BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S VISION FOR A CHRISTIAN AMERICA

In a letter dated July 2, 1756, Benjamin Franklin presented a proposal to George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening, that they partner together to establish a Christian colony “in the Ohio,” which was frontier country at the time. 

In the letter, Franklin expressed confidence that God would give them success in such a project, “If we undertook it with a sincere regard to his honor.” He wrote,

"I imagine we could do it effectually and without putting the nation at too much expense. What a glorious thing it would be, to settle in that fine country a large strong body of religious [Christian] and industrious people! What a security to the other colonies; and advantage to Britain, by increasing her people, territory, strength and commerce. 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 in our Indian traders, the most vicious and abandoned wretches of our nation" (Hyatt, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin, 40)?

Friends to the Very End

Franklin had become friends with Whitefield eighteen years prior to this when Whitefield visited Philadelphia and preached to massive outdoor crowds. Franklin attended the meetings and was attracted to this young, fiery revivalist who was nine years his junior. Despite their differences, it proved to be the beginning of a close, life-long friendship.

Franklin and Whitefield became business partners with Franklin printing and distributing Whitfield’s journals and sermons and advising him in business matters. Whitefield stayed in Franklin’s home on at least one of his visits to Philadelphia and Franklin wrote to his brother in Boston, “Whitefield is a good man and I love him.”

For the next thirty years they carried on a lively and open correspondence with Whitefield often speaking about faith in Christ and admonishing Franklin to make sure he was prepared for the next world. When Whitefield passed away in Newburyport, MA on September 30, 1770, Franklin was in London. Obviously feeling a deep sense of loss, he wrote,

"I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years; his integrity, disinterestedness, and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good work, I have never seen equaled, I shall never see exceeded” (Hyatt, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin, 44).

Franklin’s Missionary Vision

The depth of Franklin’s love and respect for Whitefield is demonstrated by the fact that he wanted Whitefield to be his partner in establishing a new colony on the Ohio frontier. He had obviously moved away from his earlier Deism.

Notice that Franklin wanted to populate it with a “religious” and industrious people. When Franklin, or any of the Founders, speak of a “religious” people they are referring to Christians. Note also the missionary motive Franklin presented to Whitefield. He not only wanted to populate the colony with Christian people, he wanted the colony to be a base for introducing the Native Americans of that region to what he called “pure religion.”

Since he is writing to Whitefield, there can be no doubt that the “pure religion” of which he speaks is the Christ-centered, evangelical revivalism that Whitefield preached in Philadelphia and throughout the Colonies.

Although time and circumstances did not allow them the opportunity to launch this project, I suggest that Franklin’s vision for a Christian society never died but was fulfilled in the founding of the United States of America, of which he was one of the most important Founding Fathers.

Franklin’s Commitment to Christian Values

Franklin was no fiery evangelist like Whitefield, but he became convinced that only Christianity provided the moral system for a stable and prosperous society. He knew that Christians were far from perfect, but at least they acknowledged a virtuous, moral standard toward which to strive and to which they could be called to adhere.

Franklin’s belief in Christianity as a necessary moral force in society is why he rejected a manuscript from the well-known Deist, Thomas Paine, in which Paine attacked orthodox Christianity. Franklin, in very strong language, urged Paine not to print the book or even allow anyone else to see it. He wrote,  

"I would advise you, therefore . . . to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion [Christianity], what would they be if without it" (Hyatt, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin, 49).

Franklin Calls the Constitutional Convention to Prayer

Whitfield’s influence on Franklin can be seen at the Constitutional Convention seventeen years after Whitefield’s death. When the Convention reached an impasse and was in danger of disbanding without completing its work, it was Franklin, now eighty-one years of age, who arose and called the convention to prayer.

In his appeal, Franklin quoted from both the Psalms and the Gospels and reminded the attendees how God had answered their prayers during the war. Addressing the convention president, George Washington, Franklin said,

"How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business" (Hyatt, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin, 62-63).

Although his proposal was not “formally” adopted, there was much response on a personal level because of the respect with which he was held. According to those present, “an atmosphere of reconciliation seemed to settle over the convention hall.” Petty grievances and local interests were laid aside, and the delegates went on to complete their task of formulating the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. I think Whitefield must have smiled down from heaven on his old friend!

Yes, Franklin Wanted a Christian America

Modern secularists love to present Franklin as a nonreligious Deist who wanted to keep Christianity out of the public domain. Such a view of Franklin, however, is based on selected quotations taken out of context and without regard for his changing views on God and Christianity as he matured. Such a view also ignores his Puritan heritage and his close friendship with Whitefield.

Franklin, like all the Founders, did not want an official, state church like the nations of Europe. He did however, want a society whose populace would be governed by Christian principles of virtue and morality. This was made obvious in his letter to Whitefield, and in this sense, it is clear that Benjamin Franklin had a vision for a Christian America.

This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin. This book and others are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Dr. Hyatt has received a commission to reconnect America with its roots as a nation birthed in prayer and spiritual awakening. He can be reached at dreddiehyatt@gmail.com.

5 FOUNDING PRINCIPLES THAT MADE AMERICA GREAT

America was founded as a Christian nation, but not as a theocracy. Theocratic rulers claim a Divine right to rule over their subjects. America’s founders held no such grandiose view of themselves or any human being, and they had rejected the theocratic claims of popes, bishops, and monarchs. They had not, however, rejected Christianity.

America’s Founders, for the most part, identified with the mindset of those they called “dissenting Protestants.” The dissenting Protestant insisted that civil government should have no role in the church nor in matters of faith and conscience. Freedom from government tyranny in matters of faith was an ideal that pervaded the thinking of America’s Founders.

However, for there to be liberty without license, the Founders knew that the populace would have to be governed from within by virtuous values. That is why they all agreed that only Christianity provided the moral values and intellectual underpinnings for a stable and prosperous nation. 

The principles that made America great are universal principles that span time, race and space. They will work with any people or nation who have the courage to apply them. Here are 5 founding principles that made America great and will make her great again.

Principle #1

Faith in God as the Creator and Moral Governor of the Universe

The Founders considered belief in the God of the Bible as being essential for good citizenship. Unless the citizens would have a moral sense of obligation to their Creator, they would tend to live selfish, unrestrained lives, harmful to society.

This was expressed by James Madison when he wrote, “Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.” Madison, the chief architect of the U.S. Consitution, also wrote,

The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 131).

The Declaration of Independence begins by acknowledging the Creator and recognizing that all human rights come from Him. That is the basis on which John Dickinson, chairman of the committee for the Declaration of Independence, declared in 1776, “Our liberties do not come from charters for these are only the declarations of preexisting rights. They do not depend on parchment or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth.”

After being sworn in as president with his hand on a Bible, George Washington issued a proclamation designating November 26, 1789 as a Day of Thanksgiving. The proclamation assumes the obligation of all citizens to acknowledge God’s existence and to show honor to Him. It opened with the following statement.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God . . ..

Indeed, although there was tolerance for those of various faiths, there was a hostility toward atheism in early America. This was born out when a judge in the court of Chester County in the state of New York, threw out the testimony of a witness when the witness admitted he did not believe in the existence of God.

The judge said that by denying the existence of God, the witness had “destroyed all the confidence of  the court in what he was about to say.” The judge went on to say that it was the first time he had met someone who did not acknowledge the existence of God.

This event was recorded by the French sociologist, Alexis de Tocqueville, and occurred during his visit to America in 1831. Tocqueville said the incident was merely noted in the newspaper without further comment.

Yes, belief in the all-knowing, all-powerful God of the Bible—the Moral Governor of the Universe--was considered a necessity for a prosperous and stable nation by virtually all early Americans.

Principle #2

Belief in the Bible as the Source of Ultimate Truth

When George Washington placed his hand on a Bible to take the oath of office it was no mere formality, but a declaration that the Bible would be the ultimate source of wisdom and guidance for his administration. He also once said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 137).

A ten-year project instituted to discover where the Founders got their ideas for America’s founding documents found that by far the single most cited authority in their writings was the Bible. They were people of the Book and consciously and unconsciously used it as the standard for measuring all other writings both ancient and modern.

Knowing how the Founders esteemed and reverenced the Bible, it comes as no surprise that The First Continental Congress was opened with Bible reading and prayer. It is also no surprise that when Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to Prayer, he quoted from both the Psalms and the Gospels (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 143-44).

The Founders respect for the Bible is why the first English Bible published in America, in 1782, included a recommendation from Congress. The recommendation read,

Resolved: That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion as well as an instance of the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.

The Founders lived at a time when the European Enlightenment and its emphasis on reason was drawing many on the European continent away from the Bible. America’s Founders, however, saw no dichotomy between the Bible and reason. William Novak says,

Everywhere that reason led, Americans found the Bible. If they read Francis Bacon, they found the Bible. If they read Isaac Newton or John Milton, they found the Bible. In Shakespeare, they found the Bible. In the world of the founders, the Bible was an unavoidable and useful rod of measurement, a stimulus to intellectual innovation.

This primary role of the Bible in America’s founding was acknowledged by Andrew Jackson, America’s 7^th president, when he said, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.” Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26^th president, confirmed this, saying, “No other book of any kind ever written in English has ever so affected the whole life of a people.”

Principle #3

Human Nature Has Been Flawed by Sin
And Cannot be Trusted with Unlimited Power.

The Founders 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 because of the fall and sin (Genesis 1-3). Because the image was not erased, humanity is capable of very noble deeds; but since the image is marred, he is also capable of very dastardly deeds.

Although modern society does not want to hear about sin, human history cannot be understood apart from it. Only the Biblical account of the entry of sin into the world provides the context for understanding the wars, genocides, inquisitions, holocausts, and cruelties that have been an ongoing part of human history down to the present time.

Yes, salvation through Jesus Christ restores the image of God in mankind, 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 unlimited power.

The historian, Benjamin Hart, wrote, “A central assumption of America’s founders was original sin, meaning the corruption of man’s character.” “Take mankind in general,” said Alexander Hamilton, “they are vicious.” James Madison added, “If men were angels no government would be necessary,”

It was this mistrust of human nature that influenced the Founders to divide the powers of government into three branches and to provide checks and balances to keep any individual or group from gaining unlimited power. The Founders would agree with Sir John Acton who said, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Marxism and liberalism claim that the problem with human corruption stems from corrupt institutions. The Bible teaches the opposite. It is corrupt human beings who create corrupt institutions. The Founders, therefore, not only instituted a limited government, but also counted on Christianity to provide the moral and intellectual influence necessary for a stable society, for only a virtuous people could be a truly free people.

Principle #4

Christian Values and Morality
Are Essential for a Stable and Prosperous Nation.

In his Farewell address after serving two terms as America’s first president, George Washington declared, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion [Christianity] and morality are indispensable supports.” He goes on to say that the person who would “labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness” can never claim to be an American patriot.

Thomas Jefferson was in complete agreement and he made Washington’s Farewell Address required reading at the University of Virginia, which he had founded. And notice that Washington did not call religion optional. The word he used was “indispensable” and Jefferson obviously agreed. It should be remembered that when the Founders used the word “religion” they were referring to Christianity.

Jefferson may have had questions at times about certain aspects of Christian doctrine, but there is no question that he saw Christianity as providing the moral and intellectual system necessary for a stable society. Having read the Koran and the literature of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Enlightenment, he stated, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

Jefferson’s commitment to Christian values is why he closed all presidential documents with the appellation, “In the year of our Lord Christ.” It is also why he took money from the federal treasury to pay for missionaries to work among the Kaskasia Indian tribe and to build them a building in which to worship.

Washington, Jefferson and all the Founders knew that the success of the nation they had formed hinged on the moral character of its citizens and their ability to govern themselves according to Biblical values. This is why John Adams, in a 1798 address to the officers of the Massachusetts Militia, 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 [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 173).

The Founders did not believe that there could be liberty apart from virtue, or freedom apart from morality. Only Christianity offered the moral and intellectual underpinnings that would preserve the nation they had brought into existence. This is why Novak says, “The founders did not believe the constitutional government they were erecting could survive without Hebrew-Christian faith.”

Principle #5

Government Exists to Protect Faith and Freedom

No part of the Constitution has been so mangled and misapplied as that part of the First Amendment that reads, “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise thereof.” Secularists have wrenched this statement from its historical context and original intent and made it to mean, not freedom of religion, but freedom from religion.

The fact is, however, that the day after voting to ratify the First Amendment, those same Founders issued a proclamation for a day of prayer and thanksgiving. Congress continued to be opened with prayer and Bible reading and prayer continued to be a daily part of the normal school day in America. Presidents also continued to issue proclamations for special days of prayer and thanksgiving.

When Jefferson used the phrase “wall of separation” in a letter to a Baptist association, he was assuring them that the First Amendment guaranteed them protection from persecution by the state such as they had known in the Old World and even in Jefferson’s home state of Virginia. Jefferson saw the First Amendment as a unilateral wall erected to keep the government out of the church, not to keep the influence of the church out of government.

By implementing the First Amendment, the Founders were simply saying that America would never have a national, state church as had been the case in Europe since the time of Constantine. Indeed, it was from these oppressive state churches that their parents and grandparents had fled. They wanted to guarantee that no American citizen would ever be forced to act against their conscience and sincerely held religious beliefs.

The Founders would be astonished to see how the First Amendment has been distorted by modern secularists into a weapon against religious liberty, the very thing they meant to protect. Their simple purpose was to make sure that Christianity would be protected from government intrusion and that no denomination would ever be singled out for special favors.

America Founded as a Christian Nation

Yes, America was founded as a Christian nation. This is not to be equated with a theocracy where individuals claim a direct mandate from God to rule and govern a people. The Founders had rejected that sort of thinking, but they had not rejected Christianity itself, for they considered Christianity to be necessary for the nation’s success and survival.

America as a Christian nation was understood as late as 1892 as expressed in the Supreme Court ruling of “Church of the Holy Trinity vs The United States.” After reviewing thousands of historical documents, the nation’s highest Court declared,

Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of The Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian . . . From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation . . . we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth that this is a Christian nation (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 167)

It is time to reject the lie that America was founded on secularism and multiculturalism. It is time for all freedom-loving people to stand up for truth. It is also time to pray for another Great Awakening that will return America to its founding principles, for only by returning to her founding principles will she ever truly be great again.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s books, 5 Pillars of the American Republic and Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. Eddie has a passion to see another Great Awakening in America and he conducts “America Reawakening” events in which he shows how America was birthed out of a great Spiritual awakening and explains how we can expect another Great Awakening in our day.

HOW I KNOW GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH AMERICA

On July 4, 2019, America will celebrate her 243^rd birthday. She is the oldest constitutional republic in the world and many Christians, for various reasons, believe her best days are behind her and that she will now decline into insignificance. I too once believed that God was through with America, but that all quickly changed on a hot summer day in 2010.

Ever since my commitment to Christ I have been a student and proponent of revival. By 2010, however, I had given up hope of America ever seeing another great, national spiritual awakening. The revivals of the 1990s, it seemed, had turned inward, becoming self-serving, and were powerless to stem the cultural and moral decline of the nation.

Although I believed there could still be individual and local revivals, I had reluctantly succumbed to the popular eschatological idea that there would not be another great revival and that America’s time in the sun was over and done.

Surprised by the Holy Spirit

That all changed, however, in the summer of 2010 when I experienced an eight-hour visitation of God that completely upended my thinking in this regard. It began on a hot summer day in Tulsa, OK when I began a two-hour drive to Kingfisher, OK where I would be preaching the following day in a Sunday morning service.

Without any warning or anticipation of such a thing happening, the Holy Spirit seemed to fill my car and I suddenly felt enveloped in God’s presence. At the same time my mind and heart began to be flooded with thoughts of hope and faith that America “could” see another great, national spiritual awakening that would impact the culture and alter the course of the nation.

As I drove along the highway, I was hardly aware of my surroundings. By the time I arrived at my hotel, my heart was so full I could hardly contain myself. I could hardly wait to open my notebook PC and began writing down the thoughts that continued to flood my mind. That experience lasted far into the night as I sat on the hotel bed and prayed and praised God and wrote.

The Fruit of That Experience

Two significant changes came out of that experience. Firstly, my hope was renewed for another national, spiritual awakening in America that would impact the culture and stem the tide of immorality and false religion that is flooding the land. Secondly, I saw for the first time that there was a direct bearing of the First Great Awakening on the founding of this nation. I saw that America had had a spiritual birth.

Out of that experience came my book America’s Revival Heritage and then The Faith and Vision of Benjamin Franklin. More than once I was amazed at how I was providentially led to resources to confirm the vision I had seen and to fill out the historical narrative to document America’s spiritual birth. This was important for as George Orwell said in his classic, 1984, “Whoever controls the past, controls the future.”

When America’s Revival Heritage sold out, and I began an edit for republication, there was so much new material that it soon became obvious that a new book was emerging. As a result, I published Pilgrims and Patriots, which expanded the historical narrative of America’s spiritual birth and showed, in even more detail, the role of prayer and the Great Awakening in her founding. Then came a small 38-page volume entitled 5 Pillars of the American Republic.

This research and writing has solidified in me the truth that was revealed to me that summer day in 2010. God brought forth America for a special purpose, and that purpose is not yet fulfilled.

God is Ready to Do it Again

Jonathan Edwards once said that when God determines to do a thing in the earth, He first sets His people to praying for the very thing that He has determined to give. One thing obvious is that there is a new hunger stirring across the body of Christ for a Divine awakening from heaven. Not something skillfully worked up by a religious maestro, but a Divine visitation that is prayed down from heaven.

Just a few days ago, I was providentially led to Zechariah 10:1, which reads, Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone. It was a fresh prod from the Lord to ask for the rain of the Holy Spirit in these days of the latter rain when God is pouring out His Spirit on all flesh as prophesied in Acts 2:17-18.

Yes, I am convinced that God is not through with America and that a fresh wind from heaven is about to blow across the land. 

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is a historian, Bible teacher and ordained minister. He has a passion to see America reconnect with her Christian roots and experience another great, national spiritual awakening. To contact him about sharing his "America's Reawakening" presentation to your church or group, send him an email at dreddiehyatt@gmail.com. Check out his books on Amazon and visit his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

AMERICA'S FOUNDERS HAD THE ANSWER FOR SCHOOL SHOOTINGS

The massacre at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, TX left ten dead and shocked the nation once again. The response has been predictable by the media “experts” and political talking heads. The answer is more laws, more guards and better security.  Sadly, few voices are addressing the root of the problem, which is spiritual and moral.

Rejecting Christian Morality is Having Consequences

William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, wisely stated, “Those who will not be governed by God must be ruled by tyrants.” Fifty-five years ago, the nation’s highest court decided that America’s public schools would not be governed by God and we are suffering the consequences with 22 school shootings so far this year, teachers having sex with students and students attacking teaches as well as one another.

It was in 1963 that the Supreme Court banned prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Since that time there has been an all-out attempt by clueless secularists to purge every vestige of Christian influence, not realizing that freedom and Christianity are indissolubly linked.

This anti-Christian crusade has led to crosses and ten commandment displays being removed, coaches being told they can’t bow in prayer with their players, school bands being barred from playing Christian songs and valedictorians being told they cannot talk about their faith at graduation. 

Actions have consequences and this rejection of Christian morality has led to the breakdown of the traditional family and a culture with no moral compass, adrift on a sea of moral relativism.

The consequences of refusing to be governed by God are obvious. I attended high school in the 1960s in a rural area of northeast Texas. Every home had guns and most of my friends owned hunting rifles. Even through there were few regulations, there were no school shootings and inappropriate use of firearms were rare.

We were governed from within by the moral constraints of a Christian culture. There were strong families, vibrant churches and schools where prayer was offered before every special event and teachers were free to talk about their faith. Even those who did not attend church had a respect for God. When someone would pray at the beginning of a sporting or social event, you would see hats being removed throughout the stadium, showing honor to God and that sacred moment of prayer.

The biggest problems in school at that time were chewing gum in glass, being out of your seat or talking without permission and being late with an assignment. My how things have changed since our brilliant jurists and politicians have decided we would not be governed by God!

As Penn pointed out, the only alternative to not being governed by God is tyranny, i.e., taking away individual liberty by passing more and more stringent laws in hope of regulating the bad behavior of a society that is no longer governed by God.

Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin Speak Out

America’s Founders understood this and stated that they had formulated the U.S. Constitution for a Christian and moral people who would be self-governed from within. John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In his Farewell address after serving two terms as America’s first president, George Washington declared, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion [Christianity] and morality are indispensable supports.” He goes on to say that the person who would “labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness” can never claim to be an American patriot.

Thomas Jefferson was in complete agreement and he made Washington’s Farewell Address required reading at the University of Virginia, which he had founded. Notice that Washington did not call religion optional. The word he used was “indispensable” and Jefferson obviously agreed. It should be remembered that when the Founders used the word “religion” they were referring to Christianity.

Jefferson may have had questions at times about certain aspects of Christian doctrine, but there is no question that he saw Christianity as providing the moral and intellectual system necessary for a stable society. Having read the Koran and the literature of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Enlightenment, he stated, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

Jefferson’s commitment to Christian values is why he closed all presidential documents with the appellation, “In the year of our Lord Christ.” It is also why he took money from the federal treasury to pay for missionaries to work among the Kaskasia Indian tribe and to build them a building in which to worship.

Benjamin Franklin also expressed questions at times about certain aspects of Christian doctrine, but through his Puritan roots and close friendship with George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening, he became convinced that Christian values are necessary for a stable society. He once said, "The moral and religious system which Jesus Christ transmitted to us is the best the world has ever seen, or can see."

The Church Must Arise

If America will not be governed by God, then her only alternative is to pass more and more stringent laws that take away individual liberty. If America will not be governed by God, then she may find it necessary to get rid of the Second Amendment and live in an increasingly tyrannical state where individual freedom is a thing of the past.

The Founders did not believe that there could be liberty apart from virtue, or freedom apart from morality. Only Christianity offered the moral and intellectual underpinnings that would preserve the nation they had brought into existence. William Novak is, therefore, correct in saying, “The founders did not believe the constitutional government they were erecting could survive without Hebrew-Christian faith.”

The church must stand up in boldness and reject the secularist lie that the First Amendment banned faith from the government and public square. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our schools and our nation need God and it is time for the church to be salt and light in this nation.

This article was derived from Eddie Hyatt's latest book, 5 Pillars of the American Republic, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.

THE BOOK THAT MADE AMERICA GREAT

How the Bible Shaped America's Founding Generation

Regarding the Bible’s influence on America, Andrew Jackson, America’s 7^th president, declared, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.” Born in 1767, Jackson’s life overlapped that of the founding generation, and his statement reflects the general sentiment of the founding generation toward the Bible.

George Washington Honors and Esteems the Bible

When, for example, George Washington chose to place his hand on a Bible to take the oath of office it was no mere formality, but a declaration that the Bible would be the ultimate source of wisdom and guidance for his administration. He also once said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible” (Hyatt, 5 Pillars of the American Republic, 13).

While president, Washington’s nephew, Robert Lewis, served as his secretary and lived with him. Lewis said that he had accidentally witnessed Washington’s private devotions in his library both morning and evening and that on those occasions he had seen him in a kneeling posture with a Bible open before him, and that he believed such to have been his daily practice.

James Madison’s Biblical Worldview

James Madison, the chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, had a thorough Christian upbringing and training. At the College of New Jersey, he was mentored by the school’s president, John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian Reformer and signer of the Declaration of Independence, who once declared, “Cursed is all education that is contrary to Christ.”

After completing his studies, Madison remained at the college where worked on a project translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. His estimation of the Bible was demonstrated when as president, in 1812, he signed a federal bill that provided economic aid for a Bible society in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible.

Dr. D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe were right when they said, “Madison’s worldview was one shaped by the Bible more than any other source” (Hyatt, 5 Pillars of theAmerican Republic, 14).

The Founders Primary Authority

From the beginning, the Bible had been incorporated into all the learning of the schools in Colonial America. For example, The New England Primer coupled Bible verses and church doctrine with the learning of the ABCs. The letter “A,” for example, was associated with “Adam” and the statement, “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” Children in early America learned to read with their primer in one hand and their Bible in the other.

Knowing how the Founders esteemed and reverenced the Bible, it comes as no surprise that The First Continental Congress was opened with Bible reading and prayer. It is also no surprise that when Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to Prayer, he quoted from both the Psalms and the Gospels (Hyatt, 5 Pillars ofthe American Republic, 14).

Indeed, a ten-year project instituted to discover where the Founders got their ideas for America’s founding documents found that by far the single most cited authority in their writings was the Bible. They were people of the Book and consciously and unconsciously used it as the standard for measuring all other writings both ancient and modern.

Congress Recommends the First English Bible Printed in America

The Founders’ respect for the Bible was highlighted when the first English Bible printed in America in 1782 included a recommendation from Congress. The producer of the Bible, Robert Aitken, had written a letter to Congress in which he asked for that government body’s sanction on his work. In the letter, Aitken called this Bible, “a neat Edition of the Scriptures for the use in schools.”

Congress enthusiastically responded to his request and offered the following recommendation to be included in this first English Bible printed in America.

Resolved: That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion as well as an instance of the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.

The Founders Not Impacted by Deism

The Founders lived at a time when the European Enlightenment and its exaltation of reason was drawing many on the European continent away from the Bible. However, the Enlightenment and its religious counterpart, Deism, never gained popularity in America. The late Harvard professor, Perry Miller, called Deism an “exotic plant” that never took root in American soil. America’s Founders saw no dichotomy between Biblical revelation and reason. The well-known Catholic scholar, William Novak, says,

Everywhere that reason led, Americans found the Bible. If they read Francis Bacon, they found the Bible. If they read Isaac Newton or John Milton, they found the Bible. In Shakespeare, they found the Bible. In the world of the founders, the Bible was an unavoidable and useful rod of measurement, a stimulus to intellectual innovation (Hyatt, 5 Pillars of the American Republic, 16).

The Bible Impacted All of American Life

When the French sociologist, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited America in 1831 to study her institutions, he said, "The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck me.” In describing the opening of America’s western frontier, he was impressed with the character of those adventurers whom he said, “Penetrated the wilds of the New Word with the Bible, an axe, and some newspapers.”

Yes, Jackson was right. The Bible was the rock on which the early American republic rested. This profound influence of the Bible on the founding of America was confirmed by her 26^th president, Theodore Roosevelt, who said, “No other book of any kind ever written in English has ever so affected the whole life of a people.”

What Christians Can Do

How far we have fallen! The Book that made America great has become an object of disdain and ridicule by an arrogant, narcissistic cultural elite. America’s Founders would be astounded to know that the book they so revered is now banned from public schools and that government officials are threatened with lawsuits for holding Bible studies with their colleagues.

Yes, this un-American hostility to the Bible is a marker showing the extent to which the nation has been severed from its roots. It also serves as a wake-up call for Christians in America to repent of their burning desire for acceptance by modern culture and become salt and light to this generation and begin praying for another great, national spiritual awakening.

This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, 5 Pillars of the American Republic, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.