Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth, for the Colson Center on John Stone Street. What does the 16th century German theologian Martin Luther have to do with our Bill of Rights? The answer might surprise you. 505 years ago at the Diet of Worms, when asked to denounce and recant his reformist views, Luther said this, quote, unless I am convinced by the testimony of the scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.
Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen. While people often remember the whole here I stand part and Luther's reliance on scripture and reason, what's often missed is his appeal to conscience.
It's neither safe nor right to go against it, Luther said, especially when conscience is captive to the will of God. You see, Luther believed that God did establish his church and the state, and that each were given authority to regulate behavior in different areas and in different ways. But neither had authority over conscience, Luther believed. Only God did. Luther's words echo ideas that go back to the very early days of the church.
In the second century, Tertullian argued that the imperial government should allow religious liberty since only worship offered voluntarily would please God. Forcing people to worship was both pointless and hypocritical, he believed. Other church fathers made similar arguments. And of course, they're the words of Jesus: to render to Caesar what's Caesar's and to God what's God's. That also underscores to whom our conscience belongs.
So, worship is owed to God, not to Caesar. Thus, Caesar has no right to interfere with conscience. The same thinking eventually made its way into the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution begins: quote: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Now, in the language from that period, an establishment of religion referred to setting up a state church. And part of the reason Congress was prohibited from doing that. is because so many states already had state churches, and the framers didn't want a national church to conflict with the states. But the framers also wanted religion to flourish in this new country. They believed that's best accomplished within a free marketplace of ideas.
In other words, only if there were true freedom of conscience could churches compete for adherence. To ensure this free marketplace of ideas, other provisions were also included in the First Amendment. Congress was prohibited from abridging freedom of speech and of the press and of peaceful assembly and of petitioning the government. The framers believed that each of these were essential parts of an unalienable right to liberty. But they also believe that truth would eventually prevail if people were free to present and to debate their views in public.
The reason that the freedom of religion is the first freedom of the First Amendment is because every other freedom depends on it. The right to hold beliefs and to express them is foundational to the rest of the amendment. Without that freedom, we could not write, speak, assemble, petition the government in support of any beliefs, opinions, or ideas that the government did not first approve. And all of this brings us back to Martin Luther and his insistence that only God has authority over conscience. Our founders were right to highlight that any unalienable rights we have are given to us by God.
And then to include liberty among those rights. Our conscience is a gift from God, and we are answerable to Him for how we use it. The rights listed in the First Amendment are not granted by it. Rather, they were recognized and protected by it. It's our responsibility before God, who gave us liberty, to use these freedoms wisely and for his glory.
For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today I want to say thank you to Kevin of Lowell, Michigan for being a Cornerstone Monthly partner of the Colson Center. You helped make this episode of Breakpoint possible. Today's episode was co-authored with Dr. Glenn Sunshine.
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