are reaping from what has been sown in various aspects of our nation's life.

We cannot go back and restore the multitudes of lives lost in the Iraq War and its fallout. Sadly, had we had biblical truths at our heart and through listening prayer, we would have had the guidance of Almighty God – and things may well have turned out very differently. That is how serious this is.

References

1 Taken from Vol 8, 1996 edition, edited by Lord Hailsham, published by Butterworths.

2 Dicey, AV, 1885. Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. Discussed on Wikipedia's page on Rule of law in the United Kingdom.

3 Read the text of the Coronation Oath here.

4 For more information on the structure of the British Coronation Service, click here.

We re-print an important article on Britain and the EU, by former Speaker of the House of Commons, Viscount Tonypandy.

Viscount Tonypandy, former Speaker of the House of Commons and a committed Christian, was a supporter of Prophecy Today and gave us this article which we published in Vol 13(3), May 1997.

It was a time when Britain was being pressed to join the Common Monetary Fund and there were calls for a Referendum. We feel that it is still very relevant for today.

DEFENCE OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

Viscount Tonypandy speaks out about the dangers of Britain being drawn more into the European Union

Because ancient tradition requires former Speakers of the House of Commons to avoid involvement in party political affairs, I want to begin by asserting that the future destiny of this land is not a party political issue, it is bigger than that.

It is for this reason I support the initiative in forcing the question of the European Union onto centre stage. Our people have been kept in the dark about Europe, and many have been lulled into the belief that our future is sustainable only if we obey the diktats of non-elected Brussels bureaucrats.

Losing our Liberties

We are experiencing an unprecedented erosion of our traditional liberties; as both our fishermen and our farmers can testify. We are also suffering an ever increasing interference in our domestic, social, political and economic life. We realise how much dust has been thrown in our eyes, so that we have not properly seen where we are being led.

Monumental and historic decisions have been taken in our name, but they have not been made fully public. A supreme example of this chicanery is provided by our famous Fisheries Act which prevented Spanish fishermen sailing under our flag and taking a quota of the fish allocated to us. After the Bill had careful scrutiny in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords it was sent to the Privy Council where the Queen in person gave her approval. Thus it became law – or so we thought! How wrong we were!

The politically motivated European Court of Justice instructed us that our Fisheries Act was illegal. They defined limits on what our Parliament could legislate. Our Westminster Parliament was humiliatingly put behind the European Union! As a further measure of contempt for Westminster, Europe proceeded to give the bullying Spanish fishermen authority to demand compensation for the period that our Privy Council and our Parliament, by our legislation, kept them out of our waters.

What has happened to this proud nation that we allow anyone to treat us in this arrogant way? Has our pride already been consigned to the history book? Nay, I do not believe that. A national referendum is vital to prove that the fallacy is wrong.

We are still proud to be British and no German dominated European Union will ever succeed in crushing that pride.

Britain today is stirring anxiously as it is beginning to realise the extent of the betrayals we have suffered. Our young people are awakening to the peril threatening their future.

Common Market

The largest Common Market in the world is that forged by Canada, the United States of America and Mexico. They function quite successfully without a common currency! They do not intervene in each other's internal affairs. They are not troubled by calls for integration or by threats to each other's national sovereignty. That sort of common market makes sense. It was for that sort of common market, and only that sort, that Britain linked with Europe!

We have been victims of deceit! Britain said 'yes' to the type of common market we see across the Atlantic. As for a common parliament and a common bank – we have never had an opportunity to give our opinion.

Intrigue in high places has embargoed knowledge of secret negotiations reaching the people. In the name of human rights, we demand the chance to decide our own destiny that is the real issue at this time.

Chancellor Kohl's Aim

Listen to the chilling words of German Chancellor Kohl when he was addressing his own people earlier this year (1997). "The future will belong to the Germans – when we build a house of Europe."

Forgetting that the world was listening he added, "In the next two years we will make the process of European integration irreversible. This is a really big battle, but it is worth the fight."

It certainly was for Germany! As for us, if we fail to read the menace in the German Chancellor's announcement of his aims we shall betray our heritage. When German chancellors outline in advance what their intentions are, it is criminal irresponsibility not to take their threats seriously (surely that is a lesson we have learned from history after two world wars!).

We said yes to a common market - as for a common parliament and common bank, we have never had the opportunity to give our opinion.

Parliamentary Government

My life has centred around Parliamentary Government in this country. I hold it in the highest esteem, because I know that Parliament is not a caucus of clever creatures who are free to do what they like in Government. The House of Commons is an assembly dependent on a mandate from the nation. And every Government is answerable to the House of Commons.

No cabal of politicians elected for a maximum of five years' service as MPs without any guarantee that they will be even Members in any subsequent Parliament has ever been trusted with a mandate to diminish our heritage, or to barter away our liberties.

The question of a single European currency involves explosive consequences for the UK. We are fortunate because we have one of the most sophisticated electorates in the world; our people have an instinct that alerts them to any threat to our democratic way of life. When we, the British people, are given the vital information, we will tell Parliament the direction in which we demand to go. They will not tell us. We will tell them. Our intellectuals are not less able to assess conflicting issues than are our parliamentarians.

In Britain, parliamentarians serve the people. They do not tell us which direction to take - we tell them.

A referendum, conducted before our Government takes decisions concerning either a single currency or irreversible integration, will compel the production of facts that the electorate has every right to know, but which have not hitherto been fully revealed.

British Constitution

Our unwritten constitution is based on a sure foundation, that has served us well for centuries and that is that no Parliament can bind its successors. Yet this fundamental principle disappears if we integrate with the European Union or have a single European Currency which would make it inevitable. Our gold and currency reserves would be handed over to the European Central Bank in Germany as a 'common resource'. Every future parliament in Britain would be bound and manacled to the biased Brussels bureaucrats.

If any future parliament in this land says, "Enough is enough; we wish to readjust our relationship with you", do you think that the Frankfurt Bank would return our gold and currency reserves? Of course not! Chancellor Kohl has outlined his plans for Europe and I take him seriously. He has warned us that he is intent on making integration irreversible.

Once integrated, there will be no getting out. Integration would be the unforgivable crime of yielding up the liberties and rights for which so many of our compatriots nobly fought and died.

Those who believe that they can frighten or bully us into accepting integration make an old mistake. They underestimate the character of the British people; apparent apathy is grievously misleading to them: a steel-like determination to survive as a nation is part of our make-up.

Those who believe they can frighten or bully us into accepting integration underestimate the character of the British people.

Economic Issues

We fool ourselves when we talk of economic advantages in belonging to the European Union. Europe, sadly, is a diminishing not an expanding factor in world trade. Its significance in world markets diminishes daily. This is not my opinion. It is a fact. In any case we shall continue to trade with Europe, even if we are outside the Economic Monetary Union, but never forget global trade is our vital lifeline for our island history.

We need a referendum badly and we need it before any new decisive moves are made by any Government in this country concerning Europe. For me, the issue towers over party political considerations. It is a concern whether this nation survives with its cherished liberties or not. Give us a referendum in time and we will survive. I am in harmony with the sturdy defence of our British Parliament advanced by my predecessors in the Speaker's Chair in the House of Commons.

For me to remain silent now would be an act of treason, for such cowardice would betray the noble heritage handed on to me by former Speakers of the House of Commons.

God bless your efforts, as you battle for Britain, I wish you well.