“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us”.
In this amazing passage Paul lays out to the political and philosophical elite in Athens what is actually going on, and who is really in charge. He puts it in terms they can recognise culturally, but it's not defined by their culture and dramatically cuts across it. It's not even just about ideas or utopias but about the body-and-soul rescue of men and women. A massive wake-up call.
William Wilberforce embodied much of this. He was born into a well-off family in Kingston upon Hull who made their money trading with the Baltic. His early life had some evangelical influence but at university he was inclined to be idle and to enjoy life. He was of slight build but had a bright and exuberant personality, mocking the establishment, popular at parties and a good public speaker. He decided to enter politics rather than join the family business and was able to get elected MP for Hull in 1780 aged 21. (He later became an MP for Bramber in Sussex when travel became too difficult)
Conversion
God was raising up men in England who honoured His name. Wesley was reaching the middle and lower classes but the better off were not untouched! Wilberforce could have been a sceptic or Deist but a few years later, in conversation and argument with friends, he came to recognise the truth of the Bible, what it meant, and experienced the revolution of conversion. He sought to rebuild his whole life and was intent on giving up 'worldly' things like politics, as many evangelicals did. A meeting with John Newton, now a pastor in London, convinced him to continue. Newton wrote to him later: 'It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation'. His friend William Pitt also urged him to continue.
A book was important in his conversion and he later decided to write one himself in a popular style to cut through religiosity and theological argument. His publisher thought it lucky if he sold 500, but it ended up a 7,500 copy best-seller, translated into 5 languages. In it he is sober about the state of the nation:
'The time is fast approaching when Christianity will be almost as openly disavowed in the language as in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared from the conduct of men: when infidelity will be held to be the necessary appendage of a man of fashion and to believe will be deemed the indication of a feeble mind and a contracted understanding' A Practical View...
'That this could never be said of the Victoria age, but the reverse, was not a little due to Wilberforce, the man and the book.' says biographer John Pollock.
However it is clearly the case now, where speaking peaceably about Biblical realities leads to dismissal, as in the cases of Rev Bernard Randall and Aaron Edwards - even though this is not the actual law of the land as evidenced by Kristie Higgs' recent victory in the Appeal Court. There are renewed attempts to shut down Christian speech with 'Conversion Therapy' law and an 'Islamophobia' definition that brooks no challenge. The Bible's message itself is deemed to be problematic by some who make their careers in 'religion'. The police arrest street preachers.
It is also definitely not fashionable to practice Biblical virtues as a way of prospering in life. All Ten 'Laws of Life' are proscribed. We see in politics that misrepresentation and straight lying are the everyday tools of coercive power, while the synthetic-spirituality of progressivism results in the destruction of national well-being.
Starting out
Wilberforce embarked on some humanitarian causes but realised his lack of knowledge so when away from Parliament spend many hours reading to catch up on what he's missed in academic studies (as did Winston Churchill).
Captain Sir Charles Middleton RN contacted Wilberforce with information about the slave trade from a colleague, James Ramsey, who had served as Surgeon on one of his ships and later as Rector of St Kitts and medical supervisor of plantations. Wilberforce gained a full picture of the facts and the emotional impact of what was happening and began the long campaign to end slavery, stopping the trade 'the most execrable and inhuman traffic that ever disgraced the Christian world' as an intermediary step.
This was not his only work, he was also involved in electoral reform, providing for the poor, stopping the use of boys as chimney sweeps, factory conditions, prison reform, setting up Friendly Societies for savings, improving Education for its own sake and 'educating our people up to our newspapers ... by which they may be less likely to become the dupes of of designing and factious men'
He sat as an Independent and was an effective speaker. Over the years as his reputation grew in the Country, it became important which side of an issue would win his vote. He was the conscience of the nation. A parliamentary journalist observed 'He never speaks without exciting a wish that he would say more'.
Christian ministry
His book 'A Practical View…' reflected his motivation to declare God's message in every context and he was a founder of the Bible Society, first in Britain but also abroad. He celebrated good CoE Parish work but, against custom, also worked with 'Dissenters' (non-conformists). 'They think I cannot be loyal to the established church because I love dissenters'. John Wesley wrote to him 'In all these difficulties what a comfort it is to consider (unfashionable as it is) that there is a God! Yea and that on Earth! To him I commit you and your Glorious cause'.
Britain was enlarging trade with other parts of the world and especially India, which was managed through the East India Company Charter. God was raising up Christians to take the Gospel to these places but the Company refused. The 'Father of Missions' William Cary had his base in the Danish enclave near Calcutta rather than the British. Wilberforce fought to change this: 'really we have too many in both Houses who seem to think our dominions safer under Brahma or Vishnu than under that of the Almighty'. A clause was added to guarantee liberty to propagate the faith '...must honour the enormous good done from that time onwards by a long roll of Christian missionaries. Parliament had opened a fast-locked door and it was Wilberforce who had turned the key' (Pollock).
Today
Wilberforce wanted to 'make goodness fashionable' – meaning not faddish or hip or moralistic (which reflected much established church practice) but part of the desired fabric of the culture – to recognise that this would lead to the most fulfilled life for individuals and the nation, which astonishingly it did.
Eric Metaxas who has written on Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce recognises this: 'God expects his church to be the conscience of the state he expects Believers to stand against the madness but the point is it's not about winning it's about obedience to Jesus You can preach the Gospel and still serve the Enemy' more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSnrdvRmMpM
What he's driving at is that God has an opinion about everything and that in seeking for His Kingdom on earth it's not enough just to speak of private spiritual growth and conduct - this has got to be actioned in the wider context – if we are able. In applying the Bible it's not just what is there but what its there-for.
We could summarise some key points:
- People – God chooses to work through groups of people as his Body. He provided Wilberforce ('Wilber' to his friends) with many supporters and allies. Wilberforce welcomed them warmly and employed them wisely. He prioritised time with them. Some would complain things were too slow, others desert or disappoint. All the vital intelligence informing parliamentary speeches came through personal contacts where mutual trust was essential.
- Partners – Not all who may share our objectives share our faith, but we should be thankful for support while being wise and maintaining independence. The 'radicals' supported Wilberforce and in a parliament you make progress by winning votes. But like modern Progressives: Fox's followers had an 'air of concern for the distress of the poor, while they took no effective part' in resolving it.
- Patience – God 'desires not the death of a sinner' meaning He wants many to turn to him and to share the honour of His work, or to show clearly that they reject Him. The monumental world-first, the abolition of slavery was a spiritual as well as a political war, over many years, breaking seemingly impregnable strongholds.
- Praise – 'Wilberforce's joy was quite penetrating' He joined with the local church wherever he was on Sundays, and recognised so many blessings coming from God. He also rejoiced in the beauty of nature, living next to a park and holidaying near the sea or in the Lake District.
- Programmes – we're expected to plan, recruit, pamphlet, act, raise money to secure victory. God may provide unexpected strategic insights or baffle us for a time. We learn to keep looking to Him. We learn to do the possible while seeking the impossible. The anti-slavery campaign is credited with being the first mass pressure group. Public protest was decisive in moving parliament.
- Prayer – family and personal prayers were the lifeblood – it is here that God speaks, challenges, comforts. Let's never be ashamed of prayer, or tempted to formalise it. Wilberforce and was motivated by seeking to do what he felt God wanted. He pursued this on his feet in the Commons and on his knees at home. His friend Hannah Moore said “To know that there was one efficient statesman who fervently prayed for every measure he was engaged in and committed the event to Divine superintendence.”
- Purity - whatever the temptation don't depart from Christian ethics. Dubious actions turn rotten pretty soon '…innocent as doves'.
- Persecution – Wilberforce faced huge opposition from many fronts, his MP friends were mockingly called 'The Saints'. Assurances from ministers would not be honoured, every delaying tactic employed. He was blamed when there was unrest on the plantations as a result of him raising hopes – rather than the planters' repression. He chose to treat people as 'captured' rather than intrinsically evil but had no illusions about malign motives and actions.
- Persistence – Wilberforce kept on going, as it what was set before him. On top of setbacks, personal attacks and disappointments, he had eye problems that meant he had to have small text read to him and later on curvature of the spine required a brace.
There are clearly many cases where we need to follow Wilberforce's example and we can be encouraged that we're following a model that he and others have shown to be faithful and fruitful in God.
A very current battle is over assisted dying and some of these points are illustrated in this clip where MPs Danny Kruger and Rebecca Paul patiently work together, following parliamentary protocol, to expose the duplicity of the Bill's proposer and the weakness of its safeguards. Pray for these MPs and others working on this!
Wilberforce's biggest cause was monumentally important and with wide-ranging effect, but the causes we pursue against abortion, euthanasia, child-mutilation, modern-slavery are also life-and-death issues. We are all engaged in the same spiritual warfare against the one who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus has come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (cf Jn 10:10)
Further study: Wilberforce by John Pollock, The Wilberforce Connection by Clifford Hill
