A recent column from the Colson Center paid homage to the Manhattan Declaration on the fifteenth-year anniversary of the landmark document that defended the sanctity of life, defined marriage as being between a man and a woman, and sought unbridled religious liberty.
In the Breakpoint article, Colson Center President John Stonestreet and Resident Theologian Timothy D. Padgett look back on the creation of the Manhattan Declaration—which was signed by over 550,000 Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians—and comment on how culture has dramatically shifted in the last 15 years.
In 2009, the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience was co-authored by Dr. Robert George (Princeton University), Dr. Timothy George, (Beeson Divinity School), and the late Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship.
The document introduces the sanctity of life section by quoting Genesis 1:27 and John 10:10 and laments that, “although public sentiment has moved in a pro-life direction, we note with sadness that proabortion ideology prevails today in our government…”
A truly prophetic Christian witness, the document states, “will insistently call on those who have been entrusted with temporal power to fulfill the first responsibility of government: to protect the weak and vulnerable against violent attack, and to do so with no favoritism, partiality, or discrimination. The Bible enjoins us to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to speak for those who cannot themselves speak. And so we defend and speak for the unborn, the disabled, and the dependent.”
In their article, Stonestreet and Padgett recall how Chuck Colson described the Manhattan Declaration as “a wake-up call—a call to conscience—for the church…”
“[Colson’s] words about abortion, which predate the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, were prescient,” they write. “However, he underestimated—as most of us did at the time—how much the public commitment to sexual freedom and moral relativism would overwhelm pro-life sentiments.”
Stonestreet and Padgett also note how far the radical transgender movement—which was not addressed specifically in the Manhattan Declaration— quickly emerged from the fringe of society into the mainstream over the last 15 years.
“It’s a case study of just how quickly something so unthinkable can become unquestionable within a cultural context,” they write. “And yet, the central purpose of the Manhattan Declaration was not to preach to the wider culture. It was to clarify Christian conviction where it wavered the most.”
The conviction is quite evident in the document’s preamble, which reminds Christians that they are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed, and suffering.
“…Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good…”
Likewise, Stonestreet and Padgett exhort believers in 2024 to remain steadfast to the pillars of the document, even in the face of a harsh political and cultural climate. The government’s attempt to assert state over conscience in these areas must be met with unwavering Christian commitment. We must put first things first, with clarity and conviction, they write. “Christians must be clear about the value and dignity of every life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Christians must maintain that lifelong marriage between a man and a woman is a creation of God for the good of His image bearers and the stewarding of His world. And we must know that our conscience belongs, first and foremost to God and not the state. After all, He is the source of our rights and the One to whom our allegiance ultimately belongs.”