In the 1st century, the British Isles was turning over to a new cultural-era of change. Christianity was introduced to Britain, and it is rumored that the catalyst to the Christian hold on the large island was attributed to Joseph of Arimathea. Churches were built in villages and towns at random, as the church itself was decentralized. The Catholic and Orthodox Christian sects of religion, which were developed in the Roman and Byzantine Empires, are two examples of centralized religious hierarchy. By A.D. 150, the Pastors of the Celtic Churches preached the common language from interlinear bible translations called “glosses.” The most famous and well known of all the pastors was Patrick. He left England and went on to spread the Gospel to all of Ireland.

Patrick was made to be King Loeghaire’s “Annchara,” or personal counselor, after he was converted. It was here that Biblical law was now introduced into the civil realm. Patrick was the author of Liber Ex Lege Moisi (Book of the Law of Moses), which he penned in 432 which was applied by local chieftains throughout Ireland. The emerald isle was not yet a united political entity at that point, only a Biblical/religious unity that brought the people and government together. It emphasized the rule of law and local self-government. This of course being two fundamental principles of the basic Christian government.[1]

Two Anglo-Saxon brothers arrived in Britain around 428 A.D. by the names of Hengist and Horsa. The barbarian brothers had been called upon to help the king of Kent fight off his rivals. In fact, the king of Kent also invited them to bring their relatives as well. After Kent was saved from capture, the barbarians would end up staying and living in Britain. After some time had elapsed, families grew on the large island, eventually taking it over and naming it Anglo-land, or Engel-land (today’s England).

At the very start of emigration into Britain, the Anglo-Saxons turned on the native Celts. They killed countless of them. During on event, they killed 1200 Celtic Pastors in the middle of prayer. In a stroke of Divine Providence however, while the Saxons conquered the Celts militarily, the Celts would conquer the Saxons spiritually. Over time, gradually the Saxons were converted to Celtic Christianity. Catholicism did not actually arrive in Britain until 597 A.D.. Celtic influences emphasized the Bible (or Scriptural authority) over Papal authority. This was even after the introduction of Catholicism. A loyal follower of Patrick, named Columba, left his Ireland during this time, and would come to evangelize the king of the Picts (today’s Scotland). Columba also translated Liber Ex Lege Moisi in the Scottish language.[2]

Struggle in Wessex

King Alfred was the first actual leader revered enough to bring together all of England into one nation. Alfred was known from that time on as Alfred the Great, who ruled from A.D. 871 to 899. Interesting enough though, just before Alfred was crowned king, most of England had been taken over viciously by the Vikings from Denmark through a long series of ferocious battles. Wessex, which is located in the southwest portion of England, was the only area that remained open for Alfred to rule. It was almost immediately, and for years to follow, Alfred would be continually thrown into the thick of battle with the Danes.[3]

Historian David Chilton wrote of this struggle:

            “In 876 the Danish chieftain Guthrum attacked Wessex in earnest with a powerful host, aiming to break Alfred’s hold on the country once and for all. The Vikings succeeded: in the winter of early 878 Guthrum pushed Alfred into the marshes, where the king and a small group of loyal followers were forced to hide out on the Isle of Athelney. Historians have called this time of testing Alfred’s “Valley Forge,” where he had to bide his time while virtually all England was overrun with pagan enemies of the faith who sacked churches and monasteries, wiping out the tattered remains of a Christian past. The legends say, however, that the bold and daring Alfred entered the Viking camp disguised as a minstrel and actually performed for Guthum and his chiefs—getting a chance to listen to their plans and plotting his own strategy.

When spring came, Alfred rallied the English army for a final push against the invader’s vastly superior forces. This time Alfred was victorious. As the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle puts it, “he fought against the entire host, and put it to flight.” The Vikings agreed never to attack Wessex again, and they submitted to the terms of peace.  Alfred did not banish Guthrum and his men. He didn’t have them executed, either. His solution to the problem of the Vikings seems incredible to us, but it worked. The peace treaty he imposed on them included this provision: that Guthrum and “thirty of the most honorable men in the host” become Christians!

Guthrum accepted the conditions, and he was baptized into the Christian faith, Alfred standing as his godfather. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Alfred embraced his newborn brother in Christ and threw a twelve-day feast for him and his men. And then, as if this weren’t enough already, Alfred made the strangest political move of all. He said to Guthrum, in effect: “My brother, this land is much too big for me to rule all by myself; and the important thing isn’t who’s in charge. The real issue is a Christian England. So don’t go back to Denmark. Stay here and rule this land with me, under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”[4]

Alfred’s Code

King Alfred moved to institute Christian reforms, and with the newfound peace, many areas in Britain included the creation of government that served the people’s needs. He, himself, was taught how to read the Asser (the Celtic Christian scholar), and also studied Patrick’s Liber. His knowledge allowed him to establish the Ten Commandments as the basis of civil law and adopted many other patterns of government from the Hebrew Republic. As far as English politics were concerned; the nation organized themselves into units of tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands and has an elected assembly called a “Witen.” The representatives of these units had official titles: a tighingman (over 10 families), a vilman (over 50 families), a hundredman (over 100 families), and an earl.

The land that the earl would rule over was called a “shire,” and his direct assistant was called the “shire-reef,” which is where our word Sheriff today comes from. There was also an unelected group made up of nobleman within the Witen; however at this time—the king was an elected position—not a hereditary one. Thus their laws of the land were created by their consent. King Alfred’s civil laws became the root of all English and American; common law, trial by jury, and habeas corpus. It was Alfred’s legal code which was derived from Mosaic law and Jesus’ golden rule.

Thomas Jefferson said about the Anglo-Saxon laws: “…the sources of the Common Law…[and] the wisest and most perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man, as it stood before the 8th century;…” Thomas Jefferson said that Anglo-Saxon laws should be printed on one side of the American National Seal proposed by him in 1776, saying: “the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by the night.” But, on the flip side however, Jefferson offered images of “Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs… whose political principles and form of government we have assumed.”[5] Ultimately this is true because of the Germanic Saxons’ contact with the Celtic Christians (or British natives), but the Saxon culture in Germany from which they originated provided no constitutionalism whatsoever to guide their civilization.

In the 9th century, the clergy would begin to serve as the judges in England and would build common law on the Bible. In the late 800’s, at the height of early-England under Christian King Alfred, Anglo-Saxon law was eroding at the time of Norman Conquest in 1066. The Normans, then under William the Conqueror, established a royal dynasty—a system which destroyed the rights of the people, yet increased efficiency by centralization of common law under King Henry II. In the end, the English people would experience a period of over 400 years of civil and religious stagnation until 1215, when the Magna Charta would be reluctantly signed by King John.[6]
 
 
 
Humbly,

D. L. Smith, MA.HIS
ComplexAmerica.Org


Bibliography:

[1] Jurasinski, Stefan. 2014. “Noxal Surrender, the Deodand, and the Laws of King Alfred.” Studies in Philology 111 (2): 195–224. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mlf&AN=2014289482&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[2] "Tribal Roots Point to Hebrew Origins." United Israel World Union. Last modified October 16, 2017. https://unitedisrael.org/tribal-roots-point-hebrew-origins/.
[3] DiLascio, Tracey M. 2015. “BYZANTIUM AND WESTERN EUROPE IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES: The Laws of Alfred, Guthrum, and Edward the Elder.” Defining Documents: Middle Ages, July, 19–25. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=118279323&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[4] Chilton, David. "The Origin of Common Law." The ARK Foundation. Accessed August 21, 2019. http://www.arky.org/Constitution/IOTC/W2%20The%20Origin%20of%20Common%20Law.pdf.
[5] "The History of the Seal of the United States." Internet Archive: Digital Library. Accessed August 21, 2019. https://archive.org/stream/historyofsealofu00unit/historyofsealofu00unit_djvu.txt.
[6] Beliles, Mark A., and Stephen K. McDowell. America's Providential History: Including Biblical Principles of Education, Government, Politics, Economics, and Family Life. 1989. pp. 39-42.

It’s an explanation that needs to be clarified to most people:

A secular society will lack faith in God’s providence and consequently, men will find fewer natural resources. The secular or socialist has a limited resource mentality and views the world as a pie (there is only so much) that needs to be cut up so that everyone can get a piece. In contrast, the Christian knows the potential in God is unlimited and that there is no shortage of resources in God’s earth. The resources are waiting to be tapped.

We do not live in a resource-short world. Known reserves of minerals and energy resources are greater today than in 1950 despite increasing consumption. Ideas allowing us to tap into unused natural resources are limitless. For example, about 100 years ago, the American Indians wiped oil on their faces. Today, new uses of that natural resource have transformed our economy and brought a higher standard of living for everyone. In recent years, the computer world has been revolutionized by the silicon chip, which is made from the same material as sand.

While many secularists view the world as over-populated, Christians know that God has made the earth sufficiently large, with plenty of resources to accommodate all the people He knew would come into existence. There is plenty of room and food for the entire world population today in fact. All the over 6-billion people on earth could live in the state if Texas in single family homes with front and back yards and be fed by production in the rest of the United States. Present world agricultural areas, if developed by present technology, could feed 31 billion people. Our earth has plenty of room and plenty of natural resources.[1]

Those with a secular world-view will lack a God-inspired strength and work ethic. Such strength and character would cause them to be more productive through hard labor, honesty, investment in the future, etc. In addition, the lack of incentives of freedom found in secular nations with limited economic freedom cause men to exert less energy since they cannot eat of the fruit of their labor. The net result is that man’s material welfare suffers.[2]

Secularists are completely shut out from contact with the Bible and ultimately, the mind of Christ (who provides the main source of creativity). It is because of this reason that these people regularly have fewer ideas for the inventing of new and better tools. It is the lack of new and better tools that keep production and man’s material wealth from increasing.

So why then are some nations in poverty? Those societies that have been built on Christian principles will have a proper view of natural resources, the character to exert human energy, and access to the creativity of God leading to better tools, all of which cause man’s material welfare to increase. While any country adhering to this truth will see the material welfare of it’s citizens increase, most people and nations are quite poor. In fact 46% of the world lives in poverty today. Why? Well, as mentioned before, Some claim it is the world lack of natural resources. Yet, some nations, such as Japan, with few natural resources are quite prosperous. There are also many nations with abundant natural resources that are much less prosperous than other nations with fewer natural resources.[3]

The primary reason that nations are in poverty is lack of spiritual resources and truth. A secularist world-view keeps each element of the factors of production from increasing, which really interferes with man’s material well-being. India, is a great example of how a people’s religion directly affects it’s economic prosperity.

Today, India has widespread hunger problems, yet these are not due to a lack of food, but are a result of the people’s… wait for it… religious beliefs. The majority of Indians are Hindus. The Hindu religion teaches that people who die are reincarnated as animals; therefore, their laws and religion prohibit the people from killing rats, mice, cows, or other animals.

There are 200 million “sacred cows” in India. Each cow eats enough food to feed seven people. The feed from these cows alone would feed 1.4 billion people, which is over ¼ of the world’s population. The mice and rats, which they will not kill, eat much of their grain as well. This grain, not to mention the meat from the cows, would supply plenty of food for all the starving people in India.[4]

The economic state of a nation depends upon its religion.

Period.
 
Humbly,
D. L. Smith
ComplexAmerica.Org
 


 Sources:
[1] Beliles, Mark A., and Stephen K. McDowell. "Principles of Christian Economics." America's Providential History, 3rd ed., Providence Foundation, 1989, p. 197.
[2] Ibid. p.198
[3] Wolfe, Charles H., “The Principle Approach to American Christian Economics,” in A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School, the Principle Approach, by James B. Rose (Palo Cedro, CA: American Christian History Institute), p. 398.
[4] How to Understand the Purpose behind Humanism, booklet published by Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts, 1983. p. 7.

Most of this expert was humbly borrowed from Providence Foundation’s America’s Providential History, 2010.