As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, I want to make sure that we don’t forget the God factor – which is vital in telling the true story of America.
Here are 10 things I think we should all know about America’s founding:
- God is found in our nation’s early charters and original documents. My good friend Bill Federer even wrote a whole book on this, “The Original 13.” Here is one example of those original charters, Virginia: “Every plantation which our heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted out” (1606, a year before they sailed).
- “The Biblical concept of covenant gave rise to the American idea of constitution,” noted Dr. Os Guinness. The Pilgrims started the process, when they wrote up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement under God to create “a civil body politic.” They said they came “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”
- The first great leader of the Puritans, who led hundreds of Bible-based settlers, was John Winthrop. They founded Boston in 1630, and he famously declared, “For we must consider that we should be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people shall be upon us.”
- The first fully developed constitution on American soil was produced by the founders of Connecticut in 1639, based on a sermon by Rev. Thomas Hooker the year before. It was called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. It mentions that the goal of the colony was “the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.” This document was an ancestor of the U.S. Constitution, and that’s why to this day, Connecticut uses the moniker “The Constitution State.”
- Education in the first two centuries in America was Bible-based. As one example: “The New England Primer” taught the ABC’s using biblical teaching, such as “A-In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. B-Thy life to mend, the Bible tend. C-Christ crucified, for sinners died.” All the original colleges were Bible-based – most of them were established to train ministers of the Gospel. This includes Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton and so on.
- The separation of the institutions of the state and the church were created by Christians for the sake of freedom of conscience. On a small scale, Rev. Roger Williams created a refuge for conscience sake in Rhode Island in the early 1600s. Rev. William Penn did the same in a larger territory in Pennsylvania, which he called “a holy experiment.” Penn said the Golden Rule of Jesus (i.e., Matthew 7:12) was to govern the colony.
- Most of the key patriots of the founding era were committed Christians or were informed by the Bible in their political views:
Samuel Adams, the lightning rod of the American Revolution, observed, when he signed the Declaration of Independence (the creation of which had a lot to do with him): “We have this day restored the Sovereign, to whom men ought to be obedient. … He reigns in heaven. From the rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come.”
Patrick Henry, the great orator of the Revolution, wrote in his Last Will and Testament, after listing specific gifts: “This is all the Inheritance I can give to my dear family, The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
George Washington advised the Indians who asked him to train their sons: “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.”
Consider that even the lesser orthodox Ben Franklin called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention, and Thomas Jefferson said that state-established religion departs from Jesus, whom he called, “the holy author of our religion.” In effect, he argues that Jesus gives us religious freedom.
- The Continental Congress had prayers for God’s help as our nation faced the strongest military on earth at that time. Congress issued multiple prayer proclamations during the American War for Independence, many of which referenced Jesus.
- Our national birth certificate – the Declaration of Independence mentions God four times, most notably as the source of our rights. They declared independence from Great Britain and, at the same time, dependence upon Almighty God.
- Our Constitution was signed “in the Year of our Lord” (1787). It contains a thoroughly biblical view of man as a sinner. Hence, power is divided in multiple ways.
No wonder President Eisenhower once said that America is not America without the Lord: “Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first – the most basic – expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God’s help, it will continue to be.”
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