Clifford Denton explains how closer integration with Europe would threaten this 'voluntary covenant' with God.
A pivotal point in the debate about Britain's relationship with the EU must be our Coronation Oath, which sets us apart as a nation of declared intention, seeking to live under the rule and protection of Almighty God. With the Bible at the foundation of our laws, setting a protecting boundary for the free and open proclamation of the Gospel in our nation, with thousands of years of history to get us to 2 June 1953, the Queen led the way in commitment at the Coronation service in Westminster Abbey.
Britain has long been betraying this corporate Oath, with law changes that depart from the ways of the Bible. We also believe that the Oath has been compromised by each successive closer merger with the EU, which has no such constitution as ours, being secular and humanistic at its heart.
We reproduce below, with minor editing to bring it up-to-date, an article on this topic that was published in Prophecy Today in 1989.
THE CORONATION OATH: UNDERSTANDING GOD'S WORD FOR EUROPE
Is it a fanciful view of Britain's status before God to see it in covenant terms? God alone knows if that is how he sees his longstanding relationship with us. Nevertheless, so strong was our view of what the Coronation Oath meant that we used the following strapline for the article: "Britain has entered into a 'voluntary covenant' with God, through the Coronation oath. Clifford Denton explains how closer integration with Europe would threaten this unique status."
This is what we published back then. Did we foresee something of immense importance that was not being heeded at the time and that has even greater relevance now?
"What makes Britain special?" we also asked. Have we really been a nation that has been blessed and used by God? We went on to explore these questions, and we would do well to consider them again today in relation to the EU Referendum.
A key to understanding the answers to these questions is in the Coronation Oath. This Oath presents a 'voluntary covenant' with God, and attempts to offer God a framework through which he can help us to manage our affairs according to the teaching of the Bible.
This is not the covenant that God made with Israel. No nation can replace Israel as a covenant nation - but Britain has probably done more than any other Gentile nation to live in a covenant relationship with God. Surely God has helped, blessed and protected us over the centuries, despite our gross imperfections, because of this.
Britain has probably done more than any other Gentile nation to live in a covenant relationship with God.
Strangely, while this oath should be a central issue to consider in our decisions relating to Europe, it is hardly being discussed at all. Most decisions relating to national sovereignty are concerned with self-government rather than the Government of God.
Yet, an alliance with the powers of Europe on financial and political grounds represents a betrayal of the Coronation Oath and a betrayal of God himself, for there is no similar covenant within the constitution of Europe.
Historical Background
The Reformation of the 16th Century freed Britain of papal control, but the reign of James II (beginning in 1685) threatened to undermine the Protestant framework being formed in British institutions. James' commitment to Catholicism was resisted by some prominent national leaders and this finally led to an invitation for William of Orange to come to Britain in 1688 and redress the nation's grievances.
James fled to France and this was interpreted as an abdication, whereupon a new Parliament was formed and William and Mary (James' Protestant daughter) were offered the Crown. This bloodless revolution was called the 'Glorious Revolution' and became the means by which a more secure Protestant Government could be established in Britain in the framework of (as far as a Gentile nation can go) a voluntary covenant with God.
The Bill of Rights of 1689 ensured that no future monarch could be Roman Catholic and ensured that the monarch would not have unconditional powers. The Government of Britain was put in the form of a contract between the monarch and the people through representation in Parliament.
In 1689, the Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights established a secure Protestant Government in Britain, in voluntary covenant with God.
The Coronation Vow
The Coronation Oath, made law in 1688 and taken first in the Coronation of 1689, was in the form of a vow made before God to govern Britain according to God's laws and in accord with the true profession of the Gospel. The Coronation of every monarch ever since has been a Protestant Christian service centred on this Oath. The promises made by the monarch are contained in the following words, according to law:
The Archbishop or Bishop shall say: "Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England and the dominions thereto belonging according to the statutes in Parliament agreed on and the laws and customs of the same?"
The King and Queen shall say: "I solemnly promise so to do"
Archbishop or Bishop: "Will you to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?"
King and Queen: "I will".
Archbishop or Bishop: "Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the gospel and the Protestant religion established by law? And will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this realm and to the churches committed to their charge all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or any of them?"
King and Queen: "All this I promise to do".
After this the King and Queen laying his and her hand upon the Holy Gospels shall say: "The things which I have here before promised I will perform and keep so help me God".
Then the King and Queen shall kiss the book.
These words are taken directly from the Coronation Oath Act of 1688. The monarch cannot be crowned until and unless these promises are made.
Queen Elizabeth II
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth on 2 June 1953 was a solemn occasion. The young Queen went through the Christian ceremony with full conviction of what she was doing before God. Many of us were children then, and there was not the same ease of media communication as there is today, though the use of television was growing quite fast.
Thus many of us did not see beyond the royal splendour of the day to the heart of what was going on, but the Queen made her promises before God, was anointed with oil for the Holy Spirit to come upon her, took communion and was then crowned. The record of this has been kept in heaven as well as at the BBC. We are in a covenant with one another and with God because of this. This is true for all people in Great Britain.
Queen Elizabeth made her coronation vows with full conviction of what she was doing before God. The record has been kept in heaven as well as at the BBC.
Affirming the Promise
For example, every Member of Parliament makes an oath or affirmation of allegiance to the monarch. The wording of the oath is: "I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God."
This promise is the counterpart to the Queen's Oath so that she and the Government together can seek a way of establishing God's rule within the nation, our God being the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and no foreign god or new age idol.
Similarly, every time the national anthem is sung there is a reflection of the people's allegiance to the Queen and all that the Coronation Oath is intended to convey, and whenever allegiance to the Queen is promised (as, for example, in the promise of Scouts and Guides) acceptance of the Coronation Oath is implied. How many fans at our great sporting events realise that when they sing the National Anthem they are praying a prayer to God? God knows what is intended, even if the words have become empty to most of our nation!
Protection by the Grace of God
So, the British nation has established a framework of government which binds together monarchy, government and state church, also drawing in the allegiance of the people, which reflects what we are calling a voluntary covenant with the living God.
Even though we have had this framework, we have not been a perfect nation by any means, yet surely, by the grace of God, we have been a protected nation for many years. The grace of God is always beyond the bounds of our deserving. We have done a little and he has done much.
We have not been a perfect nation – but because we have had this national framework, we have been a protected nation for many years.
He took us through world wars, helped us become a prosperous nation, and gave us opportunity to reflect his ways to the world through our educational, governmental, financial and social systems as well as through the Church, which was once strong and which has known God's true revivals.
Fall from Grace
God's protection has not gone completely, but surely we are on the brink of disaster. In one generation we have turned away from the absolutes of biblical truth and law and entered an age of relative morality.
Our law structure once reflected God's laws as they are understood from the Bible, thanks to the dedicated and faithful work of many national leaders over the years. But now, our nation is reaping what has been sown through the liberalising of laws. Pornography, adultery, greed, injustice, violence, abortion, degrading sexual practice, divorce and every form of sin is rising (to which, in recent days, we can now add the re-definition of marriage away from God's order).
Contrasting the Coronation Oath with European Rule
In addition, we are now at a decision point regarding deeper alliance with the EU. The Coronation Oath represents a framework of government that is open to God's ways and to his direct help. Europe has no such framework of government.
In one generation Britain has turned away from the absolutes of biblical truth and law, and entered an age of relative morality.
Many people suspect that the religious powers all over Europe will eventually be drawn into the alliance, becoming part of a humanistic economic and political system which will reflect a seductive and anti-Christian religious and spiritual power. Whether this is true or not, we must either change the Coronation Oath or betray it in order to make firm alliance with the powers governing Europe in our present-day.
Even though the Oath was made in 1953, all that it represents is still in full force today. Surely God is more aware of this than we are. Thus, as far as all our unrighteousness is concerned, the time of judgment draws near. As far as Europe is concerned, we must attune ourselves to God's perspective on this key issue, before we risk betraying he who has protected us through the years.
What Should We Do?
The Coronation Oath belongs to the fabric of our national life – we are all involved. We must consider together just what we have offered to God through the institution of monarch, church and state.
But when it comes to the breaking of the Oath, who is responsible? This is a more complex question than we might think. It is not just the Monarch. It is also the Government, along with all who elected the Government. It is also the Church, standing by while our oaths to God are betrayed in the reversal of godly laws and false alliances with other powers. Surely the Queen should also lead the nation into repentance and the church should rise up as the conscience of the nation.
When considered in these terms, it seems almost impossible to achieve a reversal of our decline. Yet surely we know that with God all things are possible, and we have a responsibility to respond at this crucial time in the nation.
It seems impossible to achieve a reversal of our national decline. But with God, all things are possible – and Christians have a responsibility to respond at this crucial time.
The fact that God has preserved Britain as an individual nation, with its own governmental systems, for so many centuries, should be a prompt for us to reconsider any deepening alliance with Europe. We should reconsider what the Coronation Oath represents so that we might preserve and develop our heritage before it is too late.
When the bottom line is drawn it is neither the monarchy nor Europe that is the first consideration. It is the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel that matter. The Coronation Oath has been the vehicle for their preservation whereby, within a framework of godly laws, there has been a freedom and protection for the true Gospel to go forth across the nation. This is what God has blessed and this is what we are about to give up for financial gain and political advantage within the framework of an ungodly and humanistic empire that is developing in Europe.
We believe that the spiritual powers behind the EU will attack every aspect of our godly heritage, including the British monarchy, to bring it down so that the Coronation Oath will fall with it.
Those who understand these things from a spiritual as well as practical perspective must stand together, because our spiritual adversary has already many people in high places who will use powers of finance, media and politics to drive us into Europe in betrayal of our promises to God. The flattering promises of electioneers who emphasise alliance with Europe will reflect this too. We can expect the powers at work to be both humanistic and seductive.
Endnote
The above article was written when the debate was whether the UK should abolish the Pound and adopt the Euro. The argument remains fresh for this new debate as to whether we should remain in the EU or leave - an opportunity that was barely plausible in 1989.
This week, during which has been the anniversary of the Queen's Coronation Oath, let us prayerfully weigh these things. Should we, despite all else, realise that this opportunity to leave the EU once and for all, though brought about by men, has been given us through the gracious working of Almighty God?
