On Nov. 20th 2009, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Chuck Colson, surrounded by Catholic, Orthodox and evangelical leaders, unveiled a nine-page, 4,732-word document entitled "The Manhattan Declaration - A Call of Christian Conscience". Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship described the document as a "clear message to civil authorities" on issues pertaining to life, marriage, and religious liberty.
The names of well-known evangelical leaders, such as J.I. Packer, Tim Keller, Wayne Grudem, Albert Mohler and Ligion Duncan, etc. appeared among the 148 original signatories. Additionally, popular evangelical blogs, like Justin Taylor's - Between Two Worlds (now hosted by The Gospel Coalition) have strongly promoted the document and encouraged evangelicals to add their signatures to this declaration.
A few evangelical leaders, such as Albert Mohler, have publicly expressed their reasons for signing. One, Dr. Neil Nielson, president of Covenant College even wrote about "Why I Almost Didn't Sign the Manhattan Declaration".
However, other evangelical leaders such as Alistair Begg, Michael Horton, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul have found it necessary to address the issue and post, via the web, the reasons why they have not signed the document.
On the program today, I will speak with Dr. Ligon Duncan about the Manhattan Declaration and the issues it has raised in the evangelical community. |
