Part 1

The Founding of America

Jim Bramlett

Students today are denied the real history of their country. Here are some things that should be taught.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus purposed to carry the light of Christ to the New World. His name, Christopher, means "Christ-bearer." His diary reveals that he knew he had God's calling for this purpose, even if his sponsorship had commercial interests. At every place he landed, he planted a cross. At his first stop, he named it San Salvador, meaning Holy Savior.

Later, in 1607, the first permanent English-speaking settlers in America landed on the coast of Virginia. Their first act was to plant a cross at Cape Henry, at what is now Virginia Beach, and dedicate the new continent to God Almighty. A few years later, the settlers at Plymouth made a covenant with God, then established their new government that acknowledged God's sovereignty and honored Him.

These early settlers on the east coast of the new world were motivated by one overriding factor -- their Christian faith. Before these Plymouth settlers even came ashore in 1620, the covenant they made with God was called the "Mayflower Compact." It started, "In the name of God . . . Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith . . . in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves into a civil body politic."

Some 20,000 Puritans arrived in the first 16 years. They were a people dedicated to authority, the work ethic, chastity, modesty and holy service, attributes that are anathema to many in our modern secular society. The had a major impact on setting the new nation's future direction.

An example of the Puritan's influence is Reverend Thomas Hooker, probably the most popular preacher in all England. His work and views were primarily responsible for the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut" and the government of Connecticut, which would serve as a model for the other colonies and eventually for the union.

Eleven of the original 13 colonies wrote their constitutions before the Federal Constitution, and they contained requirements for elected officials. They were all similar, and as an example of the prevailing sentiment, The Delaware Constitution declared that a candidate for office must say: "I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost. In God who is blessed forevermore I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures and the Old and New Testaments which are given by divine inspiration."

A Founding Father and second U.S. President, John Adams, made an astonishing statement: "Our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." What is the basis of such an extreme statement?

True self-government requires "government of self." Government of one's self requires control over one's selfish, carnal drives that can harm others. The early Americans knew this spiritual principle from the Bible -- that self-control is a fruit and outer working of the Holy Spirit in one's life, and that the indwelling and influence of the Holy Spirit comes when one receives, trusts and obeys Christ. The first settlers knew that biblical theology is foundational to workable self-government.

In 1852, statesman, Congressman and Senator Robert C. Winthrop said it this way: "All societies must be governed in some way or other. They less they may have stringent state government, the more they must have individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man."

This is how America was born: (1) commitment to God, (2) commitment to one another, and (3) self-control. This is the fledgling nation inherited by our Founding Fathers in 1776. This is what caused them to lay their lives on the line, sacrificing everything, to declare our independence and form our first national government.

Ours has been a costly freedom. The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not just sign a piece of paper, but they put their lives on the line. Five of them were later captured and executed for treason by the British, nine died fighting on the battlefield, and twelve lost everything they had to the British.

The original signers of the Constitution were not deists as some try to claim. Research has proven that up to 52 of the 55 were avowed, Bible-believing Christians. Consider some of their words:

George Washington: "To the distinguished Character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the most distinguished Character of Christian."

James Madison: "Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered a subject of the Creator of the Universe."

John Quincy Adams:"The birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked to the birthday of the Savior . . . the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth . . . it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."

Our national heritage was occasionally challenged, but after careful study, the challenges were always dismissed. For example, one challenge prompted an extensive study by the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. The 1854 report could not have been more clear: "At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged....It must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests....That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants." This pointed report distilled the collective organic utterances of the Founding Fathers, the Congress, the courts and the states.

Also, in 1892, the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in our country, studied and concluded, "This is a religious people . . . we are a Christian people . . . These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation." (The Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States). The Court cited 87 different historical and legal precedents from the Founding Fathers, the Congresses and the state governments. (Compare 87 precedents with virtually zero precedents in the 1962 case removing prayer from schools, and the 1963 case removing the Bible.) There are other similar Court pronouncements.

Although it is not politically correct today to say so, without question America was a Christian nation.

In the past few decades, there have been powerful forces at work to destroy these spiritual underpinnings of our nation. They can be restored and protected only if our people turn back to God.