Wednesday, November 15, 2006
America's Christian History
"A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about...America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture." -President Woodrow Wilson
What can we glean from President Woodrow Wilson's quote? If we don't know where we've been, we cannot possibly know where we are going or for that matter, we won't know what to do once we get there. Without understanding history, His-Story, God's providential plan and will through the eons of time and through His covenant people, man loses his vision and will as a result forfeit his destiny. Without a clear understanding of our godly legacy, there is no reliable rudder to steer the great ship called America through our troubling times.
History is one of two lights that can assist man as we seek to navigate through the darkness, traps, and pitfalls that abound in this world. Patrick Henry in his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech affirms this truth, "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past." Patrick Henry is pointing to a powerful principle that provides a lamp for mankind in the midst of murkiness and uncertainty, it is the light that comes through the study of history.
There is another light that shines as well. It is the brightest light of all. It is called the Bible, the word of God. God's word provides an accurate filter or grid to correctly assess history. It will expose the so-called "history' that has been rewritten or revised for political gain or cultural corruption. Together, God's word and history act similar to the relationship of the sun and moon. One is the greater light that rules the day and one is the lesser light that rules the night. Both are important, however, if we are going to see clearly enough to secure a future and a hope for America.
A philosopher once stated, "the surest way to destroy a people is to sever her roots." Karl Marx, the father of communism, declared, "Take away the heritage of the people and they are easily persuaded." Psalm 88:12 states, "righteousness cannot long endure in the land of forgetfulness." All these quotes reveal the dangers of what happens to a people when they become ignorant of, revise, or deny their history. Their root system that supplies their freedom, liberty, and prosperity will become severed and their foundations will be destroyed. Thus they will be easily led astray and will become a prey to enemies from within and from without.
There is overwhelming evidence of God's hand in establishing America and developing it to be a city on a hill, a light to the nations. A University of Houston study of the founding era wanted to see why the American form of government had endured so well. They wanted to see whom the founders quoted in their writings. Out of 15,000 writings they examined, they found 3,154 direct quotes:
· 34% (or about 1000 quotes) were taken directly from the Bible
· Another 60% (close to 2000 quotes) were based indirectly on the Bible.
The Founding Fathers, though not perfect, were Biblical in their orientation and used the Bible as their political textbook, which became the basis for our government and laws. Their understanding of God's word and history gave to mankind the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind's brutal history. If we, as Americans, do not return to their understanding of God's word and history, then America as we know it will continue to stand in jeopardy.
Daniel Webster, esteemed as one of the five greatest senators in U.S. history warned, "If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end." (Judge for yourself, if his warning is not coming to pass in the land of the free and the home of the brave).
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." -George Washington, the Father of our Country.
"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are a nation under God, we are a nation gone under." -Ronald Reagan (America today still wants the fruits of Christianity, we just don't want the root of Christianity that produces these blessings in the first place. Can these fruits long endure if we remove the only basis for their existence).
"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." "Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Saviour of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day. Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Saviour and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before." -John Quincy Adams, sixth President of America
"Education is useless without the Bible." "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all of our civil constitutions and laws....All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." -Noah Webster, Father of American Education.
"I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them. We neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism." -Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
"All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent State Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet." -Robert Winthrop, U.S. representative, author and orator.
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams, Second President of America.
"I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America...Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." -Alexis de Tocqueville, Historian.
Our Founding Fathers knew our goodness came from our faith in Jesus Christ and living according to His word. They knew that only "One Nation Under God" can produce order in society on one hand and freedom to individuals on the other. They knew freedom was the power to do as we ought and not to do as we want. They knew there were two enemies to liberty, lawlessness and immorality amongst the citizenry and tyranny in civil government. They knew self-government under God was the key to protecting liberty. Only a religious, moral, and virtuous people who put restraints upon their appetites, lusts, and greed can remain a free people. Both the Bible and our history attests to these truths. May we return to these truths before America loses her vision and therefore forfeits her destiny.
-Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas
Elijah Ministries
P.O. Box 3126
Waco, TX 76707
e-mail: elijahmin@ifriendly.com
Website: www.mttu.com/elijahmin
What can we glean from President Woodrow Wilson's quote? If we don't know where we've been, we cannot possibly know where we are going or for that matter, we won't know what to do once we get there. Without understanding history, His-Story, God's providential plan and will through the eons of time and through His covenant people, man loses his vision and will as a result forfeit his destiny. Without a clear understanding of our godly legacy, there is no reliable rudder to steer the great ship called America through our troubling times.
History is one of two lights that can assist man as we seek to navigate through the darkness, traps, and pitfalls that abound in this world. Patrick Henry in his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech affirms this truth, "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past." Patrick Henry is pointing to a powerful principle that provides a lamp for mankind in the midst of murkiness and uncertainty, it is the light that comes through the study of history.
There is another light that shines as well. It is the brightest light of all. It is called the Bible, the word of God. God's word provides an accurate filter or grid to correctly assess history. It will expose the so-called "history' that has been rewritten or revised for political gain or cultural corruption. Together, God's word and history act similar to the relationship of the sun and moon. One is the greater light that rules the day and one is the lesser light that rules the night. Both are important, however, if we are going to see clearly enough to secure a future and a hope for America.
A philosopher once stated, "the surest way to destroy a people is to sever her roots." Karl Marx, the father of communism, declared, "Take away the heritage of the people and they are easily persuaded." Psalm 88:12 states, "righteousness cannot long endure in the land of forgetfulness." All these quotes reveal the dangers of what happens to a people when they become ignorant of, revise, or deny their history. Their root system that supplies their freedom, liberty, and prosperity will become severed and their foundations will be destroyed. Thus they will be easily led astray and will become a prey to enemies from within and from without.
There is overwhelming evidence of God's hand in establishing America and developing it to be a city on a hill, a light to the nations. A University of Houston study of the founding era wanted to see why the American form of government had endured so well. They wanted to see whom the founders quoted in their writings. Out of 15,000 writings they examined, they found 3,154 direct quotes:
· 34% (or about 1000 quotes) were taken directly from the Bible
· Another 60% (close to 2000 quotes) were based indirectly on the Bible.
The Founding Fathers, though not perfect, were Biblical in their orientation and used the Bible as their political textbook, which became the basis for our government and laws. Their understanding of God's word and history gave to mankind the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind's brutal history. If we, as Americans, do not return to their understanding of God's word and history, then America as we know it will continue to stand in jeopardy.
Quotes From The Founding Fathers
Daniel Webster, esteemed as one of the five greatest senators in U.S. history warned, "If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end." (Judge for yourself, if his warning is not coming to pass in the land of the free and the home of the brave).
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." -George Washington, the Father of our Country.
"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are a nation under God, we are a nation gone under." -Ronald Reagan (America today still wants the fruits of Christianity, we just don't want the root of Christianity that produces these blessings in the first place. Can these fruits long endure if we remove the only basis for their existence).
"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." "Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Saviour of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day. Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Saviour and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before." -John Quincy Adams, sixth President of America
"Education is useless without the Bible." "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all of our civil constitutions and laws....All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." -Noah Webster, Father of American Education.
"I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them. We neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism." -Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
"All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent State Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet." -Robert Winthrop, U.S. representative, author and orator.
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams, Second President of America.
"I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America...Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." -Alexis de Tocqueville, Historian.
Our Founding Fathers knew our goodness came from our faith in Jesus Christ and living according to His word. They knew that only "One Nation Under God" can produce order in society on one hand and freedom to individuals on the other. They knew freedom was the power to do as we ought and not to do as we want. They knew there were two enemies to liberty, lawlessness and immorality amongst the citizenry and tyranny in civil government. They knew self-government under God was the key to protecting liberty. Only a religious, moral, and virtuous people who put restraints upon their appetites, lusts, and greed can remain a free people. Both the Bible and our history attests to these truths. May we return to these truths before America loses her vision and therefore forfeits her destiny.
-Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas
Elijah Ministries
P.O. Box 3126
Waco, TX 76707
e-mail: elijahmin@ifriendly.com
Website: www.mttu.com/elijahmin
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