Sermon Tone Analysis

INIGO MONTOYA

LIBERTY DOES NOT MEAN LICENSE.

When Paul wrote this letter he wrote it to the Greeks who at times aspired to providing freedom or liberty through government.

Paul clarified that the Greek ideals would never achieve the desired end without God.

The Greeks tried to rely upon human intellect and moral sense to achieve liberty.

the Theological Dictionary of the NT describes what the Greek understanding of Liberty would be:

This freedom is freedom within the law, which establishes and secures it.

As an embodiment of the claim of the politeía, law protects freedom against the caprice of the tyrant or the mass.

But freedom means alternation of government as free people both rule and are subjects.

Democracy achieves this best by allowing the same rights to all citizens (cf.

Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus).

It implies equality of voice, honor, dignity, and power.

It comes vividly to expression in freedom of speech.

As Demosthenes says, there is no greater misfortune for free citizens than to lose this.

Yet the concept of freedom in Attic democracy contains the seeds of its own decay, for by promoting individual development it undermines the law on which it rests.

Freedom becomes the freedom to do as one likes.

The law of the self replaces the law of the politeía.

Plato perceives this clearly (Laws 3.701b/c).

It leads to the rise of demagogues and opens the door to tyranny.

3. Freedom also has to be secured against external foes.

It means independence and hence the defense of the politeía against “barbarians.”

eleuthería can thus be a general expression for the autonomy of the state.

At a later stage it becomes a slogan for the common “freedom” of the states which the individual states all claim to champion even in their inner struggles.

In this regard it is hardly distinguishable from autonomía.

Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 224.

A. THE FOUNDERS UNDERSTOOD THAT FREEDOM HAD TO BE PROTECTED AND CULTIVATED.

THEY SHARED THE VIEW THAT POWER CORRUPTS BECAUSE OF PRIDE AND SIN.

FREEDOM NEEDED TO BE PROTECTED FROM TYRANTS AND THE MASSES.

THEY ALSO UNDERSTOOD THAT PEOPLE NEED STRUCTURE SO THEY PROMOTED THE CIVIL INSTITUTES FOR CITIZENS.

2. THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT FREEDOM COMES FROM THE LORD AND WITHIN THE LAWS OF GOD AND HIS NATURE.

A. LEFT TO ITSELF, HUMAN NATURE WILL NOT BE TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE OF MORALITY AND PURPOSE.

Don’t use freedom wrongly

98% of people protestant

Learned to read through the King James Bible

Informed their view of humanity and government.

Virtue is a must

B. THE LAWS ARE MADE TO RESTRAIN OUR LOWER NATURE, BUT THE SPIRIT TO GUIDE US TO THE BEST PART OF OUR NATURE, GOD’S IMAGE AND OUR PURPOSE.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT FREES FROM FEAR OF FAILURE AND ASSISTS YOU IN FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE.

JESUS WILL NOT KICK YOU OUT BECAUSE YOU HAD A BAD DAY.

BUT YOU WERE DESIGNED

In discussing government, it is clear that Peter sees it as an instrument to restrain and contain the worse parts of our nature.

He warns against those who abuse and use the system to their advantage or to abuse others.

4. WHEN YOU REMAIN IN THE ARMS OF JESUS YOU TRULY ARE FREE TO EXPERIENCE TRUE HAPPINESS.

So many think they can manufacture happiness outside of their design.

But they often are the most unhappy.

So republicanism would have meant to Americans at this time, it will always meant at least two things.

First, government by consent of the governed.

And secondly, that power is exercised through representatives of the people.

And they believe that in order for self government to work, the people themselves must be virtuous.

They looked to the Bible for insight on rights, responsibility

Paul

Dr. Daniel Dreisbach is professor in the department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University in Washington, DC.

He holds a JD from the University of Virginia and a D.Phil from Oxford in political philosophy.

He is the author of several books on the history of religious freedom, particularly, Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State.

Dr. Daniel Dreisbach is professor in the department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University in Washington, DC.

He holds a JD from the University of Virginia and a D.Phil from Oxford in political philosophy.

He is the author of several books on the history of religious freedom, particularly, Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State.

Daniel Dreisbach: Well, I would start by a brief description of the demographics, religious demographics, of that era.

The religious historians and sociologists tell us that at the time of independence, approximately 98% of all Americans of European descent would have identified with one form or another of Protestantism.

And in particular, about three fourths of Americans would have been affiliated with the reformed theological tradition.

And so I think in one sense, the founders, those who were intimately involved in the political affairs that led to independence and creating new governments, reflected those demographics.

So you're going to find a wide range of beliefs among the American founders ranging from those who are Orthodox to those who are skeptical.

You know, some of the more famous founders give some evidence of questioning some of the transcendent claims of Christianity, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin.

Certainly someone like Thomas Paine, the famous author of Common Sense, was not an Orthodox in his religious beliefs.

But on the other hand, there were founders who were profoundly religious who are very Orthodox in their religious beliefs, important founders like Roger Sherman or John Witherspoon.

Two very important influential signers of the declaration involved in many of the projects of the founding era.

So again, it's a range of beliefs.

Daniel Dreisbach: Well, I would start by a brief description of the demographics, religious demographics, of that era.

The religious historians and sociologists tell us that at the time of independence, approximately 98% of all Americans of European descent would have identified with one form or another of Protestantism.

And in particular, about three fourths of Americans would have been affiliated with the reformed theological tradition.

And so I think in one sense, the founders, those who were intimately involved in the political affairs that led to independence and creating new governments, reflected those demographics.

So you're going to find a wide range of beliefs among the American founders ranging from those who are Orthodox to those who are skeptical.

You know, some of the more famous founders give some evidence of questioning some of the transcendent claims of Christianity, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin.

Certainly someone like Thomas Paine, the famous author of Common Sense, was not an Orthodox in his religious beliefs.

But on the other hand, there were founders who were profoundly religious who are very Orthodox in their religious beliefs, important founders like Roger Sherman or John Witherspoon.

Two very important influential signers of the declaration involved in many of the projects of the founding era.

So again, it's a range of beliefs.

Scott Rae: Okay.

So would it be fair to say that the vast majority of the founding fathers were very familiar with the Bible?

Daniel Dreisbach: So separate from the question as to what were their own faith commitments, you're absolutely right.

This was a biblically literate society.

Many of the founders would have learned to read with a copy of the Bible open in front of them, so they were intimately familiar with-

Scott Rae: So the King James Bible was actually the thing that they used to learn to read by?

Daniel Dreisbach: That's right.

The King James Bible would have been the Bible almost exclusively.

There were a few other translations floating around, but the vast majority of Americans would have been reading the King James Bible and this is the Bible that many, maybe most of them, would have learned to read from.

Daniel Dreisbach: Well, I would say that most of the American founders, and this is founders from across the broad range of personal faith commitments, they would have looked to the Bible for insights on things like what is human nature like?

What is the nature of social order, political authority?

What are the rights and duties of citizenship?

They would look to the Bible for answers and insights on these important topics that are essential to creating an a new political society.

I would say perhaps most importantly, they wanted to understand human nature.

This is at the very heart of their project of building a new political order.

And so they saw in scripture, understanding Genesis, chapter 3, that man was a fallen creature and we had to create a government designed to contend with fallen political leaders.

So were power was given, there was power given to someone else to check that power.

So we would avoid hopefully the abuse of power, concentration of power in sinful creatures.

So it's very much informing their political projects.

Let me give you another example that I think is really important that we oftentimes overlook.

A very difficult question that the Americans confronted is, do people have a right to resist a tyrant?

They, of course, were increasingly viewing George the Third in parliament, as tyrannical in their rule.

But this is a difficult question for Christians because they read in Romans 13, that be in submission to those in authority over you.