America’s Founding
Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17, NLT).
Dear friends:
If the American people today knew the real history of this country, they would be humbled, shocked and inspired.
Some years ago I was astonished to learn of the overwhelming historical evidence that commitment to Christ and biblical Christianity were the driving forces behind the founding of America.
Did you know that in 1607, as the first permanent English-speaking settlers in America landed on the coast of Virginia, their first act was to plant a cross and dedicate this new continent to God Almighty?
A few years later in 1620, the settlers at Plymouth made a covenant with God called the “Mayflower Compact.” It stated, “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.”
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 beliefs at the time, 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.”
Most of the original signers of the Constitution were not deists as some claim. Research has proven that 52 of the 55 were avowed, Bible-believing Christians.
Founding Father and first President George Washington said, “To the distinguished Character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the most distinguished Character of Christian.”
Patrick Henry, American revolutionary leader said, “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.”
Sixth President John Quincy Adams said: “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government and the principles of Christianity.”
Our national biblical heritage was occasionally challenged by agnostics and atheists, but after careful study, the challenges were always dismissed. In a future message, I will share the results of some of these studies by the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court.
Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,
Bill Bright
About the Author
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world’s population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, “JESUS,” which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr. Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to “Touch, Teach and Train” a group of 5 million new house churches around the world 24/7/365 at http://www.globalpastorsnetwork.org.
Copyright © 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
