The Bowie Creed and Declaration
(The following creed and declaration was composed by the RLC in 2002 but not circulated. It was intended for use to mobilize the pastors and their churches to carry out the whole mission of the churches of God. – July, 2011)
The Bowie Creed and Declaration (January, 2002)
1. There is only one God, the triune God of the Scriptures, known in the creeds as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus (the second person of the trinity), died to bear the full punishment due for the sins of the world and shall return to judge all people who have ever lived. Those who trust and obey Him enjoy the hope of everlasting life; those who do not, live with no hope beyond this life.
3. The churches of God are the gatherings of the people of God, the communities of saints, who believe in and follow the living Jesus. His churches commune with one another in various associations and denominations.
4. The primary means by which the work of God is advanced – His reign in the hearts of men and through the laws of society – is through the local church. The church, by its witness and the preaching of the gospel, transforms individuals. The church, by its preaching of the law and advocacy of true justice (the Law of God), transforms governments and establishes justice in the earth.
5. We affirm the following two-fold mission of the churches of God a) to evangelize the world by means of the preaching the law and gospel and bearing witness to the truth in word and deed, and b) to advance justice in the world by upholding God’s law as the standard of justice.
6. Our nation in the 21st century is lacking a clear voice from the churches of God regarding the advancement of justice (5b above). We therefore affirm the following specifics:
I. At the bottom of any lingering race problems is the failure or recognize our human unity in Adam and our Christian unity in Christ; accordingly, we condemn as heresy the teaching that forbids or discourages interracial marriage. This is an assault upon human dignity, and, as to Christian marriage, insults the unity of believers in Christ.
II. At the foundation of child slaughter by abortion, is a rejection of two doctrines: 1) the sacredness of sexual intercourse which is reserved for marriage and. 2) the sanctity of human beings. Accordingly, we condemn adultery, fornication, and abortion, and conversely, we applaud efforts to stop what ought to be stopped and discourage what ought to be discouraged. In the case when an innocent human life is threatened with death, as in the instance of abortion, we will not condemn those who use force, even lethal force, to protect the innocent child.
III. Capital crimes arguably extend beyond the crime of murder to include witchcraft, treason, incorrigible juvenile delinquents, sodomy, adultery, and treason; however, we advocate here the (pre-Mosaic) death penalty for murder only which hangs on the same principle as its prohibition, viz., the imago Dei in man (Gen. 9:6). This death penalty must include application to abortionists as the murderers which they truly are.
IV. The federal magistrates have violated the Constitution and unlawfully usurped powers, which belong to the people. The particular acts of tyranny have not been inconsequential. On the contrary, tyranny has struck at ancient laws which had served to protect the weakest of humanity. The assault upon anti-abortion laws has resulted in an historically unprecedented genocide and resulted in the placing the federal government outside the bounds of legitimacy.
The disestablishment of state churches among our united States which rapidly occurred in the nineteenth century led erroneously to the grievous disestablishment of Christian law and religion in the twentieth century. This was not the intent of disestablishmentarianism; neither was it the intent of federalists who lobbied for the establishment of the federal government that states should lose their ability to legislate laws of religion. Specifically, the Tenth Amendment restricts the federal government from usurping powers which are not specifically delegated to it by the states. As the powers of the weakened states have diminished since the Civil War, the usurpations by the federal government have increased to the point that the people can no longer govern themselves. We have witnessed a long train of abuses on the part of the federal government since it first legalized this crime under the malignant title “reproductive freedom.” Over the last three decades, laws which would prohibit or restrict the spreading of this crime of abortion have been passed by the various self-governing, sovereign states, only to be nullified by the federal government through its usurping judiciary. We repeat that statutes passed lawfully by state legislatures and signed by governors have been impiously nullified by a lawless federal judiciary. This federal government with one lawless decision decriminalized abortion and made criminals of those who protect the weak and innocent. Federal magistrates have thus rebelled against the constitution and violated their oaths to uphold it.
Accordingly, we declare that this government rules not by right but by force. Its violations of justice exceed those of England railed against by the colonies. And the present states of the united States have greater cause now to throw off the tyranny of the federal government than did those who signed the Declaration of Independence. While we do not speak with the authority of lesser magistrates which have a more certain authority to disobey and overthrow higher magistrates, we do speak with the authority to address Christian citizens with their scriptural obligation to pay taxes and engage in military revolutionary causes. We therefore announce that we advise the church members under our instruction that 1) they are not obligated to pay taxes to the federal government, and 2) that they may Lawfully work for the overthrow of the present regime by means of military involvement in the national guard or other locally organized militia.
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