America’s Christian History is Undeniable

“By Bill Wheaton, The Lynchburg Ledger – 3/18/05

Those who deny the overwhelming influence Christianity had in the founding of our nation are either ignorant, or arrogant.

Fortunately, ignorance is something we can address. In fact, many who consider themselves educated products of the public schools and secular universities are in fact indoctrinated. When it comes to American history, they may consider themselves informed, when in fact, they have been misled and deceived.

Fortunately, our Founding Fathers were prolific writers and most of their writings exist to this day. From their actions and their words, the influence of the Christian faith on our nation is undisputable.

From the very first settlements, we see how Christianity played a vital role in the lives of those early pioneers. The settlers arriving at Yorktown in 1607 erected a cross on the beach upon landing, knelt and thanked God for a safe passage. The Pilgrims stated their purpose in the 1620 Mayflower compact, which reads in part “having undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith…â€

The founders were raised in the colonial period known as the First Great Awakening, during which there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That is why Harvard Puritan historian Perry Miller wrote, “””The American revolution was a spiritual revival that had the astonishing good fortune to succeed.””

One very useful resource I have found is “America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations†by William J. Federer. The 710 pages list quotations from Lord Acton, who penned the words, “All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.â€; to Yale College whose trustees stated as its purpose in 1701, “To plant, and under ye Divine blessing to propagate in the Wilderness, the blessed Reformed, Protestant Religion, in ye purity of its Order and Worship.â€

Samuel Adams, known as the Father of the American Revolution, stated upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.â€

Virginia’s Patrick Henry said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Adams stated on October 11, 1798, in an address to the military, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest chords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.â€

On July 4, 1821, John Quincy Adams declared, “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.â€

The number of primary source documents available to a reader is overwhelming. One such source is http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/, which provides proof after proof of our nation’s Christian roots.

However, we don’t have to look any further than the U. S. and Virginia Constitutions for evidence.

The Preamble to the U. S. constitution refers to “the blessings of liberty.†All one need ask is from whom do blessings come? Article 1, Section 7 exempts Sunday, the exclusive Christian day of worship, from the time the President has to return a bill to Congress. Finally, Article VII sets the date of the document as “ the Seventeenth day of September in the Year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven…â€

The current Virginia Constitution was approved by the voters on November 3, 1970, and became effective on July 1, 1971. It was the fifth revision since 1776, when it was first enacted. Article 1, Section 16, which begins, “That religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator…†contains the phrase, “and it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.â€

Karl Marx said, “”Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily persuaded”” The liberal teachers unions, the ACLU and the anti-Christian organization Americans United for the Separation of Church and State understand this all too well. They daily conspire to revise and subvert our nation’s history in order to replace the principles of Christianity upon which our nation was based, with their relativistic and socialist philosophy.

Anyone who honestly seeks the truth regarding our nation’s history can and will find it, thus overcoming the ignorance imposed upon them by the liberal left. Those who refuse to consider the preponderance of evidence because of their hatred for God and radical liberal bias are nothing but arrogant. They can join with the flat earth believers who likewise ignore the evidence in favor of their flawed ideology.”