10 Truths About Americas Christian Heritage

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10 Truths About Americas Christian Heritage

• INTRODUCTION

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• While everyone may be entitled to his own
  opinions, no one is entitled to make up his own
  facts.
• America was born a Christian nation. America
  was born to exemplify that devotion to the
  elements of righteousness which are derived from
  the revelations of Holy Scripture.
• President
  Woodrow Wilson

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• Americas founding took root in the
• Christian faith, and Christian ideals and
• principles guided its development.
• Sixty-five percent of Americans still agree
  that the nations Founders intended the United
  States to be a Christian nation.

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TRUTH 1

• America Was Begun as a Church Relocation Project

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• Columbus motivation for sailing the Atlantic was
  the fact that the Gospel must still be preached
  in so many lands. . . .
• The First Charter of Virginia stated that the
  purpose for establishing Jamestown included the
  propagating of the Christian religion to such
  people as yet live in darkness. . . .

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• The Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims covenant
  charter for self-government, proclaimed that
  their settlement was undertaken for the Glory of
  God and the advancement of the Christian Faith.

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• We do not go to New England as Separatists
  from the Church of England . . . but we go to
  practice the positive part of church reformation
  and propagate the Gospel in America.
• Puritan minister,
• Reverend Francis Higginson

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TRUTH 2

• The Founders Recognized God as the Source of
  Liberty and Law

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• Few objective historians would dispute that
  Americas system of law and liberty is deeply
  rooted in the principles of the Bible and the
  biblical traditions of the Puritans.

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• Americas Founding Fathers acknowledged that God
  is the source of both law and liberty.
• Likewise, they understood that our nations
  government must adhere to His immutable
  principles in order to prosper.

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• The faith of our Founders enabled them to imagine
  a nation governed by laws that would be superior
  to all others, because they were laws established
  by the Creator.

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TRUTH 3

• Christian Zeal Fueled the American Revolution

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• From around 1730 to 1770, our nation saw a
  radical Christian revival known as the Great
  Awakening.
• Loyalists to the British Crown, our nations
  Founders, and historians all affirm that this
  made the American Revolution possible.

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• The Founders viewed the struggle for liberty as a
  Christian compulsion.
• By the grace of God, against all human odds, the
  colonists defeated the most powerful empire of
  the day.

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TRUTH 4

• Our Constitution Was Made Only for a Moral and
  Religious People

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• President John Adams voiced the view commonly
  held by the Founders
• Our Constitution was made only
• for a moral and religious people.
• It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
  other.

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• The Founders believed that the future of the
  nation depended upon the vitality of religion and
  biblical morality.
• They considered religion and morality to be the
  twin pillars supporting the structure of law and
  liberty in America.

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• Social order can only be maintained by government
  power or by religion and morality.
• Most of our nations Founders thought that the
  loss of public virtue would be the greatest of
  possible threats to Americas liberties.

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• It is when a people forget God, that tyrants
  forge their chains.
• Patrick Henry

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TRUTH 5

• Our Republic Rests
• Upon One Book--the Bible

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• The Bible is the most often cited source in
  Founding era political documents.
• It is cited four times as often as the next most
  commonly referenced source.

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• The Founders followed biblical principles in
  establishing Americas government structure.
• They recognized the sinfulness of man and wanted
  to prevent power from falling into the hands of
  one man or one government entity.

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• The Declaration of Independence and the
  Constitution both presume that
• Governments do not give us our rights.
• Human rights and liberties flow from our Creator.
  
• Governments should secure the liberties given to
  us by God.

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• We cannot read the history of our rise and
  development as a nation, without reckoning with
  the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the
  advances of the Republic.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt

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TRUTH 6

• Every State Constitution Acknowledges God

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• Every state constitution refers to God as the
  Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our
  freedoms.
• The Founders did not want a national church, but
  they allowed the states the option of
  establishing state endorsed churches.

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• The Founders and the authors of the state
  constitutions encouraged religious convictions
  among their citizens.
• Christianity was recognized as the religion of
  the nation and state governments.

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TRUTH 7

• Americas Schools Were Formed to Advance the
  Christian Faith

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• From the beginning, education in America was
  sustained and supported by the Christian
  religion.
• A proper understanding of the Bible was
  considered the primary purpose of education.

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• Textbooks of the era spoke of the importance of
  Christianity to the education of Americas youth.
  
• The Founders realized that Christian education is
  essential to the preservation of liberty.

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• Even the least religious among the Founders
  supported the use of the Bible in schools.
• In a unanimous 1844 decision, the U.S. Supreme
  Court supported incorporating the Bible into
  educational curricula.

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• From the smallest grammar school to the greatest
  university, knowledge of Jesus Christ was the
  ideal of all early American education.

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TRUTH 8

• Foreign Nations Acknowledge
• Our Christian Roots and Heritage

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• Foreign diplomats and observers have acknowledged
  that America fears and worships God. America is
  seen as
• a nation whose soul, at its best and highest, is
  Christian.
• a country built on a biblical foundation.
• successful because of our unique allegiance to
  the God of the Bible.

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• In contrast to Americas founding, the French
  Revolution sought to eliminate all signs of
  Christianity from its culture.
• This gave French observers a unique perspective
  on the role of religion in America.

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• In France I had almost always seen
• the spirit of religion and the spirit of
  freedom marching in opposite directions. But in
  America I found they were intimately united and
  that they reigned in common over the same
  country.
• French traveler and writer, Alexis de
  Tocqueville

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• There is no country in which the people are
  so religious as in the United States... But
  while a death-struggle is waging in Europeit is
  curious to observe the tranquility which prevails
  in the United States.
• French historian Achille Murat

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• Religion in America is not only a moral
  institution, but also a political institution.
  All of the American constitutions exhort the
  citizens to practice religious worship as a
  safeguard both to good morals and to public
  liberties. In the United States, the law is never
  atheistic.
• French historian, Gustave de Beaumont

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• The institutions in America are,
• as I have said, planted down deep
• into Christianity.
• British feminist writer Harriet Martineau

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TRUTH 9

• Presidents, Congresses, and Our Capitol All
  Acknowledge God

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• Since the founding generation, our nations
  leaders have continually acknowledged our
  Christian roots.
• In time of need, our elected officialsboth
  presidents and congresseswill speak of our
  nations reliance upon almighty God.

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• Every president is sworn into office with his
  hand on a Bible.
• Every presidential inaugural address has
  recognized our nations dependence upon God.
• All members of Congress swear, before God, to
  support and defend the Constitution of the United
  States.
• Both the Senate and the House open sessions with
  prayer.
• Both have had paid Christian chaplains from the
  beginning.

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• Proclamations and legislation testify to our
  allegiance to the Christian faith and references
  to our belief in God are written on our currency
  and on our public buildings.
• Our nations belief in God cannot be erased or
  denied. It is the foundation upon which America
  rests.

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TRUTH 10

• The Courts Have Declared
• We Are a Christian Nation

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• The modern move by Americas courts is relatively
  recent.
• For most of our history, the courts have affirmed
  our nations Christian heritage.
• In 1892, and again in 1931, the U.S. Supreme
  Court affirmed that we are a Christian people.

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• The same beliefs have also dominated the views of
  the states courts.
• As early as 1799, the state courts were declaring
  that Christianity is the established religion
  and that within that religion all denominations
  have equal place.

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• The Supreme Court has acknowledged our Christian
  heritage and has used principles of biblical law
  in drawing its conclusions.
• In the late 1800s, when polygamy was spreading,
  the U.S. Supreme Court argued, Bigamy and
  polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized
  and Christian countries (Davis v. Beason, 1889).

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• To promote their secular view of Americas
  history, secularists and atheists must deny
  history and the thought that dominated the courts
  for Americas first 150 years.

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• On the other hand, if America is to preserve its
  liberty for future generations, our courts must
  not abandon the Christian foundation of our
  country and the legal system that was built upon
  it.

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CONCLUSION

• 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. This is genuine
  Christianity, and to this we owe our free
  Constitutions of Government. Noah
  Webster

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• In previous generations, Noah Websters view
  would not have been disputed.
• Now secularists and atheists are trying to remove
  all references to our nations Christian heritage
  from public notice.
• But we should not forget the religious character
  of our nations origin.

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If our heritage of liberty is to be preserved, we
must restore allegiance to the Christian faith
expressed by all previous generations of
Americans.

• What awaits us is either spiritual awakening and
  revival, or continued moral decline, which will
  surely lead us to national disaster.

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• Dr. D. James Kennedy concludes his book, What
  If America Were A Christian Nation Again?, with
  this prayer. May we all pray,
• Dear Father, make us salt as well as light.
  Help us to render unto Caesar and unto You, O
  God, those things which are respectively Yours.
  Use us, we pray, in our generation to help
  transform this nation and reclaim it, O Christ,
  for You, and in that glorious reclamation, the
  people will rejoice. In Jesus name we pray.
  Amen.