Posted in The Principle Approach: Self-Directed Study
Welcome to "Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property"...Week 11—Assignment
Lesson 6
- Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property {James Madison}—4th Principle section only
- Supplemental Resources:
- T&L pgs. 76-78; 125-127—Outlining Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property
- T&L pgs. 225-239—Key to Expanding the Principles
- T&L pgs. 76-78; 125-127—Outlining Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property
- Assignments: None
Lesson 6—Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property
v “For men being the Workmanship of One Omnipotent, and infinitely wise Maker: All the Servants of one Sovereign Master, sent into the World by his Order, and about his Business, they are his Property, whose Workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another’s Pleasure…” {“Of Civil Government”…John Locke, 1689}
What does the Bible say about property in general?
Genesis 1:1—In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. {He is the Creator of the heavens and earth…all things are His}
Isaiah 43:7—Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made, {He made us…we are His}
Revelation 4:11—You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
Ephesians 2:10—For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
These verses impress upon me that, by His will, we were created and fashioned for His glory. We are His workmanship. Through His graciousness, He has given us dominion over all things on earth. Through this dominion, we have received exclusive rights of possessing, enjoying, and disposing of this external property.
But the greatest of all property is internal; the free choice of opinions and communication of them. The liberty of conscience is the most sacred of all property. One must be truly Christ-governed to be conscientious where the internal demands of God’s laws are written on your heart.
Acts 24:16—So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
The principle of Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property is layered with The Noah Plan as follows:
Conscience is the Most Sacred of All Property
|
Grade Level |
Layer |
Red Books |
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|
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Primary |
Man is God’s Property |
T&L pgs. 230-232 |
|
Elementary |
“Of Property” John Locke; Foundation of Title to Property |
T&L pgs. 232-236 CHOC, I pgs. 63-70 |
|
Junior High |
“Life, |
T&L Pgs. 236-238 CHOC, I pgs. 91:124; 248A, 261 CHOC, I pgs. 321, 365-370 |
|
Senior High |
“No Taxation Without Representation”; Property Rights |
T&L Pgs. 238-239 CHOC, I pgs. 95:138; 13, 15, 38; 249-257; 297-339 |
In the first layer with Primary, the focus is on man as God’s property, stewardship of what God has entrusted into our care, respecting property rights, learning to respect the rights of others, and to become faithful stewards of “ourselves” as God’s property—since we belong to him. He fashioned and created us.
The second layer for Elementary—“Of Property”—the focus is how God gave the world to all mankind. He gave man dominion over the earth—for our use. “Of Property” by John Locke takes us from a discussion of this world and property from the beginning to the present and also from external property to the real value of the internal property; i.e., the free choice of opinions and communication of them—and that such must be Christ-governed.
In the third layer, property rights are described as the rights of life and liberty, vested in us by God and not be the government {“endowed by their Creator” as the Declaration of Independence reads…} and only secured by government. This layer discusses the blessings of liberty and the preservation of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
The last layer for Senior High relates to an aspect that we have heard much on—“No Taxation without Representation”.
This principle can be a difficult principle to grasp initially since we have been experiencing the erosion of these rights over an extended period of time—within our lifetime and longer. I believe that the right to physical property; whether land or chattel, is representative of our right to internal property of conscience—the right to voice our opinions and make decisions for our lives on those opinions (within God’s law of right and wrong). The role of the government is only to secure our life, liberty, and property; not to invade our thoughts and shape our thinking. This effort to influence our ideology is now common with our modern-day humanistic government. Our conscience is our most sacred of all property and we must protect it from the wiles of the enemy. As modern-day Christians, we seem so easily deceived because our minds have been molded by society. We need to protect that in ourselves and in our children. Many of us have taken this step through homeschooling in order to protect the conscience of our children.
This 4th principle helps us see that the most sacred of all our property rights is our conscience—our thoughts, opinions, and communication of those ideas.
Karen
