~OUR PURPOSE~

 

The mission of the Blackstone institute is to declare and defend the Judeo-Christian worldview of the Constitution, law, philosophy, and theology with programs that inform and inspire. The Ten Commandments are the heart of our teaching. This articulation and application of the Christian worldview of law were epitomized in the works of the great Eighteenth Century British jurist, Sir William Blackstone, whose legal philosophy dominated both English and American law until well into the Twentieth Century. Working with others of like mind, the Institute functions within the framework set forth in I Peter 3:15-16. We are committed to promote and pursue research and education focused on constitutional theory/history, legal philosophy/history, theology, culture, and public policy according to the highest standards of scholarship. Our objective is the equipping of an intellectual army possessing a warrior mentality and a servant heart committed to "Courting Justice" in America and "Reclaiming our Courts and our Constitution."

~OUR PREMISES~

 

Our ministry focus is on:

• America is engulfed in the all-consuming flames of a Culture War from which no one and no area of American life can escape.
• The courts have captured the Constitution and morphed it into a weapon against our culture, making the courts and the Constitution a white-hot front in the Culture War.
• The Culture War is between two irreconcilable enemies - the Judeo-Christian worldview and the Humanistic worldview.
• Americans who support the Judeo-Christian worldview CAN and MUST be equipped, trained, and motivated to fight for our culture, our Constitution, and our courts.

We currently pursue our purpose and promote our principles through focus on four positions:

• Protecting religious liberty, especially of persecuted orthodox believers:
• Supporting the sanctity of human life;
• Protecting the Biblical family unit and opposing homosexual activism;
• Supporting the rights of creationism in the battle with evolutionism.

We pursue our purpose and develop our premises through declaring and defending a fixed body of principles expressed in the Constitutionalist Manifesto. These principles can be summarized as follows:

1. The Constitution is, and must be, by definition, the "supreme, fundamental, paramount, permanent" law of the land. No court decision, statutory law, or other form of "law" is either equal to, or superior to, the Constitution.
2. The basic purpose of our Constitution, as of all constitutions, is to provide the stability necessary for our legal system to survive and prosper. Additionally, the Preamble lists six specific constitutional purposes, which balance individual liberty with the common good.
3. The provisions of our Constitution have fixed meaning. This meaning can, and must, be determined by careful objective study of such factors as the express language of the text, the context of the provision being interpreted and of the entire document, the intent of the Framers, and the worldview in which the Constitution was embedded by its Framers.
4. The Constitution, properly interpreted, can express the values of only one worldview. It cannot reflect a "pluralism" or "diversity" of worldviews.
5. The worldview in which the Constitution is embedded is the Judeo-Christian worldview. The Constitution's principles and purposes are defined and prioritized by the Judeo-Christian value system. The Constitution cannot survive if it is ripped from its Judeo-Christian moorings.
6. The Constitution embodies a multiplicity of distinct principles to guide our legal system and our culture. These principles include popular sovereignty with representative government, life, liberty, the rule of law, due process of law, equal protection of the laws, and private property/free enterprise. These principles are to be secured by structural principles including federalism and separation of powers.
7. Judges have neither the authority nor the competence to rewrite the Constitution by altering its basic meaning. Judges are governed by the Constitution. They are required to respect their boundaries and give full respect to the constitution document, the consent of the governed, the other branches of the national government, the state governments, and other societal institutions.

Blackstone's programs are: (1) comprehensive--covering the variety of disciplines (theology, philosophy, etc,) which are relevant to law; (2) cohesive--organized and presented so that the interrelationships of various areas of thought are emphasized; (3) complete--mounting both a defense of the Judeo-Christian position and an offense against our opponents. Blackstone's programs are flexible as to length and complexity so that they may be adapted to a wide range of audiences and situations. We seek to utilize every media available - printed, taped, Internet, live presentations, etc. Program topics include the titles listed in the "Blackstone Bookstore" and the "Constitution College" section.
 

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