CofE Articles and USA 2nd Amendment

by | Feb 24, 2018 | 1 comment

Call for a change of heart by American citizens?  

 

 

The Church of England Article 37 (of the 39 Articles of Religion, 1562) ends with the sentence;

            “It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars.”

The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America (1791) is

            “A well regulated Militia, being necessary for the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The governing principle of both is respectively for the Magistrate or a well regulated Militia to oversee the use of arms.

In the sixteenth century England this was opposed by Anabaptists who refused to bear arms, and many were imprisoned.  Anabaptists resettled in America.

The irony is that in the respective British and American interpretation of very similar articles, there has been a chasm of difference.

If Britain, which has its own failures in history, can have a Police service, normally without guns, and very strict regulation of gun ownership,

WHY CANNOT THE USA  HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART?

 

Donald Reece – In 1956 during the Suez crisis, I was aware that my developing faith in Christ crucified showed an alternative way. I discovered the Fellowship of Reconciliation basis for the enthronement of love in personal, commercial and national life. I became a conscientious objector to National Service which was supported by Gerald Ellison, the Bishop of Chester who had recently blessed a nuclear submarine. I was ordained in 1960, married Julia in 1963 and we have three sons and four grandsons. We served in Warrington, Matlock, Sheffield, Zimbabwe, Leicester and London, mostly in urban priority and multicultural parishes. We now live in retirement in Oxford, and I am also involved in the Oxpeace Network

1 Comment

  1. Scott Smith
    Scott Smith on 27th February 2018 at 9:47 pm

    Seventeen hundred years of contamination of the church by the state is hard to undo. Killing your enemies is more appealing than loving them. “Lord, help us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who persecute us, that we may be sons of our Father in heaven.”–An American Anabaptist now living in Britain

    Reply

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