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Forsaken and Forgotten Roots of the United States
Forsaken and Forgotten Roots of the United States
Did you know that 52 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Bible Believers and possessed membership in established religious institutions? The other three all were believers in the Bible as the Divine Truth, the God of scripture and His personal intervention. This same Congress formed the American Bible Society. Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase 20,000 copies of scripture for the people of this nation.
Patrick Henry said, “An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of all nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but give me liberty, or give me death.” Much of this statement has been deleted from our school text books… The following year, 1779, he wrote this: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”
Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his well-worn Bible: “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of Jesus also.”
Consider the words of George Washington from his personal prayer book: “Oh, eternal and everlasting God direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy Son, Jesus Christ. That living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in Thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and thy Son, Jesus Christ.”
John Adams our second President, who also served as chairman of the American Bible Society, in an address to military leaders said, “We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Our first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay said, “Providence has given to our people their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President. He was also the Chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role. On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”
In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.”
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number one was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the scriptures: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (John 17:3); and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (Proverbs 2:3).” For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates were preachers.
It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith were foundational to our educational and judicial system. However, in 1947, there was a radical change of direction for the Supreme Court, ignoring every precedent of Supreme Court ruling for the past 160 years. The Supreme Court ruled in a limited way to affirm a wall of separation between church and state in the public classroom.
This event led to the removing prayer from public schools in 1962. In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was unconstitutional in the public school system. The court said, “If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation, they could have been psychologically harmful to children.” Bible reading was now unconstitutional, though the Bible was quoted 94% of the time by those who wrote our Constitution and shaped our Nation and its system of education, justice, and government. In 1965, the courts denied as unconstitutional the right of a student in the public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly for his food. In 1980, Stone vs. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in public schools. The Supreme Court said, “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments were to have any effect at all, it would be to induce school children to read them. And if they read them, mediated upon them, and perhaps venerated and obeyed them, this is not a permissible objective.”
It is not a permissible objective to allow our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments? James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said this: “We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
How can God bless a nation that has departed so far from Him? Most of what you are reading in this article has been erased from our public school text books. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about our country’s Christian roots. You are encouraged to share this with others, so that the truth of our nation’s history will be passed on to our children and grandchildren. Indeed, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalms 33:12). (From Pilgrim Tract Society, May 27, 2008, condensed)
Test Your Bible Knowledge
1. Were all of the Proverbs written by Solomon? __________
2. Name some of the other authors of Proverbs? _____________________________________
3. How long did Solomon reign? __________
4. Who succeeded Solomon? __________
5. What happened to Israel with the coronation of the new king? _________________________
6. Who became the king of the northern kingdom of Israel? __________
Upcoming Sermons
6/6/21 AM - Guest Speaker: Doug Sanders: The Broken Wall; PM - Themed Singing Service: Counting on God: A Singing Service by the Numbers
6/13/21 AM - How Well Does God Know Me?; PM - Joseph the Just: Son of David
6/20/21 AM - When Forgiveness Isn’t Enough; PM - The Last Day
6/27/21 AM - “This Little Light of Mine”; PM - Why Nations Fall
