In one sense it was an important historical anniversary. In another it was a desperate plea for support against the slaughter of Christians because they dared to confess “Jesus is Lord.”
This year marks the 400th anniversary of Thomas Helwys’ famous plea for universal religious freedom. In his book “A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity,” published in 1612, Helwys wrote the first declaration of religious freedom for all published in the English language.
He wrote to King James I (of the King James Bible) saying, “The King is a mortal man, and not God, therefore has no power over the immortal souls of subjects, to make laws and ordinances for them, and to set spiritual lords over them. If the king have authority to make spiritual lords and laws, then he is an immortal God and not a mortal man.”
Helwys continued, “If the king’s people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all human laws made by the king, our lord the king can require no more. For men’s religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the king judge between God and men. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure.”
For daring to question the king’s right to govern men’s souls, Helwys was thrown into Newgate Prison, where he died about 1616.
Baptist leaders from around the world meeting in Santiago, Chile, for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) annual gathering took time July 3, 2012, to recall Baptists’ historical commitment to religious freedom, not just for ourselves but for all people everywhere — “heretic, Turk, Jew or whatsoever.”
But religious freedom remains elusive for much of the world’s population. A presentation to the BWA’s Religious Liberty Commission on which this writer serves reported nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.9 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion. The study was done by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, Pew found restriction on religion substantially increased in eight during the past year and did not substantially decrease in any.
Restrictions take the form of government regulations on religion, such as the nation of Hungary deciding to reduce approved religions from 362 to 14. Another form is government inaction against religious persecution.
Europe, Asia, Africa and South America all face growing religious restrictions, the study found.
The academic became personal during the July 5 morning networking meeting of denominational leaders from around the world. The president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention was almost in tears as he recounted the growing struggle between Muslims and Christians in the northern and central part of that country.
The Pew Study had noted Nigeria. The study reported Boko Haram — a Muslim militant group — has killed more than 14,000 Nigerian Christians in the past decade. The International Religious Liberty Association added that growing evidence exists that Boko Haram is funded and directed, at least in part, from sources outside Nigeria. The goal is to impose Muslim Sharia law on the entire nation.
With emotion breaking his voice the Nigerian Baptist leader told of church bombings and marauding gangs of Boko Haram thugs hacking people to death with machetes. He described Jos, a major city in central Nigeria, as a ghost town. It once was a thriving city with a predominately Christian population.
Several Baptist churches used to average more than 1,000 worshipers on Sunday morning, he said. Today there will be less than 100 worshipers any given Sunday. The drop in attendance is primarily the result of bombs planted by the Muslim aggressors or fear of being targeted by Boko Haram agents. Stories abound of attackers invading the homes of known Christians and slashing and beating them to death with machetes and clubs.
The Nigerian leader also described how Boko Haram targets the children of pastors. Sons are killed. Daughters are kidnapped and forced into marriages with Muslim men. It is all part of a strategy to deprive the Christian church of its next generation of leaders.
The Nigerian government is unable to act against Boko Haram terror because the Muslim-Christian division has polarized the nation’s military, observers said.
Baptist national leaders from Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana and Rwanda added their own stories of Muslim atrocities and the impact on Christians of a complex and comprehensive strategy to deprive them of religious liberty.
In response to these pleas the BWA General Council adopted a resolution denouncing the levels of violence in the West African country caused by Muslim extremists and noted “that these horrendous acts of inhumanity in Nigeria have promoted fear to freely worship and assemble.”
The resolution also urged the Nigerian government to “ensure safety and security for all people in Nigeria” and urged “Baptists around the world to raise these concerns with their governments, religious leaders and persons of influence.”
Nigeria has more than 2.5 million Baptists and about 9,500 churches. Christianity is the primary religion in the central and southern portions of the nation.
Sadly, the following Sunday, July 7, new reports surfaced of more than 100 Christian being slaughtered by Boko Haram gangs and 12 churches burned (see The Alabama Baptist, July 19, 2012, p. 11 or find the article online at www.thealabamabaptist.org).
For Helwys, as for Christian believers in Nigeria and many other parts of the world, worshiping God freely and openly through faith in Jesus Christ was an expensive commitment. It cost him his life.
Yet the right to worship God according to the dictates of one’s own heart is a God-given right. It did not depend on permission from King James I, nor does it depend on permission from Muslim aggressors today. Religious liberty is God’s gift to humanity. Commitment to religious liberty for Christians, Muslims, “heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever” has always been a Baptist hallmark. It still is. That is why Baptist leaders paused to acknowledge the anniversary of its first public expression in the English language. That is why Baptist leaders adopted a strongly worded resolution calling on governments everywhere to guarantee religious liberty to all their citizens.
Let us pray earnestly for those living in persecution because of their religious faith and let us work for religious liberty for all people everywhere. That is the Baptist way.
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