The Mystery of Iniquity on the High Court
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 4:57 pm
Due to length, the article continues over five posts.
For enhanced viewing, navigating, and printing,
Download this article as a PDF file here.
The Mystery of Iniquity on the High Court:
How the United States Supreme Court Schemed
the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment
by Montgomery Paul Webb
Copyright 2015
Both swords, the spiritual and the material, therefore, are in the power of the Church; the one, indeed, to be wielded for the Church, the other by the Church; the one by the hand of the priest, the other by the hand of kings and knights, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.
Pope Boniface VIII, 1302
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment
In this series on the First Amendment, after having examined over 40 Supreme Court cases from 1857 to 1983, we have been left only to ask — why is there no real judicial standard for interpreting the meaning of the clauses and for consistent rulings? And the very sad answer is, because the Court has been dishonest in setting out the history and purpose of the Amendment. The ways and devices the Court has used to change the meaning of the Amendment must be reviewed at this point, as the legal scheme has been established and becomes only more tiring with the cases to follow.
*[Note — The Meaning of the First Amendment, at http://www.LoveofChrist.info. The Court has admitted the decisions on the Religion Clauses are inconsistent. See — Walz v. Tax Comm’n, 1970; Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, 1973. Quotations from these cases are set out below, in the subsection, Was the First Amendment Poorly Written?, under Final Note on the Scheme of the Court.]
Ignoring the Theory of Denominationalism
First, to set a proper overall perspective, the foundational basis of the dishonesty should be noted, of the Court just completely ignoring the manner in which the language of the First Amendment before 1947, Everson v. Board of Education, was an expression of the Theory of Denominationalism, arising out of the English Civil War in the 1640s, and reflecting one position in a great social debate on religious liberty, from the time of Henry VIII until the Bill of Rights in America. Religious practice in the colonies and newly formed nation of America actually was no more than a reflection of political events and doctrinal views from this period of British history of more than 200 years, briefly set out below to highlight how denominationalism arose from the debate.
However, the background history put forth by the Court in Everson fabricated suddenly for the 20th century a new legal concept on the meaning of the First Amendment, imposed on a metaphor from the past of Separation of Church and State. However, this version of history should not be considered subtly fantasized or naively misinterpreted, but conveniently contrived, for these Justices are America's best learned, experienced, and skilled lawyers, who have extensive staff and resources. Their professionalism must have been affected by factors other than a basic misunderstanding of history. In other words, the Justices know what they are doing.
Contrary to the Court, as demonstrated below, the State of Virginia did not lead the way to solve the problem of persecution arising from government controlled religion as commonly was found in Europe, as represented by the special meaning given by the Court to a metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Nor was James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance anything particularly unique or significant in this period of more than 200 years of conflict and debate over theology and politics. However, after the Reformation came to England, the concept of spiritual unity and religious liberty which prevailed politically, eventually known as denominationalism, actually began with William Tyndale (whose sister very likely was a direct ancestor of James Madison), translating the Bible into English.
Tyndale's criminal act of creating a Bible for the people in English allowed everyone to interpret Scripture according to conscience, which happened in home assemblies, rather than at a government sanctioned Church and under the authority of an official prelate. Distributing an English Bible became unstoppable due to the invention of the printing press, and interpreting Scripture according to individual conscience began to abound with the profusion of so many printed pamphlets setting out a diversity of positions, despite what a government supported Church taught as official doctrine. In English society, debate broke out such as never before in history, as the number of printing presses spread, with the Church and State increasingly unable to control the content of what was being published.
In 1536, when State and Church officials lit the wood faggots to burn William Tyndale at the stake for his criminal translation, they believed the flames would destroy his soul. Instead, the fire spread throughout England, and then, to America to become the soul of the new nation, through the First Amendment expressing the main precept behind denominationalism, that in a free and fair debate, the truth will win, (for Jesus Christ is Lord), known as the Truth Triumphant. However, with the 20th century legal concept of Separation of Church and State, the Justices of the Court made an engine to extinguish what still was burning, setting out a mythology to persistently persuade the nation to ignore the original meaning of the First Amendment and to establish Secular Humanism as America's belief system.
The Truth Triumphant
The historical period necessary for review to establish the basis of the First Amendment is long and complex, requiring many years of study to master. Today, the average person knows almost nothing of the Amendment's true historical background. Public schools no longer provide information on foundational British history and barely cover relevant American colonial events. When Everson came out in 1947, the Court easily could conform their historical review to suit their own purpose, without concern over public reaction.
And conveniently for the Court, almost all Americans, even the average church attender, no longer know what the Theory of Denominationalism is. Most Christians think of denominationalism as divisive, rather than a theory based on a concept of spiritual unity, which ended religious wars and persecution, for which many believers gave up their lives to realize. According to denominationalism, all Christians agree on the core doctrine of Scripture and are united spiritually in regard to essential truth. Beliefs may differ between different church groups on outward religious expression and comprehensive theology, but separation is not schism. Christians can be divided in a complete understanding of spiritual matters, while still being united on essential truth, and all believers should have an inner religious experience in common.
When Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans (Presbyterians) assumed the power of government in England, they adhered to the theology of Augustine on the Christian State, which gave civil magistrates the right to enforce the dogma and practice of the Church by law, even to become party to the settlement of doctrinal disputes, and to persecute any dissent based on freedom of conscience. However, beginning with home church conventicles, utilizing William Tyndale's translation of the Bible, dissenting groups arose from the common people who argued the Augustinian position was not scriptural — Brownists, Quakers, Anabaptists, Mennonites, Baptists, Independents, Levellers, etc., who essentially can be referred to as Freewillers or Free Churchers. (By tradition, the views of these dissenters were basically the same as John Wycliffe and the Lollards of 14th century England, who laid the foundation for the Reformation, and who were severely persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church).
*[Augustinian theology on the union between the Church and State is based primarily on The City of God. Augustine held that the State only exists in the fullest sense when true justice is achieved, which can be accomplished exclusively by following the precepts of Christ, by being a Res Publica Christiana, a Christian Affair. The Church and State must be united to provide genuine happiness to the citizens, which is found by a correct faith in God. Thus, the State must impose decrees of doctrine and sponsor places of worship and ceremonies. And thus, for example, Augustine approved of the government of the Roman Empire becoming involved in the resolution of the Donatist controversy, over reinstating clergy lapsed in faith during persecution. However, by the time of the Middle Ages, the Augustinian position was expanded upon to include holding that enforcement of correct beliefs by the State was necessary to avoid total social upheaval and chaos.]
These dissenting church groups noted Bible verses supporting the view that Christ upheld freedom of choice, and that only by debate could differences of beliefs in conscience and distinctive theological views eventually be resolved in society. Every person had the right to participate in the conversation and to decide personal beliefs according to the dictates of conscience, even atheists and non-Christians, which was not to be feared by the State or any church, as Jesus Christ himself controlled the outcome when the overall debate was free and fair. However, besides the biblical support for encouraging freedom of debate in all matters, the denominational position came about at this time as a necessity due to printing presses becoming more common and proliferating so many new ways of thinking.
*[Examples of Bible verses cited by dissenting sects to support liberty of conscience include — Matthew 13:30,38: Parable of the Tares, let the children of God grow with the children of wickedness until final judgment. Luke 9:54,56: on asking Christ to send fire to consume those rejecting him, he responds that he came to save men’s lives, not to destroy them. II Corinthians 10:4: the weapons of God’s warfare are not carnal. Titus 1:9: by sound doctrine convince those who contradict the Word of God. Proverbs 27:17: as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Matthew 15:14: leave the leaders of the blind alone. Matthew 5:44: love enemies and pray for those who persecute. Matthew 10:16, Christ sends his followers as sheep among wolves. Micah 4:3,4: swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.]
According to denominationalism, the State has no right to establish a national church, to declare by statute and to enforce by law the religious beliefs of the consciences of people. However, the denominational position does not mean that by law the government must be denied religious expression in its administration, just as Christian art and quotations of Scripture are found within the federal Capitol building, or as the top of the Washington Monument has engraved the words, Praise be to God, and the walls of the stairwell are lined with Bible verses. President Roosevelt leading the nation in prayer by radio broadcast to support the D-Day invasion of World War II was perfectly consistent with the denominational concept of the First Amendment, and at the time, there was no official objection.
Religious Neutrality and the French Myth
When the Bill of Rights was created, all the states were Christian by their constitutions or charters. The purpose of the First Amendment was to protect the states from the federal government interfering in their religious practices and faith, or establishing a national church. The Amendment promoted ongoing debate on beliefs of conscience, to lead to the confirmation of truth. However, the Court now holds that an intention of the Due Process Clause of Section One of the 14th Amendment, of 1868, was to have the federal government protect the people from the states regarding religious policy. The protection is enforced by the judiciary, in maintaining religious neutrality in the nation through a focus on suppressing expressions regarding Christianity or God in any way associated with state or federal government, and on ensuring that public schools are taught only from the perspective of the belief system of Secular Humanism. This calculated neutrality is known by the metaphor of Separation of Church and State, first appearing in any government or court record in the history of the nation in 1947, Everson. However, the judicial position on Separation of Church and State is a historical and legal fiction, as demonstrated below.
*[Amendment XIV, Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.]
Advocates of the Supreme Court's position on Separation of Church and State commonly emphasize the Enlightenment through the French Revolution, of 1789-99, as the main influence on America's Constitution and Bill of Rights. Michael Farris provides an example of this mythology, in From Tyndale to Madison: How the Death of an English Martyr Led to the American Bill of Rights: [Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2007, p. 383], citing a website by the United States State Department, that notes The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, of the French Revolution, preceded the American Bill of Rights by a month in 1789.
The French Revolution was wrought under the slogan, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and aspired to create through human reason a supreme society never before achieved in history. However, the Revolution developed a cult of reason to replace Christianity. Church lands were confiscated, as crosses and signs of worship were destroyed. Churches were converted into Temples of Reason. The true character of the Revolution was demonstrated by a magnificent celebration to the Goddess of Reason at Notre Dame Cathedral on November 10, 1793, as the struggle for human rights was enhanced by killing many thousands of people by guillotine as enemies of the Revolution, in a Reign of Terror from September 1793 to July 1794.
During the Revolution, the French expected support from America in a war with Great Britain, as returned favor. However, America’s founding fathers knew exactly what was going on in France, as something very different from their Revolution, when the Continental Congress issued repeated proclamations for prayer, appointed chaplains for the armed forces, or gave instructions to the Committee of Commerce on importing Bibles into the states during the fighting. Rather than supporting the French Revolution, America signed a treaty with Great Britain, and then, fought an undeclared war on the high seas with France.
*[The Constitution was influenced by the Enlightenment primarily through John Locke, with his works Two Treatises on Government, as well as A Letter Concerning Toleration, which followed methods of reasoning developed and promoted by Francis Bacon. Note the subsection, The New Way, under British Background History.
—However, the ideas of Enlightenment scholars from Scotland also influenced America's founding fathers. Many Scots came to the colonies to pursue evangelical success, hoping to enhance the stature in general of their own religious sects. These scholars emphasized that a vibrant commerce was essential in a large republic as a foundation for freedom and virtue, and for the promotion of progress for all humankind. See — America's Founding Secret: What the Scottish Enlightenment Taught Our Founding Fathers, by Robert Galvin: New York, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2002.]
The actual foundation for the Bill of Rights in America was a statute passed by Parliament in Britain, in 1689, as part of the Glorious Revolution, known as the Bill of Rights, formally entitled An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown, a restatement of The Declaration of Rights, agreed to by William of Orange in the year he accepted the throne. The Revolution was glorious as a new king was enthroned and the governmental concept of kingship was changed without bloodshed. The Declaration of Rights invited Protestant William to take over the monarchy, and to preserve the ancient and indubitable rights of the people, in response to the treacherous efforts by King James II to impose Catholicism on the nation.
In America, the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress, passed on October 14, 1774, and known as The Colonial Bill of Rights, preserved the Bill of Rights of 1689, as legally binding on the colonies, and stipulated specific rights under contention by Great Britain. After the Declaration of Independence, all state constitutions were written with a bill of rights conforming to Britain’s Bill of Rights of 1689. As part of the ratification process for the federal constitution, many state politicians called for adding a bill of rights as a condition of acceptance. However, debate broke out on whether the condition was necessary, as all state constitutions already had bills of rights, which delayed the passage of a federal version.
Respecting the Supreme Court
There is nothing unique or unusual about the assertion herein that the Supreme Court has been dishonest in interpreting the First Amendment and with its use of the metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Perhaps, David Barton in Original Intent: the Courts, the Constitution, & Religion: [Aledo, WallBuilder Press, 1997], has been the most thorough in setting out a review of historical facts, which actually demonstrate the dishonesty of the Court. However, there have been others, such as Gary LaMar in America’s Christian History: the Untold Story: [Atlanta, American Vision Inc., 1995].
Also, in Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985, (to be reviewed in this series), Justice William Rehnquist in a long dissenting opinion finally questioned what has gone on with the Court in First Amendment decisions since the introduction of the metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Rehnquist only referred to the Court's review of relevant history as being in error, a mistaken understanding, highly simplified, or just bad; as required of him in showing professional courtesy toward the other Justices. However, he also referred to the decisions as a “mischievous diversion of judges from the actual intentions of the drafters of the Bill of Rights,” and as deviations leading to unprincipled rulings. He noted that historical errors are not made into truth by the device of repetition in ensuing cases. And Rehnquist set out a long and detailed review of the true historical basis of the First Amendment, (which actually is entirely consistent with the Theory of Denominationalism). Rehnquist emphasized that the drafters mainly intended that no national church should be established by the federal government; and he pointed out, that there is nothing from the historical record to indicate a requirement of neutrality on the part of the federal government between religion and irreligion. He decried the three prong Lemon Test, Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971, as not having any basis in history, and the mercurial (unpredictably changeable) nature of the Court's decisions.
*[The Lemon Test sets three standards to prevent laws from being passed in the nation, which aid religion and do not have a secular purpose.]
Court Devices to Be Reviewed
The struggle for religious liberty in Britain from the time of Henry VIII separating from the Roman Catholic Church, until the Revolution Settlement with William of Orange, just over 150 years, represents, perhaps, the most unique, influential, and complex period of all history, to follow the coming of Christ. However, the Supreme Court has freed Americans of having to undertake the many years of labor and fatigue necessary to study and master the true historical context for the meaning of the First Amendment, by noting that the religious events of the newly formed State of Virginia and the views of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are all that have to be considered, to have a complete and essential understanding of relevant background. However, narrowing the focus in this manner does more than simplify the circumstances, but permits inventions of interpretation outside of true context. To understand how the Court actually has schemed the relevant history behind the Amendment, there must be an overall and accurate knowledge of the British basis for American ideas on religious liberty.
To follow, essential British history on the background of the First Amendment is set out in a nutshell, and the religious history of the colonies and newly formed nation of America is examined as an extension of what occurred in the United Kingdom. Against this context, the Court's manufactured system of history is summarized, along with outlining how the Justices have mishandled and ignored precedent cases. And finally, the inconsistent and bazaar logic of the Court, the outright dishonesty, are demonstrated by piecing together the reasoning from various cases.
*[Of particular relevance, note the subsection, The Westminster Dissent: Brothers Searching for Truth, under British Background History, dealing with the Truth Triumphant. The historical review below basically relies on From Tyndale to Madison, by Michael Farris, cited above. However, many other sources are noted.]
British Background History
In western Europe during the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church and the State were intertwined. They were two aspects of the same society. The law was understood as being given by God, either through the Church or the State, and both worked enforcement together. However, how the process went on was not always clear. For example, England paid a tax to the Church of Rome, taken from the taxes paid to support the local churches; however, the king had a say on who could be appointed a bishop, and at times Papal review or approval of a candidate was just ignored. And for example, the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, reducing the monarchy's power of State in favor of the nobility in England; however, King John appealed to the Pope, who declared the document null and void, while excommunicating the other signatories. Yet, the Magna Carta remained in legal force by threat of military action.
Henry VIII
However, Church and State relations in England became more complex after the War of the Roses, more than 30 years of military conflict and social disorder, in a dispute of royal families over the rightful heir to the throne, which Henry VII finally won. After his son, Henry VIII, assumed the throne, he was desperate to have a definitive male heir for succession, to avoid further massive warfare at his death. However, Catherine of Aragon, his wife of 24 years, did not bear him a son, although he was capable of having one by a mistress. He needed a divorce, in order to establish a legitimate male heir, but the Roman Catholic Church would not cooperate, as Catherine's nephew was Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, whose military forces had their horses stabled in St. Peter's Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
*[The Roman Church routinely had granted divorces for centuries on the pretext of consanguinity, that the spouses had too close a familial relation, up to the level of seventh cousins, which actually was common with all nobility. Most notably, Louis VII divorced on the basis of consanguinity the headstrong Eleanor of Aquitaine, and then, King Henry II of England took her as his wife. Henry VIII had appealed for a divorce on a similar principle, that Catherine first had been his deceased brother's wife, forbidden by Leviticus 20:16, And if a man take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing....]
The Pope ordered Henry to answer Catherine's appeal to Rome on the proposed divorce and to stop seeing his new love interest, Anne Boleyn. Therefore, Henry broke away from the Roman Church, relying on the principle of Sola Scriptura as ultimate authority from the Reformation. In 1534, by the Act of Supremacy, he had Parliament declare himself as the Supreme Head and Sole Protector of the Church of England. Then, he obtained his divorce and Anne for his wife, who even had shared with him the writings of the outlaw Bible translator, William Tyndale, on the true allegiance of a king. However, Henry never became an advocate of Protestantism or religious freedom, and the issue arose on just what the Church and religious faith in England would become, now that the king himself would decide what was the will of God by consulting Scripture on his own.
As a Catholic, Henry had his chancellors, Thomas Wolsey and Thomas More, vigilantly torture and imprison heretics, employing the secret tribunals of the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission. Translating or owning a Bible in English or any book proclaiming the doctrines of the Reformation were crimes. After the Church of England's succession from Rome, all persons holding public or Church office were required to take the Oath of Supremacy, on pain of death, as refusing was considered treason. Thomas More preferred to lose his head, rather than take this oath, which also affirmed Sola Scriptura, as he had put Protestants to death for upholding the doctrine. Henry had William Tyndale burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. Then, a few years later, Henry's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, were able to publish an English Bible, based in large part on Tyndale's translation. The Bible was placed in churches, but when, how, and by whom it could be read was controlled by statute. Scripture was to be interpreted only by an elite class of clergy.
Edward VI
Henry's son, Edward VI, was raised a Protestant and assumed the throne as a minor. His Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, and Cranmer moved the Church of England towards the faith of the Reformation, promoting Reformed Scholarship, as well as Bible study and the teaching of sound doctrine in general. Clergy married: the laity had wine in communion: Catholic images were removed from churches: and vestments changed. The Church was Calvinist in regard to predestination, but episcopal in church government.
To uphold England as a Christian State, Edward's government worked on an Act of Uniformity, to specify by statute official religious doctrine and practice, which according to the theology of Augustine would be enforced by law, to be reflected by a Book of Common Prayer for the Anglican Church. Due to Edward's early death, this Act of Uniformity never became law, but the Book of Common Prayer, which set out the forms for worship services was put into use in 1549. Persecution of dissenters involved jail sentences, and freedom of the press was repressed moderately.
Bloody Mary
Edward died suddenly at age 15, in 1553. Then, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary Tudor, returned the Church of England to Catholicism. Any whisper against Catholic beliefs could lead to imprisonment, torture, or death without warrant of law. Reading or teaching from the Bible was banned, as well as interpreting Scripture after one's own brain. Home assemblies in particular were considered a main threat to the State Church. Homes and businesses were searched and having a Bible meant being burned at the stake. The prisons became crowded, and uncounted Protestants were persecuted and killed. Puritans fled to Geneva, creating a new Bible translation with notes refuting the Catholic Church and the divine right of kings. The Geneva Book of Order was written as a new standard for worship services, which eliminated the influence of Catholic liturgy. After Mary's reign, many Britons were determined that there never would be another Catholic monarch, nor would the people ever again be denied owning a Bible, which was the very first right of an Englishman.
In 1558, Mary died suddenly and childless at age 42, leaving her sister, Elizabeth, to assume the throne.
*[The condition of Edward’s general health is a subject of controversy. There was no investigation over his death, but everyone in London said he was poisoned. See — The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant Taylor of London, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1663, ed. John Gough Nichols: London, Camden Society, 1848, p. 35. Mary often had health problems, and her death is not considered suspicious. See — M. C. Medvei, The Illness and Death of Mary Tudor. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 80 December 1987.]
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth Tudor reinstated Anglicism and the Book of Common Prayer, by passing The Act of Uniformity of 1559, (supplemented by reinstating The Act of Supremacy, and in 1563, the Thirty Nine Articles). Fines were set for not attending Church services or refusing to use, even disapproving of, the Prayer Book. Publications required Church approval, and clergy had to be licensed. Elizabeth persecuted groups practicing religion outside of the official Church, beginning with house churches, (note the Conventicle Act, of 1593, against unsanctioned worship assemblies). However, Elizabeth used religion primarily to support her monarchy politically, and her settlement on religious matters was known as the Middle Way between Catholic and Protestant beliefs, an effort to avoid the extremes of Edward VI and Bloody Mary. Yet, Elizabeth eventually became more anti-Catholic, with the Pope excommunicating her, with having to execute Catholics involved with raising rebellions against her rule or plotting her assassination, and with an attempted invasion by Spain in 1588, to establish a Catholic monarchy in England and an inquisition against Protestants.
James I
In 1603, Elizabeth died, and her distant cousin, the King of Scotland, James IV, also became the King of England, then known as James I. He was married to a Catholic, supported the Anglican Church, and opposed freedom of conscience. He knew the episcopal structure of the Anglican Church was essential to support the concept of monarchy. He was made King of Scotland, in 1567, at age one, when his mother, Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, was exiled, due to being implicated in the murder of her husband and James' father; but also as part of establishing Presbyterianism as the State religion, while abandoning political allegiance to France, in favor of being allied with England.
As James was raised to be the monarch of Presbyterian Scotland, his arrival as King of England seemed to the local Puritans an opportune time to appeal for the reform of the Anglican Church, and they presented before him the Millenary Petition, signed by about 1,000 ministers. They sought changes in Church doctrine and government according to the Word of God, even objecting to matters such as priestly clothing, music used in services, and how ministers were qualified. James called for a conference at Hampton Court, considering the chiefest of kingly duties to settle affairs of religion. However, he actually ridiculed the Puritans during the conference, and he held that no well grounded matter came forth to favor altering established law on religion or changing Church discipline and the Book of Common Prayer. However, he did agree with the proposal for a new Bible translation, as the then very popular Geneva Bible was a Puritan product, with commentary refuting Catholicism and the divine right of kings.
James told the Puritans he would make them conform or harry them out of the land. In 1604, he removed 300 Puritan clergy from the Church. However, in 1611, his execution of the Separatists Bartholomew Legate and Edward Whitman resulted in such a strong negative public reaction, that James decided he would thereafter only imprison dissidents. These men were the last executed in England for their beliefs, but other legal measures of persecution remained in force, as did the threat of the death penalty for religious dissent.
In 1604, Catholics attempted to blow up the Parliament building, during a visit by James, in order to assassinate the King and all members of the legislature, known as the Gunpowder Plot, or the Jesuit Treason. Laws were then passed to exclude Catholics from serving at Court or from holding public office. With so many acts of sedition carried out through the Jesuits since the time of Henry VIII, Catholicism had become a symbol of treason against the nation, and future debate for religious toleration routinely called for excluding Catholics.
*[The motive for the Gunpowder Plot may not have been just to reestablish a Catholic monarchy, but also to stop the creation of the King James Bible translation. Guy Fawkes Day is still an official holiday in the United Kingdom, celebrating the survival of James. Fawkes guarded the gunpowder beneath Parliament, waiting for the right time to light it.
—However, in modern times, social protests against tyranny include wearing Guy Fawkes masks, and St. Henry II Garnet Rosaries are sold, referring to a Jesuit Superior with prior knowledge of the Plot, convicted as a conspirator. Some entity in society operates to reverse how the public views the Gunpowder Plot. See – V for Vendetta, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006, wherein a heroic Guy Fawkes does manage to have Parliament blown up and the head of State brutally killed, as a vendetta against the tyranny of a futuristic British government. Masses of people also assume the identity of Guy Fawkes to assist the terrorist act, in order that the nation finally may find hope.
—Such propaganda is common in the present day. See — The Other Boelyn Girl, Columbia Pictures, 2008, wherein Anne Boelyn is portrayed as a kind of scheming whore, an evil witch who causes England to break away from the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Wolsey cannot even be found in the made up history from the movie, in a reversal of how her story is related in Anne of a Thousand Days, Universal Pictures, 1969.]
Charles I and The English Civil War
James' son, Charles I, became King in 1625. He had a Catholic wife, with a contract to be tolerant of Catholics. When Anglican prelate Richard Montague published A Gagg for the New Gospel? No: A New Gagg for an Old Goose, with arguments promoting Catholic theology, Parliament called for his imprisonment, but Charles made him royal chaplain. Charles appointed other Anglican-Catholics to important Church positions, including William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. Montague and Laud vigorously moved the Church of England toward becoming more Catholic, persecuting others with Protestant doctrine through the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission, while censoring books and outlawing conventicle assemblies. Popish rituals appeared as a part of worship services, and at times the Roman Catholic Church was upheld as a true church.
As riots became common place, Parliament moved towards the Puritans, although many of them were escaping to America. Parliament enacted the Petition of Right, which addressed abuses by Charles, requiring legislative consent on taxation, prohibiting imprisonment without due process of law and the billeting of the military on private persons. Resolutions were passed that favored Protestant beliefs, that upheld the Anglican-Catholics were trying to subvert Protestant churches, and that designated those attempting to extend Popery as capital enemies of the kingdom. Thus, Charles did not reconvene Parliament for 11 years.
When Charles went to Edinburgh to be crowned King of Scotland in 1633, he was shocked to see how Presbyterian the Scottish Church was, as he had been moved to London at age two. In 1637, he attempted to impose a new prayer book on the Church, reflecting the views of William Laud. The Scots rebelled against this imposition, and Charles sent troops, in 1639, to have episcopacy set in place. However, his troops were defeated in battle within months, and a truce was signed. The next year Charles sent more troops, which again were overwhelmed. In 1640, he signed the Treaty of Ripon, and he had to pay indemnities or raise another army, which led to his recalling Parliament.
The Long Parliament
This reconvened legislative session infamously became known as the Long Parliament, passing an act that it could be dissolved only by agreement of its own members. Immediately, more than 1,500 men presented a petition with 15,000 signatures to the House of Commons, expressing frustration over the suppression of Calvinist doctrine in the Church, while pressure was exerted for conformity with Catholicism. 19 other counties outside of London joined the petition, and within months, Parliament imprisoned Archbishop Laud for high treason in administrative abuse, which led to his being beheaded in 1645. After his imprisonment, debate began in Parliament on what should take the place of episcopacy for the Church of England.
Calvinists in Parliament wanted an alliance with the Scottish Church or some compromise between Presbyterians and Anglicans, to find a middle ground between the abuses of bishops and the anarchy of sects. The secret royal tribunals of the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission were abolished, which meant that licensing to preach and to print were no longer controlled by the monarchy, while a proper manner to accomplish this censorship by Parliament was debated.
With Parliament having no effective method to enforce censorship, there was a de facto freedom of the press. Between 1640 and 1660, the number of publications increased more than threefold over the prior two decades, from nearly 10,000 works to about 35,000. Many pamphlets argued for religious liberty, based on the universal church's primarily spiritual nature, and a voluntary obedience to Christ out of a love for the truth, according to precepts from the New Testament, as opposed to the concept of forced obedience found in the Old Testament. The focus of debate was no longer on whether common people could have a vernacular translation, but whether everybody had the right to self-understanding of Scripture, and to select their own church ministers. The sectarian churches grew in number. However, until a new national church could be formed, Parliament tried to stop free assemblies and restricted licensing ministers, based on a knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, as well as orthodox doctrine.
Initially, Parliament was not sympathetic to raising any army, which Charles would use against the Presbyterian Scots. However, in 1641, Catholics in Ireland rebelled against English government administration, over a primary issue of land confiscation, which turned into a conflict with English and Scottish Protestant settlers. A Catholic Confederation became the de facto government of Ireland, which even negotiated with Charles on raising an army against Scotland, in exchange for religious toleration and land security. In 1642, Parliament passed a bill to raise its own army, which Charles denounced. Parliament declared that the royal office was distinct from the person of the King, and that due to his following evil counsel, they had to state the monarch's pleasure on certain matters. After a failed attempt to capture opposition members of Parliament, Charles fled London, recruited troops with the help of loans from noblemen, and sent to the continent for support.
Continued in the next post.....
Download as a PDF for enhanced viewing and navigation here.
For enhanced viewing, navigating, and printing,
Download this article as a PDF file here.
The Mystery of Iniquity on the High Court:
How the United States Supreme Court Schemed
the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment
by Montgomery Paul Webb
Copyright 2015
Both swords, the spiritual and the material, therefore, are in the power of the Church; the one, indeed, to be wielded for the Church, the other by the Church; the one by the hand of the priest, the other by the hand of kings and knights, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.
Pope Boniface VIII, 1302
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment
In this series on the First Amendment, after having examined over 40 Supreme Court cases from 1857 to 1983, we have been left only to ask — why is there no real judicial standard for interpreting the meaning of the clauses and for consistent rulings? And the very sad answer is, because the Court has been dishonest in setting out the history and purpose of the Amendment. The ways and devices the Court has used to change the meaning of the Amendment must be reviewed at this point, as the legal scheme has been established and becomes only more tiring with the cases to follow.
*[Note — The Meaning of the First Amendment, at http://www.LoveofChrist.info. The Court has admitted the decisions on the Religion Clauses are inconsistent. See — Walz v. Tax Comm’n, 1970; Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, 1973. Quotations from these cases are set out below, in the subsection, Was the First Amendment Poorly Written?, under Final Note on the Scheme of the Court.]
Ignoring the Theory of Denominationalism
First, to set a proper overall perspective, the foundational basis of the dishonesty should be noted, of the Court just completely ignoring the manner in which the language of the First Amendment before 1947, Everson v. Board of Education, was an expression of the Theory of Denominationalism, arising out of the English Civil War in the 1640s, and reflecting one position in a great social debate on religious liberty, from the time of Henry VIII until the Bill of Rights in America. Religious practice in the colonies and newly formed nation of America actually was no more than a reflection of political events and doctrinal views from this period of British history of more than 200 years, briefly set out below to highlight how denominationalism arose from the debate.
However, the background history put forth by the Court in Everson fabricated suddenly for the 20th century a new legal concept on the meaning of the First Amendment, imposed on a metaphor from the past of Separation of Church and State. However, this version of history should not be considered subtly fantasized or naively misinterpreted, but conveniently contrived, for these Justices are America's best learned, experienced, and skilled lawyers, who have extensive staff and resources. Their professionalism must have been affected by factors other than a basic misunderstanding of history. In other words, the Justices know what they are doing.
Contrary to the Court, as demonstrated below, the State of Virginia did not lead the way to solve the problem of persecution arising from government controlled religion as commonly was found in Europe, as represented by the special meaning given by the Court to a metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Nor was James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance anything particularly unique or significant in this period of more than 200 years of conflict and debate over theology and politics. However, after the Reformation came to England, the concept of spiritual unity and religious liberty which prevailed politically, eventually known as denominationalism, actually began with William Tyndale (whose sister very likely was a direct ancestor of James Madison), translating the Bible into English.
Tyndale's criminal act of creating a Bible for the people in English allowed everyone to interpret Scripture according to conscience, which happened in home assemblies, rather than at a government sanctioned Church and under the authority of an official prelate. Distributing an English Bible became unstoppable due to the invention of the printing press, and interpreting Scripture according to individual conscience began to abound with the profusion of so many printed pamphlets setting out a diversity of positions, despite what a government supported Church taught as official doctrine. In English society, debate broke out such as never before in history, as the number of printing presses spread, with the Church and State increasingly unable to control the content of what was being published.
In 1536, when State and Church officials lit the wood faggots to burn William Tyndale at the stake for his criminal translation, they believed the flames would destroy his soul. Instead, the fire spread throughout England, and then, to America to become the soul of the new nation, through the First Amendment expressing the main precept behind denominationalism, that in a free and fair debate, the truth will win, (for Jesus Christ is Lord), known as the Truth Triumphant. However, with the 20th century legal concept of Separation of Church and State, the Justices of the Court made an engine to extinguish what still was burning, setting out a mythology to persistently persuade the nation to ignore the original meaning of the First Amendment and to establish Secular Humanism as America's belief system.
The Truth Triumphant
The historical period necessary for review to establish the basis of the First Amendment is long and complex, requiring many years of study to master. Today, the average person knows almost nothing of the Amendment's true historical background. Public schools no longer provide information on foundational British history and barely cover relevant American colonial events. When Everson came out in 1947, the Court easily could conform their historical review to suit their own purpose, without concern over public reaction.
And conveniently for the Court, almost all Americans, even the average church attender, no longer know what the Theory of Denominationalism is. Most Christians think of denominationalism as divisive, rather than a theory based on a concept of spiritual unity, which ended religious wars and persecution, for which many believers gave up their lives to realize. According to denominationalism, all Christians agree on the core doctrine of Scripture and are united spiritually in regard to essential truth. Beliefs may differ between different church groups on outward religious expression and comprehensive theology, but separation is not schism. Christians can be divided in a complete understanding of spiritual matters, while still being united on essential truth, and all believers should have an inner religious experience in common.
When Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans (Presbyterians) assumed the power of government in England, they adhered to the theology of Augustine on the Christian State, which gave civil magistrates the right to enforce the dogma and practice of the Church by law, even to become party to the settlement of doctrinal disputes, and to persecute any dissent based on freedom of conscience. However, beginning with home church conventicles, utilizing William Tyndale's translation of the Bible, dissenting groups arose from the common people who argued the Augustinian position was not scriptural — Brownists, Quakers, Anabaptists, Mennonites, Baptists, Independents, Levellers, etc., who essentially can be referred to as Freewillers or Free Churchers. (By tradition, the views of these dissenters were basically the same as John Wycliffe and the Lollards of 14th century England, who laid the foundation for the Reformation, and who were severely persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church).
*[Augustinian theology on the union between the Church and State is based primarily on The City of God. Augustine held that the State only exists in the fullest sense when true justice is achieved, which can be accomplished exclusively by following the precepts of Christ, by being a Res Publica Christiana, a Christian Affair. The Church and State must be united to provide genuine happiness to the citizens, which is found by a correct faith in God. Thus, the State must impose decrees of doctrine and sponsor places of worship and ceremonies. And thus, for example, Augustine approved of the government of the Roman Empire becoming involved in the resolution of the Donatist controversy, over reinstating clergy lapsed in faith during persecution. However, by the time of the Middle Ages, the Augustinian position was expanded upon to include holding that enforcement of correct beliefs by the State was necessary to avoid total social upheaval and chaos.]
These dissenting church groups noted Bible verses supporting the view that Christ upheld freedom of choice, and that only by debate could differences of beliefs in conscience and distinctive theological views eventually be resolved in society. Every person had the right to participate in the conversation and to decide personal beliefs according to the dictates of conscience, even atheists and non-Christians, which was not to be feared by the State or any church, as Jesus Christ himself controlled the outcome when the overall debate was free and fair. However, besides the biblical support for encouraging freedom of debate in all matters, the denominational position came about at this time as a necessity due to printing presses becoming more common and proliferating so many new ways of thinking.
*[Examples of Bible verses cited by dissenting sects to support liberty of conscience include — Matthew 13:30,38: Parable of the Tares, let the children of God grow with the children of wickedness until final judgment. Luke 9:54,56: on asking Christ to send fire to consume those rejecting him, he responds that he came to save men’s lives, not to destroy them. II Corinthians 10:4: the weapons of God’s warfare are not carnal. Titus 1:9: by sound doctrine convince those who contradict the Word of God. Proverbs 27:17: as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Matthew 15:14: leave the leaders of the blind alone. Matthew 5:44: love enemies and pray for those who persecute. Matthew 10:16, Christ sends his followers as sheep among wolves. Micah 4:3,4: swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.]
According to denominationalism, the State has no right to establish a national church, to declare by statute and to enforce by law the religious beliefs of the consciences of people. However, the denominational position does not mean that by law the government must be denied religious expression in its administration, just as Christian art and quotations of Scripture are found within the federal Capitol building, or as the top of the Washington Monument has engraved the words, Praise be to God, and the walls of the stairwell are lined with Bible verses. President Roosevelt leading the nation in prayer by radio broadcast to support the D-Day invasion of World War II was perfectly consistent with the denominational concept of the First Amendment, and at the time, there was no official objection.
Religious Neutrality and the French Myth
When the Bill of Rights was created, all the states were Christian by their constitutions or charters. The purpose of the First Amendment was to protect the states from the federal government interfering in their religious practices and faith, or establishing a national church. The Amendment promoted ongoing debate on beliefs of conscience, to lead to the confirmation of truth. However, the Court now holds that an intention of the Due Process Clause of Section One of the 14th Amendment, of 1868, was to have the federal government protect the people from the states regarding religious policy. The protection is enforced by the judiciary, in maintaining religious neutrality in the nation through a focus on suppressing expressions regarding Christianity or God in any way associated with state or federal government, and on ensuring that public schools are taught only from the perspective of the belief system of Secular Humanism. This calculated neutrality is known by the metaphor of Separation of Church and State, first appearing in any government or court record in the history of the nation in 1947, Everson. However, the judicial position on Separation of Church and State is a historical and legal fiction, as demonstrated below.
*[Amendment XIV, Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.]
Advocates of the Supreme Court's position on Separation of Church and State commonly emphasize the Enlightenment through the French Revolution, of 1789-99, as the main influence on America's Constitution and Bill of Rights. Michael Farris provides an example of this mythology, in From Tyndale to Madison: How the Death of an English Martyr Led to the American Bill of Rights: [Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2007, p. 383], citing a website by the United States State Department, that notes The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, of the French Revolution, preceded the American Bill of Rights by a month in 1789.
The French Revolution was wrought under the slogan, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and aspired to create through human reason a supreme society never before achieved in history. However, the Revolution developed a cult of reason to replace Christianity. Church lands were confiscated, as crosses and signs of worship were destroyed. Churches were converted into Temples of Reason. The true character of the Revolution was demonstrated by a magnificent celebration to the Goddess of Reason at Notre Dame Cathedral on November 10, 1793, as the struggle for human rights was enhanced by killing many thousands of people by guillotine as enemies of the Revolution, in a Reign of Terror from September 1793 to July 1794.
During the Revolution, the French expected support from America in a war with Great Britain, as returned favor. However, America’s founding fathers knew exactly what was going on in France, as something very different from their Revolution, when the Continental Congress issued repeated proclamations for prayer, appointed chaplains for the armed forces, or gave instructions to the Committee of Commerce on importing Bibles into the states during the fighting. Rather than supporting the French Revolution, America signed a treaty with Great Britain, and then, fought an undeclared war on the high seas with France.
*[The Constitution was influenced by the Enlightenment primarily through John Locke, with his works Two Treatises on Government, as well as A Letter Concerning Toleration, which followed methods of reasoning developed and promoted by Francis Bacon. Note the subsection, The New Way, under British Background History.
—However, the ideas of Enlightenment scholars from Scotland also influenced America's founding fathers. Many Scots came to the colonies to pursue evangelical success, hoping to enhance the stature in general of their own religious sects. These scholars emphasized that a vibrant commerce was essential in a large republic as a foundation for freedom and virtue, and for the promotion of progress for all humankind. See — America's Founding Secret: What the Scottish Enlightenment Taught Our Founding Fathers, by Robert Galvin: New York, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2002.]
The actual foundation for the Bill of Rights in America was a statute passed by Parliament in Britain, in 1689, as part of the Glorious Revolution, known as the Bill of Rights, formally entitled An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown, a restatement of The Declaration of Rights, agreed to by William of Orange in the year he accepted the throne. The Revolution was glorious as a new king was enthroned and the governmental concept of kingship was changed without bloodshed. The Declaration of Rights invited Protestant William to take over the monarchy, and to preserve the ancient and indubitable rights of the people, in response to the treacherous efforts by King James II to impose Catholicism on the nation.
In America, the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress, passed on October 14, 1774, and known as The Colonial Bill of Rights, preserved the Bill of Rights of 1689, as legally binding on the colonies, and stipulated specific rights under contention by Great Britain. After the Declaration of Independence, all state constitutions were written with a bill of rights conforming to Britain’s Bill of Rights of 1689. As part of the ratification process for the federal constitution, many state politicians called for adding a bill of rights as a condition of acceptance. However, debate broke out on whether the condition was necessary, as all state constitutions already had bills of rights, which delayed the passage of a federal version.
Respecting the Supreme Court
There is nothing unique or unusual about the assertion herein that the Supreme Court has been dishonest in interpreting the First Amendment and with its use of the metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Perhaps, David Barton in Original Intent: the Courts, the Constitution, & Religion: [Aledo, WallBuilder Press, 1997], has been the most thorough in setting out a review of historical facts, which actually demonstrate the dishonesty of the Court. However, there have been others, such as Gary LaMar in America’s Christian History: the Untold Story: [Atlanta, American Vision Inc., 1995].
Also, in Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985, (to be reviewed in this series), Justice William Rehnquist in a long dissenting opinion finally questioned what has gone on with the Court in First Amendment decisions since the introduction of the metaphor of Separation of Church and State. Rehnquist only referred to the Court's review of relevant history as being in error, a mistaken understanding, highly simplified, or just bad; as required of him in showing professional courtesy toward the other Justices. However, he also referred to the decisions as a “mischievous diversion of judges from the actual intentions of the drafters of the Bill of Rights,” and as deviations leading to unprincipled rulings. He noted that historical errors are not made into truth by the device of repetition in ensuing cases. And Rehnquist set out a long and detailed review of the true historical basis of the First Amendment, (which actually is entirely consistent with the Theory of Denominationalism). Rehnquist emphasized that the drafters mainly intended that no national church should be established by the federal government; and he pointed out, that there is nothing from the historical record to indicate a requirement of neutrality on the part of the federal government between religion and irreligion. He decried the three prong Lemon Test, Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971, as not having any basis in history, and the mercurial (unpredictably changeable) nature of the Court's decisions.
*[The Lemon Test sets three standards to prevent laws from being passed in the nation, which aid religion and do not have a secular purpose.]
Court Devices to Be Reviewed
The struggle for religious liberty in Britain from the time of Henry VIII separating from the Roman Catholic Church, until the Revolution Settlement with William of Orange, just over 150 years, represents, perhaps, the most unique, influential, and complex period of all history, to follow the coming of Christ. However, the Supreme Court has freed Americans of having to undertake the many years of labor and fatigue necessary to study and master the true historical context for the meaning of the First Amendment, by noting that the religious events of the newly formed State of Virginia and the views of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are all that have to be considered, to have a complete and essential understanding of relevant background. However, narrowing the focus in this manner does more than simplify the circumstances, but permits inventions of interpretation outside of true context. To understand how the Court actually has schemed the relevant history behind the Amendment, there must be an overall and accurate knowledge of the British basis for American ideas on religious liberty.
To follow, essential British history on the background of the First Amendment is set out in a nutshell, and the religious history of the colonies and newly formed nation of America is examined as an extension of what occurred in the United Kingdom. Against this context, the Court's manufactured system of history is summarized, along with outlining how the Justices have mishandled and ignored precedent cases. And finally, the inconsistent and bazaar logic of the Court, the outright dishonesty, are demonstrated by piecing together the reasoning from various cases.
*[Of particular relevance, note the subsection, The Westminster Dissent: Brothers Searching for Truth, under British Background History, dealing with the Truth Triumphant. The historical review below basically relies on From Tyndale to Madison, by Michael Farris, cited above. However, many other sources are noted.]
British Background History
In western Europe during the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church and the State were intertwined. They were two aspects of the same society. The law was understood as being given by God, either through the Church or the State, and both worked enforcement together. However, how the process went on was not always clear. For example, England paid a tax to the Church of Rome, taken from the taxes paid to support the local churches; however, the king had a say on who could be appointed a bishop, and at times Papal review or approval of a candidate was just ignored. And for example, the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, reducing the monarchy's power of State in favor of the nobility in England; however, King John appealed to the Pope, who declared the document null and void, while excommunicating the other signatories. Yet, the Magna Carta remained in legal force by threat of military action.
Henry VIII
However, Church and State relations in England became more complex after the War of the Roses, more than 30 years of military conflict and social disorder, in a dispute of royal families over the rightful heir to the throne, which Henry VII finally won. After his son, Henry VIII, assumed the throne, he was desperate to have a definitive male heir for succession, to avoid further massive warfare at his death. However, Catherine of Aragon, his wife of 24 years, did not bear him a son, although he was capable of having one by a mistress. He needed a divorce, in order to establish a legitimate male heir, but the Roman Catholic Church would not cooperate, as Catherine's nephew was Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, whose military forces had their horses stabled in St. Peter's Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
*[The Roman Church routinely had granted divorces for centuries on the pretext of consanguinity, that the spouses had too close a familial relation, up to the level of seventh cousins, which actually was common with all nobility. Most notably, Louis VII divorced on the basis of consanguinity the headstrong Eleanor of Aquitaine, and then, King Henry II of England took her as his wife. Henry VIII had appealed for a divorce on a similar principle, that Catherine first had been his deceased brother's wife, forbidden by Leviticus 20:16, And if a man take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing....]
The Pope ordered Henry to answer Catherine's appeal to Rome on the proposed divorce and to stop seeing his new love interest, Anne Boleyn. Therefore, Henry broke away from the Roman Church, relying on the principle of Sola Scriptura as ultimate authority from the Reformation. In 1534, by the Act of Supremacy, he had Parliament declare himself as the Supreme Head and Sole Protector of the Church of England. Then, he obtained his divorce and Anne for his wife, who even had shared with him the writings of the outlaw Bible translator, William Tyndale, on the true allegiance of a king. However, Henry never became an advocate of Protestantism or religious freedom, and the issue arose on just what the Church and religious faith in England would become, now that the king himself would decide what was the will of God by consulting Scripture on his own.
As a Catholic, Henry had his chancellors, Thomas Wolsey and Thomas More, vigilantly torture and imprison heretics, employing the secret tribunals of the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission. Translating or owning a Bible in English or any book proclaiming the doctrines of the Reformation were crimes. After the Church of England's succession from Rome, all persons holding public or Church office were required to take the Oath of Supremacy, on pain of death, as refusing was considered treason. Thomas More preferred to lose his head, rather than take this oath, which also affirmed Sola Scriptura, as he had put Protestants to death for upholding the doctrine. Henry had William Tyndale burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. Then, a few years later, Henry's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, were able to publish an English Bible, based in large part on Tyndale's translation. The Bible was placed in churches, but when, how, and by whom it could be read was controlled by statute. Scripture was to be interpreted only by an elite class of clergy.
Edward VI
Henry's son, Edward VI, was raised a Protestant and assumed the throne as a minor. His Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, and Cranmer moved the Church of England towards the faith of the Reformation, promoting Reformed Scholarship, as well as Bible study and the teaching of sound doctrine in general. Clergy married: the laity had wine in communion: Catholic images were removed from churches: and vestments changed. The Church was Calvinist in regard to predestination, but episcopal in church government.
To uphold England as a Christian State, Edward's government worked on an Act of Uniformity, to specify by statute official religious doctrine and practice, which according to the theology of Augustine would be enforced by law, to be reflected by a Book of Common Prayer for the Anglican Church. Due to Edward's early death, this Act of Uniformity never became law, but the Book of Common Prayer, which set out the forms for worship services was put into use in 1549. Persecution of dissenters involved jail sentences, and freedom of the press was repressed moderately.
Bloody Mary
Edward died suddenly at age 15, in 1553. Then, Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary Tudor, returned the Church of England to Catholicism. Any whisper against Catholic beliefs could lead to imprisonment, torture, or death without warrant of law. Reading or teaching from the Bible was banned, as well as interpreting Scripture after one's own brain. Home assemblies in particular were considered a main threat to the State Church. Homes and businesses were searched and having a Bible meant being burned at the stake. The prisons became crowded, and uncounted Protestants were persecuted and killed. Puritans fled to Geneva, creating a new Bible translation with notes refuting the Catholic Church and the divine right of kings. The Geneva Book of Order was written as a new standard for worship services, which eliminated the influence of Catholic liturgy. After Mary's reign, many Britons were determined that there never would be another Catholic monarch, nor would the people ever again be denied owning a Bible, which was the very first right of an Englishman.
In 1558, Mary died suddenly and childless at age 42, leaving her sister, Elizabeth, to assume the throne.
*[The condition of Edward’s general health is a subject of controversy. There was no investigation over his death, but everyone in London said he was poisoned. See — The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant Taylor of London, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1663, ed. John Gough Nichols: London, Camden Society, 1848, p. 35. Mary often had health problems, and her death is not considered suspicious. See — M. C. Medvei, The Illness and Death of Mary Tudor. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 80 December 1987.]
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth Tudor reinstated Anglicism and the Book of Common Prayer, by passing The Act of Uniformity of 1559, (supplemented by reinstating The Act of Supremacy, and in 1563, the Thirty Nine Articles). Fines were set for not attending Church services or refusing to use, even disapproving of, the Prayer Book. Publications required Church approval, and clergy had to be licensed. Elizabeth persecuted groups practicing religion outside of the official Church, beginning with house churches, (note the Conventicle Act, of 1593, against unsanctioned worship assemblies). However, Elizabeth used religion primarily to support her monarchy politically, and her settlement on religious matters was known as the Middle Way between Catholic and Protestant beliefs, an effort to avoid the extremes of Edward VI and Bloody Mary. Yet, Elizabeth eventually became more anti-Catholic, with the Pope excommunicating her, with having to execute Catholics involved with raising rebellions against her rule or plotting her assassination, and with an attempted invasion by Spain in 1588, to establish a Catholic monarchy in England and an inquisition against Protestants.
James I
In 1603, Elizabeth died, and her distant cousin, the King of Scotland, James IV, also became the King of England, then known as James I. He was married to a Catholic, supported the Anglican Church, and opposed freedom of conscience. He knew the episcopal structure of the Anglican Church was essential to support the concept of monarchy. He was made King of Scotland, in 1567, at age one, when his mother, Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, was exiled, due to being implicated in the murder of her husband and James' father; but also as part of establishing Presbyterianism as the State religion, while abandoning political allegiance to France, in favor of being allied with England.
As James was raised to be the monarch of Presbyterian Scotland, his arrival as King of England seemed to the local Puritans an opportune time to appeal for the reform of the Anglican Church, and they presented before him the Millenary Petition, signed by about 1,000 ministers. They sought changes in Church doctrine and government according to the Word of God, even objecting to matters such as priestly clothing, music used in services, and how ministers were qualified. James called for a conference at Hampton Court, considering the chiefest of kingly duties to settle affairs of religion. However, he actually ridiculed the Puritans during the conference, and he held that no well grounded matter came forth to favor altering established law on religion or changing Church discipline and the Book of Common Prayer. However, he did agree with the proposal for a new Bible translation, as the then very popular Geneva Bible was a Puritan product, with commentary refuting Catholicism and the divine right of kings.
James told the Puritans he would make them conform or harry them out of the land. In 1604, he removed 300 Puritan clergy from the Church. However, in 1611, his execution of the Separatists Bartholomew Legate and Edward Whitman resulted in such a strong negative public reaction, that James decided he would thereafter only imprison dissidents. These men were the last executed in England for their beliefs, but other legal measures of persecution remained in force, as did the threat of the death penalty for religious dissent.
In 1604, Catholics attempted to blow up the Parliament building, during a visit by James, in order to assassinate the King and all members of the legislature, known as the Gunpowder Plot, or the Jesuit Treason. Laws were then passed to exclude Catholics from serving at Court or from holding public office. With so many acts of sedition carried out through the Jesuits since the time of Henry VIII, Catholicism had become a symbol of treason against the nation, and future debate for religious toleration routinely called for excluding Catholics.
*[The motive for the Gunpowder Plot may not have been just to reestablish a Catholic monarchy, but also to stop the creation of the King James Bible translation. Guy Fawkes Day is still an official holiday in the United Kingdom, celebrating the survival of James. Fawkes guarded the gunpowder beneath Parliament, waiting for the right time to light it.
—However, in modern times, social protests against tyranny include wearing Guy Fawkes masks, and St. Henry II Garnet Rosaries are sold, referring to a Jesuit Superior with prior knowledge of the Plot, convicted as a conspirator. Some entity in society operates to reverse how the public views the Gunpowder Plot. See – V for Vendetta, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006, wherein a heroic Guy Fawkes does manage to have Parliament blown up and the head of State brutally killed, as a vendetta against the tyranny of a futuristic British government. Masses of people also assume the identity of Guy Fawkes to assist the terrorist act, in order that the nation finally may find hope.
—Such propaganda is common in the present day. See — The Other Boelyn Girl, Columbia Pictures, 2008, wherein Anne Boelyn is portrayed as a kind of scheming whore, an evil witch who causes England to break away from the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Wolsey cannot even be found in the made up history from the movie, in a reversal of how her story is related in Anne of a Thousand Days, Universal Pictures, 1969.]
Charles I and The English Civil War
James' son, Charles I, became King in 1625. He had a Catholic wife, with a contract to be tolerant of Catholics. When Anglican prelate Richard Montague published A Gagg for the New Gospel? No: A New Gagg for an Old Goose, with arguments promoting Catholic theology, Parliament called for his imprisonment, but Charles made him royal chaplain. Charles appointed other Anglican-Catholics to important Church positions, including William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury. Montague and Laud vigorously moved the Church of England toward becoming more Catholic, persecuting others with Protestant doctrine through the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission, while censoring books and outlawing conventicle assemblies. Popish rituals appeared as a part of worship services, and at times the Roman Catholic Church was upheld as a true church.
As riots became common place, Parliament moved towards the Puritans, although many of them were escaping to America. Parliament enacted the Petition of Right, which addressed abuses by Charles, requiring legislative consent on taxation, prohibiting imprisonment without due process of law and the billeting of the military on private persons. Resolutions were passed that favored Protestant beliefs, that upheld the Anglican-Catholics were trying to subvert Protestant churches, and that designated those attempting to extend Popery as capital enemies of the kingdom. Thus, Charles did not reconvene Parliament for 11 years.
When Charles went to Edinburgh to be crowned King of Scotland in 1633, he was shocked to see how Presbyterian the Scottish Church was, as he had been moved to London at age two. In 1637, he attempted to impose a new prayer book on the Church, reflecting the views of William Laud. The Scots rebelled against this imposition, and Charles sent troops, in 1639, to have episcopacy set in place. However, his troops were defeated in battle within months, and a truce was signed. The next year Charles sent more troops, which again were overwhelmed. In 1640, he signed the Treaty of Ripon, and he had to pay indemnities or raise another army, which led to his recalling Parliament.
The Long Parliament
This reconvened legislative session infamously became known as the Long Parliament, passing an act that it could be dissolved only by agreement of its own members. Immediately, more than 1,500 men presented a petition with 15,000 signatures to the House of Commons, expressing frustration over the suppression of Calvinist doctrine in the Church, while pressure was exerted for conformity with Catholicism. 19 other counties outside of London joined the petition, and within months, Parliament imprisoned Archbishop Laud for high treason in administrative abuse, which led to his being beheaded in 1645. After his imprisonment, debate began in Parliament on what should take the place of episcopacy for the Church of England.
Calvinists in Parliament wanted an alliance with the Scottish Church or some compromise between Presbyterians and Anglicans, to find a middle ground between the abuses of bishops and the anarchy of sects. The secret royal tribunals of the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission were abolished, which meant that licensing to preach and to print were no longer controlled by the monarchy, while a proper manner to accomplish this censorship by Parliament was debated.
With Parliament having no effective method to enforce censorship, there was a de facto freedom of the press. Between 1640 and 1660, the number of publications increased more than threefold over the prior two decades, from nearly 10,000 works to about 35,000. Many pamphlets argued for religious liberty, based on the universal church's primarily spiritual nature, and a voluntary obedience to Christ out of a love for the truth, according to precepts from the New Testament, as opposed to the concept of forced obedience found in the Old Testament. The focus of debate was no longer on whether common people could have a vernacular translation, but whether everybody had the right to self-understanding of Scripture, and to select their own church ministers. The sectarian churches grew in number. However, until a new national church could be formed, Parliament tried to stop free assemblies and restricted licensing ministers, based on a knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, as well as orthodox doctrine.
Initially, Parliament was not sympathetic to raising any army, which Charles would use against the Presbyterian Scots. However, in 1641, Catholics in Ireland rebelled against English government administration, over a primary issue of land confiscation, which turned into a conflict with English and Scottish Protestant settlers. A Catholic Confederation became the de facto government of Ireland, which even negotiated with Charles on raising an army against Scotland, in exchange for religious toleration and land security. In 1642, Parliament passed a bill to raise its own army, which Charles denounced. Parliament declared that the royal office was distinct from the person of the King, and that due to his following evil counsel, they had to state the monarch's pleasure on certain matters. After a failed attempt to capture opposition members of Parliament, Charles fled London, recruited troops with the help of loans from noblemen, and sent to the continent for support.
Continued in the next post.....
Download as a PDF for enhanced viewing and navigation here.