Part Two – The Authority of God Historically in American Culture
As late as 1873 God’s authority and the supremacy of the Bible was raised as an unassailable tower of strength. In that year retired President of Yale, Reverend Theodore Woosley, in a speech to the Evangelical Alliance proclaimed, “In what sense can this country be called a Christian country? In this sense certainly, that the vast majority of the people believe in Christ and the Gospel, that Christian influences are universal, that our civilization and intellectual culture are built on that foundation . . .”[1] John Warrick Montgomery paints a very accurate picture of the influence of Christianity on life in America that supports Woosley’s contention.[2] He suggests that because American culture was influenced from its very inception by Christian theism there existed a depository of values from which Americans drew. Through the early 20th century America utilized this “inherited capital” of Christianity as a vanguard of sorts to draw upon when answering the questions of life that resulted from societal turmoil. Eventually however, the forces unleashed in the Enlightenment, most notably empiricism coupled with scientific inquiry informed by naturalism managed to shake off what was viewed as religious constraints.
Is Montgomery the victim of wishful thinking? In spite of the blatant rewriting of American history that has been ongoing for the last 40 years[3] Montgomery is on solid footing in making the claim that America has a long history of expressing Christian theistic beliefs and acting upon those beliefs in everyday life. Take for example the following quotes from a collection of Presidents, Vice Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Supreme Court Justices, and signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is difficult bordering on impossible to mount a serious argument against the influence of Christian theism both in the founding of America and in developing its governing principles.
The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . . There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation.The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God. John Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Judge; Diplomat; One of two signers of the Bill of Rights; Second President of the United States.
I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace. Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence; “Father of the American Revolution”; Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution; Governor of Massachusetts.
Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Without the Bible, in vain do we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. James McHenry, Revolutionary Officer; Signer of the Constitution; Ratifier of the U. S. Constitution; Secretary of War under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.
Has government any solid foundation? Any chief cornerstone? . . . I think it has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God … The sum of my argument is that civil government is of God. James Otis, Leader of the Sons of Liberty; Attorney and Jurist; Mentor of John Hancock and Samuel Adams.[4]
On the heels of the founding of the United States came the Great Awakening and sweeping revivals led by George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and the Wesley’s. The Age of Reason characterized by the attacks on Christianity by Voltaire and Diderot was met by the reason of the Scriptures and a call to Americans to renew their relationship with the sovereign God who had secured their freedom against magnificent odds.
The church gained unparalleled strength and was soon sending missionaries to all parts of the world as well as pushing the western frontier of America. The authority of God was a prominent and unquestioned feature in the teaching and evangelism efforts of missionaries and circuit preachers alike. Americans did not question this doctrine or the Scriptures from which it came.
In the mid to late 1800’s came three successive challenges to the teaching of the authority of God. The first challenge was the publishing of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species. Americans were left to ponder the possibility that the Bible was wrong in its teaching of God as Creator. The second challenge came in the form of industrialization. America was booming and immigrants from all over the world were flowing into the cities bringing their religious views with them. American Christianity faced a huge obstacle in understanding and answering these new views. The third challenge came from Europe in the form of higher criticism. This new way of looking at the Scriptures challenged and in the minds of many destroyed biblical authority. In reality this new way of interpreting Scripture was nothing more than the rationalism of the times applied to the fields of biblical inquiry.
In spite of the myriad problems facing Americans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an expectation that the Judeo-Christian ethic could and would provide a reasonable answer to the questions of life. The prevailing attitude among Americans as late as the 1950’s and early 1960’s was that society was best ordered when the principles of Christianity were observed. This is not to say or even suggest that the majority of Americas were born-again Christians. The point that is being made here is that Christianity was the single greatest influence in American culture until recently. What happened to change this view of Christianity?
Next post – Part 3 – The Current Cultural Climate and Authority – A Postmodern View
[1]Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 393.
[2]John Warwick Montgomery, ed., Christianity for the Tough Minded (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1982), 21-34.
[3]See especially Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of American History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon Books, 1991). Millard presents a thorough examination of the reconstructive exercise undertaken since the late 1960’s that has resulted in a marginalizing of all things Western and the exaltation of all things from a multicultural position.
[4]These quotes from the Founding Fathers of America are available from Wallbuilders at http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=8755
The late ’60s brought the beginning of a big shift in thinking among young people. With racial tensions, the draft, the Vietnam war, and an influx of pot, a rebellion was brewing. I remember those times well…. and how there was a movement from the good life people were enjoying in the ’50s and early ’60s to the changing of the culture we lived in.
I’m looking forward to your next section.
Hi Susan:
That is correct. The 1960’s changed the course of America in a visible way. The path the 1960’s took had been cast in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s by our government’s foreign policy decisions beginning with President Eisenhower. Creating insurrections and funding coups to destroy foreign governments for the express purpose of installing government figure heads more friendly to the objectives of the US Government and it’s corporate controllers has resulted in the global mess we see today. But that is for another post.
The rebellion of the 1960’s was orchestrated much more than people think but there was a genuine element of indignation aimed at the so-called “Military Industrial Complex.” I devoted a chapter to this time period in my dissertation. Since writing it I have wanted to rewrite it to include new research I have come into possession of.
Thanks for reading Susan.
God bless you today.
Mike
Pastor Mike,
Always enjoy your commentary! I noticed you cited “Church History in Plain Language”… I just started that book about a week ago 🙂
Are you familiar w/ GE Griffin? He has done a great detail of detailed investigative work chronicling the seeds of the “Globalist” crowd (New World Order, as some prefer) that have been seeking to undermine America’s Judeo-Christian values. It certainly appears that their agenda has been advancing at an especially rapid pace as of late. Here is the link to a great lecture given by Griffin on the topic, if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynVqPnMQ2sI
I look forward to Pt 3!
Come Quickly, Lord Jesus!
Steve
Hi Steve:
Yes Shelley’s book is a wonderful overview of church history. I am familiar with Griffin. His commentary on NWO is spot on. His book “The Creature From Jekyll Island” is a must read for those wanting to understand the real game being played upon the citizens of the world. Banking mafia is to kind.
Blessings friend,
Mike
I saw this last week and marked it to be read just now. As I viewed the names of the Founding Fathers who definitely viewed Christianity as true and applicable to every aspect of life, I could just hear a naysayer go, “Yeah and most of them had slaves too! And mistresses! And blah, blah, blah.”
When a person responds with those kinds of answers, what would be the best way to approach it in keeping with the context of this article? I hope you don’t mind my asking. 🙂
Hi Parker:
That is a great question and one that is routinely asked. Unfortunately it is not normally asked from a perspective of wanting to understand the truth but wanting to dismiss the idea that the Founding Fathers could speak on subjects of truth concerning Christianity while simultaneously owning slaves. In other words some people who ask the question do so from animosity and not from a desire to know the truth. It is a difficult issue to address but it can be addressed from the historical record available to all.
Now this is not to dismiss the evil of slavery. It was and is a heinous blight upon mankind. As in all situations concerning the historical record, there is the truth of what really happened, the truth that people want to believe happened, and the truth that enemies of the truth create and advance. Of course there is only one truth regardless of the postmodern deconstructionists who have captured most of America’s college campuses and have over the course of the last ~50 years infused young, impressionable minds with agenda-driven misinformation.
The fact is that many of the Founding Fathers opposed slavery and attempted to translate that opposition into the documents of our new nation. Here is an article for your research that demonstrates the reasoning behind some of the actions of the time – http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g003.html
Here is another article that gives a balanced view and based on records of communication, the thoughts of some of the Founders – http://www.revolutionary-war.net/slavery-and-the-founding-fathers.html
There was prolonged effort to abolish slavery that was spearheaded by many of the Founding Fathers. Article here – http://www.revolutionary-war.net/abolition-of-slavery-gradual-act.html
As you know Parker, there is no easy answer to the questions surrounding the history of slavery in America. It is easy enough to judge the Founders now. My belief is that judging them in the times they lived would not have been an easy task. Should they have been more forceful about abolition? My position is yes they should have been. We can say the same thing about most social and human rights issues over time. Doing the right thing is unfortunately in most instances a time consuming effort. Abolishing abortion is one such example.
While some would argue that it is off subject, I think it is very relevant to state that I wish those who are so exercised over the history of American slavery would become half as exercised over the present day Muslim slave trade. The fact that slavery still exists today and is widely embraced by many nations within the greater Muslim world should cause us to object strenuously. Alas there is nothing politically to be gained by that and so there is silence. It is difficult for me to take people seriously who bemoan American history on this subject but have no interest in being abolitionists today when it can make a difference now.
As always sister, thank you for writing and for your comments.
Blessings!
Thank you for responding and the resources. I think you hit it spot on as modern ideas TOOK TIME to take hold. It wasn’t that long ago some women fought to keep women at home to be subservient to men. Nor was it long ago that separate but equal was the way to go. You have your restroom, I have mine.
The thing about slavery in America is this: wrong it was, it is one of the MANY factors that built our nation. To use the analogy, it’s a birth defect. Many of us have them and despite the fact it is a defect, it made us who we are. Or rather It grew with us. It’s in our DNA so to say. The effects of it have been long lasting. Admitting that is a step in the right direction.
I had one girl on my show, when we were talking about America’s Racial DNA, she said, one of the ways to combat racism, which is an offshoot of slavery in the States, is to stop seeing yourself one dimensionally. I’m more than a Black female. Saying I’m a Black female is the SURFACE of who I am. If you dig down deeper, you’ll find layers and layers of gold, silver, sophistication, diamonds, pearls, sapphires, beauty, grace, wisdom, charm, inkwells of creativity, insecurities galore, waterfalls of poise, oceans of understandings, sinkholes of depravity, mudslides of fear, several straight-jackets with the latches cut off, and a little girl clinging to the Lord saying, “Don’t let them take me!”
And that’s just me!
The Founding Fathers and what they did was extraordinary. They took on a country and said, “No.” That’s not easy to do. They were willing to die for freedom. After all, the cost of freedom is blood.
I mean, the type of men to do that shows more that just a a bunch of white, racist men sleeping around with their black female slaves. Yet we (secular and Christian alike) take a ‘biggie’ and exploit it all over the place.
I’m rambling now so I’ll stop.
Imperfection doesn’t mean God can’t use you.
Parker:
Yes, yes, and amen. Insightful and thoughtful. Thank you sister. God didn’t create the races, man did that. God created man and woman. One blood, one identity. We are all image bearers and the faster we can grasp that and help others to see it the better off we’ll be.
Blessings!
Mike