HISTORIA REVIVISCAT, PROSIT DELECTETQUE.

May history live again, bring benefit, and give delight.

We, Thomas, King of Jerusalem, by this Proclamation desire to make known to all present and future members, friends, and followers of Our Realm the ideals upon which the Kingdom of Jerusalem is built and towards which its activities shall strive.

This Proclamation is neither a law nor a decree. It binds no conscience and imposes no legal obligations. Rather, it is a declaration of why this Kingdom exists, what it desires to cherish, and what good it seeks to advance in the world.

A kingdom without ideals is but a name. History merely imitated is but pageantry. But history approached with the question of what good may be learned from the past and how that good may be made living in the present may give rise to something new.

Therefore Jerusalem does not desire merely to remember history.

It desires to make history a vocation.

I Of Our Christian Foundation

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is, in accordance with its Constitution, a Christian state.

This does not mean that all its citizens, friends, or participants in its activities should be Christians. Freedom of religion and freedom of conscience belong to human dignity, which the Kingdom seeks to defend. No one should be compelled to believe, nor should anyone be excluded from the common good on account of their faith or lack of faith.

To abandon Christianity as the foundation of the Kingdom would, however, also mean denying its history, symbols, and very purpose of existence.

Jerusalem is a holy city to Christians. The Holy Land is the cradle of Christianity. There Christ lived, taught, suffered, died, and, according to the Christian faith, rose from the dead. The historical Kingdom of Jerusalem arose in a world in which the Christian faith permeated society, culture, and people's understanding of duty, authority, and service.

That history contains both great beauty and self-sacrifice, and violence and injustice born of human sin. Bringing the past to life does not mean repeating its errors.

Therefore, for Jerusalem, defending the Christian faith means above all living that faith in truth. Faith is best defended when it gives rise to mercy. The Cross is best honoured when it teaches us to serve. The name of Christ is borne most worthily when His teaching is seen in the way we treat one another.

II Of Vocation and the Common Good

Christian life is not confined within the walls of a church.

In the Lutheran tradition, the idea of vocation is of particular importance: a person serves God and neighbour in the life and task to which he or she has been called. Work, family, civic responsibility, helping another person, and building the common good may all be forms of service to one's neighbour.

This idea has also contributed to the Nordic understanding of responsibility, work, education, care for the vulnerable, and the common good. Jerusalem desires to preserve this heritage.

We do not regard as good a society in which a person asks only: What do I get from this? We desire also to ask: What can I give? What good can I build? Whom can I help? What has been entrusted to my care? What can I leave behind better than I found it?

Christian life is therefore not merely the confession of right doctrine, but faith made visible in deeds.

III Of Love of Neighbour, Mercy, and Justice

As one of the foremost principles of Jerusalem, We desire to set the Golden Rule taught by Christ:

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Matt. 7:12)

In this simple sentence lies the beginning of an entire social ethic. Human dignity belongs to a person because that person is human — not because he or she is useful, powerful, wealthy, healthy, like-minded, or pleasing to us.

Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that neighbourliness does not end at the boundaries of one's own nation, group, religion, or community. It was precisely the man who, according to the prejudices of his age, ought to have been considered a stranger who stopped beside the man who had been robbed. And at the end of the story Christ commands:

“Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

For this reason Jerusalem must strive to defend the weak, help those in need, show hospitality, and stand beside the oppressed.

This is no new idea.

The prophets of Israel repeatedly reminded the people that a society according to God's will is measured not only by its worship but also by how it treats its weakest members. Through Isaiah comes the command to seek justice, defend the oppressed, secure justice for the orphan, and plead the widow's cause (Isa. 1:17). In Deuteronomy God is described as the defender of the rights of widows and orphans and as one who loves the stranger; therefore God's people are likewise commanded to love the stranger (Deut. 10:17–19).

The prophet Micah summarises this calling in the words that a person must do what is right, show love and goodness, and walk while listening to God (Mic. 6:8). Christ carries this still further. In His teaching on the Last Judgement He identifies Himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. What is done to the least is done to Him (Matt. 25:35–40).

Therefore the honour of a Christian kingdom is not ultimately measured by the splendour of crowns, the height of titles, or the solemnity of ceremonies. It is measured by the purpose to which all that honour is put. If a crown reminds its bearer of responsibility, it serves its purpose. If a title inspires service, it has worth. If history gives rise to mercy, then it has truly come to life.

IV Of Christian Unity

Jerusalem desires to be ecumenical.

Over the centuries the Church of Christ has become divided among many Churches, confessions, and traditions. These differences have their histories, and not all the questions underlying them are insignificant. Yet the division of Christians cannot be an ideal.

Christ Himself prayed for His followers

“that they may all be one” (John 17:21).

Therefore Christians should seek what unites them, without having to pretend that their differences do not exist.

Jerusalem desires to see in the various Christian traditions above all different branches of the same great story: common roots of faith, a common Scripture, common prayer, a common Christ, and a common call to love God and neighbour. It is here that Jerusalem has a special significance.

Before Christianity was Western or Eastern, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, or bore the name of any later tradition, its first steps were taken in Jerusalem and in the Holy Land. Jerusalem reminds us of a time before division. Therefore it may also remind us of the longing for unity.

V Of Interreligious Encounter and Peace

Jerusalem, however, is not holy to Christians alone. It is also uniquely dear to Jews and Muslims. The heritage of Abraham, the history of the prophets, and the stories of the Holy Land connect these religions, while real and significant differences remain between them.

For this reason Jerusalem can be a symbol both of division and of encounter. We desire to choose the latter. The task of Jerusalem is not to blur the differences between religions or to claim that all religions are the same. Genuine dialogue can arise only when each person is free to be honestly what he or she is.

But difference does not require enmity. Conviction does not require contempt. Loving one's own faith does not require hatred of another person.

Therefore Jerusalem desires to promote unity among Christians, interreligious dialogue, respect for human dignity, and peace among those whose history has too often been a history of conflict and bloodshed.

If historical Jerusalem has often been a city over which people have fought, We desire Jerusalem to be an idea around which people may meet.

VI Of Creation and Its Care

Christian responsibility extends not only to other people. It extends also to the whole of creation.

In the opening chapters of Holy Scripture, the human being is placed in the Garden of Eden “to till it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). These two words belong together. To cultivate means that humanity may use the gifts of creation. We may build, grow, utilise, study, and develop. But at the same time we must preserve.

The earth was not created by humanity. Life was not invented by humanity. Animal and plant species, forests, seas, rivers, and entire ecosystems do not exist only so long as humanity sees some immediate benefit in them. They are realities given to us. Therefore dominion without responsibility becomes exploitation. Use without preservation becomes destruction. Power without humility becomes arrogance.

Jerusalem therefore recognises the protection of nature, the mitigation of climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, and the prevention of species loss as among its central ideals. Care for creation is not something foreign added to Christian faith. It follows from it.

VII Of Greed and Moderation

Behind many of the ecological problems of our time lies a question as old as humanity: When is enough enough?

Human beings need food, shelter, work, tools, and material goods. Christianity does not demand contempt for the material world. Creation is God's good gift, and its fruits may be enjoyed. But the use of what is good becomes sinful when nothing is ever enough.

Greed is counted among the deadly sins in Christian tradition, for it binds a person to what he or she possesses and makes that person imagine that security lies in what can be gathered for oneself. Greed is also bound up with humanity's ancient temptation to make itself the measure of all things: to imagine that it always knows better, rules over everything, and is answerable only to itself.

From this comes hubris. And hubris readily gives rise to the thought that if a person can take something, that person also has the right to take it.

The Christian answer to this is not opposition to all development, prosperity, or material good. It is moderation. Gratitude. Responsibility. The ability to say: this is enough. The ability to leave something for another. The ability to think of tomorrow and not only today. The ability to ask what kind of world we shall leave to those who come after us.

VIII Of a Kingdom of Small Deeds

The ideals of Jerusalem are great. Our Kingdom alone cannot halt climate change. It cannot alone save endangered species. It cannot abolish poverty in the world. It cannot unite a divided Christendom overnight, nor bring peace everywhere people fight against one another.

But it does not follow from this that nothing is worth doing. On the contrary. Every great change begins when someone does something small. One tree planted is worth more than a thousand speeches about forests left unplanted. One person helped is a real person. One reconciliation is real peace. One act of kindness is a real deed. One prayer for unity is a real prayer. One piece of nature preserved is a real part of creation.

Therefore Jerusalem desires to be a kingdom of small deeds with great ideals. A tree may be planted in the name of the Kingdom. Nature conservation may be supported. A person in need may be helped. Charitable works may be undertaken. Unity may be built. History and culture may be cherished. A person may be given the opportunity to use his or her own gifts for the good of something greater than oneself.

And if the Kingdom grows, its deeds may grow as well. What begins with one tree may one day become a forest. What begins with one donation may grow into a project. What begins with a few people may grow into a community. What matters most is not the size of the deeds. What matters most is their direction.

IX Of the Kingdom We Build

Jerusalem does not seek to build a kingdom chiefly out of land. It seeks to build it out of human deeds, thoughts, memories, and common work. Its true greatness does not depend upon how many square kilometres it governs, but upon how much good is brought forth in its name. Its worth does not depend upon whether the states of the world recognise it, but upon whether its ideals are worthy of recognition.

Its history must not be merely an imitation of the past, but the use of the past as a mirror through which we may ask what justice, service, responsibility, faith, beauty, and community mean in our own age.

We do not claim to be building a perfect society. The Christian understanding of humanity does not even allow us such an illusion. Human beings are fallible, and everything built by human hands remains incomplete. But incompleteness does not free us from striving for what is better.

Therefore We desire that Jerusalem should always strive to be a little more just, a little more merciful, a little wiser, and a little more beautiful than it was yesterday.

X Our Invitation

For this reason We invite all who desire to walk alongside this Kingdom to build it with their own gifts. Let the artist create beauty. Let the writer tell stories. Let the scholar seek knowledge. Let the craftsman work with his hands. Let the musician give voice to music. Let the lover of nature plant and preserve.

Let those who have much share. Let those who have little not imagine that their contribution is without significance. For a kingdom is not built by great deeds alone. It is built by every person who decides to use something of their own for the common good.

For the Christian, this is service to one's neighbour. For a person of another faith or of no faith, it may be service to human dignity, nature, peace, culture, or the common good. And in these deeds we may walk side by side.

XI Of Hope

In the end, Jerusalem is above all a project of hope.

It begins with the idea that the past need not be forgotten in order to build the future. That what is old may receive new meaning. That tradition may live without becoming a chain. That Christian conviction may be strong without being narrow-minded. That different people may belong to the same community. That history may be loved without repeating its injustices. That even a small deed matters. That the world is worth caring for even if we ourselves never see all the fruits of our labour.

We plant trees in whose shade we may never sit. We build things that may continue after us. We preserve the memories of those who came before us, and leave our own memories to those who come after us. There the past, the present, and the future meet. There lies the purpose of Jerusalem.

Historia reviviscat, prosit delectetque. May history live again. May it bring forth good. May it give delight. And may it lead us to build in the world at least a little more of what is true, good, and beautiful.

This We proclaim to be Our ideal and Our vocation.

Proclaimed in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Anno Domini 2026.

Thomas Rex
King of Jerusalem