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America’s Christian Heritage 1,965 words By Robert Schaetzle Our Christian Heritage actually began with the English Pilgrims of the Mayflower Compact, signed aboard ship on November 11, 1620. Our first colonial agreement that formed a government was written anchored off the coast of Massachusetts. This compact gave the settlers the power to frame and enact laws for the general good of the planned settlement. The Mayflower Compact “In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc. having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have here under subscribed our names at Cape-Codd the 11. of November, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.” The 41 signatures on the Mayflower Compact were men of such biblical moral strength and fortitude; there was no question where they stood on their principal of ‘Faith in a Sovereign God and Creator.’ The Actual document to my knowledge was never put in School texts in its entirety, especially within the elementary or high school level of U.S. history, probably not even in our secular college texts. Who Proposes Prayer before Congressional Sessions? On June 28, 1787 things had not gone well as the delegates met at the Constitutional Convention. The proceedings that began in May were struggling. After the representatives who had met in 1787 to write the Constitution of the United States struggled for several weeks making little or no progress, eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the troubled and disagreeing convention that was about to adjourn in confusion. It seemed that their attempt to form a lasting union had apparently failed. Benjamin Franklin said: “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. . . . And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘that God governs in the affairs of man.’ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little partial local interest; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest.” I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.” [Ben Franklin’s Prayer Speech –Wikipedia free encyclopedia] Benjamin Franklin then proposed that the Congress adjourn for two days to seek divine guidance. The stirring speech of Benjamin Franklin marked a turning point in the writing of the Constitution, complete with a Bill of Rights. This year, two hundred and twenty seven years after the Constitution was adopted, many Americans will celebrate Constitution Week September 17-23 with recitations of the Preamble, with events reliving the signing of the Constitution, and even with a special ceremony of public bell ringing in Philadelphia where this important document was drafted. How well do you know and understand the U.S. Constitution? [Ref:Annenberg Public Policy Center Survey Asks: “How Well Do Americans Understand the Constitution?” Friday, September 16th, 2011] 78% know that the first ten amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. 76% know that the Declaration of Independence established our independence from Great Britain. 42% of Americans know that serving on a jury is a duty exclusively for United States citizens. Only 13% of Americans know that the Constitution was signed in 1787. The majority (55%) said it was signed in 1776, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. Employing ‘The Great Commission’ King George 3rd provoked many clergy to leave England by demanding they submit to licensing by the crown. These men are called the “Black Regiment” because of the black robes they wore when preaching. These men known as “The Black Regiment”, were a group of clergy fiercely opposed of British tyranny and a driving force in the decision of the colonies to seek independence. Their cry was, “Restore the crown rights of King Jesus!” Many of them wrote impassioned pleas for freedom, and some even joined the Continental Army. When George Washington asked Lutheran pastor John Muhlenberg to raise a regiment of volunteers, Muhlenberg gladly agreed. Before marching off to join Washington’s army, he delivered a powerful sermon from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that concluded with these words: “The Bible tells us there is a time for all things and there is a time to preach and a time to pray but the time for me to preach has passed away, and there is a time to fight, and that time has come now. Now is the time to fight! Call for recruits! Sound the drums!” Muhlenberg then took off his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of a Virginia Colonel. Grabbing his musket from behind the pulpit, he donned his Colonel’s hat and marched off to war. [Ref: Wikipedia free encyclopedia] Today one might call Rev. Muhlenberg a very extreme radical, but in truth he was very mature in his faith, with confident trust in his Lord, that God set this young nation apart from the tyranny of the monarchy of Great Britain. He was unashamed to take his stand in the name of our Lord, to proclaim with boldness his Spiritual convictions. Yes, we had men of valor, both from the legislative arm as well as those from the pulpit. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." - Patrick Henry Our Civil War Hero’s of Faith I want to quote from the two leaders of the land during the period of this Nations civil war, first, from Robert E. Lee commander of the Confederate army. Though he might be considered the adversary to the union during our nations Civil War, here is a person who went through our United States Military Academy at West Point and himself a very strong believer in Jesus Christ. “Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noon day, at sundown, at midnight, all through the day. Let us pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes and our churches. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ. Let prayer be our passion, let prayer be our practice.” This was written by Robert E. Lee after the Civil War [from sermon index.net] Robert E. Lee was a man of strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Consider that more lives were lost through the conflict of this nations ‘civil War’ than through all other U.S. military actions from world war one and two combined. It was a most perilous time in this nation’s history. In many instances, as in any civil war there were many homes and brothers with opposing views, even though they were of one faith. Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian? The second biblical hero of the Civil War between the States is President Lincoln. When asked by an Illinois clergyman, “Do you love Jesus?” his reply was: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day. When I think of the sacrifices of life yet to be offered and the hearts and homes yet to be desolated before this dreadful war is over, my heart is like lead within me, and I feel at times like hiding in deep darkness.” “When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian, but when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus.” Abraham Lincoln [Ref: The Lincoln Memorial Album-Immortelles in the O.H. Oldroyd Collection. The book was published in 1883, and the quote is found on page 366.] There can be no doubt to the biblical moral convictions of the founder’s and leaders of our Nation’s Christian Heritage, and especially to recognize the conflict and outcome of our Nation’s Civil War. Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States The final deciding factor for our Christian Heritage is this, The United States Supreme case decision on Feb 29, 1892, [leap year] when our nation’s highest court set 87 precedents in coming to their decision which states: “Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. This is historically true from the discovery of this continent to the present hour we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. These and many other matters add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian Nation.” We’ll celebrate the birth of our Nation’s 227th birthday this September. We dare not ignore or deny the actual fact our Nation was built upon individuals of biblical conviction and; precedents decided by the highest court of our Land. Our Founding Father’s and our Nation’s Heritage are rooted upon the moral values given us through biblical truths. "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." - U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Jay
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