For PDF Version: Evidence of Biblical Inspiration

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Five hundred years ago Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” on the church door in Wittenberg, marking a pivotal event in the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The focal point of the Reformation was the Bible being made available to the common man. Luther and others sought to translate and distribute the Bible because they believed it was much more than just a religious or moral book. To them it was divine.

When we read the Bible we are confronted with a claim that requires a response: that is, that this book is the Word of God, the Word of the Almighty One who created and sustains all things. In the Bible God reveals and declares Who He is and how we are to live. We can reject the claim or believe it, but to ignore it is foolish. If it is what it claims to be, the Word of God, then our adherence to its requirements is essential for life, here on the earth and in the eternal hereafter.

Can we know that the claims of the Bible are true? Is there any evidence of its divinity and infallibility? The answer is a resounding YES! In my recent booklet – The Bible, Divine or Human? – I present numerous arguments for Biblical inspiration. One of those is the Bible’s social influence.

The Bible’s Social Influence

The Bible has changed world history. No book has had such a positive impact on society. Wherever the Bible has gone and taken root and grown, it has changed cultures and nations. There are myriad examples, from the advance of Biblical Christianity in the first few centuries, to the transformation of Ireland and Western Europe via Patrick and his Biblical training schools, to the central role of the Bible in the birth and development of America.[1]

A microcosm of the Bible’s transformational impact can be seen in the history of Pitcairn, an island in the South Pacific. After a group of mutineers took over the English ship HMS Bounty in 1789, some of them sought to hide on Pitcairn along with some natives they had befriended while in Tahiti. They were a motley crew — 9 white sailors, 6 Tahitian men, 10 women, and a girl of 15. One sailor discovered how to distill alcohol — drunkenness and fighting resulted. Soon only one white man was left with some of the native women and children. Alexander Smith found a Bible in a chest from the ship, and began to read it and teach what he learned. His life and everything on the island changed. When the U.S. ship Topaz landed on the island in 1808, they found a thriving, prosperous community with no whiskey, no jail, no crime, and no insane asylum. The application of the Bible changed this place from hell on earth to a good example of what God wants the world to be.

Biblical Christianity has impacted all spheres of life. Its transforming work has been like a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32) — it began small, but has become greater and greater throughout history. The impact the Bible has had upon the world is an indication of its divinity. No writing, religion, philosophy or person has ever even come close to affecting things as the Bible has. These have not just been “spiritual” or “religious” matters, but all areas of life. Some of those areas include:

1. The value of the individual

An engineer once asked his students, “What is the most important thing to come out of a mine?” Answers included gold, silver, copper, and diamonds. The teacher’s response was “The most important thing to come out of a mine was the miner.”[2] The Bible teaches that all men have great value because all men are created in the image of God. It teaches the equality of all men before the law. This Biblical view led to the end of slavery, the elevation of women, and representative government.

2. Compassion for the poor and needy

The Bible teaches that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Acting upon this precept motivated Christians to care for the poor, establish hospitals, and set up charitable organizations to meet the needs of fellow citizens. After serving those nearby, Christians went throughout the world doing similar acts of love. In fact, Christians are by far the greatest philanthropists in the world.

3. Education

The Bible teaches that everyone should have access to and know the truth, beginning with the Bible. This Biblical philosophy of education has motivated thousands of Christians to translate the Bible into myriads of languages, and where no written language existed, to first construct it. This idea is also the reason the church and Christians have established schools and universities wherever they go. In America, 106 of the first 108 colleges were started by the church or Christian community.

4. Development of civil government

Civil liberty is a product of the Bible and Christian people. The great civil documents of liberty were almost universally written by Christians who looked to the Bible as the source of law.[3] In fact, the Bible being made available in the common language of a people preceded civil documents of liberty. Biblical ideas also gave rise to the framework of free governments, including such concepts as constitutionalism, separation of powers, limited government, separation of jurisdictions, and election of representatives.

5. Emergence of individual rights and liberty

A Biblical view of man and government gave rise to the recognition and protection of God-given inalienable rights for mankind, including the rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as freedom of worship, speech, assembly, and the press. These freedoms are secured by the constitutions and civil documents originating in Christian societies.

6. Science and technology

The greatest scientists of all time were Christians or were a product of Christian societies (such as Newton, Kepler, Bacon, Maxwell, Herschel, Boyle, and Faraday). The Bible provided the worldview necessary for them to make their discoveries. The greatest inventions in history were also a product of Biblical men and thought, including the printing press, the steam engine, the reaper, the telegraph, and the electric motor, just to name a few.

7. Economics

Individual enterprise, private property, and free market principles are rooted in the Bible. Where these principles have been applied, economic prosperity has followed. The American Pilgrim founders demonstrated that Marxist socialist policies do not work. Their ability to reason from the Bible to economic affairs caused them to put aside communistic policies and embrace a free market system which elevated them out of poverty and set the foundation for great economic advancement. A father of the free market system and author of the classic Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, was a Christian who derived his worldview from the Scriptures.

8. Medicine

Advancements in medical care and discoveries occurred primarily in Christian societies. The discoverer of antiseptic surgery, Joseph Lister, was motivated by his Christian faith to find a way to limit hospital deaths due to infection.[4] The Biblical admonition to care for the sick prompted the establishment of hospitals and nursing, as well as groups like the Red Cross.

9. Moral advancement

Civilization has followed the spread of the Bible. Barbaric and primitive cultures have been civilized by Christianity, as witnessed in the early centuries of the Christian era in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and up through modern history as remote tribes have encountered Biblical Christianity. Oppressive societies have also been liberated by Biblical precepts.

10. Literature, arts and music

Where the Bible has gone, arts and the media have progressed. The father of modern musical notation, Monk Guido of Arezzo (995–1050), used a familiar hymn to teach notes via a mnemonic device (doh, re, mi, fa, sol, la). These notes were to music like the alphabet is to language. This instruction allowed the development of western music because now men could compose and pass on music, and explore music theory, harmony, and polyphony.[5] Many of the leading musicians and composers have been Christians, such as J.S. Bach and George F. Handel. Likewise, western art and painting developed out of a Christian worldview. The great authors of literature, history, theology, and politics were primarily Christians expressing the true nature of man and the universe in their writings.

The majority of people who made a significant contribution to advancements in all these fields have been Christians or a product of a Christian culture. The Bible shaped their lives and worldview, as well as the society at large.[6]

The Scripture informs us, “The unfolding of Thy words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). The Bible gives laws for human relationships that have never been excelled or equaled. Where they have been taught and lived, they have transformed nations (Ireland, England, and the United States are examples). In languages where the Bible has been freely circulated, it has released astonishing power for good, overthrowing superstition and opening doors to progress in science, arts, humanities, inventions, and more. (South Korea is a modern example.[7])

The truth of the Bible has delivered hundreds of millions of people from fear, sickness, and sin. It has been and is the most powerful book for the renewal of man. Comparing the progress of nations in relation to their honoring the Bible and its Author shows: when they ignore, forget, or reject Him they have little growth and prosperity; when they love and apply the Bible to all of life, the nation advances, is exalted, and becomes prosperous.

To the degree that a people or nation applies the principles of the Bible is the degree to which that people or nation are free, prosperous, and advance in every sphere of life. Father of American Scholarship and Education, Noah Webster, stated:

Almost all the civil liberty now enjoyed in the world owes its origin to the principles of the Christian religion….The religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of Christ and his apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.[8]

To summarize, “Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

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To learn other reasons for Biblical inerrancy, see The Bible: Divine or Human?

 

[1] To learn about these events and others see Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, America’s Providential History, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2010. Stephen McDowell, Monumental: Restoring America as the Land of Liberty, Libertyman Publishers, 2014. Stephen McDowell, Biblical Revival and the Transformation of Nations, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2013.

[2] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994, p. 9.

[3] See Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2016.

[4] See Stephen McDowell, Transforming Medicine and Business with Biblical Principles, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2010.

[5] Kennedy, p. 182-183.

[6] For a list of many of the leaders see Stephen McDowell, Building Godly Nations, Chapter 1, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2003.

[7] See McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, pp. 72-75.

[8] Noah Webster, History of the United States, New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1833, pp. 273-4.

For PDF Version (Easier to Read): Why do the Leftists Rage?: A War of Worldviews

By Stephen McDowell

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The response of many Americans to the election and early administration of Donald Trump reveals there is a great divide among the American people. One may think that the left side of the divide—those opposing Trump—are predominant since their actions and words make the headlines of the major media outlets and their ideology is embraced by a large majority of academia and Hollywood. Moreover, a majority of voters supported Hillary Clinton and, by default, her progressive, liberal, and secular ideas.[1]

The left has become increasingly hostile, radical and perverse, not only pushing homosexuality as normal and requiring special protection for LGBTs, but also attempting to force transgenderism upon the nation and encouraging the harboring of illegal immigrants. Their tactics of violence and intimidation, suppression of free speech, and lying about positions of their opponents are becoming the daily norm.  While they have cried out in the past, there is a new savagery in their words and tactics.

 

 

Divisiveness in politics is not new, but the left’s illogical justification for its uncivil and unlawful behavior is new. And the rants and raves from liberals are louder than ever. That a majority of voters support such people and that a large percentage of the American people agree to such tactics is disheartening.

However, amidst the left’s acrimony and deplorable action, there is some good news. A map of the results of the 2016 Presidential election by counties shows most areas of the nation reject the extreme liberal ideas of the progressive left, since only 16% of counties supported Clinton. While President Donald Trump is not a paragon of virtue, he does support many Biblical virtues (life, property rights, freedom of religion, parental rights, the rule of law), and he has appointed many Christians and Biblically thinking people to his cabinet.  The “red counties” also reflect growing conservatism in government, with the GOP now controlling both the U.S. House and Senate, 33 Governor’s mansions, and 32 state legislatures. While all of the Republican leaders are certainly not Christians nor principled conservatives, there is, in general, a clear difference in the worldview and morality of the people represented in the red and blue counties on the map.

Apparently, “Americans are no idiots, and they appear determined not to be slaves,” to use the words of Presbyterian Pastor John Zubly warning the British in 1775 to not deprive the American people of their liberty.[2]

 

 

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, if we compare the election map with a map showing the most Christian are as of the United States, we see that the red states/counties generally coincide with the highest proportion of evangelical Christians. The worldview of this large voting sector (26% of all voters identified as evangelical) certainly affected who they supported, with about 81% of white evangelicals voting for Trump, and only 16% for Clinton.[3] While it is likely many of these voted against Clinton rather than for Trump, either way, most evangelicals reject the secular, liberal worldview because it is contrary to Biblical thought.

There is a clear divide in the nation – a divide that seems to be more distinct than ever. The divide is not just about the role of government in issues like helping the poor and public education (where Christians may have different positions). The divide is much more pronounced. It centers on such important issues as life, the family, and morality, views on which the Bible is clear. It also involves ideas on property rights, the role of government in business, and Constitutional laws and liberties.

The blue-state liberals have general agreement of worldview. They are pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, for big government, and against Biblical morality. There are some “socialist Christians” who are pro-life and pro-family but who voted for Clinton because they perceived she supported their positions on social justice (government provision of the poor and standing up for the oppressed), which to them outweighed the issues of life and traditional family.

The red-state conservatives do not all have a Biblical worldview—while about one-half of these voters were evangelical, their depth of Biblical reasoning varies greatly—but a majority do adhere to a common set of principles rooted in a Biblical philosophy of man and government and expressed in the Declaration of Independence. They believe in truths rooted in God, embrace limited government, support freedom of religion, conscience, and speech, and are for Creator-endowed rights to life, liberty, and property. Throughout most of our history, the vast majority of Americans believed these principles, which, unfortunately, has been changing in recent generations.

 

 

 

 

Why is this? Why do an increasing number of Americans think homosexuality and transgenderism are okay?[4] Why are an increasing number of Americans embracing a socialist/secular worldview? One primary reason is that public schools and most colleges have been controlled by the left for many generations.[5] The control of ideology and moral development has been so absolute that it is a wonder that more of the American people do not embrace secularism. The great tool of socialist indoctrination has not had the overall effect its proponents had hoped it would. Yet, it is also a mystery that so many people still embrace leftist/socialist ideas because they always produce bad fruit wherever they are tried.  They do not work.

What is behind this great divide in the nation? Why is there an ever-growing hostility among the “red” and “blue” states/counties? Why do so many Americans embrace ideas contrary to our founding principles and antithetical to Biblical morality? At the root of the conflict is a war of worldviews, between one that is Christian and one that is humanistic.

A Humanistic View of Law: the Reason the Leftists Rage

Comparing the Christian and humanistic philosophies of law reveals why the left has such apoplectic rage at having lost power and why they are willing to do anything to regain it, while conservatives accept liberals ruling with relative calm.

Law, from a Christian perspective and as the Founders of America viewed it, originates in the will of God, revealed in general to man through nature and his conscience, and more specifically in the revelation of the Scriptures. Law from a humanistic view is rooted in man, ultimately autonomous man, but practically in the state, and in the consensus of the majority, or of a powerful minority.

From a Biblical perspective man is fallen and fallible, has a sinful nature, and thus needs to be restrained. The Biblical purpose of civil law is to restrain the evil action of men in society. True law reveals what is right and wrong, and hence, exposes law-breakers. But law in itself cannot produce what is right, nor can it change the heart or attitude of man; therefore, the Christian acknowledges the inability to legislate “good,” or to make people moral by passing laws. However, the Christian recognizes the moral basis of all laws. All laws everywhere are based upon the moral presuppositions of the law-makers. Laws against murder reflect a moral belief. Laws against theft are based upon the command to not steal. All law has a moral concern. The important question to the Christian is “whose morality does it legislate?”

From a Christian presupposition then, the law cannot change or reform man; this is a spiritual matter. Man can only be changed by the grace of God. He cannot be legislated into a new morality.

 

 

 

 

Humanists see the evils in society and in man, but explain them differently than Christians. To the humanist there is no higher being than man. There is no incarnate Savior. From a humanistic perspective there is no hope of internal regeneration to save man, therefore, any salvation or transformation that occurs in men or nations must come from man. Historically, humanistic man has tended to use the instrument of law and government to attempt to bring such a transformation or “salvation.”

Having no other means of provision, of salvation, or of peace, humanistic man attempts to regulate and provide all things through government and law. It is only through the force of law that evil will be eliminated and utopia established on earth. Humanistic law is used to promote and advance humanistic morals. Such law, in conjunction with a corresponding educational system, is the only hope humanistic man has of establishing a “saved” or “righteous” — that is, good and progressing — society.

To restate this, if there is no God who redeems man internally, then any elimination of problems brought on by what is in the heart of man must be done by man — often collective man and his government. The attempt will thus be made by government (at least those that have a vision for a progressing society) to use the instrument of law to bring more peace and goodwill among men and to eliminate all that is negative, such as poverty, crime, war, disease, prejudice, and ignorance. People with this worldview will also often look to government to provide their own personal material needs, and they usually vote for those who promise them the most. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the last election (as well as all recent elections) the vast majority of people receiving food stamps, public housing, medicaid, disability, Obamacare subsidies, and various welfare benefits voted for liberal Democrats, who promised to continue and/or expand such programs.[6]

From a Christian perspective, law can restrain sinful man from acting evilly, for the fear of punishment is a deterrent, but he cannot be changed by law. Unless the evil heart of man is changed, there will be no advancement toward a better society. Humanistic law seeks to save and change man internally. Since the government (and laws issued thereby) is the instrument for such change, the government becomes the savior in a humanistic society. Therefore, the humanist tends to see law (and the state from which it comes) as savior. This might not be overtly proclaimed, but is demonstrated by actions.  Certainly man is the highest authority and the source of law in a humanistic society, and hence he is the god of that society, for the source of law of a society is the god of a society — and man will look to his god to assist him, to provide for him, and to save him.

Understanding the two views of law and government presented above reveals why the leftists are much more outspoken than conservatives about loss of power. Leftists will be much more radical and even militant in their opposition to conservatives governing than conservatives would be in the opposite position, because to leftists, government is their “church” and is a primary place where they can execute their god’s (that is, man’s) vision for life. To them, government is the place to advance man’s kingdom in the earth. Government is their highest source of authority, their highest place to appeal. They have no higher power or savior to trust in – no belief in a sovereign God who works in the hearts of men and events in history. To them, no savior exists outside of man; therefore, they think, “we must save ourselves,” and to do so, they must control the places of power and influence in the nation. Many are sincere in their beliefs and convictions, but they have a wrong view of what is good and how to bring about their vision of utopia on earth.

Conservatives only want to get control of government to slow it down, to keep government from trampling upon the unalienable rights of man. Christian conservatives have God as the highest source of power to which they can appeal. They have a savior Jesus Christ who brings positive transformation by first changing the heart of man, and then changing his mind as he studies His precepts in the Bible.

Red vs. Blue, Christian vs. Humanistic Worldview

While the worldviews of those people reflected by the red and blue in Map 1 vary greatly, the general ideologies can be reduced to two positions: Christian verses humanistic. In short, a Biblical Christian worldview has been the source of liberty in history, while a humanistic, man-centered worldview has promoted tyranny. The Founders of America believed, in the words of Thomas Jefferson’s pastor Charles Clay, “the sacred cause of liberty [is] the cause of God.”[7] Those who oppose God and freedom of worship, oppose true liberty.[8]

John Adams summarized the struggle between freedom and tyranny: “The world, the flesh, and the devil, have always maintained a confederacy against [liberty], from the fall of Adam to this hour, and will, probably continue so till the fall of Antichrist.”[9] Adams admonished the American people to fight against this demonic plot to destroy their liberty.

To more fully understand this war of worldviews, we must first understand that every nation is built upon some set of presuppositions, some basic ideas of right and wrong, which are ultimately rooted in the religion of the people. The laws of a society will reflect these foundational principles.

On one side of the war is a humanistic worldview. With this religion (and all worldviews are religious), there are no absolutes. Right and wrong are based upon what a majority says or what a minority in power says; hence, law is evolving. Law is whatever the people or courts or legislators say it is. This view began to be taught in various law schools and colleges around the turn of the 20th century, with the state secondary schools following in succeeding decades. Over time this evolutionary view of law began to impact the courts’ actions. Judges began to see our law as evolving. In the words of Charles Evans Hughes, Supreme Court Chief Justice from 1930 to 1941: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is.”[10]

Most people are not aware of how much a humanistic worldview permeates our society. It is predominant in the market place of ideas — in movies, newspapers, television, public schools, civil government, and most books, including dictionaries. As an example let’s compare the definition of immoral from a modern dictionary and from America’s first exhaustive dictionary produced by Noah Webster in the early 19th century and first published in 1828. Webster, as most of our Founders, had a Christian worldview which is reflected in his definitions. Under his definition of immoral he writes: “Every action is immoral which contravenes any divine precept.” To him, divine precept is the standard to judge immorality.

The modern Webster’s New World Dictionary defines immoral as “not in conformity with accepted principles of right and wrong behavior.” What is the standard for immoral action here? It is what the consensus of the population thinks. Immorality today is usually presented in this light where man determines right and wrong conduct. He is his own god.

Since man is the source of law in a humanistic society, man is the god of such a society. Historically, when man is his own god, the outcome is not freedom, but tyranny and destruction. Consider the fruit of the French Revolution or the gradual decay and collapse of the Roman Empire after the Caesars began to be viewed as gods.

In great contrast is the Christian worldview, where there are absolutes, right and wrong.  Since God is the source of what is right and wrong, He is the source of law. To those with a Christian worldview, God reveals His truth in the Bible. This was the view of law in America for most of our history. William Blackstone, whose Commentaries of the Laws of England (1765) was the primary resource for those studying law in America until the 20th century, said that “no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to [the] law of nature [which is] dictated by God himself . . . [or to] the law of revelation [which is] to be found only in the holy scriptures.”[11]

A Christian worldview was predominant in America from our founding in the seventeenth century up until the twentieth century. During the past century the Christian worldview has gradually been replaced by a humanistic worldview. As our worldview has changed, our law-system has changed. This changing of law-systems reflects a changing of religions.

Some would ask, “What difference does it make, if we have a Christian or humanistic foundation? Just as long as I have my freedoms.” We must understand that ideas have consequences. The fruit we get is determined by the seeds we plant. The fruit of America has been liberty and prosperity beyond that of any nation in history. It is important that we understand the seed principles upon which America was built. If we change seeds, we will get different results. The external state of nations today, as in all of history, has been determined by the foundational principles of the nations. Since these foundational principles are primarily rooted in the religion of the people, we should ask in what religion was America’s foundation rooted?

If you base your answer on what is taught in government schools, you would think we are a product of the secular European Enlightenment. But if you were to examine the laws, the schools, the writings, and the lives of early Americans, you would conclude, as did the United States House of Representatives in 1854 that “the great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”[12]

This same view was summarized by President Andrew Jackson when he said on June 8, 1845, “that book [the Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.” Early Americans would almost universally agree that the religious, social, educational, and political life of America was primarily shaped by the Bible.[13]

Our states were colonized by people who desired to freely worship the God of the Bible; our schools were begun so that everyone would be able to read and understand the Bible for themselves; our universities were founded to train ministers who were knowledgeable of the Scriptures; our laws and constitutions were written based on Biblical ideas; and our Founding Fathers overwhelmingly had a Biblical worldview.[14]

In early America there were those who attacked Christianity, for the war of worldviews has gone on since the fall of man. But they were few, and even the non-Christians fought against them.  Toward the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin (who was not a Christian) wrote a reply to Thomas Paine seeking to dissuade him from publishing a work of an irreligious tendency which spoke against Christian fundamentals.  He told Paine that no good would come from his publishing his ideas, writing that “He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face.” Franklin pointed out to Paine that “perhaps you are indebted to…your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself….Among us it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother.” Only evil would result if Paine’s ideas succeeded, for, as Franklin wrote, “If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it.”[15]

Many today in America are “beating their mother” when they seek to remove Christianity from our public life. Christianity is what has produced the liberty and prosperity that has allowed people to pursue such unwise action.

The winner of the present battle of worldviews in America will have great impact upon everyone in our nation. If the forces of humanism prevail, the fruit will be loss of liberty, increased crime, more broken homes, and less prosperity. These bad results will affect the humanists as much as the Christians (really more, due to God’s providential protection of His people), and in that sense they are “spitting in their own faces.”

The leftists rage because they have a wrong worldview. We must not only oppose them in the political arena, but we must also teach and demonstrate the principles and ideas that made America exceptional. Christianity has been the life-blood of America. If the Christian worldview prevails it will once again nourish every aspect of the life of this nation producing freedom, justice, prosperity, and life for all.

 

 

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[1] Just consider her positions on a few important moral issues: she is for abortions up until the time of birth; she embraces same-sex marriage; she supports forcing Christians via fines and civil punishments to embrace homosexuality as normal behavior.

[2] Thomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty, A Religious History of the American Revolution, New York: Basic Books, 2010, p. 86.

[3] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/

[4] A recent survey shows that 43% of Americans think it is morally okay to change the gender you were born through either surgery or taking hormones; 42% think it is wrong to do so. afaJournal, October 2016, Tupelo, MS: American Family Association, p. 4.

[5] While most colleges are liberal, conservative colleges are on the rise. See: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/the-hot-new-brand-of-higher-education/515316/

[6] http://rare.us/rare-politics/issues/democrats/81-of-people-receiving-public-housing-benefits-vote-democratic-and-thats-just-the-tip-of-the-handout-iceberg/

[7] Quoted in Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2016, p. 181. See Chapter 12 for more on “Liberty.”

[8] For historic support of this, see Thomas S. Kidd, God of Liberty, A Religious History of the American Revolution.

[9] John Adams, “Governor Winthrop to Governor Bradford,” February 9 and 16, 1767, quoted in Kidd, p. 35.

[10] Charles Evans Hughes, speech at Elmira on May 3, 1907, The Autobiographical Notes of Charles Evans Hughes, David J. Danelski and Joseph S. Tulchin, editors, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973, p. 144.

[11] Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Philadelphia: Robert Bell, Union Library, 1771, vol. 1, 38-42.

[12] B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864, p. 328.

[13] Stephen McDowell, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, p. 15. See Chapter One for more on the influence of the Bible in the history of America.

[14] See various books published by the Providence Foundation that document the Christian foundation of America, including America a Christian Nation, America’s Providential History, and The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty.

[15] The Works of Benjamin Franklin, by Jared Sparks, Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1840, p. 281-282.

 

By Stephen McDowell

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The Bible teaches that some plant, some water, but God brings the increase.[1] In a 1522 sermon addressing the means for bringing transformation in society, Martin Luther noted:

I stood against the Pope, indulgences, and all papists, but without violence or uproar. I only urged, preached, and declared God’s Word, nothing else. And yet while I was asleep, or drinking Wittenberg beer with Philip Melanchthon and Amsdorf, the Word inflicted greater injury on popery than prince or emperor ever did. I did nothing, the Word did everything.[2]

God’s Word is good seed that He uses to transform men and nations. We cannot bring the change via our own efforts. He calls us to work with Him by planting and watering, but only God can cause the seed to grow and produce fruit.

I recently received a letter from a man, John O, in Nigeria who wrote:

I am a Muslim and a student. Someone gave me your wonderful biblical booklet last year to read it. I was touched and realized that I am a lost sinner. I am in darkness. I need to become a Christian so that I can be saved. Then I prayed and right now I am convinced and converted to a living church where Bible is being preached. Sincerely I can now see the true light, which is Jesus, the Saviour of the world. I have received Him as my only Lord and Saviour, praise the Lord. I can now see my life changed and the Lord is so good to me. He has put a smile on my face and my name is now John.

I did not keep this testimonies within me but I passed it to my other Muslim friends, brothers, and sisters, telling them about the goodness and the saving grace of God. Sincerely 103 Muslim brothers and sisters have now been convinced and are now Christians; here goes their names.

He listed their names and then asked for help.

We all need you wonderful help for our spiritual growth. We want you to teach us more things and we also want you to help us get Bibles. We sincerely don’t have Bibles to read God’s words. Your Biblical leaflet has leaded us all to Christ. Please help us for our spiritual need. We all are poor and don’t have money to buy.

He then asked if we could send Bibles and other materials to help them and the growing number of new believers. We did help them get some Bibles so they can continue to plant and water the good seed of God’s Word, and God can in turn bring forth fruit as He desires.[3]

The booklet that I wrote that God used to change John’s life was Crime and Punishment: A Biblical Perspective. From the title you can probably tell that this was not intended to be an evangelistic work. It was not written to specifically present the message of salvation,[4] yet God used it to transform many lives. God is the one who brings the increase. He makes His Word alive to those who read it with an open heart.

Realizing that we cannot change the heart of man nor bring forth fruit by our own efforts is liberating. It releases us from our own strivings and feelings of guilt for failure. Yes, we must labor and follow the call of God upon our lives, and yes, God uses our efforts to advance His Kingdom in the earth, but, like Luther, we must understand that “I did nothing, the Word did everything.”

God can use our work in ways we never expect. I have shared the message of Crime and Punishment with hundreds of law-makers and church leaders. My hope and prayer is that God will use it to change justice systems in America and the nations. He may use it to effect such a change, yet while this is possibly occurring, He chose, while I was sleeping or carrying on daily affairs, to use it to change a Nigerian Muslim’s heart and then use that man to bring change in more than 100 other people. Understanding the seed principle and how God brings forth fruit will give us great confidence that God will not fail to fulfill His purposes in history. He can and does bring great transformation through our meager efforts.

*John and his growing number of Christian friends still need Bibles and other materials. Click here to help them!

**Click to Order Crime and Punishment: A Biblical Perspective

[1] See for example, 1 Cor. 3:6-7.

[2] Gene Edward Veith, Jr., A Place to Stand, the Word of God in the Life of Martin Luther, Nashville: Cumberland House, 2005, p. 84.

[3] John and his growing number of Christian friends still need Bibles and other materials. Let us know if you wish to help them. They also need our prayers for protection. John wrote that he and friends were recently evangelizing door to door when “a group of Boko Haram Muslims attacked us with cutlass and rod; we have to run for our dear life. Only 3 people were wounded but no body died. Please, we need your prayers. They cannot stop us from spreading the gospel of Christ. We are not ashamed.”

[4] The booklet does identify that the cause of crime is sin in the heart of man and that God provides a way to deal with that sin via internal salvation by God’s grace operating through our faith in Christ’s atoning work.

What Motivates Muslim Terrorists, Mass Murderers, and Destructive Anarchists, and How Do We Stop Them? “Why do they hate us so much?”

By Stephen McDowell

Click for PDF Version: Why Men Commit Evil Acts

Order The Threat of Islam to Liberty & Christianity

 

This question was asked by many in Belgium after Islamic terrorists bombed the airport and subway in Brussels on March 22, 2016, killing 31 and wounding over 300. Similar questions have been asked after other recent acts of terror, including the events on 9-11, the terrorist attacks in Paris, and the shooting in San Bernardino. Leaders, the media, and citizens ask, “Why would people commit such atrocities?”

Such questions followed the riotous acts in Ferguson and Baltimore and after mass killings in the theater in Colorado and the church in Charleston. What could provoke people to act this way? What is their motive? Why do terrorists and mass killers commit such despicable acts?

To secular humanistic thinkers, who believe that man is basically good, there must have been some external situation or action of others to cause these people to do what they did. Thus, America and the capitalistic West, by their unjust and oppressive behavior, must have provoked Muslim terrorists to blow up the Twin Towers and shoot Americans. Blacks in Ferguson and Baltimore rioted and destroyed property because they are oppressed by the whites or the “man in authority.” Workplace violence occurs because someone is unfairly treated. If a deranged person goes on a shooting spree, it must be easy access to guns that caused it.

Yet, why would Muslims attack tolerant France and peaceful Belgium? Why would they blow up Brussels, the city that is the seat of the world court, the highest attainment of humanistic man, the example of utopia to the world? After all, humanistic man loves everyone and only wants peace for all. Socialist France, Belgium, and Western Europe have opened their doors to the oppressed Muslims to show them how tolerant and loving these statist nations are. Why, then, would men do such things?

Lacking a Christian view of man prohibits a correct answer to their question of motive. Why do men commit evil acts? Biblical Christianity provides a clear answer to this question.

1.      Man is sinful and his heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

The Bible teaches that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26), communed with Him, and had the capacity to obey Him completely (Gen. 1-2). Yet man disobeyed God (i.e. he sinned), which separated him from God and corrupted his heart (Gen. 3; Rom. 3:9-18, 23). Thus after man sinned his nature changed, from having an obedient pure heart toward God to having a rebellious evil heart – as the Bible informs us, “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).

Since “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6: 5), “the earth was filled with violence” (vs. 11). The external violence that flowed out of man’s evil, sinful heart was so bad that God sent a flood to wipe out all but eight people, with whom he started anew. Yet even so, man remained in a fallen, sinful condition. His heart remained darkened, deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9).

Ever since the Fall, man is born in sin and is unclean (Job 14:4; Ps. 51:5). He has a darkened heart (Rom. 1:21). This Biblical truth reveals the primary reason why men commit evil acts.[1] Such belief was ubiquitous throughout most of America’s history. John Adams, second President of the United States, said that “the Word of God … informs us, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”[2]

Man’s sinful and deceitful heart produces all kinds of evil actions. The Bible says wars, fights, quarrels, and murders occur due to sin, envy, selfishness, and lust (James 4:1-2).

2.      There is a devil who hates God and His children and who seeks to destroy His Kingdom.

Satan, the devil, has opposed God from the beginning. He tempted Adam and Eve and led them astray (Gen. 3). Because of sin, man is by nature evil. The devil works in and through the sons of disobedience (that is, all men before salvation) to carry out his nefarious deeds. He works via the wicked heart of man to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10; Eph. 2:1-3).

As a means of attacking God, the devil seeks to destroy man, God’s highest creation, and in particular the children of God, the redeemed. He also seeks to thwart God’s plan in the earth. He does not like the fruit of the kingdom of God which is liberty, righteousness, peace, prosperity, justice and joy, whether manifested in individual lives or society at large.[3]

False ideologies and wicked rulers are some of the tools Satan has used to seek to destroy man and God’s kingdom. The false religion of Islam has especially been an instrument of oppression, destruction, and death.

3.      Sinful men, with Satan’s encouragement, embrace demented ideas that cause them to commit evil acts.

All individuals, being created in the image of God, have a conscience that convicts them when they act contrary to God’s standards (Rom. 2:14-15). However, fallen men through continual disobedience can sear their consciences and carry out atrocious acts of evil.

Sinful men also set up many false religions that teach bad ideas leading to evil actions. Islam is the most destructive of these false, man-made and demonically inspired religions – confirmed by a brief examination of its history.[4] While not a classical religion, statism is another man-made ideology that has brought great destruction to mankind.[5]

The vast majority of terrorist acts in the world today are conducted by Muslims. According to them, their religion is the motive for their acts. While moderate Muslims rightly condemn such mass killings, the actual teachings of Islam promote such behavior.

Naïve, humanistic men wonder why radical Muslims hate and kill them when they have done them no harm and have only wanted to help them. Thomas Jefferson wondered this same thing over two centuries ago when he met with the Muslim ambassador from Tripoli to seek to negotiate peace between the newly established United States and the Barbary Coast nations of North Africa who were attacking American ships in the area, demanding they pay them tribute.

In May 1786, Ambassadors Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met in London with the resident Tripolitan ambassador, Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, to try and negotiate a treaty to end the threat from the Barbary Pirates. They asked the ambassador why the Muslim states were so hostile to the new American republic that had done nothing to provoke such animosity, assuring him “that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.” Ambassador Adja answered, “that it was founded on the law of their great Prophet: that it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their Authority were sinners: that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussalman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”[6] Jefferson had a Koran in his library and likely used it to learn for himself if it really taught this strange oppressive doctrine. He discovered it did.[7]

Jefferson argued the best long-term solution was to establish a navy, writing, “I very early thought it would be best to effect a peace through the medium of war.”[8] He pointed out that the cost of establishing and maintaining a navy “would amount to little more than we must pay, if we buy peace,”[9] that is, pay the tribute demanded by the pirates.[10] By the time he became President in 1801, the navy had been built up to sufficient strength such that continued attacks by the Muslim terrorists prompted Jefferson to declare war. Our victory in 1805 ended hostilities against America and delayed Muslim atrocities for a while.

Having good intentions toward such deceived, evilly-thinking men is not sufficient to stop them.

What Can Be Done?

Men commit evil acts because men are sinful. The world is full of evil people who think and act wrongly. Understanding the nature of fallen man and the history of mankind caused Martin Luther to write, “the world is nothing but a mass of evil people.”[11] If this is so, do we have any hope of stopping the unlawful action of evil men? Thankfully, yes. Our hope rests with the liberating work of Jesus Christ. Christ came into the world to redeem men and destroy the works of the devil. The Bible, God’s revealed Word to mankind, presents Christ’s atoning work but also gives us principles and precepts for dealing with the evil acts of sinful men. The Bible provides a blueprint for advancing liberty and suppressing evil. That blueprint includes:

1. Preach Christ to change the sinful heart of man.

When we repent of our sins, have faith in Christ’s redemptive work, and follow Him as Lord, He makes us a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). He gives us a new heart and nature that seeks to obey him and live rightly (Rom. 3, 6; Heb. 8). Regenerated believers seek to preserve life, not destroy it.

Only God through Christ can transform man from within. No other religion or belief system does such a thing. Since only Christ can change the heart, only Christianity can effectively deal with the consequences of the evil intents of sinful men’s hearts, which are violence, wars and conflicts.  The more that Christ is preached and believed, the more that violence is diminished.

2. Teach truth to combat the lies of Satan.

Luther wrote “the world is … a mass of evil people” about 500 years ago. At that time the ratio of regenerated Christians to total world population was maybe 1 in 99. Thankfully, because of God’s grace and plan for man, and because of men like Luther, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Christians. Today 1 in 3 people in the world identify as Christians, with perhaps 1 in 7 being regenerated believers.

His kingdom has expanded greatly in the past five centuries. There are therefore more people who have become new creations in Christ, with a new nature and desires. They seek to live rightly. They do not seek to do evil but good.

The expansion of God’s kingdom in history has not only changed hearts, it has also changed minds. Where Biblical ideas have advanced, liberty, prosperity, justice, and virtue have advanced as well. These principles have changed nations and benefited all men, not just Christians. Biblical truth has exposed tyrants and oppressors in government and religion. It has provided a great contrast between true religion (Christianity) and the false religions of man. Having access to the teachings of Jesus, and comparing them with the teachings of Mohammad, is turning Muslims to the Lord today in unprecedented numbers.[12]

Although Christianity is advancing rapidly today, there are still billions of evil people in the world. However, the more we teach the liberating principles of the Christian faith, the more this will serve as a deterrent to evil behavior, since such teachings will bear witness to the Godly conscience of all men.

3. Work to place Godly leaders in government who understand the nature of man.

Saving grace transforms individuals, giving them a nature of obedience to God. Teaching more Biblical truth guides converted men to acts of lawfulness and promotes a culture of Godly morality that helps abate evil actions of all citizens. In addition to preaching Christ and teaching truth, God has given us another means of dealing with evil, which is the divine institution of civil government. We are to overcome evil in the heart of man by the truth of the Gospel (Romans 12). We are to overcome evil in society by Godly civil government (Romans 13:1-4).

The Biblical purpose of government as presented in Romans 13:1-4, 1 Peter 2: 13-14, and 1 Timothy 2:1-2 can be summarized by, The Five P’s of Government:

1. Protect the righteous
2. Punish evildoers
3. Promote Biblical justice
4. Praise those who do right
5. Provide peace

To be effective, government leaders must understand the nature of evil and the Biblical purpose of government. They should execute justice in a swift manner (Eccl. 8:11) and punish criminals in accordance with Biblical penalties.[13] Doing so will help create an atmosphere of peace and lawfulness. They should also deal with militant Muslims in such a manner as to suppress their evil actions.[14]

God’s plan and desire is to bring His kingdom (government) to earth as it is in heaven. When His kingdom is established, first in the heart of man and then in society at large, His order, rule, and peace will advance and evil will diminish.

Since Jesus came into the world (and especially since the time of Luther), Christ’s kingdom has expanded and hundreds of millions have been converted. Civil governments have become less tyrannical and have done a better job at protecting the righteous. This has especially occurred in the Western world due to the spread of the Gospel in those nations. Evil has diminished as more people have become Christians and been instructed to follow God’s moral law.

Where Christianity has had less impact in men’s hearts and society at large (like in Muslim, Hindu, pagan and atheistic nations), there tends to be more evil. As America and the West are becoming more secularized, there is a growing evil in the hearts of men. As they have cast aside a Biblical view of man and government, civil authorities have become less effective at restraining evil in society and violence has increased.

To effectively deal with the actions of terrorists and evil-doers, we must understand what motivates them. Here, as with all areas of life, Biblical Christianity shows us the way. We should heed this wisdom from above.

 

—————————-

[1] While man’s sinful heart is the primary motive for evil action, there are numerous secondary reasons that may provoke some men to commit crimes and atrocities, including bad company, evil environment, and corruption. However, one’s external circumstances are never justification for sinful and criminal behavior (as God defines criminal). Changing the external circumstances, no matter how bad, are not sufficient to deal with the source of evil behavior.

[2] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1856), Vol. 6, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, “Chapter First. Marchamont Nedham. The Right Constitution of a Commonwealth Examined.”

[3] To learn about the advance of Biblical fruit in history see Stephen McDowell, Monumental: Restoring America as the Land of Liberty, Libertyman Studios, 2013, and Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, America’s Providential History, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2010. Both can be ordered from the Providence Foundation at providencefoundation.com

[4] See Stephen McDowell, The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2015.

[5] Statism is the belief that man via the state is the ultimate authority in the earth. There are many forms of statism including communism, socialism, Marxism, democratic socialism, etc. Statist governments killed over 100 million of their own citizens in the 20^th Century alone. To learn more about statism see, Stephen McDowell, Rendering to Caesar the Things that Are God’s, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2009.

[6] “The American Peace Commissioners to John Jay, 28 Mar. 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-01-02-0569 [update: 2015-03-20]). Source: this is an Early Access document from The Adams Papers.] And Joshua E. London, Victory in Tripoli, How America’s War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Built a Nation, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005, p. 23-24.

[7] For some of the militant teachings of Islam see McDowell, The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity, pp. 29 ff.

[8] Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, July 11, 1786, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, Editors, Washington, DC: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1903, 5:364.

[9] Ibid., 5:366.

[10] Jefferson believed the American people agreed with him, writing: “From what I learn from the temper of my countrymen and their tenaciousness of money, it will be more easy to raise ships and men to fight these pirates into reason than money to bribe them.” (Letter to Ezra Stiles, December 24, 1786, Writings, 6:25.)

[11] Quoted in John Eidsmoe, Historical and Theological Foundations of Law, Powder Springs, Ga.: American Vision Press, 2012, Vol. 3, p. 1003.

[12] See McDowell, The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity for a comparison of Christianity and Islam, and also to learn of the great revival occurring among Muslims today.

[13] See Stephen McDowell, Crime and Punishment: A Biblical Perspective, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 2011.

[14] See McDowell, The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity, p. 44-47, for some ideas on how to fight the war against Muslim terrorists.

For PDF Version: The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty

Endorsement from Lt. Governor Ronald Ramsey of Tennessee

Click to purchase this book

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Foreword by Delegate Mike Azinger

In the spring of 2015 at the invitation of my pastor, Jon Lands, I co-hosted our church’s “Godly Heritage Tour” to Washington, D.C. With 60 other history lovers and thrill seekers, we loaded onto a bus in Vienna, West Virginia and headed to our nation’s capital. We were anxious to discover the abundant treasures of Godly landmarks etched in stone on copious buildings and standing tall in stoic statues of bronze, stone, marble and steel.

On the first day of the tour we were to have a guest tour guide whose name was unfamiliar to me, but who would, before the day was over, have me awe-struck by his seemingly infinite knowledge of our American history. His name is Stephen McDowell, and he is the long-time president of Providence Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Stephen didn’t just teach us our history per se that Friday; he taught us our real history — our Christian history. He taught us the history of what God did in our beginnings during the days of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the first permanent colony of Jamestown, the original 13 colonies, and the tough and tenuous days of the American Revolution…and much more. Stephen answered many questions for me on that tour of D.C., some of which I have had for many years. Questions such as, What was the foundation of our forefathers’ belief system? What was the source of the laws of the original 13 colonies? How did the forefathers educate their children? What was the source of that education, and who actually taught their children? Did America become the greatest nation in history by accident or was there a causal effect that began before our nation was even founded?

As I listened to Stephen McDowell (and subsequently read his books), I couldn’t help but ask myself another question: How could America have so thoroughly forgotten and forsaken what it should have fought with all its might to preserve—its Christian history? How did it happen that we quit telling the stories to our children and grandchildren of our miraculous Biblical foundations? How did we quit teaching it in our schools and in our history books?

In the book of Joshua chapter 4, verses 3-9, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God said to Joshua,

“Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you”…That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, “What mean ye by these stones?” Then ye shall answer them, “That the waters of Jordan were cut off [divided] before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off:” and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever…And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. [emphases mine]

When God did something of significance in the lives of the Israelites, He wanted them to remember. So God would have them create a memorial; in this instance He had them build a memorial of 12 stones. The Israelites, like Americans today, were quite adept at forgetting.

As with Israel, even the most important of lessons, lectures, and life-changing events can fade from our memory in no time at all, can’t they? “Don’t forget!” is a common refrain from parent to child, from teacher to student, and from pastor to congregation. We can forget the most important of things—the most essential of things—even the things that are vital to the survival of our civilization—like our history.

And that is what this book is—it is a memorial; it is a reminder; it is a “Don’t forget!” It is a dusting off of the long-forgotten history of how God raised America from a mere babe to become the greatest nation on earth. This book is 12 stones.

This is not a comprehensive work. It is not meant to be. It is rather short—only about 200 pages—and is designed as a congealed briefing of irrefutable, documented facts short enough to be a primer of sorts for us as legislators (as well as all citizens) to get a taste of what happened in the shaping of America in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

I am not lecturing you to learn our history as a teacher might lecture. I am just one fellow legislator anxious to share with my colleagues some long-forgotten American history, most of which I have just recently learned myself. And sadly, what you are about to learn in this enlightening book is no longer in our history books or text books—but it once was.

It is essential that we resurrect our true American history. It is essential that we teach our Christian heritage again. It is essential to our survival, essential to our identity, essential to how we create our laws. It is essential for us to learn it for ourselves, to teach it to our children, and to the generations following. If a nation does not know its past—its origins—it cannot know its own identity. It cannot have a common purpose, a common destiny.

With no historical perspective—with no historical identity, a nation has no direction. The great British pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to say that if you shine a light on the past, it—like a mirror—reflects light on the future. One of the main reasons there is so much confusion, balkanization, and division in America today is because we no longer know our common Christian history. We don’t know who we are, and thus, we don’t know how we’re supposed to behave. We quit shining a light on the past, so we have no light to guide us into the future.

Several months after returning from our “Godly Heritage Tour” to Washington, D.C., I was asked by Eric Ross, an old friend who pastors in Arizona, to come and speak in his church. “On Sunday night,” he asked, “can you speak on ‘How the Bible influenced the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence?’”

“Sure”, I replied. “As soon as I find out how the Bible influenced the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence!”

Turning to my new friend, Stephen McDowell, was the obvious next step. He recommended a book he had written, and that book revealed to me the truth on how America—her founding documents, her laws, and her educational framework—was truly founded. It was founded on the Bible! This book, Building Godly Nations, coupled with another of Stephen’s works, the study guide to the documentary he did with Kirk Cameron called Monumental—opened my eyes so profoundly that as I was reading I kept thinking, I must get a copy of this material to my fellow legislators. I was determined to get it into the hands of my colleagues in the West Virginia House and Senate.

I called Stephen McDowell and asked what he thought about putting several of the most profound chapters from these two books of his together to make a brand new book for all Americans—but especially designed for the lawmaker. Then the next step would be to get a copy to every legislator in the West Virginia House and Senate (and we are planning beyond the West Virginia borders to as many statehouses as possible!). Stephen loved the idea, and that is what we have done. What you hold in your hands is the fruit of our efforts—and our donors’ sacrifice!—and it is our gift to you. The material in this book is composed 100% by Stephen McDowell; my only role was a small one—facilitator of the idea and “co-expediter” of the dream.

And to God be the glory!

Memorials are an intrinsic force. They are God’s tools to remind us of people and events of great importance—of Providential moments of consequence. And that’s what this book is—a reminder, a memorial—12 stones in paperback to stand in our way and say, “Hey. This is very, very important. This is our heritage; this is our history. We must learn it and teach it to our children and to our children’s children. And we must never forget.”

It is Stephen’s and my prayer that you will read this book and be reminded, as I was just a short time ago, of Whom it was that raised America to the apotheosis of nations, and Who it is that, if America returns to Him, will preserve her in generations to come.

Mike Azinger

Vienna, West Virginia

Member, West Virginia House of Delegates

 

 

____________________________________________

 

Introduction: American Exceptionalism

By Stephen McDowell

 

America is different than any nation in history. She is special. When America began in the late eighteenth century she was insignificant on the world stage, although her unique form of government and unmatched liberty would become examples to the world. Her great personal, religious, economic, and civil liberty produced advancement and growth unlike any nation before.

By the beginning of the twentieth century America had become the leading nation in the world and held that place for generations. She led the way in new inventions, discoveries, and advances that benefited all men. She became the most productive nation in the world and a leader in education, medicine, technology, and science. By 1960 she produced 39% of the world’s output, with only 6% of the population.[i] America, even with her faults and shortcomings, became the most free and prosperous nation to have ever existed. America became an exceptional nation. This had nothing to do with any inherent value of the American people, but had to do with the valuable ideas upon which she was founded.

A few of the ideas incorporated into American society making it exceptional include: valuing the individual; freedom of worship; freedom of assembly; opportunity for all to labor and benefit from the fruit of their labor; freedom to elect representatives and have a voice in government; freedom of thought and expression of ideas; freedom to own property; freedom to obtain ideas, start businesses and create wealth; limited  jurisdiction of civil government; equal standing before the law for all people; no class distinctions; the central role of the family. These are part of the American Dream.

These ideas produced great liberty, justice, prosperity, charity, virtue, and knowledge. They made America a success and made her powerful. This power and wealth were used, not for conquest, but for good — for furthering liberty in the world. America has been a great blessing to the nations. Blessings have come from the private sector by giving aid, starting hospitals and schools, sending forth missionaries, and much more. The American government has also been a great blessing in assisting many nations who have fought against tyrants seeking to oppress them, and by sending large sums of money to nations encountering natural disasters and other threats.

Throughout America’s history, people have flocked to her shores to experience the fruit of her liberty and prosperity. Those that have come have been greatly blessed. Many have escaped persecution and experienced freedom to worship God and pursue their calling. Other nations, recognizing this exceptionalism, have sought to imitate the principles that made America great, and have, to some degree, benefited as well.

Early Americans recognized the special nature of the nation in history. John Adams said,

I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.[ii]

Historian B.F. Morris said: “God held this vast land in reserve, as the great field on which the experiment was to be made in favor of a civil and religious liberty.”[iii] Historian and leading educator of women, Emma Willard, stated: “In observing the United States, there is much to convince us, that an Almighty, Overruling Providence, designed from the first, to place here a great, united people.”[iv] Alexis de Tocqueville wrote:

In that land the great experiment was to be made by civilized man, of the attempt to construct society upon a new basis; and it was there, for the first time, that theories hitherto unknown, or deemed impracticable, were to exhibit a spectacle for which the world had not been prepared by the history of the past.[v]

Many of the early colonizers of America came with the vision of establishing a unique nation in history. John Winthrop wrote of the Puritans’ desire to be “A Model of Christian Charity,”— “as a city upon a hill,” where all the people of the earth would look upon and say of their own nation, “the Lord make it like that of New England.”[vi] William Penn said that God gave him the land that became Pennsylvania so that he could set up a model state — “a holy experiment” — “which should open its doors to every kindred” and be a refuge for men of all creeds.[vii]

Abandoning Our Unique Founding Principles

America’s founding principles made her unique, free, and powerful, but there are many today who would have her abandon those principles. Many leaders in education and the media have promoted a different ideology, and many governmental leaders have implemented policies contrary to our founding principles which have diminished our greatness.

As we have abandoned that which made us exceptional and embraced socialistic ideas, we have witnessed increasing problems and diminishing liberties. Over the past few generations there has been an increase in crime, a breakdown of the family, an increase of social immorality, growth of taxes, run-away government spending, declining educational skills, attacks on religious liberty, and government intrusion into private, family, and church life.

Consider these statistics reflecting the breakdown of the family and sexual morality. In 1960, 72% of adults were married. Today it is about 50%. In 1980, 18% of children were born outside of marriage; today over 40% are born outside of marriage.[viii] Today, only 32% of people think premarital sex is wrong; 69% thought so in 1969.

In the 1960s America was at the top of the nations for best educated students. But over the years that position has steadily declined while spending has increased. In 2012 America ranked 24^th in reading, 28^th in science, and 36^th in math.[ix]

We have also experienced a decline in our economy with the implementation of policies that do not protect private property rights nor encourage business growth. Currently, America has one of the world’s highest rates of taxation on capital gains,[x] which has led to plummeting productivity, from 32% of the world’s GDP in 2000 to 24% in 2010.[xi] And now, for the first time since the measurement started, America has fallen out of the top ten most economically free nations, even being surpassed by Chile and Estonia.[xii]

This decline is largely due to the nation rejecting the ideas upon which she was founded and embracing humanistic, immoral ideas. If we continue to throw off the foundational principles that produced the American Dream and embrace man-centered philosophies, we will see America decline even further.

The Source of America’s Founding Principles

America’s founding principles made her exceptional, powerful, and free. They produced the American Dream. Where did these principles originate? How were they planted in the nation? These questions are thoroughly and clearly answered in this book.

The founding of America is unique. It has no parallel in history. The nation started from scratch, by a people providentially prepared and greatly influenced by the Protestant Reformation. They were a people of the Book. The founding ideas came from the Bible. They were Christian in their origin. Beginning in the sixteenth century these ideas were released to many people through the printing of Bibles in the common languages. The early settlers of America carried these seed ideas with them as they colonized the nation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These ideas were planted, grew, and began to bear great fruit. This seed determined the fruit of the American Christian Republic. It produced America as an exceptional nation, the most free and prosperous in history.

However, in recent decades we have been systematically casting aside the Bible from education, government, and law. We are removing the Ten Commandments from classroom walls, courthouses, and public life in general — and more importantly failing to teach the fundamental principles in these commandments to our children — but then wonder why our jails are being filled with people who steal, murder, and rape people. We teach that men are merely animals and then bemoan the societal result of men acting like animals.

Some people say that America’s greatest threat today comes from those who believe the nation should be governed by God-given moral standards. After all, they say, we cannot mix God and government. However, these are the official standards the Founders gave us; truths, according to the Declaration of Independence that are self-evident, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” These rights, derived from “the laws of nature and of nature’s God,” are part of the founding principles that produced the American Dream.

The truths that our Founding Fathers believed and built this nation upon came from the Creator and His Holy Scriptures, the Bible. That book, according to President Jackson, “is the Rock upon which our Republic rests.”[xiii] While this fact is not known by most Americans and is not taught in government schools, the evidence is overwhelming and is presented in part in this book. We must understand the source of our great liberty and prosperity, and pass it on to all Americans, in order to return America to her foundational ideas and keep this country a place of liberty, truth, and prosperity.

 

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Endorsements

For years, we at WallBuilders have been working to teach the Biblical and constitutional principles of good governance, especially through our annual Pro-Family Legislators Conference. Many of those principles are now clearly set forth in Stephen McDowell’s new book, The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty. Stephen shows that the single greatest positive influence in forming our unique constitutional government was the Christian faith, and that adherence to its fundamental ideas as set forth in the Bible made us the most free and prosperous nation in history. If we are to retain these blessings, both elected officials and citizens must understand and apply the principles of this book.

David Barton, Founder and President, WallBulders

This latest book by Stephen McDowell is a great resource for anyone who desires to know the true source of law and liberty in America. For decades, American Family Association has worked to restore biblical values in our culture and this book by Stephen is a great tool to do just that.

Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Association

When a select 4% of the population of the world (Americans) have produced more books, more plays, more symphonies, copyrights, patents and Nobel prize winners than the other 96% combined, there has to be a reason. That reason is spiritual. America is more than just a physical place. Modern revisionists have aggressively excised the spiritual heritage of America. Stephen McDowell reminds us of the ingredients, such as the entrepreneurial spirit and the Protestant work ethic, that comprise the ‘Spirit of America,’ this sweet Land of Liberty, this lighthouse for the world.

Bob McEwen, Former U.S. Congressman, Ohio, National Speaker

Stephen McDowell has a gift for taking timeless Biblical truths and applying them to the issues of today. What sometimes appear to be new, complex issues in our culture are not that different from those faced by previous generations. Stephen not only reminds us of the immutable truths and solutions implemented by the founding era, he shows us how to renew our nation by restoring these same principles of exceptionalism to our society before all liberty is lost.

Rick Green, Former Texas State Legislator, National Speaker, Author, Radio Host

If you are a leader, this is absolutely essential knowledge. On our shoulders rests the future of the greatness of our nation. Read this! Finish it. Read it again. Retain it. Teach it until it is retained!

Kevin Jones, Kansas State Representative, 5^th District, Former US Army Green Beret

Stephen McDowell’s newest book is must reading for any legislator—any American!—with a desire to learn the story of America’s Christian heritage.

John D. O’Neal IV, House Majority Whip, West Virginia, 28th District

This book looks to be the answer I’ve wanted when I am challenged by a liberal saying our country did not have Christian roots – our Founders were a bunch of opportunists and theists.  I appreciate all the research and footnoting that supports this information.  This is definitely both a book that inspires and one that needs to be on every conservative’s shelf for quick reference.

Dennis Guth, State Senator, Iowa, District 4

With the revisionist view of American History dominating so much of the academic landscape, Stephen McDowell’s extensively researched work does an admirable job sorting the wheat from the chaff of historical confusion. He demonstrates again and again how biblical lessons were incorporated into public thought and the result was the unique American perspective that embraces God as the source of civil liberty. From the founding of the colonies, to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and finally the ratification of the US Constitution, there can be no doubt, American ideals were drawn from biblical principles by Godly men.

Robert Karnes, West Virginia State Senator, 11^th District

In this very well researched book, Stephen McDowell has reminded us of the central role that the Bible and Judeo-Christian values played in the founding of this country. From education to our justice system to our political structure, Biblical principles were woven into the very fabric of American society. Today’s elected officials would do well to learn of this great heritage and do what he or she can to uphold them while in office.

Matthew Krause, Texas State Representative, House District 93

Having a solid foundation is essential in life whether you are building a house, making a golf swing, or establishing a family.  The same is true for forming a government and having it function properly.  In Stephen McDowell’s book he skillfully shows how the foundation for America’s Constitutional Republic is Biblical principles. The main function of legislators is to pass laws, and so it is imperative that we understand and apply Biblical principles to this task, helping to ensure that future generations also understand the Godly heritage that our Founding Fathers gave us.

Sally Kern, Oklahoma State Representative, HD 84

With no historical perspective; with no historical identity, a nation has no direction. We’ve witnessed members of our own Legislature fail to recognize the difference between permissions (granted by people) and rights, which are granted by God. In this day and age where our government exercises more and more power over the people it is intended to serve, it is critical that we have works such as this to remind us of the source of our nation’s grant of grace and success.

Mark Finchem, Representative, 11th Legislative District, Arizona

In a time when America has forgotten her history, it is refreshing to see research into the writings of the Founders and hear what their thoughts and intentions for America really were.

Mitch Holmes, Kansas State Senator, 33^rd District

This book harkens back to the story of Josiah in the Bible who rediscovered God’s plan for Israel after decades of societal decay under the leadership of kings who rejected a relationship with God.  Sadly, America in recent decades has also increasingly rejected a relationship with God after a promising beginning under His providential guidance.  With this book, Stephen McDowell is providing America with a modern day ‘Josiah moment.’  We would do well to reflect upon its contents and restore our appreciation for the principles that have made us a truly exceptional nation.

Pat Colbeck, Michigan State Senator, 7^th District

I think every legislator needs to be reminded from time to time of why America is an exceptional and blessed country.  This book does that in a simple, short and straightforward way. It is an outstanding counter-balance to what popular culture bombards us with daily.

Bill Kintner, Nebraska State Senator, Legislative District 2

Stephen McDowell points to the foundational truths that made the United States of America great. Readers are led on a historical tour of America’s early history and provided a great reminder of the trust in God and the biblical precepts that guided our forefathers in the birth of our nation. The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty is a valuable resource for home and school.

Mike Moon, Missouri State Representative, District 157

This book is not for liberals or conservatives; it is for those who consider themselves Americans. It for those of us who sense we have been blessed as a nation but not sure if we did it by ourselves or with the help of divine Providence. Any political leader needs to look in the mirror in this book, and see how high we’re standing on the shoulders of God-fearing men and women who led this nation in the past and are giving us some warning signs as we increasingly abandon God and the Bible in this nation. The facts and biographies in this book are empirical not imaginary, but there’s one caveat. It might be difficult for skeptics or those who think God is irrelevant or non-existent to think we are a part of a nation descended from the Bible and the Judeo-Christian ethic, but that’s exactly why America’s policy-makers need to read this book and do an identity check.

Rep. Gene Ward, Ph.D., Minority Leader Emeritus, Hawaii House of Representatives, 17^th District

It is crucial for America to know its history; for how else are we to know who we are and the direction we are to take? Stephen McDowell’s book is a well-spring of facts answering both of these questions. He teaches our Christian history in its purest form. I sincerely hope you will read it!

Donna Boley, West Virginia State Senator, 3^rd District

 

 

 

 

End Notes

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_largest_historical_GDP

[ii] B.F. Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864, p. 109.

[iii] Morris, pp.41-42.

[iv] Mark A. Beliles and Stephen K. McDowell, America’s Providential History, Charlottesville: Providence Foundation, 1989, p. 17.

[v] Ibid., p. 17.

[vi] John Winthrop, A Modell of Christian Charity, 1630, Old South Leaflets, No. 207, Boston: The Old South Association.

[vii] William Penn, Letter to James Harrison, August 25, 1681, Remember William Penn, compiled by the William Penn Tercentenary committee, Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1945, p. 77.

[viii] CDC: U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Record Low for 2nd Straight Year; 40.7% of Babies Born to Unmarried Women. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/cdc-us-fertility-rate-hits-record-low-2nd-straight-year-407-babies

[ix] http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/educational_score_performance_country_rankings_2014_oecd.html

[x] “Capital Gains Rate by Country, 2011,” Tax Foundation, July 6, 2012 (at:http://taxfoundation.org/article/capital-gains-rate-country-2011-oecd).

[xi] “Country Rankings,” The Heritage Foundation (at:http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking) (accessed on March 4, 2014), where America is ranked # 12.

[xii] “Country Rankings,” The Heritage Foundation (at:http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking) (accessed on March 4, 2014).

[xiii] George Herbert Walker Bush, February 22, 1990, at the request of Congress, Senate Joint Resolution 164, in a Presidential Proclamation declaring 1990 the International Year of Bible Reading.

Samuel Adams and the Founders’ Faith in the Cause of Liberty, an Example for Today

By Stephen McDowell

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We face desperate times today. The growing encroachment by civil government into the affairs of American citizens is leading to ever diminishing liberty, justice, and prosperity. Government leaders, acting as if they possess a title of nobility like King George III, have extended, and continue to attempt to extend, “an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.”

In the words of the Declaration of Independence, our current civil leaders have:

• “Refused … assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good” — like ignoring immigration laws prohibiting illegal aliens from entering the country, especially criminals who have taken the lives and property of many Americans.
• “Erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance” — the ever growing size of the national government, and its attending offices, require an ever-increasing amount of money. Our unbiblical system of graduated income taxes leads to IRS agents “harassing our people.”
• “Combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws” — consider the various treaties we have entered into, as well as those we are considering that deal with climate change.
• “Abdicated government here by declaring [innocent human life] out of his protection and waging war against [the unborn]” — one of the first acts of President Obama was to restore government funding for various international groups that promote abortions. Tax dollars are used to support Planned Parenthood, who in 2014 murdered over 327,000 unborn children in America, and we are now learning they profit from selling the body parts of those they aborted.
• “Alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of our government” — The massive one trillion dollar “stimulus bill,” governmental bailouts of failing businesses, huge expansion of welfare payouts, and shutting down coal plants and other businesses via EPA regulations are transforming America from a free capitalistic system that values individuals to a socialistic system that values the state.
• “Abolish[ed] the free system of [our root] laws” — for example, “legalizing” gay marriage and attempting to redefine the family.
• “Abolish[ed] our most valuable laws” — attacking religious liberty and free speech by forcing individuals to act contrary to their religious convictions, especially in regards to accommodating homosexuality.
• “Excited domestic insurrections amongst us” — attempting to sway the American people, through rhetoric intended to cause panic, to support the new government controlled health care system that is taking medical care out of the hands of people and the doctors they choose and giving it to government bureaucrats, even while the majority of the American people oppose “Obamacare.”
• “Plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts” — mandating how private companies should conduct their business, for example, forcing banks to provide home loans to at risk people (which contributed to past economic crisis); redistributing wealth through government handouts, business subsidies, rebates for buying cars (remember “Cash for Clunkers”), tax breaks for first-time home buyers, and much more.
• “[Interfered with] trade” — bailing out and taking control of private companies, for example, various banks and General Motors (with the President even firing the head of General Motors, which no law authorized). Government deficit spending has amassed an $18 trillion debt that takes funds from the private sector that could be used to expand jobs and create wealth, and it robs future generations. These actions also increase governmental power.

Many acts of our current “Prince” show he “is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” In addition to actions listed above, President Obama has repeatedly ignored various laws and lied to the America people: 1) He unilaterally changed the Affordable Care Act (a law passed by Congress that he signed) at least 24 times. 2) He is attempting to enter into a treaty with Iraq without the consent of the Senate (as required by the Constitution) that would undermine our security as well as threaten our allies, especially Israel. 3) He has engaged in foreign policy that has strengthened our enemies (Islamic terrorists) in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Egypt (later removed by the Egyptian army), Iran, and elsewhere. 4) In promoting “Obamacare” (which will result in socialized medicine) he has lied multiple times, saying you can keep your doctor and that the government can provide health care for millions of uninsured without increasing the deficit nor diminishing quality (even contradicting the impartial Congressional Budget Office).

These are just a few of the actions of our government that show we face desperate times. Americans have gone through difficult times before. We can learn from their example. Consider the situation the Father of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, faced in September of 1777.

 

“Our Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by Night”

 

In the first two years of the War for Independence, the Americans had seen a few successes but many more defeats. With their situation at the end of the summer of 1777, prospects of any more successful battles looked grim, with little hope of overall victory in the war. By September, the army had been driven out of New York and New Jersey and had lost the strategic Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.

On September 11, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in Delaware. Here the Americans had 200 soldiers killed, 500 wounded, and 400 captured. Ten days later in Pennsylvania, another 300 soldiers were killed or wounded and 100 captured at the Paoli Massacre. The American army was suffering from fatigue due to long marches, little food, and lack of clothes and other supplies. In a few months, when they marched into Valley Forge for winter quarters, Washington would write that being “without shoes,” their “marching through frost and snow . . . might be traced by the blood from their feet.”[1]

The British not only ran the army out of New York and New Jersey, but forced the Congress to flee Philadelphia, capturing that city on September 26. One delegate, John Adams, wrote: “The prospect is chilling, on every Side: Gloomy, dark, melancholly, and dispiriting.”[2] Only twenty members of Congress remained together, gathering one day in York, Pennsylvania, to consider whether there was any hope of success and to see if they should continue the struggle for liberty.

One of those present was Samuel Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts who had been involved in the cause of independence from the beginning. He would earn the title, Father of the American Revolution, for his bold guidance of Massachusetts in resisting the tyrannical action of England from before the time of the Stamp Act in 1765. The King was well aware of Adams’ leadership in the “rebellion,” placing a bounty on his head and sending troops to capture him. Samuel suffered much in the cause of liberty — he was driven from his home, which was vandalized so badly by British troops it was uninhabitable, he was separated long periods of time from his family, many of his friends were killed, and if America lost the war, he would face the same fate.

Earlier in the war, a British officer had offered Adams immunity and the chance to make peace with the king of England if he would only recant his views, to which he replied: “Sir, I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country.”[3]

Adams’ faith in God and the cause of liberty were greatly needed that day in late September 1777. He spoke to his fellow congressmen:

“Gentlemen,” said he, “your spirits appear oppressed with the weight of the public calamities. Your sadness of countenance reveals your disquietude. A patriot may grieve at the distress of his country. But he will never despair of the commonwealth.

“Our affairs, it is said, are desperate! If this be our language, they are indeed. If we wear long faces, long faces will become fashionable. The eyes of the people are upon us. The tone of their feelings is regulated by ours. If we despond, public confidence is destroyed, the people will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, and American liberty is no more. But we are not driven to such narrow straits. Though fortune has been unpropitious, our condition is not desperate. Our burdens, though grievous, can be borne. Our losses, though great, can be retrieved. Through the darkness which shrouds our prospects the ark of safety is visible. Despondency becomes not the dignity of our cause, nor the character of those who are its supporters.

“Let us awaken then, and evince a different spirit, — a spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us, — a spirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious struggle, until their rights and liberties shall be established on a rock. We have proclaimed to the world our determination ‘to die freemen, rather than to live slaves.’ We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven have we placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God’s providence in sustaining us. In the gloomy period of adversity, we have had ‘our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.’ We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of Omnipotence has raised us up. Let us still rely in humble confidence on Him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection.”[4]

“Good tidings will soon arrive.” Adams’ statement was prophetic, for it was not long after this that one of the most significant battles in history took place — one of the seven most important battles of all time according to one historian. On October 17, 1777, British General John Burgoyne was defeated by colonial forces under the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. General Washington called it a “signal stroke of Providence.”[5]

“The arm of Omnipotence” was evident in the victory. Prior to Burgoyne’s surrender, it was intended that British General Howe march north to join Burgoyne’s 11,000 men at Saratoga. However, in his haste to leave London for a holiday, Lord North forgot to sign the dispatch to General Howe. The dispatch was pigeon-holed and not found until years later in the archives of the British army. This inadvertence, plus the fact that contrary winds kept British reinforcements delayed at sea for three months, totally altered the outcome at Saratoga in favor of America.

Why was this battle so significant? The victory turned the tide of the war. It brought some military booty — 27 pieces of artillery and thousands of small arms and ammunition. More importantly it brought great encouragement to the nation. After receiving details of the victory the president of the Congress Henry Laurens wrote, “the glorious intelligence is now extending from City to City diffusing Joy in the heart of every Loyal American.”[6] Of greatest importance, however, was that France decided to become an ally of America, seeing that, through this victory, America could possibly defeat France’s long-time enemy. France would later send much needed money and troops, which secured the ultimate victory for the new United States.

Adams was thrilled with these “good tidings” brought about by God’s providence. He wrote to Samuel Savage in Massachusetts, “Our sincere Acknowledgements of gratitude are due to the Supreme Disposer of All Events. I suppose Congress will recommend that a Day be set apart through out the United States for solemn Thanksgiving.”[7] Congress did recommend such a day, adopting on November 1 a resolution drafted by a committee of three, which included Samuel Adams, proclaiming Thursday, December 18, as a day of Thanksgiving to God. This day “for solemn thanksgiving and praise” was set aside so that:

With one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor, and that together with their sincere acknowledgments of kind offerings they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public councils of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings — independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue, and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost.[8]

“Good tidings will soon arrive.”

Our best hope for overcoming the difficult times we face today and seeing the Godly cause of liberty prevail, is to put our trust and faith in the same God who inspired Samuel Adams and the Founders of America and take action to resist the tyranny of our current government. We must “rely in humble confidence on Him who is mighty to save.” If we act worthy of God’s aid and protection, He will never abandon us. No matter how great our distress, the arm of Omnipotence will raise us up, and we can have confidence that “good tidings will soon arrive.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

End Notes

1. Washington to John Banister, April 21, 1778, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799. Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931, 11:291.
2. John Adams diary, in Ira Stoll, Samuel Adams A Life, New York: Free Press, 2008, p. 3.
3. William V. Wells, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, Vol. II, Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1865, p. 193.
4. Wells, 2:492-493.
5. Washington to John A. Washington, October 18, 1777, The Writings of George Washington, 9:399.
6. Stoll, p. 5.
7. Stoll, p. 192.
8. B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864, pp. 530-531.