Thou shalt bear arms?

Republican presidential hopeful (still) Newt Gingrich says God gives you the right to carry a gun.

In speeches dating to at least 2010, Gingrich cites the most famous line of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…”

And also the right to keep and bear arms, apparently: “It is one of the unalienable rights alluded to in the Declaration of Independence,” Gingrich told the National Rifle Association convention recently. “We know this because the amendment starts by saying, ‘the right to bear arms.’ It doesn’t grant the right to bear arms; it acknowledges their preexistent condition.”

The only problem: Gingrich is wrong. And so is the Declaration of Independence.

Assuming the framers of the Constitution were referring to the God of the Hebrew and Christian Bible, not only are humans not endowed with the right to bear arms, they’re not endowed with any rights at all.

According to the Bible, the only thing people are entitled to as a matter of existing is to be punished for eternity for their sins.

The message of the Bible – and especially of the New Testament – is that humans are saved from their sins and an eternity of punishment by the grace of God and faith in Jesus Christ.

Consider St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:22-23). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 6:23). “That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” (Romans 10:9).

There’s not a single word about rights granted from God. 

In fact, the Bible speaks against the seemingly simple proposition that, if you obey God’s commands, you’ll live a happy life. Job was a righteous man bedeviled (literally) by a host of calamities, until he finally broke, demanding of the Almighty a reason for his suffering.

God’s reply?

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

Job is finally forced to acknowledge – as are we all in the face of the divine – “I am unworthy – how can I reply to you?”

Even the concept of freedom in the Bible – the submission to God’s commands to righteousness – means something quite different than the freedom the founders envisioned.

The authors of the Declaration of Independence most likely appealed to the laws of nature and nature’s God for a much more utilitarian reason: They wanted to put the source of their rights beyond the ability of humans to truncate. If rights come from God, they cannot be taken away by man.

And make no mistake: The idea of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and all of our other rights, named and unnamed, in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, is a bold, noble and praiseworthy one. It’s formed the basis of our country and our democracy for 235 years, and it has been exported to other nations.

We must fight to keep it.

But let’s not delude ourselves, Mr. Gingrich or Mr. Jefferson, that those rights come from God. They come from us.

And it’s not heresy to think so.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.