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Manhattan Declaration:
A Call of Christian Conscience

Released November 20, 2009


Preamble

Christians are heirs of a 2,000 year tradition of proclaiming God's word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.

While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire's sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.

After the barbarian tribes overran Europe, Christian monasteries preserved not only the Bible but also the literature and art of Western culture. It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery: Papal edicts in the 16th and 17th centuries decried the practice of slavery and first excommunicated anyone involved in the slave trade? evangelical Christians in England, led by John Wesley and William Wilberforce, put an end to the slave trade in that country. Christians under Wilberforce's leadership also formed hundreds of societies for helping the poor, the imprisoned, and child laborers chained to machines.

In Europe, Christians challenged the divine claims of kings and successfully fought to establish the rule of law and balance of governmental powers, which made modern democracy possible. And in America, Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement. The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians claiming the Scriptures and asserting the glory of the image of God in every human being regardless of race, religion, age or class.

This same devotion to human dignity has led Christians in the last decade to work to end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking and sexual slavery, bring compassionate care to AIDS sufferers in Africa, and assist in a myriad of other human rights causes - from providing clean water in developing nations to providing homes for tens of thousands of children orphaned by war, disease and gender discrimination.

Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good. In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michelle Farmer or Amy Anderson
(770) 8130000
or (770) 7574900
mfarmer@demossgroup.com
DeMossNews.com/ManhattanDeclaration

This is only the Preamble of the Declaration. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL DECLARATION IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Evangelism and Growth of the Assemblies of God Churches in Tamilnadu, India - From 1989 - 2003 | Africans into World Missions? | Am I the Keeper of My Sister? | Manhattan Declaration - A Call of Christian Conscience | Lloyd C. Douglas' Ministry through His Novels | Light | An Evaluation of the Growth and Expansion of the Protestant Missionary Movement in the United States | The Way Forward in Missions -- New Wine in New Wineskins | Celebration of Love in the Book of Ruth | You Are Valued! | The Light of Christmas | Jesus Christ | Freedom in Jesus Christ - Our Lord's Ministry | HOME PAGE of December 2009 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


ISSN
1548-7164


Vol. 5 : 9
December 2009

Board of Editors

Dr. Tan Kok Beng

Olive Rajesh, Ph.D.

Stan Schmidt

Steven Wakeman

Sudhir Isaiah, Ph.D.

Sundar Singh, Ph.D.

Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Vasanthi Isaiah, M.A., B.Ed.

M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D., Managing Editor


© Copyright 2009 M.S.Thirumalai. All rights reserved.