yrants have crushed the lives and liberties of peo-ple throughout recorded history. But there is one

powerful, peaceful weapon that has defeated tyrannyover the centuries. Deployed by the people of Englandon June 15, 1215, it turned the tide toward liberty.That day one of Europe’s worst tyrants surrendered tothe people without afight. The principlesof this document“have proved themost powerful ob-stacle to tyranny theworld has everseen.”1 This eventwas a turning pointfor freedom in theworld.

Under King Alfredthe Great, the Eng-lish were blessedwith a rare heritageof liberty. Alfredhad imbeddedhuman rights in English Common Law, which wasreasoned from Scripture. England prospered as a re-sult. Sadly, a succession of power-hungry kings re-verted to tyranny and ignored the laws that limitedtheir power. By the 13th century the people of Eng-land were in a desperate struggle against their rulers.

The wicked King John (of Robin Hood fame) as-cended to the throne in 1199 A.D. When hisbrother, King Richard, died in battle, John seized histhrone, money and jewels, pretending that Richardhad made a will in his favor. John imprisonedArthur, his nephew, who was by law in line for thethrone. Then John ordered his torturers to burn outthe young boy’s eyes. He died in prison.

King John was a tyrant, a dictator. He refused to belimited by the blood-bought laws of England. Hislaws were a “monstrous machine for the extortion ofrich and poor.”2 John levied unbearable taxes uponthe incomes, property and land of the people. Asking he demanded a death tax of one hundred per-

cent on the prop-erty of all landowners upon theirpassing. Heirs of adeceased ownerwere then forced tobecome indenturedrenters on theking’s land. Anyonewho refused John’sdemands was killedor thrown in prisonto die.

In 1206, Johnbegan an all-out as-sault on the churchin England. He

confiscated church property and tithes, which addedto the suffering of the poor because the church wastheir only support. He removed the right of the peo-ple to elect their own religious leaders. John at-tempted to silence the central opposition to histyranny: devout believers who stood for their rightsunder God.

It had been the barons’ duty to defend the people,but for fourteen years they had cowered before Johnfor fear of death or exile. Increasingly, the royal offi-cers who served as the king’s enforcers multipliedthe king’s corruption. They stole what was left of thepeoples’ property over and above the king’s taxesand levies—such as food, timber, horses and carts.3

The Great Freedom Charter

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The Tower of London was the place of torture and death for King John’s enemies

THE GREAT FREEDOM CHARTER

Within months the barons raised an army called the“Army of God.” They asked Langton to draft a free-dom document that would bind the king to the rule oflaw under God. By the spring of 1215 the people’sarmy closed in on King John. The people of Londonopened their gates and welcomed the army without afight. It became apparent that the king had lost any re-maining support of the people. On June 15th, 1215,the Army of God descended on the field of Runnymedejust outside of Windsor Castle.

John reluctantly rode out of the castle onto the fieldwith his entourage. The Army of God was arrayed forbattle with their swords, lances and shields. Langtonand the barons set a single parchment before the king, adocument stating the people’s inalienable rights in sixty-three articles. These provisions, like arrows in the quiverof an archer, struck down specific practices of the kingthat had cruelly enslaved nearly everyone. The Charterlimited the king’s power by creating a people’s house,which became the English Parliament. The Great Char-ter became known as Magna Carta (Latin for greatcharter.)

Terrified by the strength of the Army of God, Johnsigned the document. The king rode quickly back intoWindsor Castle. Behind closed doors he raged like amadman, walked the hall, smited his fists, rolled hiseyes, gnashed his teeth, bit sticks, chewed straws, cursedthe barons, and swore that he would have his revenge.4

King John soon reneged on his commitment to MagnaCarta. The barons were forced into another war withtheir outlaw king. John, now paranoid, ravaged throughthe countryside carrying his royal treasure in carts for

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In order to feed John’s army, they forced the people tobring their livestock into the camps of his men. Thecommoners were left with no way to survive. The poorbegan to starve in great numbers.

STEPHEN LANGTON:THE COUNTERFORCE

In opposition to England’s downward spiral a powerfulcounterforce arose. This resistance was led by StephenLangton. Born in northern England c. 1150, Langton at-tended the renowned University of Paris, after which hewas an eminent theologian and professor for thirty years.His preaching and commentaries on the books of theBible brought him fame and popularity, but Langtonnever forgot the plight of his native England, now lan-guishing beneath the terror of King John. In 1207, whilehe was still in France, Langton was elected Archbishop ofCanterbury, thus becoming spiritual leader of the Churchin England.

Langton’s stand for the freedom of the church infuriatedKing John. For six years John barred the new Archbishopfrom re-entering England to begin his ministry. Langton’sown father was forced to flee England for fear of the king’swrath. A great power struggle ensued. Pope Innocent IIIexcommunicated King John, declaring him bound for hell.John was forced to relent and to permit Langton to returnto England as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Wanting to avoid a civil war, Archbishop Stephen calledtogether the leaders of the church and the barons of theland. He taught them the Charter of Liberties written byHenry I in 1100, the charter stating that the king’s firstpriority was to “make the holy church of God free…”Stephen Langton knew from history that only a freechurch could produce lasting liberty. He taught theseleaders of church and state the biblical foundation of afree society. Armed with these truths, the leaders were in-spired to hold their rulers accountable and to protect thepeople’s rights.

Stephen Langton King John

The ruins of the 13th century castle of King John at Odiham, Hampshire.It was from this building that King John rode to Runnymeade to sign theMagna Carta.

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fear they would be stolen. Believingthe French king was crossing thechannel to take his throne, Johnrushed down the beach on the Eng-lish Channel. He and his heavy cartsfilled with treasure were caught in arising tide. He lost most of his treas-ure and was forced to flee. Broken byfever and rage, he died a few dayslater.

In contrast to the short rebellious lifeof John, Archbishop Langton workedtirelessly over the next decade to com-plete a final copy of Magna Carta,circa 1225. He labored to inspire thepeople of England to hold their fu-ture leaders accountable to the bibli-cal restraints on power proclaimed onthe parchment. The struggle againsttyranny would go on for centuries,but the truth had been unleashed and would inspirefuture freedom documents around the world. Ahigher law, above the king’s law, had been decreed andthe tyrant had been exposed.

AN APPEAL TO A HIGHER LAW

The power of Magna Carta to restrain tyranny is rootedin its appeal to a higher law, based upon God’s preceptsrevealed in the Bible. Following are a few of the God-given rights and checks on the power of tyrants in-cluded in the Great Charter. These practical principleshave application to the great challenges of our age.

The inalienable right of the church to be free fromcontrol or intimidation by the government. Thefirst and last Articles declare the central theme of thedocument: “The English Church shall be free and shallhave its rights … and liberties unimpaired.” Thechurch was to be free to hold the civil leaders account-able to their God-ordained role as civil servants. (Exo-dus 18:20-27; II Sam. 23:3 [KJV]; Ps. 103:19; Is.33:22; I Cor. 3:11)

The inalienable right of each individual for a justtrial by the lawful judgment of his peers. The ac-cused may not be imprisoned without proper chargesand witnesses. (Ex. 23:6-8; Lev. 19:15-16; Deut. 1:17,16:18-20, 19:15-20.)

The inalienable right of each person to own privateproperty and the right to pass it on to one’s heirs.Articles 26-27, 28, 55, 56-57, 43, 47 all redirect Eng-

lish law back to the biblical model ofprivate ownership and family controlof property. (Gen. 10:5, 20, 31; Exo-dus 20:15, 21:33-36, 22:10-15; Lev.19:13, 25; Deut. 5:19)

The inalienable right of the peopleto resist a government magistrate,even a king, who considers himself(or herself) above the law. (Ex. 1:17;Deut. 17:18-20; Acts 4:29)

Rulers that followed after King Johnresisted the limitations on their powerset by the biblically-based humanrights of Magna Carta. Nevertheless,the English forced their kings to con-firm Magna Carta 38 times because oftheir reverence for the Great Charter.By the 17th century, the English be-came a “People of the Book,” apply-

ing the Bible to every area of life. As these believerswere voted into Parliament they appealed to MagnaCarta to reign in the power of their out-of-controlTudor and Stuart monarchs. The people ultimatelyhad to win a civil war to gain their liberty. They con-victed Charles I of treason and murder and had himexecuted. Finally, after forty more years of struggle,the English exiled the last unaccountable Stuart king,Charles II. A constitutional monarchy was created inthe Bloodless Revolution of 1688. The Parliamentthen wrote the English Bill of Rights which followedclosely the principles of Magna Carta.5

The principles of Magna Carta have delivered untoldmillions of people from tyranny worldwide. The GreatCharter inspired the Scots to write their own Declara-tion of Independence for their own nation in 1320—adocument called the Declaration of Arbroath. Englishand Scottish freedom documents over the next fivecenturies inspired America’s Declaration of Independ-ence. The Dutch were inspired to begin their own na-tion and write their own Declaration of Independencepartially as a result of the Great Charter. They facedgenocide at the hands of the depraved King of Spain,Phillip II, but bravely founded the free Christian Re-public of Holland in 1584. Their decentralized repub-lic was an inspiration to the Pilgrims who were exiledfrom England and settled in Leyden, Holland foreleven years before they immigrated to America. Manyother nations have been inspired by the Great Charterand continue to be so today.

King John reluctantly signs the MagnaCarta at Runnymeade in 1215. From a19th century painting by an English artist.

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World History InstituteP.O. Box 4673Thousand Oaks, CA 91359(805) 523-0072www.WorldHistoryInstitute.com

THE GREAT CHARTERCOMES TO AMERICA

The Great Charter and English Common Law were thefoundation for the government of the Americancolonies. The Jamestown Charter of 1606 guaranteedthat all of the colonists were to “have and enjoy all lib-erties … as if they had been abiding and born in Eng-land.” For the next 150years the colonists werefree to develop their localrepublics. “By the closeof the colonial period,the [biblical] principlesof Magna Carta … hadbecome firmly imbeddedin their systems of lawand government.”6

America’s founding gen-eration had becomewell-grounded, commit-ted defenders of theirGod-given freedoms.They were able to recog-nize the signs of tyrannywhen King George III attempted to reign in their lib-erties, control their religion and impose taxes withouttheir consent. They knew their choice was either libertyor tyranny. Patrick Henry, in his speech before the Vir-ginia Assembly in 1775, summarized their costly stand.“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased atthe price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, AlmightyGod! I know not what course others may take, but asfor me, give me liberty or give me death.”7

Our Founders wrote a Declaration of Independencethat centered on the inalienable rights of the people.“All men are created equal and endowed by their Cre-ator with certain inalienable rights among which arelife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Declara-tion enfolds many of the rights of Magna Carta. Theprinciples of the Great Charter and the English Bill ofRights were also included in the Constitution of 1787and the Bill of Rights of 1789. These sacred documentshave safeguarded America’s liberties for centuries.

These blood-bought documents of freedom havestruck fear in the hearts of tyrants worldwide. Theyarise from a bomb-proof vault each morning in theNational Archives in Washington D.C. They includethe Great Charter (Magna Carta,) the Declaration ofIndependence and the U.S. Constitution. For cen-turies they have protected our freedom under God.

Professor Augusto Zim-merman, analyzing ourgeneration’s dilemma inthe fight for freedomsays, “A visible fact inthese days of moral rela-tivism is the gradualabandonment of theChristian faith and cul-ture in the Westernworld. As a result, themoral foundations forthe rule of law havebeen seriously under-mined.” He then con-cludes that “no effectivelegal protection against

tyranny can...be sustained without ... Christianity.”His observations parallel Samuel Adams declarationthat “It is in the abandoning of God that tyranny hasits root.”

— Marshall Foster

——————————————————————1 Howard, A. E. Dick, Magna Carta (University of Virginia Press, 1998) p. vi.2 Magna Carta Committee, 2018, What is the Magna Carta? Rule of LawInstitute, p.2.3 Howard, Op. Cit. p. 64 Coffin, Charles, The Story of Liberty (Maranatha Publications, 1987) p. 22.5 Crippen, Alan, 2006, British Christianity and the American Order, JohnJay Institute, p. 76 Hazeltine, H. D., 1917, The Influence of Magna Carta on American Con-stitutional Development, Liberty Fund, p. 77 Vaughan, David, The Pillars of Leadership (Cumberland House Publish-ing, 2000) p. 11.8 Hazeltine, Op. Cit. p. 8-10

America’s Founders claimed the constitution of England, Magna Carta, as acentral foundation for the U.S. Constitution.