Introduction
The title of the following research is called “Discovering America.” In coming to this work, I realize that there are several different ways that such a title could be interpreted by the reader. Perhaps you have assumed that the title implies that the following research is going to be about those brave explorers who weathered the stormy seas in search of far distant lands and happened to be blown to North American shores. Or, maybe you have taken the title to be referring to the countless pilgrims and immigrants who have migrated to the land of the free over the many past years in order to earn a better way of life for themselves and their beloved families. In reality, the following research is about both, but neither; a paradox which is resolved by understanding my true intention, which is to spark a quest to rediscovery.
The sad and sobering truth is that this once great nation, the United States of America, is in steep cultural decline. This decline is a trend that has been brewing for over fifty years. The last decade has brought forth the fruit of that societal decay like never before. Today any American, if their eyes be open to the state of the culture that surrounds them, can see that their country faces great impending threats. Those are not merely they that come from surrounding nations that would destroy the American way of life, but much more fatal threats which stem from a darkened heart within.
Ours is a culture marked by massive political upheaval. Cities are quite literally charred with fire. Supposed “peaceful protests” leave peoples way of life in shambles. A widening chasm continues to expand each day between political parties. There is an all-out assault upon objective truth, which is the only sure foundation of any society. In exchange for truth, we have adopted relativism and subjectivism, teaching that anyone’s opinion matters despite the merit of their claims; that is, anyone whose opinion does not contradict the establishment of either party.
Corporations now engage in blatant censorship of free speech that contradicts the narrative of the status-quo. Private businesses, who are supposed to be the backbone of America’s capitalistic society, are now charged with carrying out the orders and mandates of the government. Throughout most of 2020, churches were ordered to close their doors; most followed through. In addition, there was a political election that nearly half of the country believed was fraudulent, and much evidence suggests that it was.
Along with the first amendment, the second amendment right to bear arms faces constant threats of revision or extinction. Homosexuality is championed and paraded across the nation; promoted especially by the public education system and places of “higher learning.” Abortion has claimed the lives of over sixty-million unborn babies, and the number grows higher each day. Evolutionism is used to indoctrinate the vast majority of American students into believing that they are merely an animal and that the Bible cannot be trusted.
Indeed, the list of indictments upon this nation could easily grow to fill many disheartening pages. Yet, one must eventually come to ask the question of how we got to where we are now? To answer this, it is important to look back upon the bedrock founding of America itself. Perhaps the most profound question we could ask is whether the current trends we observe are simply the natural consequences of something inherently built into the fabric of American civilization, or if they are rather the biproduct of a generation(s) that has lost sight of the once well-constructed dream of freedom. It is my assertion that if we were to uncover the real story behind America’s founding; the story that has long been lost to historical revisionism; we would in essence be in following with the title of this project as we would really “Discover America” for the first time. As we do, we would discover the real story of the explorers, pilgrims, and immigrants that made it possible.
The Theological Context of American Liberty
The Modern Sentiments
“America is a Christian Nation!”
Indeed, there are few statements throughout the United States today that are as provocative as this one. To utter such words aloud on the premises of the average university campus would nearly be your own personal call for martyrdom. Nothing “triggers” college “snowflakes” to uncontrolled rage more than mention of the name of Christ.
And yet, even many Christians have followed suit with the culture’s cancelling of Christianity from its historical and public arena. Many Christians simply take it for granted that America either never was a truly Christian nation, and/or should not be expected to live up to Christianity in the future. After all, Christians should merely “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” According to one article, written by Bruce A. Baker on “The Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics,”
Prior to 1973, there was nearly universal agreement among dispensationalists that political action was either outright forbidden or a choice left up to the individual believer. By all accounts, the believer’s responsibility to the political system, if such a responsibility existed at all, was a (far) distant second to the believer’s responsibility towards personal and global evangelism.1
Baker goes on in the same article to say, “All [dispensationalists] agree that the Christian is not called upon to establish ‘kingdom ethics.’”2 He writes, “it is only when Christ establishes His kingdom at the second coming that civilization will be made right.”3
Baker’s publication was written to examine the impact that the political activism seen on the part of two prominent dispensational evangelicals, Jerry Falwell Sr. and Jerry Falwell Jr., has had upon dispensational thought. And yet, despite the Falwell’s alleged political activism, Baker cites a rather startling quote from Jerry Falwell Jr., in which Falwell remarks,
It’s such a distortion of the teachings of Jesus to say that what he taught us to do personally — to love our neighbors as ourselves, help the poor — can somehow be imputed on a nation…Jesus never told Caesar how to run Rome…You almost have to believe that this is a theocracy to think that way, to think that public policy should be dictated by the teachings of Jesus.4
Such a statement ought to fall harsh upon the ears of the observant Christian. If Falwell here claims that society is not to be built upon the rock of truth, which is Jesus Christ, then what other sure foundation is there to construct a society upon? The vague sense of morality that fills the gap is in keeping with his father, Falwell Sr., who is partly known for his notable organization, “The Moral Majority.” It is crucial to point out that this organization was admittedly not created to advance Christianity in the public square. Rather, the organizations aim was to be “pro-moral,” and incorporated peoples from all faith’s, believers and unbelievers, who had a common interest in bringing about “pro-American” political change.5 Within the vein of this thinking, the Falwell’s are in good company. Today, even the conservative movement in America is far removed from any notion of a Christianized form of government.
These sentiments are bolstered further by those such as the highly prominent evangelical Dr. John MacArthur, who writes,
Over the past several centuries, people have mistakenly linked democracy and political freedom to Christianity. That’s why many contemporary evangelicals believe the American Revolution was completely justified, both politically and scripturally. They follow the argumentation of the Declaration of Independence, which declares that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are divinely endowed rights. Therefore, those believers say such rights are part of a Christian worldview.6
“But,” MacArthur continues,
Such a position is contrary to the clear teachings and commands of Romans 13:1-7. So, the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings that God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers.7
Later on, MacArthur asserts very plainly, “God is simply not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into ‘Christian nations.’”8 Writing with affirmation toward these statements, Jeremiah Johnson comments in an article entitled The Futility of Political Change, posted to MacArthur’s ministry “Grace to You,” on October 16, 2020, saying,
Investing our efforts into political battles turns our mission field into the enemy. We are not at war with the culture—we’re at war with the sin that undergirds and drives it. And the goal of that battle is not gaining political influence, but rescuing souls from eternal damnation…This world is not our home, and we shouldn’t waste time striving to make it more accommodating to our standards and morality…In fairness, how else should we expect unrepentant sinners to act?9
The point of the above case is not necessarily to bring a charge against any one of the listed individuals, nor is it to disprove the cogency of any particular system of theology (such is not the scope of this treatise). It is however to establish the very apparent bias that exists, even amongst “conservatives,” in regards to the role that Christianity is to play within the public realm, and the view towards the founding history of America itself. Indeed, such bias is a very important issue to contemplate, and to test for its accuracy, for as George Orwell reminds us, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”10
The Founders View
So, what exactly were the views of the Founding Fathers on these matters? What actually were the convictions of those whom MacArthur condemns for violating New Testament principles? Keeping in mind the quotations heard above, consider now the words of the Founders themselves, who penned their names to the declaration under penalty of death; let their words be commentary upon the modern sentiments.
Consider John Adam’s who said,
“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book…What a Utopia- what a Paradise would this region be! The Bible is the best book in the world.”11
Or Benjamin Rush who said,
“The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects.”12
Or, signer to the constitution, James McHenry who once said,
“The Holy Scriptures…can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness.”13
Quite ironically, the man who is considered to be the “Father of American Education,” Noah Webster, once proclaimed,
“All of the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from them despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”14
It is obvious from just these few quotes that the Founders possessed a view on this matter that belies the status-quo. Far from being at enmity with the Scriptures, the Founders believed them to be the highest ideal for a society. What is perhaps most noteworthy about the nature of such comments is the way in which the Founders obviously viewed the political and social impacts of the Bible. Indeed, this is what is perhaps most shocking to modern culture which has all but segmented “religion” into the realm of personal spirituality and piety.
In the eyes of modern public opinion the best kind of Bible is a privatized Bible. “Sure,” the world says, “you may have your own personal convictions about Jesus, just don’t bring it into the public realm!” What was once a rigorous and respectable pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, and truth has been demoted to nothing more than a choice in lifestyle and morality, and a pick of one’s social club. Thus, religion is no longer about the objective truth (we have science for that), but about what one subjectively identifies with. Of course, this is precisely why you are to keep your religion private, because who are you to critique another’s choice in lifestyle? This is a nation of freedom!
By and large, as noted above, the church itself has even embraced this way of thinking. Notice how Jerry Falwell Jr., in the quote referenced before, argued that what Jesus “taught us to do personally…” should not be imputed nationally. Or, in Johnson’s quote in which he writes that the mission of the church is, “not gaining political influence, but rescuing souls from eternal damnation.” In other words, the focus of Christianity should be upon the realm of the personal, the spiritual, the pious.
On the contrary, what is observed by the Founders is an absolute acknowledgment of the connection between the righteousness and holiness accomplished only through regeneration, and its vital impact upon the public realm. It is not that the Founders denied piety and spirituality, but that they realized an interplay between personal holiness and a just society; an interplay that has been severed by the modern world and the modern evangelical. So clear is this line of thinking in the statement by John Adams that he declares that a society that has the Bible as its only law book would be a “Utopia” and a “Paradise!” Again, James McHenry pronounced that it is the Holy Scriptures alone which can secure to society “order and peace” and to our courts and governments throughout the land, “Purity, stability, and usefulness.”
Noah Webster warns that neglecting the Bible’s precepts leads only to “vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war.” All very public matters! Benjamin Rush affirms this by saying that renouncement of the Bible leads philosophers to, “swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects.” It is upon this basis that the words of President John Adam’s are seen most clearly, when he said,
“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”15
Such claims can only really be true, however, if Christianity is more than a mere personal matter, or subjective choice; a “give Jesus a chance” proposition. Such claims may only be cogent if one first recognizes that God exists objectively, and that He is sovereign over every aspect of life and culture. For if God does not actually exist, then all is vanity. If He exists, but is only sovereign over one’s choice in religion, then there is no need for rulers to abide by His commands. Only if He is sovereign over every aspect of life, can all men be accountable to Him, and be judged for their disobedience. As Pastor Douglas Wilson writes very profoundly,
If the dead are not raised, then rulers can rule in the old-fashioned way…Marx was right about a certain kind of religion- pie-in-the-sky-when-we-die-sweet-by-and-by religion is an opiate for the masses. But resurrection life and power in the middle of history is a nightmare for the principalities and powers, and their only device is to persuade the churches to stop talking about it.16
The Founders realized this fact all too well. They understood that the true gospel is the socially relevant gospel. Indeed, the true gospel is the world transforming gospel, not relegated to silent prayers in the dark of one’s closet.
Just as Revolutionary War general and first President to the United States, George Washington once stated, “The federal government . . . can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.”17 The virtue about which he spoke was that which comes from the regenerate heart of the Christian; the heart in which dwells the Holy Spirit of God. This fact is observed by Washington’s statements in his farewell address to the nation in which he said,
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars… reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.18
American historian David Barton writes,
Today, we would expect ministers to start Bible societies, but in previous generations it was presidents, military generals, attorney generals, and supreme court justices who led the way, because they especially understood the practical relevance of the Bible not only to everyday life but also its indispensable importance to the maintenance of national life.19
Conclusion
The attitude which was advanced by the Founders in regards to Christianity’s central role within society may come as a surprise to most American’s today. Yet, in reality there is no warrant for their shock. Understanding the history (and the theology) which the nation came to be born out of is key to understanding the political philosophy that once undergirded it.
This history, theology, and political philosophy is combined in perhaps no greater an account than in the launching and establishment of the first successful English colony, Jamestown. In May of 1607 English colonists landed upon Jamestown Island, with the mission in mind to settle present day Virginia.20 Sanctioned by King James I, the mission’s decree read precisely,
We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their [colonists] desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true knowledge and Worship of God…DO, by these our Letters, Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and well-intended Desires.21
Shortly after their arrival on North American shores, Robert Hunt, Pastor of Jamestown colony offered a prophetic prayer saying,
We do hereby Dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World.22
Whatever can be said of the founding history of America, it is certain that it is not contrary to the advancement of public Christianity. Yet, the Christianity that used to exist is not the Christianity of today. The Christianity of yesterday included a church that viewed their role as central in the advancement of the very Kingdom of God. In that sense, one may say that the early American church was postmillennial in doctrine.
Today, the church has been banished from the public realm, being relegated to no more than private spirituality. On the rise is the non-essential church whose doors are easily shut. Consequently, the fabric of American culture is coming unraveled before the eyes of its citizens, who wonder in amazement at its fateful crumbling.
It so crumbles, because we have not kept the words of the Founding Fathers, but rather changed them through historical revisionism. As such, we prove their words to be true. The words that in sum are captured by the Psalmist who profoundly writes, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (33:12).
Footnotes
1 Bruce A. Baker, “Dispensationalism’s Evolving Theory of Political Action: How Roe V. Wade and Jerry Falwell Brought Dispensationalism from Rejecting Political Action to Embracing It,” Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics, Sept. 16-17, 2020, https://dispensationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Baker_Final2_Falwell-CDH-2020.pdf, 5.
2 Ibid, 6.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid, 4.
5 Ibid, 16.
6 John MacArthur, Why Government Can’t Save You, (Nashville, TN: Word, 2000), 6-7.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid, 13.
9 Jeremiah Johnson, “The Futility of Political Change,” Grace to You, October 16, 2020, https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B160108.
10 George Orwell, 1984, (New York, New York; Signet Classics, 1961), 34.
11 David Barton, The Founder’s Bible, ed. Brad Cummings, and Lance Wubbels, (Newbury Park, CA: Shiloh Road Publishers, 2012), xiii.
12 Ibid, xii.
13 Ibid, xiii.
14 Ibid.
15 “Importance of Morality and Religion in Government,” Wall Builders, December 29, 2016, https://wallbuilders.com/importance-morality-religion-government/.
16 Douglas Wilson, Heaven Misplaced: Christ’s Kingdom on Earth (Moscow, ID; Canon Press, 2008), 22.
17 “Religion in Government,” https://wallbuilders.com/importance-morality-religion-government/.
18 Ibid.
19 Barton, Founder’s Bible, xii.
20 Ibid, 34.
21 Ibid, 35.
22 Ibid.
