Are you aware of the principles that the United States of America was founded upon? We recently received an email reminding us of these principles and facts, and God considered it worthy to be used as a sermon for all who would read it here. Consider these facts, then consider what is going on in this nation right now.
52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were orthodox, deeply committed Christians. The other three believed in the Bible as the divine truth, in the God of scripture, and in His personal intervention in the life of this nation.
These people made up the Congress that formed the American Bible Society. Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of the scripture for the people of this nation.
Remember the words of Patrick Henry that we are so frequently reminded of ..."Give me liberty or give me death ...? Do you realize that we are never reminded of the context these words were used in? It was this: "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." It seems that we are deprived of hearing the primary body of that speech, doesn't it. One might also take note that of the fact that these other words, the words of a Christian, have been stricken from our history books.
In 1776, one year later, Patrick Henry wrote these words: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded the freedom of worship here."
In the front of his much used Bible, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator." Thomas Jefferson was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, a position which he considered his highest and most important role.
On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of government with the principles of Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President, reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practical in our country."
In 1782 the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold, until it was stopped in 1963. Abraham Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the Nation". Mr. McGuffey said, "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions. From no other source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. For these extracts from the Bible I make no apology."
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In the original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number one (1) was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they can study the scriptures: "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
Today we are asking God to bless America. But how can He bless a nation that has departed so far from Him?
Prior to Sept 11, He was not truly welcomed in America. It's a shame that most of what you read in this passage and the e-mail which inspired it has been erased from our textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about our nation's Christian roots. The ACLU and other organizations have worked strenuously to bring this about. What have we done to stop them? What have we done to retain this most precious heritage of our nation?
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Foundation of A Nation
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