Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of The Declaration of
Independence were orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three
all believed in the Bible as the divine truth, the God of scripture, and
His personal intervention.
It is the same 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
scripture for the people of this nation.
Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American
Revolution, is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or
give me death." But in current textbooks the context of these words
is deleted. Here is what he said: "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 of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so
sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it
almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty, or give me death."
These sentences have been erased from our textbooks.
Was Patrick Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote
this "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this
great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on
religious, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone,
people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his
well- worn Bible: "I am a 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 and, I hope, to the pure
doctrine of Jesus also."
Consider these words from George Washington, the Father of our
Nation, in his farewell speech on September 19, 1796:
"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.
Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity,
our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without
religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our
national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Was George Washington a Christian? Consider these words from his
personal prayer book: "Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my
thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of
the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and
more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear,
and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the
resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the
whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of
thy son, Jesus Christ."
Consider these words by John Adams, our second president, who also
served as chairman of the American Bible Society.
In an address to military leaders he said, "We have no
government armed with the power capable of contending with human
passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to
the government of any other."
How about our first Court Justice, John Jay?
He stated that when we select our national leaders, if we are to
preserve our Nation, we must select Christians. "Providence has
given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as
well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and
prefer Christians for their rulers."
John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President.
He was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, 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 civil
government with the principles of Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States 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
practically universal 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. President Lincoln called him
the "Schoolmaster of the Nation."
Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion
is the religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on
character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its
doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions. From
no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred
Scriptures. From all 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 1 was that students seeking entrance must
know Latin and Greek so that they could 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 of all sound knowledge and learning.
And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set
himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Proverbs 2:3)."
For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates were
pastors!
It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith, were
foundational in our educational and judicial system. However in 1947,
there was a radical change of direction in the Supreme Court.
Here is the prayer that was banished:
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee. We beg Thy
blessings upon us and our parents and our teachers and our country.
Amen."
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was
outlawed as unconstitutional in the public school system. The court
offered this justification: "If portions of the New Testament were
read without explanation, they could and have been psychologically
harmful to children."
Bible reading was now unconstitutional , though the Bible was quoted
94 percent of the time by those who wrote our constitution and shaped
our Nation and its system of education and justice and government.
In 1965, the Courts denied as unconstitutional the rights of a
student in the public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly
for his food. In 1980, Stone vs. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in
our public schools.
The Supreme Court said this: "If the posted copies of the Ten
Commandments were to have any effect at all, it would be to induce
school children to read them. And if they read them, meditated upon
them, and perhaps venerated and observed them, this is not a permissible
objective."
Is it not a permissible objective to allow our children to follow the
moral principles of the Ten Commandments?
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United
States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of our new
nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked
the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each
of ourselves to govern ourselves according to 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?
Most of what you read in this article has been erased from our
textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about
our country's Christian roots. I , Mary Jones, the designer of this web
page, encourage all who read and agree with the words herein, share it
with others, so that the truth of our nation's history may be told.
Author Unknown To Me
Page by Mary Jones
November 3----2004