Protesters of Native American Injustices Destroy Statue of Man Who Saved Thousands of Indian Lives
Stephen McDowell
Apparently Native American lives don’t matter to a group of Black Lives Matter protesters, who tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus on June 9 in Richmond, Virginia, and tossed it into a lake. Similar incidences have occurred in many cities. The Richmond activists said they were standing in solidarity with indigenous people, but being educated in government schools dominated by revisionist history and Marxist ideology, they were never taught that Columbus rescued untold thousands of peaceful Arawak natives from the cooking pots of the brutal cannibalistic Caribs.
During his exploration of the Caribbean Islands, Columbus encountered different native tribes, some peaceful and some vicious. The Caribs were especially feared by the Arawak’s and other natives since they were cannibals who regularly attacked and captured their peaceful neighbors.
The physician during Columbus’ second voyage, Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, describes an encounter they had with the Caribs on Guadeloupe Island. They asked some native women prisoners what the islanders were like who lived there. They said they were “Caribs” and were glad to learn the Europeans abhorred such kind of people who eat human flesh. Chanca wrote:
They told us that the Carib men use them with such cruelty as would scarcely be believed; and that they eat the children which they bear them, only bringing up those whom they have by their native wives. Such of their male enemies as they can take away alive they bring here to their homes to make a feast of them and those who are killed in battle they eat up after the fighting is over. They declare that the flesh of man is so good to eat that nothing can compare with it in the world; and this is quite evident, for of the human bones we found in the houses, everything that could be gnawed had already been gnawed so that nothing remained but what was too hard to eat; in one of the houses we found a man’s neck cooking in a pot…
In their wars on the inhabitants of the neighboring islands these people capture as many of the women as they can, especially those who are young and handsome and keep them as body servants and concubines; and so great a number do they carry off that in fifty houses we entered no man was found but all were women. Of that large number of captive females more than twenty handsome women came away voluntarily with us.
When the Caribs take away boys as prisoners of war they remove their organs, fatten them until they grow up and then, when they wish to make a great feast, they kill and eat them, for they say the flesh of women and youngsters is not good to eat. Three boys thus mutilated came fleeing to us when we visited the houses.[1]
Another man on that voyage, Michele de Cuneo, confirmed Carib atrocities:
The Caribs whenever they catch these Indians eat them as we would eat [goats] and they say that a boy’s flesh tastes better than that of a woman. Of this human flesh they are very greedy, so that to eat of that flesh they stay out of their country for six, eight, or even ten years before they repatriate; and they stay so long, whenever they go, that they depopulate the islands.[2]
The Carib’s cruelty was reflected and propagated in their religion. Cuneo writes:
We went to the temple of those Caribs, in which we found two wooden statues, arranged so that they look like a Pieta. We were told that whenever someone’s father is sick, the son goes to the temple and tells the idol that his father is ill and the idol says whether he should live or not; and he stays there until the idol answers yes or no. If he says no, then the son goes home, cuts his father’s head off and then cooks it.[3]
Cuneo also says that “the Caribs are largely sodomites,” and that “accursed vice” may have come to the other natives through them.[4]
When Columbus first heard stories from the Arawaks and others of how the Caribs captured, tortured, and ate them, Columbus could not believe it. But after speaking to many Arawak prisoners and observing first hand evidence, he became convinced.
It happened that the Caribs attacked Columbus’ men, and in response the Admiral sent a punitive force against them, capturing 1600 Carib prisoners in the fight. The Arawaks welcomed the defeat of their enemy, and would have liked to see them all destroyed. Hoping to civilize and Christianize these brutal men, Columbus sent 550 of them to Spain as prisoners. Another 650 were given to the local natives, who executed their own brand of justice upon them. The remaining 400 were set free.
Thus, Columbus delivered the peaceful Arawaks from the future brutal actions of their evil enemy, saving many lives from slavery and the roasting fire. I imagine these Arawaks would gladly display the Columbus statue torn down by the protesters. Far from being an oppressor, he was their liberator.
[1] Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, Letter, quoted by Felipe Fernandez-Arnesta, Columbus and the Conquest of the Impossible, New York: Saturday Review Press, 1974, p. 118.
[2] Michele de Cuneo, Letter, 1495, reprinted in Samuel Eliot Morison, Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages of Christopher Columbus, New York: Heritage Press, 1963, p. 219.
We have a calling in life. It is a divine calling. We are first called to God, to become His child and part of His family. Next we have a calling in the earth as part of mankind’s mission to rule or take dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). The amelioration of mankind is part of this cultural mandate; that is, we are to work to elevate mankind, to bring advancement to man and make his life better. God gives us unique gifts and skills to help us accomplish our unique task in life.
Os Guinness defines calling as “the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”[i] The call of God impacts all areas of life and work, not just our religious life. Fulfilling our calling requires us to discover truth through sciences, apply truth through technology, interpret truth through humanities, implement truth through commerce and social action, transmit truth through education and arts, and preserve truth through government and law.
Historically, Christians have led the way in each of these areas. As these men and women have been faithful to fulfill the call on their lives and utilize the talents God gave them, they have contributed greatly in taking dominion over the earth and extending God’s purposes and government in this world.[ii] The people that God has used have come from diverse backgrounds and many, like Louis Braille, had to overcome great obstacles. But they all embraced their calling and persevered.
The Story of Louis Braille
Even as a blind boy, Louis Braille felt called for a purpose. God had a mission for him. His mission was to make it possible for blind people all over the world to have their own books and their own libraries. These books would bring light to the dark eyes of the blind. He had experienced this darkness for most of his life.
When this mission was growing in his mind, it seemed a remote dream since most blind persons were ignored or looked down upon by society. Through history past, the blind stumbled through life generally alone on a terrifying road. Some shelters were built for the blind by Christians as early as the 4th century, and medieval convents and monasteries usually had an almshouse for unfortunate people. However, most blind did not benefit from this charity. Many were locked up in mental institutions and some used as freak show attractions. Most wandered on their own in the streets. Some were used by con artists to collect hand-outs in the streets, promising to provide for them through these collections but pocketing most of the money for their own use. The blind were cut off from education, apprenticeship, job training, and any sort of normal life. They lived in darkness, not only physical but also mental, having little opportunity to gain knowledge.
When Louis was a boy there was one school for the blind in Paris that had been started by Valentin Hauy some years before. While it provided useful verbal instruction in the academic disciplines as well as training in music, it was very limited in self-teaching tools for the blind. The school only had three books that the blind could “read.” These large volumes contained pages of raised letters in Latin. The books could only have short discourses since each page could only contain a few sentences, and it took great time and effort for the blind to “read” them.
As a boy, Louis hoped someone would come up with a way for the blind “to see.” But there seemed to be no one. God inspired him with a vision. The Scripture became a source of inspiration. He remembered the words spoken by Father Palluy from the book of Genesis, the first chapter: “Then God said, Let there be light; and the light began.” Louis thought that God surely wanted the light to shine for everyone, even those who lived in physical darkness.
His Life
Louis Braille was born in the small village of Coupvray, France, some 20 miles east of Paris, in 1809. As devout Catholics, his parents had him baptized, hoping to keep him protected from all the dangers that existed for youth in the world at this time.
His father produced all kinds of leather goods in his local harness shop. When Louis was three years old he accidently jabbed an awl in his eye when he was trying to punch a hole in a leather strap in his father’s workshop. The cut became infected and spread to his other eye, blinding him in both eyes. Over time he learned to not only get around his family’s house and yard with the help of a cane, but could travel by himself to the nearby village. His heightened senses enabled him to learn much about his small world. Louis had an insatiable desire to learn; he even wanted go to school like the other boys and girls, but how could a blind boy keep up with those who could see?
With the encouragement of his family and the local Catholic priest, Father Jacques Palluy, Louis entered the local school and quickly excelled. While learning many things, Louis still could not read any of the books in the school or in the church library. Father Palluy gave him a book, whose pages Louis would often feel, but what he earnestly wanted was to be able to read a book on his own instead of having to ask his sister or parents to read to him. But how could he who was blind ever be able to read?
One day Father Palluy came to visit Louis and answered that question. He had learned of a school for the blind in Paris that had developed a way for the blind to read. They had books designed for that purpose. And he would help him enroll and get a scholarship.
At age ten, Louis was the youngest student at the National Institute for Blind Youth, but he quickly excelled. Yet, he had to wait one year before he was allowed to “read” one of the three books for the blind that were in the library. It did not take him long to read these and a few other available pamphlets. While better than not being able to read at all, the technique then in use was slow and very limiting. Large raised letters of the Latin alphabet used by those who could see only lifted the darkness a little for the blind. Louis thought there must be a better way.
A raised letter Bible for the blind produced by the American Bible Society in 1846.
He hoped the leader of the school, a professor, or someone would invent a new system of reading for the blind. None of those who could see had a vision to do so. As Louis pondered this hope, he began to think that perhaps he could be the one to fulfill the dream that he believed God put in his heart. But he was only a teenager. How he could accomplish what others older and wiser than he had not?
His desire to read books like other youth only grew. He could not escape the vision. There was work that needed to be done. He would seek to fulfill the mission of God. He would do all he could to make it possible for blind people everywhere to have their own books and their own libraries. He would make his life count and find a way to enable the blind to have books. He would help bring great light to those who lived in darkness. He would seek to fulfill his calling.
Finding a solution was not easy. He pondered it day and night. The fingers were the eyes of the blind. The few books he had read were by feeling raised letters on paper. But this was slow, and the blind could not write using this method, so it was very limiting. How could he produce an alphabet that would enable the blind to quickly and easily read with their fingers but also write to others? He experimented with many things, looking for a code.
Help came when he learned that a Captain Barbier had invented a code during the war that soldiers used in the dark to communicate with one another. His system of “night-writing,” called sonography, enabled orders to be sent that could be read with the fingers without use of any light, which might alert the enemy.
A raised letter Bible open to the Gospel of Mark. “Reading” the raised words of regular English lettering was slow and required large letters. This was before the Braille system was widely accepted.
Unfortunately, Barbier’s “night-writing” was very limiting as it was based upon sounds, not letters, and used a pattern of dashes and dots that were rather complex, and hence was useful to send only simple messages. But it helped point Louis in the right direction.
In the months that followed, Louis worked on devising a code that the blind could use to read and write. It consumed his spare time, while at school in Paris or during the summer break at home in Coupvray. He carried with him a writing board and pointed tool where he could make pinpricks on paper, experimenting with hundreds of combinations of dots and dashes. His fingers became extremely sensitive, able to “read” with the slightest touch.
He patiently endured failure after failure, often forgetting to eat as he worked on the problem. A new code began to emerge where each letter could fit under the fingertips, thus enabling him to move quickly across the page, just as the eyes move along reading sentences. After three years of almost constant effort, he finally developed a system that worked well. He could write pages quickly and easily and read them back with his fingers, just about as fast as eyes can read.
While over the years he would make some changes to improve his code (he removed use of dashes for dots only), the basics were there. The code, which would later be called Braille in honor of the inventor, was based upon a tiny cell of six raised dots that was two lines wide and three lines deep.
1 . . 4
2 . . 5
3 . . 6
Each letter had a unique raised dot pattern within this cell, as seen here:
Louis, a fifteen-year-old boy, had created a system of reading for the blind that would one day rank him as one of the greatest of inventors. Yet, as is often the case with inventions, it would take many years before this light-giving tool would be recognized and used on a wide scale. In fact, Louis would see limited use of his Braille system during his life. Many even worked against the dispersal of his code.
Some teachers at the school for the blind resisted implementing the Braille dot system because it would require them to learn the method in place of how they had been teaching for years. The French Ministry of the Interior stated the government favored no changes at the school. Consequently the administrators of the Institute worried if they did embrace Braille’s dots they may lose their government funding and would have to rely on meager donations. The leader of the Institute for the Blind, Dr. Pignier, was supportive of Louis and his dots, but said they “will have to go on teaching the embossed-letter reading until we have permission otherwise from the government.”[iii]
While Louis fought for use of his method, he continued his studies in all areas, especially music, in particular the organ. He became so proficient he was praised by noted composer Felix Mendelssohn and was hired as the organist at a nearby small church. In accepting the meager-paying job, he was showing a blind person could hold a position of importance.
At age 19 he was chosen to be an apprentice teacher at his school, the first blind student to be hired. During this time he began work on a book that explained his six-dot cell method of teaching reading and writing. It would be written using his dot cell alphabet, and hence readable by blind as well as those with sight, and was entitled: Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Songs by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them.
The American Bible Society published this card for the blind containing the Braille alphabet and the Scripture verse John 14:6.
He hoped it would help sway the government and others to embrace his system. But year after year the government rejected Dr. Pignier’s requests to make the dot system the official method of reading and writing at the Institute. Louis’ system would be able to save almost any blind person from being ignorant, but few could see its importance.
Some of those few who strongly embraced the Braille system were the blind students at the Institute. At age 25 Louis was appointed to a professorship at the Institute, along with two other blind teachers. (He taught at the Royal Institution from 1834 to 1839.) All three used the dot cell method and the students excelled. Louis himself increased his reading speed up to 2500 dots per minute.
Over time Braille and his students were able to give demonstrations of rapid reading and writing with the dot system, which brought much praise, even from the French King Louis Philippe. Even so, most still could not see the great importance of Braille’s invention.
In his 30s, Louis was diagnosed with consumption (likely tuberculosis), which had been afflicting him for many years and would take his life in his prime years. Yet even with declining health, he continued to fight for his dot-system against those who opposed it. One of those men, Dr. Armand Dufau, was appointed the new director at the institute where Louis taught. He directed that the Braille dot-system not be used in the classrooms. Even more devastating, Dr. Dufau ordered all of the books that Louis had transcribed into dots to be burned. But Louis relied on God and continued in his calling.
Louis and his students protested and remained resolute until Dr. Dufau reversed his position on banning the Braille code. Their continued efforts eventually brought about acceptance of the Braille method in the school of the blind, and much later in France and nations around the world. They also helped open the Institute to girls for the first time.
Louis went on to invent, with another blind man Pierre Foucault, a machine that would print raised dots on paper. This printing method, called raphigraphy, enabled the blind to read and write any- thing. Blind and sighted persons could now send messages that both could read. This machine was a primitive version of the typewriter.
Although it was slow, Braille’s dot-system gradually spread. It would forever change the life of the blind. No matter how many obstacles got in his way, Louis acted upon his life mission, his calling. He could see the forest in the seed, while most people could not. In his short life he saw small advances in the use of his dot-system, but it would take generations for Braille’s work to have its fullest impact. Louis never lost heart. Likewise, we should continue to pursue the call of God on our lives. God calls. We obey. He brings the increase in His time, which is often not as we hope or expect. As with Louis, when God calls us, we can have faith that he will provide, naturally or supernaturally, everything needed to accomplish the mission.[iv]
Throughout his life, Louis Braille was provided all he needed to accomplish his calling: the friendship and guidance of a minister, loving and supportive parents, a scholarship to the blind school, a role as teacher and professor, and contacts with many influential people.
Tuberculosis eventually took Braille’s life at age 43. His Christian faith remained evident on his deathbed. To lamenting friends he said: “Please do not fear for me. I am quite content. God simply must be telling me that my work here is finished.”[v] As the end approached he asked to receive Holy Communion. He is reported to have said: “God was pleased to hold before my eyes the dazzling splendours of eternal hope. After that, doesn’t it seem that nothing more could keep me bound to the earth?”[vi]
He died on January 6, 1852, two days after his 43rd birthday, having fulfilled his calling. A friend, Hippolyte Coltat, later entered in his diary: “Louis Braille [had] delivered up his pure soul to the hands of God.”[vii] Louis was buried in a simple grave in his hometown at Coupvray. Little notice was taken of the death of Louis Braille because his invention had not yet spread widely. This has been true of many other creators and inventors. It would take many decades for the world to see the significance of his work.
The Louis Braille commemorative U.S. silver dollar was released in 2009 and has readable braille on the back.
After his death a few crusaders produced the Lord’s Prayer in dots in five different languages. The Book of Psalms was printed in the six-dot type facings, and prayer books were produced to be used for chapel services. The Scottish missionary to China, W.H. Murray, used the Braille system to translate writings into Chinese so the blind there could read. Over time the American Bible Society produced the Bible in Braille in dozens of languages.
Today the Braille system is accepted as the universal language by which the blind can read and write. A great variety of books are now available in Braille. It took over 100 years, but on June 20, 1952, France honored her influential son by removing Louis Braille’s body from the simple grave in Coupvray and reinterring it in the Pantheon in Paris. This man who could not see is now universally recognized for bringing light and “sight” to millions who are blind. The impact of his fulfilled calling will continue for generations.
End Notes
[i] Os Guinness, The Call, Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998.
[ii] For scores of examples see, Stephen McDowell, Transforming Nations through Biblical Work, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2018.
[iii] Anne E. Neimark, Touch of Light, The Story of Louis Braille, New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1970, p. 141. This is one of innumerable examples supportive of keeping government out of education.
[iv] There are many such examples in the Bible. For example, as Jesus approached Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion he told His disciples to go into the nearby village and they would find a colt that they were to bring to Him (Matt. 21), and if anyone questioned them they were to say the Lord had need of it. Here was a supernatural provision for the fulfillment of prophecy and Christ’s mission. Jesus even provided for unjust government taxes in a supernatural way, telling Peter he would find a coin in the mouth of a fish (Matt. 17:27).
The evidence of the Christian Foundation of America is great. The Providence Foundation has presented much of this in our books and publications, including America’s Providential History, America a Christian Nation, Building Godly Nations, and others. Many other people have written on the topic as well. But the material is so vast that it would take myriads of books to even present a good introduction. In this Providential Perspective we add more to the evidence with words of some of the people who gave birth to this nation — words that these men wanted their posterity to remember them by.
In their Last Will and Testaments, many of our Founders testified of their strong Christian faith. Some who were devout Christians, as seen in other writings and actions, made little or no mention of this in their wills (for example Roger Sherman), while others who had written little of their Christian beliefs during their life proclaimed their strong faith in this last testament. Some wills are very explicit in showing their reliance upon Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; others reflect their reverence for God briefly — using such terms as “In the name of God” (George Washington) and “By permission of Almighty God” (James McClurg). Many declared in language similar to Josiah Bartlett, Signer of the Declaration: “Firstly I commit my Soul into the hands of God, its great and benevolent author.”
The following are excerpts of some of the Founding Fathers’ wills that express their Christianity. While these are from the time of American independence and the early years of our republic, we could have examined many of those who colonized America. For example, John Smith, leader in early Virginia, stated in his will:
John Smith
First I commend my soule into the handes of Allmightie God my maker hoping through the merites of Christ Jesus my Redeemer to receave full remission of all my sinnes, and to inherit a place in the everlasting kingdome.
The wills of leading women in early America also reveal the Christian faith of our Founders. Mary, the mother of George Washington, stated in her will:
In the name of God! Amen. I, Mary Washington, . . . do make and publish this, my last will, recommending my soul in the hands of my Creator, hoping for a remission of all my sins through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind.
(These quotes have been taken from copies of the wills in our files, most made available by courtesy of WallBuilders. These wills may be obtained from various state and county archives; and some from historical societies and documents.)
Samuel Adams (1722-1803)
Signer of the Declaration, Father of the Revolution, Governor of Massachusetts
In the name of God. Amen. . . . Principally & first of all, I commend my Soul to that Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to the dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.
Samuel Adams
Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer (1723-1790)
Signer of the Constitution, Maryland
In the Name of God Amen. I Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer . . . commend my Soul to my blessed redeemer.
Richard Stockton (1731-1781)
Signer of the Declaration, New Jersey
And as my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian Religion, such as the Being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the operations of the divine Spirit; of divine Faith, accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the divine Providence: but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge them, that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system, is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state; that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or consequentially; even in this life; that as Almighty God hath not been pleased in the holy Scriptures to prescribe any precise mode in which he is to be publickly worshipped, all contention about it generally arises from want of knowledge or want of virtue. I have therefore no particular advice to leave with my children upon this subject, save only that they deliberately and conscientiously, in the beginning of life, determine for themselves, with which denomination of Christians they can, the most devoutly and profitably worship God; that after such determination they statedly adhere to such denomination without being given to change; and without contending with or judging others who may think or act differently upon a matter so immaterial to substantial virtue and piety. That distinguished abilities, stations and authority are only desireable as occasions of doing greater private and public good, but that their footsteps being invariably masked with envy and opposition, make them enemies to private peace, and therefore unless public life is evidently pointed out by divine providence it should rather be avoided than coveted.
John Dickinson (1732-1808)
John Dickinson
Signer of the Constitution, Revolutionary General, Delaware
Rendering Thanks to my Creator for my Existence and Station among his works, for my Birth in a Country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying Freedom, and for all
his other Kindnesses, to him I resign Myself, humbly confiding in his Goodness, and in his Mercy through Jesus Christ, for the Events of Eternity.
Christopher Gadsden (1724-1805)
Member of First Continental Congress, Revolutionary General, South Carolina
My Soul with humble submission and confidence in the merits of my blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, I hope in the last trying moment to resign with chearfulness, to that
Almighty and Merciful being who gave it.
John Blair (1732-1800)
Signer of the Constitution, Supreme Court Justice, Virginia
After commending my soul to God, the Universal Creator, and trusting that he will exercise towards it the same beneficent care and protection, for which I have such abundant reason, in the course of a fully long life, to thank him with earnest devotion: and that he will thro the merits of a crucified Saviour, raise up my body at the last day to partake, in union with my soul; of endless life and bliss.
John Jay (1745-1829)
John Jay
Member of First and other Continental Congresses, First Supreme Court Chief Justice, author of The Federalist, New York
Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for his manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by his beloved Son. He has been pleased to bless me with excellent parents, with a virtuous wife, and with worthy children. His protection has accompanied me through many eventful years, faithfully employed in the service of my country; and his providence has not only conducted me to this tranquil situation, but also given me abundant reason to be contented and thankful. Blessed be his holy name. While my children lament my departure, let them recollect that in doing them good, I was only the agent of their Heavenly Father, and that he never withdraws his care and consolations from those who diligently seek him.
Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814)
Signer of the Declaration, Massachusetts
I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the author of my existence, in full belief of his Providential Goodness and his forgiving mercy revealed
to the World through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state acknowledging with grateful remembrance the happiness I have enjoyed in my passage through a long life.
George Mason (1725-1792)
George Mason
Constitutional Convention, Father of the Bill of Rights, Virginia
My soul I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, whose tender mercy’s are all over his works, who hateth nothing that he hath made, and to the Justice and Wisdom of whose Dispensations I willingly and chearfully submit humbly hopeing from his unbounded mercy and benevolence, thro the Merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins.
Philip Livingston (1715-1778)
Signer of Declaration, New York
In the name of God Amen. . . . First I do resign my soul to the Great Most Mighty and Most Merciful God who gave it in hopes thro mercy alone by the merits of Jesus Christ to have joyfull Resurrection to life Eternal.
John Langdon (1741-1819)
Signer of Constitution, Governor New Hampshire
First: I commend my Soul to the infinite mercies of God in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son of the Father, who died and rose again, that he might be the Lord of the dead, and
of the living; and my body I commit to the earth, to be interred in a decent manner, at the discretion of my Executors hereinafter named, professing to believe and hope in
the joyful Scripture doctrine of a resurrection to eternal life.
Henry Knox (1750-1806)
General in Revolution, Secretary of War
First, I think it proper to express my unshaken opinion of the immortality of my Soul or mind; and to dedicate and devote the same to the Supreme head of the Universe — To that great and tremendous Jehovah — who created the Universal frame of Nature, Worlds and Systems in number infinite, and who has given intellectual existence to
the rational beings of each globe, who are perpetually migrating and ascending in the scale of mind according to certain principles always founded on the great basis of
morality and virtue — to this awfully sublime Being do I resign my spirit with unlimited confidence of his mercy and protection.
John Hall
Member of Continental Congress
I recommend my Soul to God who made me hopeing for his mercy and forgiveness of all my sins through the merits and mediation of our blessed saviour Jesus Christ.
Elias Boudinot (1740-1821)
Elias Boudinot
President of Congress under Articles of Confederation, Member of the First Congress under the Constitution from New Jersey, Director of U.S. Mint
I do therefore improve so good an Opportunity of repeating the profession I have made for more than Sixty Years, and which by the free grace of God, thro’ Jesus Christ and by the continued influences of his holy Spirit has been strengthened & confirmed by the most happy Experiences, founded on solid grounds, and by a thorough examination & Enquiry into the divine Scriptures thro’ that long period, and in which I hope, under the same blessed influences, to finish my mortal life, I mean that of a firm, unfeigned & prevailing belief in one sovereign, omnipotent & eternal Jehovah, a God of infinite Love & Mercy, “who hath delivered us from the powers of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption thro his blood, even the forgiveness of Sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. and He is before all things and by him all things consist” and who ever has been and still is reconciling a guilty world unto himself, by his Righteousness & atonement, his death & his Resurrection, thro whom alone Life & Immortality have been brought to 1ight in his gospel, and by the all powerful influences of his holy Spirit, is daily sanctifying, enlightening & leading his faithful people into all necessary Truth. And as it has pleased a holy & sovereign God to favour me with the Continuance of one only Child, to whom I do most cordially wish & pray for the best & greatest possible good in time & Eternity; I do in the most solemn manner, as in the presence of the one only great & glorious God, The Father the Son and the holy Spirit, and in view of an approaching Eternity, beseech & intreat her, to make the fear & the love of God, the great objects of her constant attention & pursuit. And in a particular manner that she will, by a persevering inquiry into, and a thorough knowledge of the Spirit of Power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which she has been so long, and I trust thro’ divine mercy, savingly acquainted with, endeavour to cherish & increase the like Temper, disposition & usefulness in life, as are therein so clearly & plainly taught [& impressed?] and which generally speaking, consist in an universal benevolence, meekness, self denial, deep contrition for sin & unfeigned love to our Brethren, with an habitual of lively faith in & dependence upon our Lord Jesus Christ as the only atonement for our Sins, and the source of every blessing. . .
John Hart (1711-1779)
Signer of the Declaration, New Jersey
Thanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, and knowing that is appointed for all men once to die and after that the Judgment, do make & ordain this my last Will and
Testament . . . First and principally I give & recommend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God who gave it and my Body to the Earth to be buried in a decent and
Christian like manner . . . not doubting but to receive the same again at the General resurrection by the mighty power of God and as touching all such Temporal Estate
wherewith it hath pleased Almighty God to bless me in this life.
William Samuel Johnson (1727-1819)
William Samuel Johnson
Signer of the Constitution, Connecticut
I give and bequeath to the first of my grandsons who shall apply himself to the study of divinity and take Holy Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church my Polyglot Bible the two Hebrew Bibles and Hebrew Psalter which my father used, Bates’ translation of the Pentateuch Hanes Hebrew Psalms Grabis Septuagint and an interleaved Greek Testament.
Peter Muhlenberg (1746-1807)
Minister, Revolutionary General, Member of First National Congress, Pennsylvania
Principally and first of all I recommend my immortal Soul into the hands of God who gave it and my Body to the Earth to be buried in a decent christian like manner . . . And as to such worldly Goods and Estate wherewith God has been pleased to bless me in this life I give and dispose of it in the following manner.
Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Patrick Henry
Orator of the Revolution, First Continental Congress, Governor Virginia
This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.
Gabriel Duval (1752-1844)
Congressman from Maryland, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
I resign my soul into the hands of the Almighty who gave it in humble hopes of his mercy through our Savior Jesus Christ.
John Morton (1724-1777)
Signer of the Declaration, Pennsylvania
With an Awful Reverence to the Great Almighty God Creator of all mankind, I John Morton of Ridley in the County of Chester in the province of Pennsylvania, being sick
and weak in Body but of sound mind & memory, thanks be given to almighty God for the same, and for all other his mercies and favours, and considering the certainty of
death & the uncertainty of the time thereof, do for the settling such Temporal Estate as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life make this my last Will and Testament as followeth.
Henry Middleton (1717-1784)
First and Second Continental Congresses, South Carolina
In the Name of God Amen. I Henry Middleton . . ., being in declining state of Health, but of sound and disposing Mind and Memory (Thanks be to God for the Same) do
make and declare this Instrument of Writing to be my last and only Will and Testament in Manner following, that is to say, first and principally I commend my
Soul to God the Author and Giver of Life, hoping for a blessed Immortality through the Merits and Mediation of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785)
Jonathan Trumbull
Governor of Connecticut, Minister, trusted counselor of Washington during the war
Principally and first of all, I bequeath my Soul to God the Creator and giver thereof; and body to the Earth, to be buried in decent christian burial at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named, nothing doubting but that I shall receive the same again at the General Resurrection thro’ the power of Almighty God; believing and hoping for eternal life thro’ the merits of my dear, exalted Redeemer Jesus Christ.
Philip Schuyler (1733-1804)
Member of Continental Congress from New York, Revolutionary General, New York Senator in first Congress
In the name of God, Amen. I, Philip Schuyler . . . being by the mercy of the Father of all mankind of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make this my last will and
Testament. . . To the great Omnipotent Just and merciful Sovereign who directs the destinies of created beings, I humbly submit, that of my Soul, relying for the pardon of
my sins on his free grace, thro the mediation of the blessed Redeemer of mankind.
David Ramsay (1749-1815)
Member of Congress under Articles of Confederation, physician, author of history of Revolution, South Carolina
I give my Soul to God in the hope of his Mercy through the Merits & intercession of his Son Jesus Christ & my body to the Grave there to be kept till the resurrection day agreeable to the hopes inspired by Gods holy word contained in the Bible the best of Books & given by divine inspiration for the Salvation of the fallen race of Adam.
Rufus Putnam (1738-1824)
Revolutionary General, New York Congressman, founder of Marietta, Ohio, Surveyor-general of U.S., member of Constitutional convention of Ohio.
First, I give my soul to a holy Sovereign God who gave it, in humble hope of a blessed immortality, through the atonement and righteousness of Jesus Christ and the
sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. My Body I commit to the Earth to be buried in a decent Christian manner, In full belief that this body shall by the mighty power of God
be raised to life at the Last day, “for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825)
Signer of the Constitution, Revolutionary General, South Carolina
To the eternal immutable and only true God be all honour and Glory now and forever Amen!
Eliphalet Dyer (1721-1807)
Member of First and many early Continental Congresses, Connecticut Judge
Whereas it has pleased God in his good Providence to bestow upon me considerable worldly estate & property, and calling to mind my own frailty & mortality & hope and
trust in the fear of God.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
Seventh President of the United States
First, I bequeath my body to the dust, whence it come, and my soul to God who gave it: hoping for a happy immortality through the atoning merits of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of the world.
In the past year prices have been rising rapidly for many items, including lumber, cars, gas, appliances, and homes. What is causing this? Some politicians have claimed it is pent up demand brought on by the COVID crisis that has kept people from spending. Others say the inability for producers to operate at full capacity has led to a shortage of various products which has pushed up prices. While these factors may be having some effect, the recent satirical article by Babylon Bee more clearly reveals the cause: “Biden Proposes $2 Trillion Bill to Study What’s Causing Inflation Rates to Rise.”
The primary reason that prices are increasing is trillions of dollars of deficit spending. It is not just President Biden and the current Democratic Party leadership who are to blame because annual deficit spending by the national government has been going on for over one-half a century no matter which party is in control (although Democrats are especially good at spending more money than is received via taxes).
Faced with the unknown impact of the COVID virus, the federal and state governments in the United States shut down much of the economy during the past year. To assist those without income, President Trump and the Republicans passed a massive relief bill which required more deficit spending than usual. When Biden assumed the presidency and the Democrats took control of the House and Senate they passed even larger relief bills (and they are proposing more massive spending bills). These huge deficits require, in essence, the creation of new money. Increasing the money supply in a nation causes inflation; it causes the rise in prices.
Inflation is not the result of rising prices. Rather, inflation is caused by falsely increasing the money supply. This is done by ignorant (and often corrupt) government leaders. It is a violation of God’s law.
When people or nations violate God’s principles there are negative consequences. His principles relate to all of life, including money. A biblical economy will have an honest money system. Leviticus 19:35-37 states:
You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. You shall thus observe all My statutes, and all My ordinances, and do them: I am the Lord.
One sign of a nation rejecting God or backsliding from following God[i] is the condition of its currency and the degree of honesty in its weights and measures. In rebuking Israel from turning from God, Isaiah points out how “your silver has become dross” (Isa. 1:22).
To many people today, inflation means an increase in prices. This, however, is simply the symptom of the national government increasing the money supply to pay for budget deficits. When the money supply is increased, either through printing more money, credit-expansion, or borrowing from a central bank, the purchasing power of each dollar falls, and businesses must increase the prices they charge to keep up with their own higher costs.
In other words, the value of money, like other commodities, is determined by supply and demand. When the supply of money is relatively constant, the purchasing power of money will be relatively stable. As the supply rapidly increases compared to the supply of goods and services, its value declines; that is, more money is needed to buy the same product, and prices rise.
Politicians place the blame on others such as greedy businesses, big corporations, foreign governments, or calamitous events. But persistent inflation (which we have had for the past century or so, with periods of variable levels) has one source: rapid growth in the money supply. Comparing the growth of the money supply in various nations during the past decades reveals the greater the annual growth rate of the money supply, the greater the annual growth of rate of inflation.[ii]
Growth of Money Supply and Inflation, 1990-2007[iii]
Annual Growth Rate of the Money Supply (%)
Average Annual Growth Rate of Inflation (%)
United States
2.1
2.8
Singapore
2.5
1.4
Sweden
4.0
2.0
Canada
5.1
2.1
Peru
22.7
21.9
Ghana
24.8
22.2
Nigeria
27.5
21.9
Romania
35.6
61.7
Turkey
71.8
51.6
Ukraine
84.5
89.9
Zimbabwe
164.8
165.3
Congo, Dem. Republic
140.3
360.4
The only one to benefit from inflation is the government because it is the first one to spend the money. It is a hidden form of tyrannical taxation because as the government spends more and more money created from thin air, the purchasing power of the citizen’s bank account goes down and down. Inflation is theft. Remember, the Bible declares, “thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
If a private citizen decides to set up a printing press and make some money, he is called a criminal (counterfeiting); if the government does the same thing it is called “monetizing the debt” or “stimulating the economy.” What is the difference?
Inflation discourages savings by promoting a “spend now” attitude. It encourages debt, deceives people about pay increases and future wealth accumulations, is a hidden theft tax, and decreases capital available for investment.
Inflation is a result of an increase in the money supply. Most inflation is due to bad or corrupt government officials who create dishonest money so they can spend more without directly taxing the people. There have been examples of localized inflation where honest money has rapidly increased due to finding large reserves of gold or silver, such as in California (1848 and following) and Alaska (1896-1902), but most cases are the result of bad government leaders.[iv]
Recessions or Depressions follow Inflation
If the government keeps printing money with abandon, the result is runaway inflation. Prices rise every day (or even in a few hours). This occurred during the American Revolution, in France in the late 1790s, in Germany in 1923, in Brazil in 1971, in Russia in the 1990s, and at various other times.
Runaway inflation is quite dramatic. For example, a pound of butter in Germany in 1914 cost 1.4 marks. By 1918 it cost 3.0 marks; in 1922 it was 2400 marks and in 1923 a pound of butter cost 6,000,000,000,000 marks! In the Hungarian inflation of 1946, money lost all its value. It was cheaper to wallpaper a room with money than with wall paper.[v] People used wheelbarrows to carry their money when they went shopping.
Children playing with bricks of money in Germany, where inflation reduced the value of currency to nearly nothing.
Once inflation starts it is very difficult to stop, and then with only great economic pains. When more money becomes available, demand for new and more expensive products rises since people have more money to buy things. Production and sales increase which leads to hiring more employees. New plants are built and larger stores are opened. But prices also begin to rise. The government who creates the money does not want runaway inflation to occur, so they cut back on the money supply. Now people do not have enough money to buy more expensive or non-necessary items. They quit buying these things. The smaller demand causes the producers to fire employees and downsize. Unemployment rises, producers must readjust their businesses to the new conditions, and people cannot make money. A depression occurs. Bad decisions by businesses are made evident.
A depression is a correction period that follows inflation. It occurs when the government decreases the money supply or slows down its increase. Since governments do not want depressions to occur, they try to balance how rapidly they increase the money supply with the amount of unemployment. A recession is a less dramatic adjustment to inflation. It is a mild depression.
As long as governments determine the money supply there will be periods of inflation then recession (with possible depression intermixed). Politicians inflate the money supply which leads to rising prices. To attempt to stop rising prices, they deflate the money supply, which leads to higher unemployment. They then start inflating again. This is what is called the business cycle.[vi] While it is often presented as the natural outcome of the free market, it is really the product of dishonest government intervention in money and banking in a nation. The severity of a recession depends upon how much inflation is slowed. Severe adjustments result in boom and bust cycles.
Specific businesses can have booms and busts based upon factors besides the money supply, including such things as supply and demand, changing technology, and competition. Businesses must regularly adjust to what people need and want, and how much they are willing to spend for things. But in periods of inflation, bad decisions and investments by businesses (and individuals) are not as quickly evident. In recessions or depressions these bad decisions will require dramatic adjustments, with some businesses failing.
During WWI and the 1920s the government created much new money. This is what mainly caused the “Roaring Twenties.” The inflation caused the stock prices to skyrocket. Many people had more money to invest in the market. People felt rich. They spent money fast. (Velocity, how fast people spend money, affects prices as well.) In the 1930s government stopped expanding the money supply and people also stopped spending money so fast. A depression occurred. The action of the government did not get us out of the depression. It actually extended the depression. Government actions included restricting trade, increasing spending, and increasing taxes. The present Congress and administration appear to be following much of the same path.
Large rise of prices during the past 50 years are an indication of the government regularly increasing the money supply. The people who are harmed the most from inflation are those living on fixed incomes or who have retired and are relying on social security and money saved over their working lives.
An example of bad decisions made due to inflation became evident in 2008. With easy credit available and low interest rates (the money supply increased greatly in early 2000s), many people bought houses at inflated prices. Some were doing this to attempt to make money, some moved into larger homes, and others bought homes for the first time. When the economy slowed (stocks dropped, spending decreased, unemployment rose) home prices dropped. Many people who lost their jobs could not meet the payments and had their homes foreclosed. Since the value of their homes had declined they could not sell them to pay off their mortgage.
Price Controls
When prices start rising due to increased money supply, why doesn’t the government just step in and pass laws mandating no price increases? If this happens, then producers will have to lessen the quality (or diminish quantity) of their product to still make money. What if government mandates the same high quality? Then producers will go out of business if they cannot make money, or else they will sell their goods in the underground free market, or black market (or alternate zones of supply). The result will be a shortage of goods.
To End Inflation
Inflation must stop permanently if the economy is to be established on a sound, long-term basis. To get rid of inflation we should abolish the central bank, repeal all tender laws, and return to a gold warehouse receipt standard (or more specifically, allow the free market to determine what will be used as money for buying and selling — this could be gold, but also silver, or anything that meets the characteristics of honest money). In addition, we must end fractional reserve banking.[vii]
With our current monetary system, returning to an honest money system is doubtful. Therefore, to keep inflation in check, we should require by law that the money supply cannot be increased more than 1-2% or so per year, which in part will require ending deficit spending.
Remember, inflation is an ethics problem. It occurs when dishonest politicians promise people many “free” things and the people gladly accept these things that someone else must pay for. (Someone must pay for it, for there is no such thing as a free lunch.) Dishonest money reflects dishonest leaders and dishonest citizens. The quality of the money of a society reflects the quality of the character of the people.
[i] America was birthed as a Christian nation; that is, she was founded upon biblical principles. In recent times she has been rejecting God and His truth in many ways, including rejecting biblical economic principles.
[ii] See James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Dwight R. Lee, and Tawni H. Ferrarini, Common Sense Economics, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010, p. 68.
[iii] Gwartney et al, Common Sense Economics, p. 68.
[iv] When the Spanish conquistadors stole large amounts of gold from the Aztecs and Incas in the 1500s and 1600s and brought this to Europe, this increased the money supply enough to cause prices and wages to rise. This leveled off when the new gold and silver ran out.
[v] Richard J. Maybury, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Placerville, Cal.: Bluestocking Press, 2004, 26.
Fulfilling Our Biblical Duties to Transform the Culture, Educate Our Children, and Protect Property
God has given His people a mission. Like Jonah, most are running away from it.
1The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. (Jonah 1:1-3)
Jonah ran away from the mission God gave him. Similarly, God has given a mission to His people in America, and, like Jonah, the church in general has failed to do what God has called us to do.
God used storms, wind, waves, and a great fish to bring about Jonah’s repentance.
Jonah was go to and cry against the wickedness of Nineveh. It was a pagan, immoral, evil society. God has called us to cry out against the pagan, evil, immoral culture that has been rapidly growing in America. The modern society not only flagrantly breaks the Ten Commandments with abandon, but declares anyone who believes and lives according to God’s liberating principles is to be canceled or persecuted.
Many people have been praying and repenting, asking for God’s mercy upon America. This has been, at least in part, precipitated by rising immorality (including the radical homosexual and trans movement), the enacting of many bad laws, the loss of liberty under COVID restrictions, the destruction of businesses and cities by leftist groups, the illogical “woke” movement, and the increasing acceptance of socialism especially among the youth.
We have witnessed the persecution of bakers, florists, photographers, and others for standing upon their conscience and Christian convictions. Those standing for life are threatened with jail for exposing the abortion death mills. We have seen government officials telling the church how they can fulfill their biblical duty to worship – deciding if that can gather, how many people can gather, and whether they can sing. Our God-given rights have been violated and our responsibilities usurped by modern-day Caesars.
America needs to repent. Certainly the lost need to repent before God, and consequently we need to speak God’s truth to them. But repentance in America must begin with the church – God’s people. Like Jonah, the church has been running away from the mission God has given us. The mission is to preach God’s truth to Nineveh, which represents the pagan, secular culture that is increasing in the nation.
Repentance is much than verbally acknowledging our wrong-doing. It is much more than a spiritual exercise of “wearing sack-cloth” and fasting. Repentance is a change of mind and way, and a return to our work and duty from which we had turned aside. It is doing that which God calls us to do. Jonah repented and went to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s truth. Under his preaching, Nineveh repented – they not only cried out to God in sackcloth (Jon. 3:5-8), they also did the works of repentance (Jon. 3:10). We must do the same.
What are the works of repentance we must do in America today? In the message in the following link, Stephen McDowell presents three primary things that we must do in order to bring long-term permanent change in the nation.
The Bible teaches the idea of private property. While God created all things, and thus all property is His (Ps. 24:1-2), He gave to man the stewardship of His property (Ps. 115:6). The Eighth Commandment – “you shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15) – implies private property rights. The Tenth Commandment, not coveting your neighbor’s property (Ex. 20:17), implies individual ownership of property, as does the law, “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark” or property boundaries (Deut. 19:14; Deut. 27:17). God’s law requires restitution to be made to the property owner by the thief (Ex. 22:1 ff; Prov. 6:30-31).
Jeremiah bought a field from his cousin. He signed a deed with witnesses after paying money for it (Jer. 32:1-16). This was a sign that houses and land would again be possessed by Israel (for the Chaldeans had captured it). We see private ownership and the free market here.
The New Testament affirms private property rights as well. The parable of laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16) teaches that the landowner could do what he wished with his own things: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (Mt. 20:15). The early church in Jerusalem voluntarily sold their property to help those in need. Peter affirmed the ownership and individual control of the property of Ananias and Sapphira: “While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?” (Acts 5:4).
The Family Has the Right to Own and Govern Property
Ownership of property in Israel was primarily for the benefit of the family. Families in Israel were given land (Joshua 12-31) as a permanent possession (Lev. 24:10). Parents are to leave an inheritance (including possessions and property) for their children (Prov. 13:22; 2 Cor. 12:14; Pr. 19:14). God intends for families to be the primary manager of His property. The family is the primary institution to take dominion (Gen. 1:26-28) and to do this it must own and control land and other types of property.
Noah Webster considered the principle of property as foundational for the freedom of America. This idea was expressed in his essay written in support of the Constitution:
The liberty of the press, trial by jury, the Habeas Corpus writ, even Magna Charta itself, although justly deemed the palladia of freedom, are all inferior considerations, when compared with a general distribution of real property among every class of people. The power of entailing estates is more dangerous to liberty and republican government than all the constitutions that can be written on paper, or even than a standing army. Let the people have property and they will have power – a power that will forever be exerted to prevent a restriction of the press, and abolition of trial by jury, or the abridgement of any other privilege.[1]
Webster worked to preserve this principle at every level. He recognized that property rights not only included external things, such as land, houses, and merchandise, but also internal property, such as inventions and writings. He believed that “the production of genius and the imagination are if possible more really and exclusively property than houses and lands, and are equally entitled to legal security.”[2] This conviction motivated him to travel throughout the country to secure copyright legislation on the state and national level.
Property is both external and internal. A person’s property is whatever he has exclusive right to possess and control. Property is first internal. A person’s conscience is his most precious aspect of property because it tells him what is right and wrong in his actions. Each person in a free government must be a good steward of his conscience and keep it clear. By doing so, he will know what is right and wrong from within and, therefore, he will be able to live his life in a right manner. The apostle Paul said he did his “best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men” (Acts 24:16).
“Let the people have property and they will have power.”
Governments exist to protect property of every sort. Yet, pagan governments fail in this. Statism and its many forms (socialism, communism, Marxism, socialist democracy) seek to control or own property. Instead of protecting property they plunder property. The state controls property in many ways, including:
Property taxes, inheritance taxes, graduated income taxes.
Ideas of sharing the wealth by taking from the productive and giving to the less productive.
Excessive regulations of property, business, land use, personal behavior, etc.
Eminent domain
This pagan idea of government ownership or control of property is not new. It has been a primary way that Satan has sought to control God’s earth and God’s people. One way that human beings express the image of God (we were created in His image, Gen. 1:27) is through ownership of property and is why God instituted private property from the beginning. We are like God when we own and manage property. Ownership gives us opportunities to imitate God’s character and attributes. Just as God is sovereign over all the creation, He has given to mankind the opportunity to be sovereign over a small part of that creation by managing and being good stewards of houses, land, material resources, cars, possessions and other types of external property. He also wants us to take possession of internal property, such as ideas to create businesses, correct political philosophy to run governments, proper societal behavior, and various biblical ideas of life. As we are good stewards of this property we are able to show the love, justice, mercy, creativity, and goodness of God.
If governments own or control all property then they control all of life. They can determine where you live, how you are educated, what type of work you can and cannot do, what goods and services are available in the marketplace, and how much money you can earn. The more you are controlled, the less liberty you possess. Instead of living free under God, you live in bondage under tyrannical man. Communism is based upon the government owning all property. Karl Marx said:
Karl Marx
“The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: abolition of private property.”[3]
Tyrannical governments will take from man what God wants man to have. When Israel asked for a king, contrary to God’s desire, Samuel warned them of the consequences of this pagan top-down form of government:
“This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you; he will take your sons …. He will take your daughters.… He will take the best of your fields…. He will take a tenth of your seed…. He will also take your … best young men … for his work…. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.” (1 Sam. 8:10-18)
The consequence of government taking what does not belong to it is enslavement of the people in the nation. If government controls all property it controls all life. It thus robs humans of expressing the image of God and living in the great liberty that God intended for man from the beginning. Statism turns a nation into a giant prison.
Pagan civil governments also seek to control or own your internal property – your thoughts and ideas. Consider a recently purposed law by city leaders in San Antonio. It forbids anyone who opposes homosexuality from running for office or serving in the government, and you can be fined for holding this position! Tyrannical governments will invade rights of conscience as well as external property rights. The power that can invade liberty of conscience, can also usurp civil liberty. Internal property rights must, therefore, be guarded at all costs, for as they are diminished, every inalienable right of man is jeopardized.
Humans have a right to own property. It is a God-given right. Property rights are human rights, one of the most fundamental human rights. Each of the three divine institutions (family, church, state) has some authority in the field of economics, but the family is the primary agency, because they are the primary agency of dominion. As Noah Webster wrote, we must “let the people have property and they will have power” to accomplish God’s mission to express His image and extend His kingdom in all the earth.
[1] Rosalie J. Slater, “Noah Webster, Founding Father of American Scholarship and Education,” in Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language, republished in facsimile edition by Foundation for American Christian Education, San Francisco, 1980, p. 14.
[3] Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, New York: International Publishers, 1948, p. 23. Quoted in Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010, p. 262.
What We Can Do to Stop the Leftists from Hi-Jacking the Land of Liberty
Stephen McDowell
America is under assault by those who oppose the foundational ideas upon which this nation was built. While claiming to uphold the Constitution, these secular humanists reveal by their actions that they oppose life, individual liberty, property rights, the equality of all men, and the idea that government is a servant of the people.
They readily toss aside the idea that all men are subject to the law, rulers as well as common citizens. Instead of embracing the American founders’ idea that no man is above the law, they seek to become a law unto themselves and force everyone else to conform to their views of truth and morality. Hence, those we elect to uphold the law are in fact the greatest law-breakers. And it seems they are never held accountable by our system of “justice.”
Examples of this action abound. None was more egregious in recent years than the charge against President Trump that he colluded with the Russians to win the election, based upon a completely fake dossier paid for by his political opponents. All the government officials, supported by the main-stream media, who were involved in this proved-to-be false allegation trampled upon the rule of law.
Of course, such examples abound both before Trump’s administration and now under the Biden administration, and include all spheres of governing officials.
Judges regularly make law — like the U.S. District Judge in Texas who a number of years ago toppled a marriage amendment upholding the traditional and Biblical view of marriage that had been approved by more than 75% of the voters in that state. Similar federal rulings discarded marriage laws in Oklahoma, Virginia, California, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Kentucky.
Regarding discussion on immigration reform Thomas Sowell writes: “Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them. One of the big problems that those who are pushing ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ want solved is how to help people who came here illegally and are now ‘living in the shadows’ as a result.”
Add to this, Presidents who legislate through executive orders, government agencies that run rough-shod over the rights of individual citizens, and the failure of Congress to perform its legal duties, and we can see we have a serious problem.
But why is this happening?
One primary reason that we are becoming a lawless society is that the church (both as an institution and the corporate body of believers) has become lawless. The church has disregarded all uses of God’s basic moral laws as revealed in the Ten Commandments: for civil use as a curb against sinful action in society, for didactic use as the rule by which we should govern our lives and grow to maturity, and in many ways for theological use as a mirror that serves as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
For over three centuries the Ten Commandments were ubiquitous in America.
The Ten Commandments were taught in all the churches and hung on church walls of many denominations.
Christian leaders followed the example of Protestant reformers like Luther, Calvin, and Knox and systematically taught the Ten Commandments.
Catechisms were the primary textbooks in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Ten Commandments were central in these catechisms; for example, about 40% of the questions in the Westminster Shorter Catechism deal with the Ten Commandments.
The New England Primer, the best-selling text during the 1700s with about 5 million sold, contained the Shorter Catechism. Almost all of our Founding Fathers, even the minority who were not Christians, would have used this book and memorized the catechism. Therefore, even the non-believers were thoroughly grounded in the moral law of God.
Webster’s “Blue-Back Speller” sold about 100 million copies in the 19th century. Over 100 sentences used to introduce new words taught the moral law of God contained in all ten of the commandments.
The McGuffey Readers, which sold 122 million copies, had a section on the Ten Commandments.
Other textbooks would have likewise taught the moral law of God. In fact, the Ten Commandments hung on many schoolroom walls up until 1980 when the Supreme Court ruled this was unconstitutional.
The Ten Commandments were the foundation of civil law in America:
The first laws written in the colonies, Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall, etc., were written in Virginia 1609-12 and contain most of the Ten Commandments.
The laws of the New Haven Colony, founded by John Davenport in 1638, state: “the judicial laws of God, as they were delivered by Moses and expounded in other parts of Scripture, so far as they are a defence to the moral law, and neither typical nor ceremonial nor had reference to Canaan, shall be accounted of moral and binding equity and force.”
Massachusetts Body of Liberties: the standard for this precursor to the Bill of Rights was the Word of God.
The rights and liberties of the Ten Commandments are preserved in all our early civil documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Recognizing the Ten Commandments as the foundation of our laws is why many state capitols have plaques of the Ten Commandments.
The basis of America’s legal system was built upon the Biblical view of law as taught by William Blackstone and others. For this reason many courtrooms had the Ten Commandments hanging upon the walls, until recent times.
While the Ten Commandments were found everywhere in our nation in the past, they have come under assault in recent times: in 1980 the Supreme Court ruled they could not be hung on the schoolroom walls in Kentucky; Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from office after he refused to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse; laws are passed and judicial opinions issued that are contrary to the moral law of God.
However, the reason the commandments were removed from the schoolroom and courtroom walls is because they were first removed from the church walls and the walls of the hearts of Christians. Not that keeping the commandments is the means of our salvation (for salvation is a gift of God, given by His grace and a result of our faith in the atoning work of Christ), but, His moral law is to be the standard for right behavior within our society. Without this, we can have little liberty, justice, peace, or Biblical prosperity. The Bible teaches myriads of times that great blessings come from obeying His law-word.
Yet, if we do not know His commandments and how they apply to all of life, we cannot obtain the good fruit that comes from obeying them. Most Americans and, sadly, most American Christians, are ignorant of God’s moral law. In the fall of 1997, a friend of mine took a survey of 500 men attending the Promise Keepers prayer gathering in Washington, DC, asking them to name the Ten Commandments in the order they appeared in their Bible. Only one of these sincere and devoted believers could do so! I have taken numerous surveys of people attending our seminars asking the same question. Only a small percentage of them have been able to list the Commandments in order, and there has never been a majority of attendees who could list all ten even in random order.
Resources on the Ten Commandments
Ignorance of God’s moral law, which has led to great lawlessness in America today, prompted me to write two resources on the Ten Commandments. The first is a Bible study on the Ten Commandments designed to be used by parents in the home, by churches, by Christian and home schools, and by civil leaders and anyone else needing an understanding of the moral law that formed the foundation of Western Civilization.
This Ten Commandments Bible Study (God’s Blueprint for Life, Liberty, and Property) guides you through both the prohibitive nature of the commands and the positive corollaries and rights rooted in these commands. The format is primarily to ask questions regarding the Commandments and then give Scriptures for you to look up and write out the answers. When completed, you will have a thorough understanding of the marvelous principles contained in the Commandments.
Jesus reiterated what is taught throughout the entire Bible: that God’s Law/Word, which is summarized by the Ten Commandments, contains principles that, if obeyed, produce life — life for men and nations — but if ignored, produce death. He said: “Do this [keep the commandments] and you will live.” America’s laws were based upon God’s higher law. This higher law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, used to be taught to all Americans, was greatly revered, and all looked to obey it. Today, few obey, revere, or even know His commands.
Many people are doing all they can to remove any vestige of His law from our nation, claiming they are a great detriment to society. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in Stone v. Graham that the public schools of Kentucky could not display the Ten Commandments on the walls. The Court said: “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments.” Just imagine if our children obeyed the Ten Commandments. Some may consider this dangerous, but in reality this would solve many of our problems. About 1.7 million Americans are behind bars today — 1 in every 155. To learn to not steal or murder might not be too bad an idea to help deal with this problem. The Ten Commandments and Modern Society shows the importance of the commands for us today and gives an overview of them, highlighting the positive corollaries of the negative laws.
The material in these two books is essential for American Christians to know and apply if we hope to turn the nation from a path of lawlessness to one following after God and His truth. America needs to repent (turn and go a different way) for many things. Most importantly, we need to turn from man’s law to God’s law. We need to once again acknowledge God as sovereign, the source of law (the First Commandment) and return to His moral law as revealed in the Ten Commandments.
Jesus taught we are to render to Caesar (civil government) what belongs to Caesar, but we are not to render to Caesar what belongs to God. Our conscience belongs to God.
Biblical civil government will not violate Christian conscience.
Stephen McDowell
Over the past few generations, civil government in America has progressively encroached upon the rights of conscience. During the COVID event, the trampling of man’s “most sacred property”[1] has become obvious, even to the most lethargic person. Many people are resisting the plundering of their rights and property. Others think it’s okay for civil leaders to do whatever they deem as necessary to protect the community.
How far can government go in violating human rights to protect the nation from what has been declared a pandemic? What does the Bible teach regarding the government’s role in man’s conscience? The book of Romans, chapter 13 presents an excellent overview of the biblical doctrine of government. One of the numerous principles taught here[2] is that Biblical civil government will not violate Christian conscience.
Romans 13:5 says, “Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.” Our conscience tells us what is right to do; that is, it tells us to obey God because God’s Word declares what is righteous. Therefore, if government is commanding action contrary to God, our conscience will not tell us to obey evil government, but rather God’s law. Subjection requires our submission to government; that is, we place ourselves under someone else. But when government requires something of us that is contrary to God’s word, we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). Even here, we are submissive, in the sense that we will realize that there will be consequences for disobeying leaders. When do we disobey government? When it forbids what God commands (like prayer, Daniel 6) or commands what God forbids (like idolatry, Daniel 3).
To be in subjection “for conscience’ sake” does not mean that we are to subject our conscience to the will of government leaders or to any man. Only God can make laws binding our conscience. We are to render to God what belongs to God, and our conscience belongs to God, not man. However, pagan man will attempt to govern the conscience. Today, secularists are enacting laws punishing those who oppose homosexuality, attempting to force many businessmen to violate their conscience. They pass hate laws thinking they can discern the motives of the heart.
God wants our subjection to be voluntary and sincere (Eccl. 10:20; 1 Pet. 2:17), but if the ruler’s laws violate God’s law then this cannot be. Secular governments will enact laws that violate some aspect of God’s law. We must resist such tyrannical rulers,[3] while at the same time seek to establish godly government. As we take steps to resist and evaluate the probability of success we exhibit “a patient subjection to the penalty without resistance.”[4] The first century church had little hope of changing unlawful authority and so having this attitude and action showed the rightness of the Christian faith. If we resist unbiblical civil laws, the wrath of civil government will come upon us. We must be prepared to suffer the consequences. But if we subject ourselves to unbiblical laws for fear of punishment, then God will deal with us for disobedience.
We are to be subject to our government and its laws not just out of fear of punishment but for conscience sake. But this requires that the laws that we obey are not in violation of God’s laws, for our conscience will condemn us if we act wrongly. Hence, we need godly rulers and godly laws to be able to truly fulfill this requirement.
[1] James Madison wrote that conscience is the most sacred of all property, identifying the principle that property has both an internal and external component.
[2] For other principles of government taught in Romans 13, see Stephen McDowell, Ruling Over the Earth, A Biblical View of Civil Government, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2020, Chapter 3.
[3] See Chapter 5 of Ruling Over the Earth for steps to take to resist tyrannical leaders.
[4] Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, 2002, Rom.13:1-7, pp. 2229-2231.
Loving my neighbor is not demanding they wear a mask.
Stephen McDowell
You have likely seen the signs or heard the statement: wearing a mask is not about you but about caring for others. The intent is to justify government officials who demand everyone wear masks, first in public indoor settings and then to the outdoors, with some pushing this for private settings.
This may sound noble, but is this really what the Bible requires if we are to follow the golden rule, the teaching of Jesus, and the overarching message of the law of God?
How do we love our neighbor? Jesus said we do so by keeping the six commandments of the Second Table – we don’t steal his property, take his life, dishonor his name, covet his possessions, or promote immorality, but we protect his life, liberty, property, and God-given inalienable rights. We act in such a way that he is able to live free under God to pursue all that God wants him to do.
Liberty, both internal and external, is one great object of the Christian faith, and has been uniquely expressed in the American Republic. As opposed to pagan societies where all truth and law emanates from rulers, Christianity teaches each man can know the truth and are to govern their lives in accordance with that truth. They are to be free to follow God and fulfill His will. This is what was meant by the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, because pursuing God and being free to do His will is what produces maximum happiness.
Loving my neighbor means I will do all that is necessary for him to retain the great liberty Christ came to earth to give to mankind. A governmental decree demanding all men wear masks (whether that action is as beneficial as some claim or not) increases the power of that institution that historically has been the most oppressive agent to human welfare. It opens the door wider to future encroachments by government to control of our lives, liberty, and property.
In 1934 former President Herbert Hoover warned of the increasing government control of the Franklin Roosevelt administration writing: “the rise of most dictatorship in history has justified itself upon saving the country in ‘emergency.’”[1]
Under out current COVID-19 “emergency” we are seeing the rise of statism, of government control of areas of our lives not yet breached by the growing socialism of American polity. Governors have decreed who can open their businesses, how many people can enter private buildings, how many people can gather at church, what you can do in church (sing or not), where you can travel freely, et cetera. Some have imposed similar restrictions on private functions, even in your homes. In some places wearing masks are mandated, even while outside. These violations of biblical and constitutional rights and liberties are justified by arguing these actions are saving lives and saving the country. After all, it is not about you, but about loving your neighbor.
But I love my neighbor and understand that statism is a much greater threat to them than a virus that man, exercising his God-given skills, will learn how to overcome. And I also trust my neighbor to do what is right and to effectively govern his life.
Living in liberty requires us to trust our fellow man to act as he should, to be self-governed. Every day we drive our cars we trust our fellow citizens to safely operate potentially dangerous machines, which can and unfortunately sometimes do bring death and destruction. We trust them to act honestly when they conduct business with us.
COVID-19 is a real virus that brings real harm to people (although we are learning it is not nearly as fatal as initially thought). If people are infected with it, quarantining them is a biblical response. While this is generally done by individual choice, government could take action for those who abuse their liberty and purposely endanger others. But we should not quarantine those that are well. The consequence of universal quarantine produces greater death and destruction (through lost wages, lack of obtaining basic needs, lack of access to health care for other serious illnesses, etc.) than trusting citizens to act in their and their neighbor’s best interest.
Individuals who are most at risk for the virus (the elderly with comorbidities) can isolate themselves from potential infection. Others concerned for their safety can choose where to go and what to do on their own. Those who think they may have been exposed, including the asymptomatic, can isolate themselves. Individual choice shaped by biblical truth and love is a foundational component of our constitutional republic.
In a free society, we are to trust the individual citizen to act rightly. In a command society, government leaders believe they know best and must use force to get everyone to comply with their decrees. Rather than demand that my neighbor act in accordance with some government bureaucrat (knowing this will only lead to greater loss of liberty in the future), retaining American liberty while governing myself under God is a much better way to show my neighbor I love him.
[1] Herbert Hoover, The Challenge of Liberty, New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons, 1934, p. 72.
