By Kelly O'Connell
It’s the default theory of modern western pop culture that church and state must be completely separated for the good of mankind. Talk-show blowhards (read Bill Maher) make disreputable livings off such anti-intellectual bilge. Yet, both common sense and the historical record reveal this goal is a dangerous mirage. The record shows the West has led the globe in innovation for the last millennium. Further, that the West could not have arisen without Christian ideas and practices. Finally, logic reveals without continuing guidance from the unique perspective of the Church, the West is destined to fall.
An example of Christianity’s irreplaceable role in development of the modern world is the creation of the document known as Magna Carta. This piece, born of a royal concession from King John to his barons, has a similar legal and emotional place in English history as America to our Constitution. This document did not materialize out of thin air, of course. It was the result of tireless efforts by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury—who also placed the verse breaks still used in modern Bibles. Langton’s brave work authoring Magna Carta paved the way for future generations to become bearers of legal doctrines, later encapsulated in America’s Bill of Rights. This brief essay concerns these things.
I. Magna Carta
What was the background to the signing of Magna Carta? Says one site:King John of England signed the Magna Carta after immense pressure from the Church & his barons. The King often lived above the law, violating both feudal and common law, & was heavily criticized for his foreign policy & actions within England. The Barons, with the support of the Church, pressured King John to spell out a list of their rights & guarantee these rights would be enforced. The Barons provided a draft, & after some negotiation, King John put his seal to the Magna Carta in Runnymede in June of 1215.What was the Magna Carta, or Magna Carta Libertatum, ie Great Charter of Freedoms.? According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, it is…
The Magna Carta is long considered by English-speaking peoples the earliest great constitutional document of England. It is spoken of by authorities as the “foundation of our liberties”.The document was forced upon King John by his barons who were highly dissatisfied by his overtaxation and expansive foreign intrigues. The original name of the work was the Articles of Barons. What is in the Magna Carta?
According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF):
Magna Carta holds 63 articles or chapters; most concerning matters of feudal law important to the rebel barons, but of little relevance today. Other parts of Magna Carta corrected King John’s abuses of power against the barons, Church officials, merchants and other “free men.”
Today, the most significant part of Magna Carta is Chapter 39:
No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [property taken] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimized, neither will we attack him or send anyone to attack him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
This chapter’s purpose was to prevent King John from personally ordering arrest and punishment of free men without lawful judgment. According to Magna Carta, “lawful judgment” was only made by judges ruled by “the law of the land,” or by one’s peers in a trial by combat.The importance of Magna Carta cannot be overstated. Wrote Winston Churchill:
Here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work of Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it.The aftermath of Magna Carta was seminal. Writes CRF:
Magna Carta, carrying with it the idea of “the rule of law,” was reconfirmed a number of times over the next century, becoming a foundation of English law. Eventually, Magna Carta became the source of important legal concepts found in our American Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Among these: no taxation without representation & the right to a fair trial under law. These foundations of our own constitutional system had their beginnings in a meadow beside a river almost 800 years ago.But who were the minds behind the actual text of Magna Carta? These would be Stephen Langston, Henry I, and numberless persons who helped frame England’s Common Law tradition.
II. Stephen Langton
Stephen Langton was the man who penned Magna Carta, but who was he? Born in Lincolnshire, England, he spent most of his early adult life at the University of Paris, according to Stephen Langton, Hero of Magna Charta, 700th Anniversary, by J.R. Leeming. He was educated, and then became a professor himself. In doing so he gained a reputation for intellectual vigor & moral probity. Coincidentally, he made friends with a young man who was to become Pope Innocent III. Because of this friendship, and also his reputation for honesty and intelligence, he was asked to return to London to become the Archbishop of Canterbury. This was the highest rank in the British Anglican Church.He is described here by the website for the Baronial Order of the Magna Charta:
Stephen Langton lived in Paris for twenty-five years, studying, then lecturing on theology, until he gained such a reputation for learning, that, in 1206, Pope Innocent called him to Rome and made him cardinal priest of St. Chrysogonus. Here also he taught theology. Roger of Wendover said “the Roman court did not have his equal for learning and moral excellence.” No wonder that he became known as the most illustrious churchman of English birth.Another description is even more effusive:
Although the roll of English churchmen has few names more illustrious, Langton’s fame is hardly equal to his achievements. Even among his own countrymen too few have an adequate knowledge of his merits and great services to his country. His labors were concerned with the two things specially dear to Englishmen, the Bible and the British Constitution. Everyone who reads the Bible or enjoys civic freedoms owes a deep debt of gratitude to Langton. If men are measured by the magnitude of their works, it may be safely said that Langton was the greatest Englishman to sit in the chair of St. Augustine. Some have been great as writers and thinkers, others as statesmen solicitous for the welfare of the whole people, and others as zealous pastors of their flock. It was Langton’s lot to win distinction in all three capacities, as scholar, statesman, and archbishop.The Pope was caught in a mighty struggle with King John, which included his decision to name Langton Archbishop over John’s own choice. Yet, despite his friendship with the Pope, and a highly academic background, Langton did not side with Pope or King, but came down on the side of the common law and the English people at Runnymede.
After becoming holder of the See of Canterbury, Langton spent much time trying to reign in the tyrannical activities of King John. He attempted to get John to reaffirm the ancient rights of Englishmen, especially as described by Henry the First’s Charter of Liberties. Henry I himself was also a great scholar and reformer.
The Catholic Encyclopedia describes Langton’s attempt to get the rebellious barons who opposed John to reconcile with him:
Langton called the barons aside, read the charter of Henry, & commented on its provisions. They answered by loud acclamations, & the archbishop, taking advantage of their enthusiasm, administered to them an oath binding themselves to each other to conquer or die in defense of their liberties.” When the king was going to wreak vengeance on the barons for disobedience, Langton firmly insisted on their right to a lawful trial, adding that, if John refused them this justice, he would deem it his duty to excommunicate all, except the king himself, who took part in this impious warfare. Such was the archbishop’s vigorous line of action at the outset of the struggle which was brought to a successful issue two years later by the signing of the Great Charter at Runnymede. And, if he was the soul of the movement which led to these results, he may justly be regarded as the real author of the Magna Charta.
III. Christian Antecedents of Modern Liberties
Rodney Stark, a scholar of the history of Christianity and the West, has described how the Church gave a foundation to the modern world. His The Victory of Reason, How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success richly describes the long march to civilization.In general, Stark explains how no other ancient society save the Christian had the necessary worldview to develop science or capitalism—let alone the rule of law, human rights or freedom. Starks writes,
A series of developments, in which reason won the day, gave unique shape to Western culture and institutions. And the most important of those victories occurred within Christianity. While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guides to religious truth.
IV. Conclusion
As with many other historic developments in the history of freedom which later radicals, atheists, and humanists claim as springing from non-religious origins—the concept of freedom is a biblical notion often advanced by churchmen. This flies in the face of present popular opinion delivered by trendy anti-religion authors like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, etc. This is illustrated by such verses as John 8:31:Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”Magna Carta is a magnificent achievement, even if Langton had no idea how influential it would prove. Further, Langton showed the indispensable role of principled Believer when he defied the king at the threat of great bodily harm, and his own friend the Pope, to side with principle and the English people.
Unparallelled common law jurist Lord Coke described Magna Carta as being like Alexander the Great—magnum in parvo—a great thing in a small package, writes James R. Stoner in Common Law & Liberal Theory, Coke, Hobbes & The Origins Of American Constitutionalism. Coke believed in the majesty of the common law, where right reason joined with right principles would achieve right outcomes. Later charters of freedoms like America’s Constitution and Bill of Rights are not conceivable without the rule of law precedent set by Magna Carta.
So, are modern humanist critics correct when claiming all biblical influence must be kept from government because of the danger of religious tyranny? If so, who can then explain how England’s greatest religious leader delivered modern Christian freedom by drafting Magna Carta, the intellectual foundation of our legal system, which placed even kings under everyday law?
Canada Free Press
