I read the Manhattan Declaration today for the first time. I hadn’t read anything about it to this point, positive or negative, so I didn’t have a strong opinion or inclination about it either way. However, before I read it I did notice that some men whom I highly respect (like Ligon Duncan and Al Mohler) signed it, so I suppose that made me cautiously optimistic about the document’s value.
On the one hand, I thought it was excellent. While I generally have little time for political activism (either fundamentalist or evangelical), I like the idea of Christians making a clear and bold statement to the powers that be about issues that are important to us. It was very well written, and I would encourage you to read it.
But on the other hand I found the document troubling for its implicit affirmation of the Christian status of non-evangelicals such as Catholics and Orthodox. The first line of the declaration, after the preamble, begins like this: “We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians…”. Whether or not the document’s signers intended their signatures to be a statement of evangelical/non-evangelical rapprochement (I’m confident that for some of them it wasn’t), it seems to me to be to imply just that. This is especially true in light of ecuminist Dr. Timothy George’s role in drafting the document.
So why wouldn’t I sign it? Because I would never want my name affixed to a document that begins with the words “We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians…” (emphasis mine). I don’t deny that there are many truly born again Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the world (in spite of, not because of their church affiliation), but I do categorically deny that the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches are, in any true, biblical sense of the word, “Christian.”
Like everything else, this is, at the end of the day, about Jesus. The Bible is very clear about what it means to be a true follower of Jesus, and it has a to do with a lot more than championing causes Jesus might be in favor of. I can’t help but feel that the Manhattan Declaration blurs the line between true followers of Jesus and those who name his name but aren’t really his (Matt 7:21). I don’t think that you ultimately advance the cause of Jesus by promoting one thing he’s passionate about (justice and moral values) while undermining what he’s most passionate about (the gospel). I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t have signed it.
I agree with you!