HOW AMERICA'S FOUNDERS SAVED THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

Having studied the Christian influence on America's founding fathers for many years, I have noted with interest how their Christian worldview has directly impacted the current Impeachment proceedings in our nation's capital.

There is no question that if the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives controlled the entire impeachment process, including the trial, Donald Trump would be removed from office. It would be all over for the Trump presidency except for the fact that America's founders held a Christian view of human nature. They foresaw such a scenario as is playing out in our nation's capital, and knew it would be neither wise nor safe to leave the final decision in the hands of Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, and Nancy Pelosi. 

The Founders believed that human nature has been corrupted by sin and in this "fallen" state cannot be trusted with power. That is why they divided the powers of government between a Senate and House and between the Judicial and Executive branches. Their wisdom in structuring our governmental system has made it difficult for a president to be removed from office out of mere animus and hatred by his political opponents. 

The Founders’ Mistrust of Human Nature

The Founders divided the powers of government and put in place checks and balances to keep ultimate power out of the hands of any one person or group. They did this because they held a Biblical view of the human condition as being flawed by sin. In short, they did not trust sinful human beings with power.

The Founders held the traditional Christian belief that humanity was created a noble creature in the image and likeness of God, but that this image became, not erased, but marred as a result of the Fall and sin (Genesis 1-3). Salvation through Jesus Christ restores this image, but this restoration is a process that is not completed in this world.

Humanity—even Christian humanity—in this flawed condition cannot be trusted with power. They would agree with Sir John Acton, who said, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Their belief in mankind’s proneness to sin is expressed both implicitly and explicitly. It is expressed implicitly in how they formulated the Constitution and how they structured the government. It is expressed explicitly in prayer proclamations they formulated and prayer journals they kept. Below is a sampling of their own words in this matter.

In Their Own Words

During a difficult time in the War for Independence, the Continental Congress proclaimed December 11, 1776, as a Day of Fasting and Repentance. The proclamation recognizes the reality of human sinfulness and the need for Divine forgiveness. It reads in part,

RESOLVED, That it be recommended to all the United States, as soon as possible, to appoint a day of solemn fasting and humiliation; to implore of Almighty God the forgiveness of the many sins prevailing among all ranks, and to beg the assistance of his Providence in the prosecution of the present just and necessary war (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that DefinedAmerica, 116-17).

John Hancock (1737-1793), President of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed a Day of Prayer while serving as governor of Massachusetts in 1793. He too acknowledges the reality of sin and the need for Divine forgiveness. He calls on the populace,

That with true contrition of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness through the merits and mediation of JESUS CHRIST our Savior . . . and finally, to overrule all the commotion in the world, to the spreading of the true religion of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in its purity and power, among all the people of the earth (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that DefinedAmerica, 173).

A prayer journal that George Washington kept while in his twenties contains the following prayer.

Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit . . . daily frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 132).

Samuel Adams (1722–1803), signer of the Declaration of Independence and known as the Father of the American Revolution, declared February 28, 1795 as a Day of Fasting and Prayer while serving as governor of Massachusetts. The words of that Proclamation reveal the profound depth of faith in America’s founding generation and their recognition of the need for Divine forgiveness. It reads in part,

Calling upon the Ministers of the Gospel, of every Denomination, with their respective Congregations, to assemble on that Day, and devoutly implore the Divine forgiveness of our Sins, To pray that the Light of the Gospel, and the rights of Conscience, may be continued to the people of United America; and that his Holy Word may be improved by them, so that the name of God may be exalted, and their own Liberty and Happiness secured (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 104).

They Abolished Aristocracy and Honorific Titles

The founders mistrust of human nature to handle power is also expressed Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution where they abolished aristocracy and honorific titles in the American system. They wrote,

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

We can be thankful for the vision and insight of the Founders. Their insights into human nature and mankind’s inability to handle power, has given us the longest lasting Constitutional government in human history. This government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, has protected America from dictatorships, oligarchies, and monarchies.

By keeping power out of the hands of a few, the system of government they formed is protecting America through the present impeachment proceedings. Yes, Donald Trump and all freedom-loving Americans--including Democrats--can be thankful for the vision and wisdom of America's founders.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 1726, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose goal is to spread the message of America's birth out of the First Great Awakening and call on believers everywhere to pray for another Great Awakening across the land.

POSTMODERNISM AND THE NEW BIBLICAL REFORMATION

"Preface" to the Manual and Course entitled "Think Biblically"

We live in a subjective, postmodern world where the existence of objective truth and reality is denied. Not only have the postmodernists denied the Biblical worldview on which Western civilization was founded, they have also denied the modern Enlightenment worldview that exalted “reason” as the path for discovering truth.

For the postmodernist, truth and reality are not to be discovered, they are to be created. Therefore, if biology tells me I am a man, I do not have to accept it. I can self-identify as a woman because I am free to create my own truth system and my own reality. Reason, science and common sense must all take a back seat to "my" feelings and desires.

Postmodernism is obviously very “I” or ego centered. Even science and biology must be rejected to accommodate “my” feelings and desires. Truth and reality are what “I” decide them to be and the rest of the world is obligated to accept and accommodate me in my subjective, self-centered pursuits.  

This rejection of objective truth is also leading to religious syncretism, which is the combining of different belief systems. Students of mine at a Christian University visited a Buddhist temple as part of their assignment for a class on world religions. They were greeted by a man who introduced himself as a “Christian Buddhist.” A headline in the Dallas Morning News reads, “One Part Jesus, Two Parts Buddha,” and goes on to explain that a popular trend in America is for people to concoct their own personal religion by borrowing what they like from various religions.

When postmodern thinking seeps into the church, we see a loss of any emphasis on consecration, commitment, and sacrifice. The call of Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him is seldom if ever heard (Luke 9:23-24). The emphasis, instead, is on “me” and my feelings and how I can have feel-good, spiritual experiences with God apart from the call to repentance and holiness.

The postmodern way of thinking leads to confusion, and will ultimately destroy individuals, families, churches and entire societies. To counter this destructive, postmodern tsunami that is engulfing the culture, the Church must have another Reformation that takes us back to the Book where we learn to "think Biblically." 

The Bible is a book infused with life and power. It provided the intellectual and moral foundation for Western Civilization and for America. A ten-year study to determine where America’s founders got their ideas for the nation’s founding documents discovered that they quote the Bible far more than any other source. And in a December 1982 article in Newsweek entitled “How the Bible Made America,” the authors state,

For centuries [the Bible] has exerted an unrivaled influence on American culture, politics and social life. Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a special, sacred nation, a people called by God to establish a model of society, a beacon to the world (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 7).

The great church historian, Philip Schaff, said, “Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a new and deeper study of the Scriptures.” The Reformation began with Martin Luther diligently and prayerfully studying the Bible. Indeed, virtually all the great revivals of Christian history have begun with a new and in-depth study of God’s word.

For example, the great Methodist revival that transformed 18^th century England, began with John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and others at Oxford University studying the Greek New Testament each evening from 6–9 p.m. John Wesley expressed his love for, and commitment to, the Bible in the following words:

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven: how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end he came from heaven. He has written it down in a book! Oh, give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be: “A man of one book.”

It is time for a new “Back to the Bible” movement in the Church. I pray that God will use this manual and this course to ignite and facilitate such a movement. As we learn to “think Biblically,” we may well ignite a much-neeed Reformation throughout the modern Church.

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an author, reformer and ordained minister. The manual Think Biblically is avaialble from his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. If you would like to know more how you can participate in the course, "Think Biblically," click this Facebook page link. https://www.facebook.com/events/555277315056398/

HUMAN SINFULNESS AND THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS

We have seen the governmental system instituted by America's founders at work in the impeachment process. We have also seen on display their reason for instituting this kind of system--human sinfulness.

The Founders believed that human nature has been corrupted by sin and in this “fallen” state cannot be trusted with power. That is why they divided the powers of government between a Senate and House and between the Judicial and Executive branches.

We saw this division of power clearly at work this past week. During the first part of the impeachment process, when the Democrat controlled House was in charge, it seemed that the opponents of the president were having their way and the supporters of impeachment were elated.

However, the process eventually shifted from the Democrat controlled House to the Republican controlled Senate. After just two hours of testimony from the president’s lawyers, some Democrat senators are reportedly considering voting for dismissal of the impeachment charges against the president.

The Founders’ Mistrust of Human Nature

The Founders divided the powers of government and put in place checks and balances to keep ultimate power out of the hands of any one person or group. They did this because they held a Biblical view of the human condition as being flawed by sin. In short, they did not trust sinful human beings with power.

The Founders held the traditional Christian belief that humanity was created a noble creature in the image and likeness of God, but that this image became, not erased, but marred as a result of the Fall and sin (Genesis 1-3). Salvation through Jesus Christ restores this image, but this restoration is a process that is not completed in this world.

Humanity—even Christian humanity—in this flawed condition cannot be trusted with power. They would agree with Sir John Acton, who said, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Their belief in mankind’s proneness to sin is expressed both implicitly and explicitly. It is expressed implicitly in how they formulated the Constitution and how they structured the government. It is expressed explicitly in prayer proclamations they formulated and prayer journals they kept. Below is a sampling of their own words in this matter.

In Their Own Words

During a difficult time in the War for Independence, the Continental Congress proclaimed December 11, 1776, as a Day of Fasting and Repentance. The proclamation recognizes the reality of human sinfulness and the need for Divine forgiveness. It reads in part,

RESOLVED, That it be recommended to all the United States, as soon as possible, to appoint a day of solemn fasting and humiliation; to implore of Almighty God the forgiveness of the many sins prevailing among all ranks, and to beg the assistance of his Providence in the prosecution of the present just and necessary war (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that DefinedAmerica, 116-17).

John Hancock (1737-1793), President of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed a Day of Prayer while serving as governor of Massachusetts in 1793. He too acknowledges the reality of sin and the need for Divine forgiveness. He calls on the populace,

That with true contrition of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness through the merits and mediation of JESUS CHRIST our Savior . . . and finally, to overrule all the commotion in the world, to the spreading of the true religion of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in its purity and power, among all the people of the earth (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that DefinedAmerica, 173).

A prayer journal that George Washington kept while in his twenties contains the following prayer.

Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit . . . daily frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 132).

Samuel Adams (1722–1803), signer of the Declaration of Independence and known as the Father of the American Revolution, declared February 28, 1795 as a Day of Fasting and Prayer while serving as governor of Massachusetts. The words of that Proclamation reveal the profound depth of faith in America’s founding generation and their recognition of the need for Divine forgiveness. It reads in part,

Calling upon the Ministers of the Gospel, of every Denomination, with their respective Congregations, to assemble on that Day, and devoutly implore the Divine forgiveness of our Sins, To pray that the Light of the Gospel, and the rights of Conscience, may be continued to the people of United America; and that his Holy Word may be improved by them, so that the name of God may be exalted, and their own Liberty and Happiness secured (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 104).

They Abolished Aristocracy and Honorific Titles

Whereas modern liberalism claims that human nature is essentially good and that people only need a change of environment and circumstances to perfect their behavior, the Founders held no such utopian view of the human condition. Their mistrust of human nature to handle power is also expressed Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution where they abolished aristocracy and honorific titles in the American system. They wrote,

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

We can be thankful for the vision and insight of the Founders. Their insights into human nature and mankind’s inability to handle power, led them to give us the longest lasting Constitutional government in human history. This government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, has protected America from dictatorships, oligarchies, and monarchies.

By keeping power out of the hands of a few, the system of government they formed is protecting America through the present impeachment proceedings.

A Lesson for the Church from America’s Founders

The modern church should take a lesson from the Founders. Wherever we see a centralizing of governmental ecclesial power, accompanied by a love of honorific titles, we should be concerned. We should remember the words of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 23:8-12 where He warned His disciples about pursuits of power characterized by the adoption of such titles. He exhorted,

But you, do not be called “Rabbi”; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 1726, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose goal is to spread the message of America's birth out of the First Great Awakening and call on believers everywhere to pray for another Great Awakening across the land.

RESPONDING TO WALMART'S DECISION TO PUSH THE LGBT AGENDA

Once characterized by middle class, mid-America values and character, Walmart has apparently aboandoned its conservative roots and taken on the LGBT cause.

This came to light for me after receiving a phone call from a Walmart employee asking for advice. This person, who is a long-time friend and supporter of our ministries, explained that the employees at her store, without comment, were just given new vests to wear. 

What caught her attention was that the vests contained the colors of the rainbow, the adopted colors of the LGBT movement. Upon returning home, she did some online research. Sure enough, she discovered that Walmart has aligned itself with the LGBT cause.

She was stunned and wondering how to respond. She is a good, decent person and does not want to create controversey. However, to wear the vest and thereby promote the LGBT lifestyle would violate her conscience and sincerely held religious beliefs.

After listening to her concerns, my wife, Susan, and I suggested the following two options.

Option #1

Tell the Walmart manager that you cannot wear their new vest, for to do so would violate your conscience and sincerely held religious beliefs concerning marriage and sexuality. You, therefore, would like to wear the same vest you have worn in the past.

I told her I suspected that they would agree, for to do otherwise would show their own prejudice and intolerance. If, however, they refuse, you can honestly say that you were let go because of your religious/Christian beliefs. In such a situation, if you wanted, you could sue for religious discrimination and/or file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

It is one thing for Walmart to decide as a company to support the LGBT cause. It is another thing form them to put their Christian employees in a situation where they have to choose between their God and their job. They should not have to make that choice. 

Option #2

Wear the new vest but find a button or label you can wear on it that identifies the rainbow with God's covenant in Genesis 9:12-13. In other words, take back the rainbow, which actually belongs to God and His people.

This is the approach of Ken Ham who created the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. Ham announced that the massive replica of Noah's ark would be lit each evening with a rainbow. This is appropriate for it was after Noah and his family came out of the ark that God gave the rainbow as a sign of His covenant.

In Ham’s first tweet concerning this, he said, "The @ArkEncounter is lit permanently at night with a rainbow to remind the world that God owns the rainbow & is a sign of His covenant."

Stand for Truth and Pray for Boldness

As modern culture abandons objective truth and biological reality, we as God's people must take a stand for truth. Show love to all people but never compromise truth. Only the truth will make us free. As Jesus said in John 8:32, And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. 

Our Lord will always tell us the truth, even when it hurts, because He wants the very best for us. That is why He said to the lukewarm Laodicean church, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19). Should we not be like our Lord and love people encough to tell them the truth?

If the modern church will repent for compromising truth for cultural acceptance, and pray for boldness to declare God's truth, it may happen for us as it did for the early church. When threatened and pressured by their culture to compromise truth, the early church prayed for boldness.  Grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, they prayed. 

God was obviously pleased with their prayer, for Luke says, And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is a historian, Bible teacher and ordained minister with almost 50 years of ministerial experience in many parts of the world. He is a prolific author and his latest book, 1726, documents America's Christian birth out of a great spritual awakening. His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT

We're sending out tax receipts this week to those who supported our ministries during the past year, and I want to say a special "Thank You" to three churches that supported us with monthly gifts in 2019.

1) Schoharie Full Gospel Church in upstate (Sloansville) New York

2) Gospel Lighthouse in Powderly, TX

3) Lifeline Worship Center in Reno, TX

Through the Int'l Christian Women's Hall of Fame and Ministry Center, that is led by Sue, we are lifting the status of women all over the world by teaching them who they are in Christ and the proper interpretation of those "hard" passages in Paul that have been used to hobble and marginalize women in the church. The body of Christ is being mobilized based on each member's gifts and calling and this is necessary for fulfilling the Great Commission.

Through Hyatt Int'l Ministries, which I lead, we are carrying out a commission from the Lord to remind America of her Christian origins out of a Great Awakening and to call the Christians of America to pray for another such Awakening, which is the only hope for saving the America of our parents and grandparents. My latest contribution to this commission is the book 1726, with the subtitle The Year that Definded America. I have also created a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Remembering 1726" which I will be presenting this year wherever the Lord leads and opens the door.

We are making a difference and I recently heard President Trump make a statement that sounded like it was right out of my book, Pilgrims and Patriots, which was published in 2016 around the same time he was elected president. That is very possible for at that time I sent a box of 20 copies of that book to VP Pence and the Trump transition team at Trump Tower.

Here are two very important and timely articles on the U.S. Consitution showing the profound Christian influence on this document.

WHY THE FOUNDERS WANTED THE SECOND AMENDMENT

https://biblicalawakening.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-second-amendment-and-thinking-of.html 

AMERICA'S COLORBLIND FOUNDING DOUMENTS

https://biblicalawakening.blogspot.com/2020/01/had-foreignvisitors-read-americas.html  

Thanks for your friendship and support! 

Eddie Hyatt

The "1726 Project"

3 Ways to Give

1) Gifts can be given through paypal by clicking the "Donate" button on this page or going to www.eddiehyatt.com and clicking the "Donate" button at the top right of the page.
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WHY AMERICA'S FOUNDERS GAVE US THE RIGHT "TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS"

A heated gun debate is raging across America fueled by violent shootings in schools and churches. Many are calling for stricter gun laws and even the outlawing of gun ownership by private citizens. Others vehemently oppose such restrictions and see gun ownership as a constitutional right. The debate is centered around the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which reads,

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

This Amendment must have been important to the Founders for it is the second of the ten Bill of Rights and comes immediately after the First Amendment, which guarantees religious liberty and free speech. But why did they consider it so significant?

If we are going to understand the Second Amendment, we must get inside the thinking of the Founders who formulated it. After years of studying America’s origins, I am convinced that the following three factors were paramount in the thinking of the Founders and led them to institute the Second Amendment.

Factor #1

They Wanted Power in the Hands of the People

The U.S. Constitution begins with the words, We the people . . .. Abraham Lincoln described the U.S. government as being of the people, by the people and for the people. The Founders wanted governmental power to reside with the people, not with a few government elites in Washington D.C.

They considered the right of the people to bear arms and protect themselves to be a necessary component of a government that is truly of the people. Based on their own experience, they would consider the outlawing of private ownership of guns to be an act of tyranny by a power-hungry government bent on taking power from the people.  

They had actually experienced this under the tyrannical rule of King George III. When the Colonists, especially in Boston, began publicly protesting the unfair and oppressive taxes and regulations being opposed upon them, the British responded by sending troops to occupy the city of Boston and close its seaport.

With foreign troops occupying one of their major cities, farmers and townspeople in different areas began forming militias to defend themselves and their families from the foreign invaders. They, of course, used their own weapons that they normally used for hunting and personal protection.

General Gage, who commanded the British troops, began confiscating the weapons of the citizens of Boston. As part of this campaign to disarm the Colonists, he sent troops to Lexington and Concord to destroy a cache of weapons and ammunition he heard that the Colonists there had collected to protect themselves from the foreign troops.

It was here on April 19, 1775 that the “shot heard round the world” was fired during the standoff between the Minutemen, composed of mostly farmers, and the British troops who had come to disarm them. This marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

The Americans would not have been able to defend themselves from the foreign invaders had it not been for the private ownership of guns throughout the Colonies. The War for Independence began with farmers and townspeople using their own personal weapons to protect themselves and their families from the British invaders.

In the thinking of the Founders, to disarm the population would be an act of government tyranny making good people vulnerable to hostile forces both at home and abroad. The Second Amendment made perfect sense to them, and in their thinking, was a valuable civil right that empowered the common people.

I recall hearing Condoleezza Rice defend the Second Amendment to the liberal women of The View. She told how, as a little girl growing up in Alabama, the KKK would come around at night seeking to intimidate the black neighborhoods. She remembered her father and other black men going out with their rifles and firing into the air and putting the KKK on notice not to try anything in their neighborhood. She expressed gratitude for the Second Amendment.

The Founders valued the Second Amendment because they saw it as a way to keep power in the hands of the people.

Factor #2

They Did Not Trust Civil Government

The Founders did not trust big government. For them, government represented power, control, and oppression. They, their parents, and grandparents had suffered under oppressive government regimes in Europe and they were determined to keep power away from a centralized government. They would agree with Sir John Acton who wrote, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

This is why they divided the powers of government between the Senate and the House and the Judicial and Executive branches. It why they instituted checks and balances to keep power out of the hands of any one person or group of persons. It is why in Section 9 of the Constitution the Founders forbade the American government from granting honorific titles of nobility to anyone and forbade anyone holding a government office from accepting a title or office from a foreign king or state without the consent of Congress.

The Founders agreed with the statement of Thomas Paine in his immensely popular book, Common Sense, published in January of 1776. Arguing persuasively for independence from Great Britain and for creating an egalitarian society, Paine declared,

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

The Founders distrusted human government because they distrusted human nature. They held the traditional Christian belief that humanity had been created a noble creature in the image and likeness of God, but that this image had become marred as a result of the Fall and sin (Genesis 1-3). In this fallen condition, human beings cannot be trusted with unlimited power.

James Madison said, “If men were angels no government would be necessary.” Men are not angels and the evil impulse in humanity must be restrained by civil government. Government, however, must be administered by imperfect human beings, so those who are governors must themselves be restrained by those who are being governed.

The Founders, therefore, not only divided the powers of government, but also put in place the Second Amendment. They did so because they did not trust civil government. They did this so that the American people could defend themselves from a tyrannical government regime that might arise at some future time.

The Founders valued the Second Amendment because they did not trust big governemnt .

Factor #3

They Envisioned a Self-Governing Moral Society

Many today argue that such a free and open attitude toward gun ownership is dangerous, and they are right if such freedom is applied within a secular or non-Christian society. We must remember, however, that the Founders clearly stated that the Constitution, including the Second Amendment, was made for a moral and religious [Christian] people. John Adams, Founding Father and the nation’s second president, declared,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . .. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (Hyatt. 1726: The Year that Defined America, 169).

The Founders envisioned a free Republic in which people would be governed, not by a plethora of laws from Washington D.C., but by an inward law of Christian morality. People who are self-governed by Christian morality pose no threat to their neighbor or society, no matter how many guns they own.

The Founders saw Christian morality as the moral north star that would guide the American populace. It is why Thomas Jefferson ended all presidential documents with the words, “In the year of our Lord, Christ.” It is why he took money from the federal treasury to pay for a missionary to the Kaskaskia Indian tribe and why he once said, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus” (Hyatt. 1726: The Year thatDefined America, 150).

George Washington made the same point in a letter he wrote to the governors of the various states at the end of the War. The letter included his “earnest prayer” for them and the citizens of their state that they would make Jesus their role model for life and morality. He wrote,

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens . . . to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another . . . and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of His example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 120).

The Catholic scholar, William Novak is thus correct in saying,

Far from having a hostility toward religion, the Founders counted on religion [Christianity] for the underlying philosophy of the republic, its supporting ethic, and its reliable source of rejuvenation (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 172).

Guns in the hands of good, moral people are a blessing, not a curse. This was made clear just recently at the West Freeway Church of Christ near Fort Worth, TX when a gunman came into the Sunday morning service and began firing and killed two people.

However, within six seconds he was engaged by a church member who was authorized to carry a weapon. The church member shot and killed the intruder and what could have been a horrible massacre was stopped by a good person with a gun.

The Founders valued the Second Amendment because they saw it as a blessing to a religious and moral people.

The Way Forward for this Generation

The Founders believed that only a moral and virtuous people could handle the sort of freedom that is guranteed in the Second Amendment. This is why Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, said,

The only foundation for a republic is to be laid in Religion [Christianity]. Without this there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 163).

The Founders would agree that an amoral people without internal moral convictions must be controlled by outward laws and regulations. This is what William Penn was referring to when he wrote, “He who will not be governed by God must be ruled by tyrants.” The Founders would say that a society that refuses to be governed by God cannot be trusted with the Second Amendment.

That being said, it is obvious that the violence in our society is not because of guns per se, but becasue of the loss of morality and civility in our culture. What would do more to curb violence in our nation than a host of new gun laws, would be a national return to the vision of America's founders--the vision of a moral and religious people who are governed from within and who cling to their God even more than to their guns. 

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 1726, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose goal is to spread the message of America's birth out of the First Great Awakening and call on believers everywhere to pray for another Great Awakening across the land.

MORE EVIDENCE THAT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS NOT THE DEIST WE HAVE BEEN FALSELY LED TO BELIEVE

Benjamin Franklin was born on this day, January 17, in 1706. Traditionally considered one of the most nonreligious of America’s founders, more and more evidence is coming to light that Franklin was not the rabid Deist modern revisionist historians would have us believe.

Even before meeting George Whitefield and being impacted by their friendship, Franklin clearly stated his evangelical view of Christ’s atoning death in a debate over the dismissal of the pastor of the Presbyterian church in Philadelphia of which he was a member.

The case involved Samuel Hemphill who was dismissed in 1735 for allegedly emphasizing good works over Christ’s atonement. He was also accused of plagiarizing someone else’s sermons. Franklin defended Hemphill, and with his typical wit, declared that he would prefer hearing good sermons composed by someone else than poor sermons of the pastor’s own composition.

Then, on a serious note, Franklin addressed the accusation that Hemphill had emphasized good works over Christ’s atonement. Demonstrating an impressive depth of faith and understanding, he wrote,

Let us then consider what the Scripture Doctrine of this Affair is, and in a Word it is this: Christ by his Death and Sufferings has purchased for us those easy terms and conditions of our acceptance with God, proposed in the Gospel, to wit, Faith and Repentance: By his Death and Sufferings, he has assured us of God’s being ready and willing to accept of our sincere, though imperfect obedience to his revealed will; By his Death and Sufferings he has atoned for all sins forsaken and amended, but surely not for such as are willfully and obstinately persisted in . . . and that the ultimate End and Design of Christ’s Death, of our Redemption by his Blood, was to lead us to the Practice of all Holiness, Piety and Virtue, and by these Means to deliver us from future Pain and Punishment, and lead us to the Happiness of Heaven, may, (besides what has been already suggested) be proved from innumerable Passages of the holy Scriptures (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 139-40),

The above statement was no fluke, for many years later, in 1757, Franklin proposed to Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening, that they partner together in founding a new Christian colony on the Ohio frontier. They would settle it, he said, “with a large strong body of religious and industrious people.” He included a missionary motive for the colony, saying to Whitefield,

Might it not greatly facilitate the introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony, show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 136-37).

Since Franklin is writing to Whitefield, the fiery British revivalist, his reference to "pure religion" obviously refers to the evangelical revivalism that Whitefield preached. And Franklin was obviously not multicultual for he wanted to see the native people in the area of the proposed colony converted to that kind of Christianity.

It is clear that Benjamin Franklin was not the nonreligious Deist presented in modern textbooks. In fact, if alive today, Franklin would likely be shunned by the Democrat party and by many Republicans because of his “right-wing” Christian views.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 1726, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose goal is to spread the message of America's birth out of the First Great Awakening and call on believers everywhere to pray for another Great Awakening across the land.

AMERICA'S COLORBLIND FOUNDING DOCUMENTS

"I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In his fight for racial equality in America, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. found an ally in America's founding documents, and they became foundational for his cause. This is because America's founding documents are colorblind. Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the U.S. Constitution make any reference to individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, or skin olor. 

Instead of race classifications, the Constitution speaks of “citizens,” “persons,” and “other persons.” No mention is made of slaves or slavery. There is nothing in these documents to suggest that the freedoms they guarantee do not apply to every person. Yes, America’s founding principles are colorblind, even though her history has not been.

Dr. King's Dream and America’s Founding Documents.

Dr. King understood this, and in his stirring “I Have a Dream” speech, he challenged America, not to dispense with her founding documents, but to live up to them. Speaking with passion from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he declared,

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Then quoting from the Declaration of Independence, he proclaimed,

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

Showing that he understood these freedoms to be rooted in the country’s Christian origins, Dr. King, who was himself a devout Christian, went on to say that he had a dream that one day all Americans, whether white or black, would be able to sing together the words of that Christian, patriotic hymn,

My country 'tis of Thee,
Sweet land of liberty, of Thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!

A Legacy of the Great Awakening

The colorblind character of America’s founding documents is a legacy of 1726 and the Great Awakening that began that year. It was in this Awakening that racial and cultural barriers were breached in Colonial America. As documented in my book, 1726, it was out of this Awakening that an anti-slavery movement burst forth and its proponents produced the moral arguments that turned America’s founders against slavery.

Because of 1726, America’s founding documents are colorblind. The famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), understood this and argued that the language of the founding documents must be understood as applying to everyone. “Any one of these provisions in the hands of abolition statesmen, and backed by a right moral sentiment,” he declared, “would put an end to slavery in America (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 122).

The Challenge of Being Inclusive Without Affirming Sin

This absence of any mention of slavery in the Constitution was purposeful. James Madison, the document’s chief architect, said, “The Convention thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men” (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 123).

This shows that the Founders grappled with how to bring the southern states into the Union without affirming slavery. They knew that if the southern states were not included in the Union, they would align with the British or other European powers and be a constant thorn in the side of the new nation. How to include them without affirming slavery was the challenge.

In the end, concessions were made at the Convention in order to bring in all thirteen colonies. Dr. Thomas Sowell has said,

But don’t pretend that it was an easy answer—or that those who grappled with the dilemma in the 18^th century were some special villains when most leaders and most people around the world saw nothing wrong with slavery (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 123).

The Three-Fifths Clause

One of the most misunderstood sections of the Constitution is the so-called three-fifths clause in which only three-fifths of the slave population of southern states would be counted for representation. This had nothing to do with assigning value based on race, as many have alleged. Instead, it was related to keeping the southern states from gaining too much power in the new Congress where the number of representatives from each state would be tied to the population of that state.

The southern states wanted to include their slave populations in the census in order to gain the most possible representatives and as much power as possible, even though they did not allow slaves to vote. The three-fifths compromise was a way of diminishing the influence of the South in the new Congress in that it counted only three-fifths of the slave population for purposes of representation.

Even here, the Founders did not use the word "slaves" or “slavery," but instead, used the term "other persons." Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) described this refusal of the Founders to acknowledge slavery in the Constitution as being like a man who hides an ugly, cancerous growth until the time comes that it can be eradicated from his body.

That the three-fifths clause was not about assigning value based on race is confirmed by the fact that, at the time of the Constitutional Convention, there were at least 60,000 free blacks in northern and southern states who were counted the same as whites when it came to determining the number of representatives to Congress. Additionally, it is important to note that there were as many as ten states where blacks had full voting privileges (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 124).

Moral Outrage at the Constitutional Convention

At the Constitutional Convention concessions were made toward the southern states to bring them into the Union. Many, however, were not happy with these concessions. For example, Virginian, George Mason (1725-1792), argued for the immediate outlawing of slavery even if some states opted out. Warning of God’s judgement, if they allowed slavery to continue, he said,

Every master is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven upon a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 125).

Many see the Civil War, with the loss of 700,000 lives, as the judgment predicted by Mason. Thomas Jefferson shared Mason’s concern, for it was in the context of the continued existence of slavery, that he wrote:

God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and that His justice cannot sleep forever (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 125).

The Founders Dealt Slavery a Mortal Blow

With this sort of Biblical and moral opposition to slavery at the time of the nation's founding, it is easy to see how slavery’s days were already numbered. This moral outrage would flower into the Abolition Movement of the next century and finally would lead to the abolishment of slavery after a Great Prayer Awakening (1856-1857) and Civil War (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 126).

Demonstrating that they were serious about abolishing slavery, the Founders outlawed slavery in the newly formed Northwest Territory. They also worded the Constitution in such a way that the rights guaranteed therein could not be denied to anyone based on race or skin color. In formulating the founding documents, the Founders dealt slavery a mortal blow, from which it would not recover.

They Saw the Hand of God

The task of formulating a Constitution that would gain the support of all 13 colonies was truly a herculean task. At one point, the Convention was on the verge of disbanding due to unresolved regional disputes. It was at this point that Benjamin Franklin called the delegates to prayer, quoting Psalm 127:1, Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Indeed, there was a consensus among the Founders that America had come forth providentially by the Hand of God. Reflecting on the completed work of the Constitutional Convention, James Madison (1751–1836) declared,

It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in critical stages of the Revolution (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 127).

Benjamin Rush, the physician from Philadelphia who signed the Declaration of Independence and led the state of Pennsylvania in ratifying the Constitution, was even more blunt in his belief that God had influenced the formulation of the Constitution. Rush, who called slavery a “hydra sin” and helped found the first abolition society in America, declared that he;

As much believed the hand of God was employed in this work as that God had divided the Red Sea to give a passage to the children of Israel or had fulminated the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 123).

America Is Not Racist

There are racists in America, but America is not racist. Her founding documents are colorblind. David Azerrad is thus correct in saying, “The argument that the Constitution is racist suffers from one fatal flaw: the concept of race does not exist in the Constitution (Hyatt, 1727: The Year that Defined America, 127).

Dr. King understood this and relied on America’s founding documents in his fight for Civil Rights. It is why he could say, "I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 1726, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the "1726 Project" whose goal is to spread the message of America's birth out of the First Great Awakening and call on believers everywhere to pray for another Great Awakening across the land.