![]() If you say, ‘See, we did not know this,’ does He not consider it Who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it Who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?” (Proverbs 24:11 & 12) “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27) ![]() Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3 & 4) Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’” (Jeremiah 22:3) “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. And those biblical ideals resound even louder than the vows taken by the Knights of the Bath. All were champions of those virtues which would, centuries later, be described as chivalry. All of these heroes could rightly be described as knights-errant with a devotion to God’s holy commands. And so too did the role models of chivalry: Moses, Joshua, Samson, Daniel, Gideon, David, the mighty men of valor, and yes, the apostles and other early missionaries of the Church. Rather, these ideals come from the pages of Holy Scripture. But the codes of chivalry they represented so wonderfully did not originate with them. The Knights of the Round Table are the epitome of the chivalric heroes of the early medieval era. Remember Ephesians 6? 2 Timothy 2:1-4? And what of the wealth of Scriptures (Old and New Testament) that speak of purity of heart and body, courage, justice, mercy, graciousness of speech, service to the defenseless, humility, loyalty to the Sovereign King, and so on? Indeed, the knight of chivalry has his best model in the New Testament picture of the warrior-saint. You shall suffer no murderers, nor extortions of the people within the country where you dwell, but with your power you shall put them into the hands of justice, that they be punished as the king’s law requires.” (1128 AD)ĭo these vows sound familiar to you? They should because they illustrate how the honored code of chivalry was founded on something harder, older and more sublime. You shall sit in no place where an evil judgment should be wrongfully given to anybody, according to your knowledge. Also you shall sustain widows in their rights, anytime they require you, maidens in their virginity, helping them and succoring them in your good that they not be misgoverned for their own faults. Be true to your word and promises, be secure in this. “Brother, the king our Sovereign lord wills it that you take up this high and worshipful order, which as a knight I declare to you certain points… You shall love God above all things, be steadfast in faith, sustain the church, and be true to your sovereign lord. Note, for instance, the vows of allegiance, holiness and service taken by those knights allowed into the Order of Bath early in the 12 th Century. It was a set of ideals, to be sure, but ideals which were devoutly pursued by men very much from the real world. I deal with the subject as a historian and Christian activist, emphasizing to my audiences that chivalry did not live only in the romances of King Arthur, Sir Roland, Robin Hood and others. And in these talks, I do not treat chivalry as myth or literary legend. In recent speaking engagements (three Christian men’s groups, a gathering of teenagers, a church congregation), I’ve dealt with these themes. ![]() And we must not forget honor, self-discipline, loyalty, and a burning love for God. But also kindness, innocence, courtesy and grace. The word itself stirs the imagination and moves the soul to embrace manly virtues: strength, courage, a willingness to fight in a noble cause. And liberty finds the best protection in her lance and sword.”Ĭhivalry. Nobility were but an empty name without her. But I like even more the way Sir Walter Scott put it when he had the charming and brave knight, Ivanhoe, answer a young woman’s question in this way: “Chivalry? Why maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection, the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant. “Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit which disposes men to heroic actions, and keeps them conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world.” That’s how Anglo-Irish writer Kenelm Henry Digby described chivalry in The Broad-Stone of Honour published in 1822. ![]()
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