If you’ve never heard of William Wilberforce, Britain’s great abolitionist, you probably will before the month is out. That’s because February 23, 2007 marks 200 years since the House of Commons voted to abolish the British slave trade, the culmination of a twenty year struggle on the part of Wilberforce. A major film biography of Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, will be released in theaters across America on February 23rd; a trailer can be viewed on the film’s web site, which also has downloadable study guides and other educational materials. A documentary called The Better Hour: William Wilberforce, A Man of Character Who Changed the World is scheduled to be broadcast later this year in Britain and the United States. In September, a national essay contest for school kids in the US will focus on Wilbeforce. Writing in World magazine, Marvin Olasky says he hopes students will learn about Wilberforce’s theology, “including his complaint about those who ‘either overlook or deny the corruption and weakness of human nature. They acknowledge there is, and always has been, a great deal of vice and wickedness, [but they] talk of frailty and infirmity, of petty transgressions, of occasional failings, and of accidental incidents. [They] speak of man as a being who is naturally pure. He is inclined to virtue.’ “Wilberforce contrasted that view with ‘the humiliating language of true Christianity. From it we learn that man is an apostate creature. He has fallen from his high, original state…. He is indisposed toward the good, and disposed towards evil…. He is tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically, and to the very core of his being. Even though it may be humiliating to acknowledge these things, still this is the biblical account of man.'” Charles Colson writes in Christianity Today that “Britain’s great abolitionist worked to change society’s values, not just its laws.” After detailing some of the hardships and challenges the abolitionist encountered, Colson continues, “Wilberforce ultimately prevailed because he understood the futility of attempting to end a systemic evil without also changing citizens’ values and dispositions. He knew he not only had to work for justice; he also had to convince people of the need for the moral consensus that flowed from a biblical worldview.” An excellent audio drama has been produced by Focus on the Family Radio Theatre as a prequel to the film. This focuses on the life of Wilberforce as well as two other men who joined him in the fight against slavery: John Newton, the converted slave ship captain and author of the hymn, Amazing Grace; and Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave. Total running time is over 5 hours; quality is to the same high standard we have come to expect from the Radio Theatre. A short biographical sketch of Wilberforce’s fascinating life can be found in They Knew Their God, Volume 6 which can be purchased from our online store.
