“There is no doubt that this is a nation which was built upon the Christian faith—that the Lord, indeed, was the God of this nation, that it was founded upon the principles of God’s Word, upon the teachings of Christianity, and for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. All these things are well documented, in the charters of the original colonies, in the original compacts (like the famous Mayflower Compact), covenants, and constitutions. When the Supreme Court looked into the matter in 1892, poring over all the original documents, they concluded with one unanimous, unambiguous voice: ‘This is a Christian nation.’” (REV. D. JAMES KENNEDY)
Those are the words from one of my “Heroes of the Faith”, the late Rev. D. James Kennedy (1930-2007), from the Foreword of Dr. David Gibbs, Jr.’s great book, One Nation Under God, (Christian Law Association, 2003). How I miss the wisdom of this great servant of our Lord who was never afraid to stand up and boldly speak about ALL of the pressing issues of the day, from becoming a Christian, to living a Christian life, to resisting evil and celebrating the founding and the goodness of America. Would that all pastors would emulate the dedication—the conviction and the courage-- of this great Christian patriot, Dennis James Kennedy. He was convinced, as I am, that our nation, the U.S.A., was founded as a Christian, or at least as a Christian-oriented nation. Sadly, not all pastors agree.
Tragically, a sizeable portion of our population would either vehemently disagree or are totally “in the dark” over what I am writing about: the original Christian orientation of our American nation. Even more disturbing is the realization that this nation—this U.S.A.—is no longer even a Christian “oriented” nation, but is like a ship without a rudder, going to and fro in the storms of politics—of leftist Marxist/socialist rhetoric and lies—of deliberate obfuscations over what America always stood for, despite our “feet of clay”—over an increasing acceptance of violence perpetrated by the ALLIES OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY—that Klan of New Bolsheviks that, it appears, will take over control of our entire government on January 20, 2021. Ships without rudders never reach their destinations, but ground themselves on the dangerous shoals where they are ripped apart, and where their passengers and crews lose everything, including their lives. Countries that abandon their founding principles, that are “steered” by the purveyors of mendacity, aided and abetted by the cowardice of their people (many of whom refuse to believe that their ship of state is rushing toward perdition), will never survive in freedom but will, invariably, surrender to the collectivist tyranny of the liars who propose to lead them to “the promised land”.
I once had a pastor who claimed that the U.S. was not originally founded as a “Christian” or a Christian-oriented nation, nor were many of our Founding Fathers real Christians, but were mostly “deists”. He further suggested that our Triune God had no influence in the writing of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. He was a good and Godly man, but I always felt that his ignorance about the underpinnings of our country’s founding was the product of a general lack of truth seeking in many of our nation’s seminaries. I had several friendly “discussions” with him on this subject over time, but neither of us budged from our positions, which were diametrically opposed. Was my pastor correct? Did the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have no foundational influence in America’s early formation, or was he speaking out of a deliberately imposed upon him lack of knowledge on this subject? Let’s delve into it.
Almost twenty years ago, Dr. David Gibbs, Jr., President of The Christian Law Association, broached this subject in his excellent book, One Nation Under God. He wrote:
“America was founded as one nation under God, but in our
modern day, many of these remembrances are disappearing
rapidly as a new spirit of secularism continues to sweep
across our land…. Some secular groups are doing everything
possible to remove any vestige of Christianity from our nation’s
culture. These people are dedicated to extracting any reference
to God, the Bible, or Jesus Christ from our history and from
American public life. Unfortunately, in many cases, their
efforts toward this end have been very effective.”
Hosea 4:6 tells us: “My people perish from lack of knowledge”. Indeed, they do! And so do entire nations!
God’s Word also poses the question: “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). From the time of our founding, America was a country of mostly Christians (or at least people who feared God), whose God was the LORD. But it seems to me that far too many modern Christians, real or nominal, are letting those very “foundations” be eroded and virtually forgotten, for we seem to be retreating before God’s enemies and leaving the field of battle because the struggle is too “worldly” (and in truth, too difficult and, perhaps in the near future—too DANGEROUS). After all, if Christians are only “pilgrims” passing through this earthly life, what does it matter what kind of government we endure? A tyrannical dictatorship is no different to “pilgrims” than is a constitutional republic for those who don’t care, or who are too cowardly to resist that tyranny.
I’ve never understood, much less sympathized with, that viewpoint. I care that the God-blessed nation our ancestors gave us, and that we once knew, is swiftly being converted into a land of violent secularism, ruled by unscrupulous demagogues who worship big and powerful government—budding “proto-tyrants” who have, over decades, deliberately allowed our nation to be INFESTED with criminals, violent gangs, illegal alien invaders, lying “fake news” media, left wing powerful organizations who despise being “tied down” with the chains of a written constitution, and profound ignorance! And all the while, many Christians seem to merely stand aside in their cowardly lack of concern, never daring (or caring) to take a proactive stand against the tide of illegality and evil that is slowly engulfing us and threatening not only their futures, but their children’s and grandchildren’s futures.
Many of these unconcerned Christians pray constantly that an incorrect interpretation of the “Rapture” will take them quickly out of this world so they will not have to face the inevitable consequences of their non-involvement. In my eyes that is despicable!
These “inevitable consequences” of their cavalier attitudes regarding resisting evil may face them, and all of us, sooner than we know, for if history teaches us anything, it is that to appease evil only begets more of the same, in exponentially increasing ferocity! Any honest student of real history knows that America was a nation that was built upon the Christian faith, and that the LORD was once the God of our nation; that it was founded mostly on His Word and upon basic Christian doctrines. We all know that the Christians of our early history were far from perfect people (they were sinners saved by grace and a trust in Jesus’ shed blood unto salvation, the same as are Christians today). Our Founders and those that came after them, including many sincere Christians LONG before America ever existed, did tolerate the evil institution of human chattel slavery, and they didn’t always act honorably toward the original Native People or, indeed, even with each other. But without doubt they seemed to have a basic dedication to national morality and truth and character lacking in so many Americans today. Sadly, even lacking in far too many modern Christians.
The Founders of the U.S. made it perfectly clear that only a religious people would be able to keep the liberty given to them by God, and enshrined in our nation’s “birth certificate”, our Declaration of Independence, and in our U.S. Constitution, which CODIFIED our God-given rights. Of course not all of the people who came to the shores of North America long ago were Christians, or at least genuine Christians. But the progressive deceivers of today, who are trying to rewrite our history (or obliterate it), cannot destroy the facts that people who were “religious non-conformists” were primarily those who established our early colonies, despite their admittedly many faults and shortcomings.
Let me state the arguments FOR early America being a basically Christian land, by paraphrasing them from Dr. Gibb’s book, mentioned above:
- Christopher (means Christ-Bearer) Columbus was primarily motivated to make his “impossible” voyage because of his Christian faith, as imperfect as it may have been;
- When the Mayflower Pilgrim Separatists landed at the tip of Cape Cod in November of 1620, they formulated, wrote, and signed The Mayflower Compact, clearly stating that they came to the New World “For the Glory of God and Advancement of the Christian Faith”;
- The Puritans, who arrived in North America in 1630, first settled what is now Boston, and then created Bible based “commonwealths”. They and the earlier Pilgrims practiced representative government that was modeled upon their church covenants, and these ultimately became the foundation for much of the U.S. Constitution;
- Many towns in our early colonies provided safety for those who did not agree Scripturally with other Christians in other colonies—notably Roger Williams in Rhode Island and William Penn in Pennsylvania;
- Early education of our first colonists and settlers was done in the home, and was based on the Bible and on Christian values. Most of our Founders, themselves, received a total Christian education at various levels (over half of them were graduated from what we today would call “Bible colleges”);
- Our earliest universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (now havens of politically correct secularism and anti-Christian propaganda and socialist hatred of Christianity and free enterprise) were originally Christian institutions. It was very rare for any American prior to the 1775 Revolution to not know Scripture;
- Great evangelists like George Whitefield preached throughout our early colonies before the Revolutionary War, which precipitated a CHRISTIAN religious revival known as “The Great Awakening”, and helped to draw the colonies together spiritually;
- Many colonial pastors, especially in New England, preached independence from Great Britain. Those who we refer to as “The Minutemen” of colonial times (and most were ‘militiamen’, to be accurate), were often members of local churches, and some were organized by their pastor or head deacon, as was the case in Lexington, Massachusetts. Many of their pro-freedom sermons informed their members about political matters and what the response of faithful Christians should be. (They were not fearful slaves of our Federal Internal Revenue Service, as so many pastors and churches are today);
- Christianity shaped the early lives and thinking of notable Americans of our colonial past, such as George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry. These men, and MOST of their fellow revolutionaries, were NOT DEISTS, but were humble Christians who believed the Bible, and were men of prayer;
- Christian values and teachings inspired the writers of our Declaration of Independence, for the liberties it espoused were understood by all to come from the God of the Bible. (While Thomas Jefferson, the main writer of our Declaration, may or may not have been a true Christian—in my opinion he was a “nominal” Christian at best-- he surely was an astute student of God’s Word);
- Those who wrote our 1787 Constitution, and later our 1791 Bill of Rights, understood well the sinfulness of man, for that was the guiding principle of that great document. During our founding era, the Christian Bible was quoted MORE than any other source in the political writings of our Founding Generation.
Admittedly, each one of these truths can be, and surely has been, refuted by the serpent tongued proponents of progressivism and perfidy that are so ascendant in our land today. The DISHONORABLE and DISLOYAL “left wing” in our country, utilizing its “kept whores” of the Main Stream Media, and its “allies” in the treacherous “Neo-Con” movement, have moved mountains over the past several decades to try to remove all influences of Christian Doctrines, traditional Christian mores, and the positive influences of historic Western Civilization from this nation, and continue to do so to this very day. And sad to say, this Satanic gaggle of freedom despisers have been far too successful in accomplishing their goals than traditional Christians and/or American patriots have been in resisting these attacks on our liberties. If we continue to allow the ENEMIES of liberty to win easy victories on the political fields of battle, and if we continue to hide our fearful heads in the sand because “resisting evil” is too “worldly”, then we’ll truly have no one to blame but ourselves when our society degenerates into total chaos and collectivist tyranny. I’ve made my choice. Now it’s YOUR turn!
We’ll discuss this further next time, in Part 2.