Authentic Liberty
How is it liberating ? Think of the Ten Commandments , 8 which are foundational for civil laws . Typically thought of as a list of moral guidelines , they are also a list of inherent , God-given rights .
• Commandments 1 – 4 establish the right of individuals to worship God and the right to worship Him as He directs .
• The Fourth Commandment affirms a person ’ s right not only to worship God and enjoy periodic rest from regular work but also to work and , by implication , to keep or own the wealth generated from the labor performed . We ’ ll soon see that two more of the Ten Commandments explicitly uphold property rights .
• The Fifth Commandment places on sons and daughters the duty to honor and respect their parents ; in doing so , it affords parents the right to be honored by their children . By extension , the Fifth Commandment also calls for society to respect parental authority in the home . This does not give parents a right to abuse their children physically , emotionally , or otherwise , but rather establishes that parents — not the state or any other entity — have God-given authority to lovingly discipline , train , and guide their children into responsible adulthood .
• By forbidding murder , the Sixth Commandment upholds people ’ s right to life .
• By prohibiting adultery , the Seventh Commandment upholds the right of every married man and woman to have their marriage respected in society .
• By forbidding stealing , the Eighth Commandment upholds personal rights to property ownership and stewardship , including rights to control the assets owned .
• Like the Eighth , the Tenth Commandment also affirms property rights , directing them to be honored with attitudes as well as actions .
• The Ninth Commandment against lying affords people the right to a reputation based on the truth .
Absolute Freedom Leads to Bondage
Mark it down ! When people abandon morality in pursuit of freedom , they will lose authentic liberty because citizens no longer will be able to enjoy the inherent rights foundational to that liberty . Francis Schaeffer explains , “ In our own country we have enjoyed enormous human freedom . But at the same time this freedom has been founded upon forms of government , law , culture , and social morality which have given stability to individual and social life , and have kept our freedoms from leading to chaos . There is a balance here between form and freedom which we have come to take as natural in the world . But it is not natural . . . . [ This should be ] clear [ to us ] when we read the daily newspaper and see half the world locked in totalitarian oppression .” 9
Because unbridled freedom in society can never last , the choice is ours — tyranny or ordered liberty . Our choice ought to be a no-brainer , but as we have said , ordered liberty is not automatic . It requires the citizenry to respect objective standards of right and wrong . Let us do all we can to help our society understand the futility of relativism and the stabilizing yet liberating qualities of absolute truth . 10 ■
This article is based on several in a series of articles about the legitimacy of absolute truth , available at wordfoundations . com / contending-for-the-recognition-of-absolutes .
B . Nathaniel Sullivan is a writer whose work appears regularly at wordfoundations . com and discoverbedrocktruth . org .
ENDNOTES 1 . Charles Colson and Ellen Vaughn , Gideon ' s Torch ( Dallas : Word Publishing , 1995 ), 217 . 2 . Rabbi Daniel Lapin , America ’ s Real War : An Orthodox Rabbi Insists that Judeo-Christian Values Are Vital for Our Nation ’ s Survival , ( Sisters , OR : Multnomah Publishers , 1999 ), 51-52 . 3 . E . V . Hill , quoted in “ Contending for the Recognition of Absolutes , Part 3 ,” https :// wordfoundations . com / 2017 / 01 / 20 / contending-for-the-recognition-of-absolutes-part-3 . 4 . B . Nathaniel Sullivan and Jon Harris , “ Discover and Apply the Founders ’ Perspective on Rights ,” Discover Bedrock Truth , 2021 , https :// discoverbedrocktruth . org / discover-andapply-the-founders-perspective-on-rights . 5 . John Adams , AZQuotes . com , accessed September 8 , 2023 , https :// azquotes . com / quote / 375271 . 6 . Noah Webster , “ Education ,” Webster ’ s Dictionary 1828 , quoted in https :// design-your-homeschool . com / Definition-of-Education . html . 7 . Psalm 100:3 states , “ Know that the Lord is God . It is he who made us , and we are his ; we are his people , the sheep of his pasture .” This verse also can be accurately translated this way ( emphasis added ): “ Know that the Lord is God . It is he who made us , and not we ourselves ; we are his people , the sheep of his pasture .” 8 . See wordfoundations . com / 10niv . 9 . Francis Schaeffer , quoted in “ Liberty Is Fragile ,” Word Foundations , https :// word foundations . com / liberty-is-fragile . 10 . See John 8:32 .
© 2023 by B . Nathaniel Sullivan . All rights reserved .
12 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW