Be not anxious saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “With what shall we be clothed?” For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. "Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; If you had the good fortune to be blessed by Mother Liz’s homily this past Sunday (June 21…as was I), she described something called “Prosperity Gospel”. While my feeble intellect didn’t completely follow the premise behind that theology, my confusion diminished entirely when she concluded her homily with “You are loved”. Stars Go Dim is a 4 person contemporary Christian rock band formed in Tulsa, OK, in 2008. Chris Cleveland as lead singer has tremendous vocal range. He writes much of their music along with Joey Avalos (guitarist). They have charted 7 cuts on the Billboard Top 25, including “You Are Loved” which reached #1…a fact reinforced by the 7 million YouTube views. My essentially teenage Christian Education students for some reason took a particular liking to “You Are Loved” as well as Stars Go Dim. Cut: “You Are Loved” Artist: Stars Go Dim Lyrics are included in the video
0 Comments
Was the United States founded as a Christian Nation or under the Principles of Religious Freedom?6/24/2026
If you remember my two recent blogs, you will recall there were 10 Christian denominations, Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, Dutch, German Lutherans, Reformed, and Catholics, and a Jewish synagogue operating in the colonies at the time of the Revolution. So, if we were created as a Christian nation under which of the ten denominations would it be? I have never seen any historical evidence that the issue was ever discussed. Why? I am sure the Revolutionists knew it was impossible to create a new nation whereby the colonists would agree to fight as a Christian nation against the British monarchy. However, under blogs one and two it was noted that the principles of Christian theology were some of the driving forces if not the main driving force. If you recall, Calvinism and the Great Awakening argued that the colonists had “religious freedom” to oppose the British monarchy under Romans 13 and the Book of Galatians. Church leaders argued that the Bible gave the colonists the power and religious freedom to oppose the British. It was the principle of religious freedom that drove the War for Independence because the colonists were too busy fighting against the British to be contemplating founding a new Christian nation. The colonists desired freedom from the British and based their arguments on Christian principles. This is not to say America was therefore created as an official Christian nation. This was not on the agenda of the Revolutionists. Before examining various declarations, constitutions, or acts of Congress, one needs to examine the general religious philosophy of leaders of the American Revolution. The Founding Fathers came from general Protestant backgrounds. Some held orthodox Christian beliefs, but many were Deists or Theistic Rationalists who supported reason and morality over the traditional religious dogma and miracles. The religious beliefs of the Founders fell into four categories:
This mixture of orthodox Christianity, Deism, and Theistic rationalism among the powers of the Founding Fathers discouraged the creation of a Christian nation. The first collective action of the Founding Fathers was the creation of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Historians generally agree that the Declaration of Independence was strongly influenced by Deism and the Enlightenment-era rationalism. The document appeals to the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” It further stated that men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” The “Creator” mentioned in the document was not the Christian God of the Bible as understood by the colonists. The final paragraph of the document mentions the “protection of Divine Providence,” which was a Deist-friendly term favored by major Founding Fathers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Divine Providence was not a Biblical God that was involved in the daily human affairs of the colonists. The rights declared by a secular government were justified by reason and nature and not by divine right or religious Christian doctrines espoused by the colonists. The creation of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 was also influenced by Deism and Enlightenment rationalism. It is not a Christian document because it is most clearly seen that it is secular in nature and deliberately separates the church and state. A key deistic influence can be seen in Article VI that explicitly prohibits any religious requirement for holding public office. The First Amendment establishes religious freedom and bars the government from establishing a state religion. Key architects and prominent thinkers of the Constitution like James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin relied on deism to craft a system of government where freedom of religion was protected but separate from civil authorities. As a result, there is no mention of a Biblical God in the Constitution. After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Alexander Hamilton was asked why God had not been mentioned in the Constitution. His reply was “We forgot.” The drafters of the Constitution were being driven mainly by the principles of Christian Deism, Deism, and Theistic rationalism. That is why God is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Although there were many differences in the ideas of orthodox Christians, Christian Deism, Deism, and Theistic Rationalism during the formation of the United States, secular pluralism was a common philosophy of all entities that advocated for the strict separation of church and state thereby guaranteeing the government does not favor any specific religion or non-religion. Secular pluralism also promotes the concepts of religious equality and inclusivity. It advocates for keeping faith and partisan politics separate, and that is why a Christian nation was never in the plans of the Founding Fathers. PERSONAL NOTE: These last three blogs have been about the coming of the American Revolution and the creation of our nation. As I have stated earlier, I have used AI, some books from my library, and old graduate school notes. However, these last three blogs are based especially on my expertise in American colonial history that I gained in graduate school. I must admit that I failed my oral exam for my doctorate at Mississippi State University on the portion for colonial history. I don’t know what happened that night in answering the questions on colonial history, only to say I crashed and burned. It meant I had to take and pass a written examination on colonial history in order to move on and write my dissertation.
I was told by my colonial professor that I had to read and master the findings on all books on his reading list—150 books!!! I thought he was joking. He was not. He said I was too young to be getting a PhD. To fast forward this story let me say I went back home with a method given to me by my major professor on how to read and master 150 books. I buried myself in a cubicle at SLU and prepared for an upcoming written exam back at MSU. It consisted of five essay questions, and I was allowed to go into the library on my honor. From 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM I filled a legal pad, the long one, to the last page. Turned it in and drove to my friend’s where I was staying. When I got there, Jimmy had a beer waiting for me with a napkin on which he had printed “ABD” which meant I had passed the exam and could start writing my dissertation. There is no way Dr. Lowery read my response to his exam questions. My anger quickly dissipated when I kept looking at the ABD napkin. I went home and wrote my dissertation and graduated in August 1972 at the age of 26. If you are wondering, yes I used some of those books to write these last blogs on colonial history.
Article 37 of the Thirty-Nine Article of Religion of the Church of England stated in 1571 the king or queen has “the chief power in this Realm of England, and other his Dominions.” The Article further stated that the monarchs have the “prerogative . . . that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by God, whether they be Ecclesiastical of Temporal.” The article of faith made the British monarchy not just a preferred form of government but one that was divinely ordained. Canons of the Church of England were carried over into the Anglican colonies and required ministers to at least four times a year to deliver sermons preaching that the king was the highest power under God. An American minister who supported the Patriot cause would thereby be in violation of his sacred oath. Consequently, during the Revolution, half of the Anglican ministers resigned their pulpits either out of conviction and support of the Revolution or fear of Patriot parishioners. Support of the Crown was strongest in places like New York where ministers could be protected by British troops. The Book of Common Prayer became an issue because prescribed prayers asked God to defend the king and give him victory over all his enemies. After the Declaration of Independence some Anglican Churches modified their prayer books with more patriotic words.
This Calvinistic principle found itself repeated in sermons using the Book of Galatians which called for the colonists to break free from the yoke of bondage. Patriotic ministers drove home this Calvinistic message with their interpretation of Romans 13 and making it a patriotic cry. Revolutionaries continued to call on the writings of Calvin by arguing that lesser magistrates (counsellors, legislators, judges and the nobility) had the duty to protect the people when higher magistrates, including the king, became abusive and tyrannical. The lesser magistrates had the obligation to organize and lead the resistance. The First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s) drove Americans toward resisting authority. One of the principal themes of the Great Awakening was that revivalist preachers undermined the authority of the educated clergy and to authorities in general. Since Anglican preachers were highly educated, the First Great Awakening weakened their influence and thus built hostility to the British authority in the colonies. There were denominational differences in clerical support toward the American Revolution. An exhaustive study of the views of every Anglican minister in the colonies found that only 27 percent supported the Revolution, and most of the supporters were in Virginia. Of the 55 Anglican clergy north of Pennsylvania, only three supported the Revolution. Nearly all important pamphlets published in support of the Loyalist position came from the authorship of an Anglican priest. On the other hand, the Reformed Protestant clergy supported the Revolution almost unanimously. As a result, the Reformed Protestant ministers were credited or blamed for the Revolution. Presbyterian and Congregationalists ministers were being blamed for the Revolution. Calvinist ministers, often referred to as “the Black Regiment” because of the austere black robes they wore, were also blamed for the Revolution. Even the British monarchy blamed the Protestants for the Revolution. King George supposedly referred to the Revolution as a “Presbyterian Revolution”. Allegiance to the Revolution was harder to assess in the pews. Anglicans were loyalists except in Virginia and New York. Probably most Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Baptists followed their clergy in supporting the Revolution. Though small in numbers, Catholics and Jews supported the Revolution overwhelmingly. So did the Quakers and Methodists but not as vigorously. The Dutch, German Lutherans, and Reformed were divided. By not supporting the Revolution, the status of churches was affected. The Church of England (Anglican) held the status of an established church throughout the South and in parts of New York, but support of the monarchy caused their established status to be stripped. Establishment never returned to those colonies. However, the Congregational Church gained prestige because of supporting the Revolution. Being Anglican did not harm the reputation of colonists. For example, George Washington, our first American President, was a devoted member of the Church of England and later an Episcopalian. He was a member of the vestry at Truro Parish and senior warden. Being Anglican after the American Revolution did not hurt the political aspirations of Americans because three of the first five American Presidents were Anglicans. NOTE: This blog, like all others, is the result of AI research and my personal library, in addition to my ancient graduate school notes on my courses on American colonial history.
According to British statesman Edmund Burke, in his “Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies,” religion was the most powerful of four socio-cultural characteristics of the American people that made us especially jealous for liberty and resistant to British rule.
Burke argued it was the American style of religion that was the main desire for a free spirit. According to Burke, this style of religion was most common in the northern colonies. They were Protestants who were “the most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion.” Alex de Tocqueville added to the argument by stating that: “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of free institutions.” In the decades during the founding of the colonies, churches were the principal institutions for the creation and dissemination of ideas. The leaders for the loyalist side were almost all Anglican (Episcopalian). Leaders supporting the revolution were Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Baptist ministers. Colonial newspapers were supporting the revolution, but the majority of the colonists were not subscribers. However, the newspapers disseminated their ideas through their published pamphlets. Most of the content in newspapers and pamphlets were reprints or reports of sermons. While most European nations had a single established church and suppressed most forms of dissent, colonial America was one of the most religiously diverse places in the world. Since the southern colonies were strongly supported by the Crown for economic ventures, the colonists were supporting the Crown during the coming of the American revolution. New England was generally a place of refuge for Puritans and Pilgrims and religious freedom to worship but not for Baptists, Quakers or Catholics. Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island were generally established as havens for religious minorities. The First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s) swelled the ranks of the Baptists and Methodists in the colonies. Fiery preachers filled the pews with their reality of hell and salvation. The importance of the Great Awakening is that it fostered radically democratic and more disruptive churches and more dissent in the colonies. It emphasized that ordinary people could connect directly with God rather than through institutional churches. Although the Anglican Church (Episcopalian) was formally established as the state church in every colony south of Pennsylvania, and semi-established in Metropolitan New York, it was never the dominant or the largest religious group. It tended to be concentrated in coastal and tidewater regions and very little on the frontier. By the time of the American Revolution, the largest denominations were Congregationalists (Puritans), Presbyterians, and Baptists. With the exceptions of the Anglicans the Protestant colonists had an ample history to be wary of governments. The Dutch Protestants had suffered violence at the hands of the Spanish in Holland. Tens of thousands of French Huguenots were killed in a state-sponsored pogrom in 1572. Hundreds of English Protestants were burned at the stake under “Bloody” Queen Mary. In addition, the Puritans were jailed and exiled under the Stuarts. Scottish Presbyterians were persecuted in the 1680s under James II. These Protestants were convinced that their religion was ordained by God, and the action by the king and Parliament was in opposition to God’s will, thereby making rebellion legitimate. Another factor driving the coming of the American Revolution was “ecclesiology” (church organization). With the possible exception of the Anglicans, Protestant churches in the colonies believed that their form of church organization was determined by scripture. Anglican ecclesiology is hierarchical and top-down like Catholicism in many respects. If there was no bishop to exercise discipline, Anglican ministers were virtually under control of the parish vestry, an elected office typically held by members of the local gentry. For example, George Washington was a vestryman in his Anglican church near Mount Vernon. The Puritan, or Congregational, church was governed at the local level by the congregation, similar to a New England town meeting. A Congregational minister was usually a Puritan of “learned ministry”, meaning a graduate of Harvard or Yale. His role was solely to preach and lead worship, but the governance of the church was in the hands of elected elders. Each colonial congregation governed itself with no higher colonial, state or national authority. Presbyterians resembled Congregationalists, and the Dutch Reformed Church was virtually identical in structure to the Presbyterians The Baptists on the other hand were more individualistic, more libertarian and more anarchic. If a Baptist did not approve of his church, he would leave and join another or create another. Baptists were the most anti-authoritarian movement in the colonies. Baptists were a driving force for popular democracy more than for cautious republicanism. Next week in Part II we will cover how political theology affected the coming of the American Revolution.
Patrick Henry was born on May 29, 1736, and was primarily educated at home in Hanover County, Virginia. Henry was unsuccessful as a businessman and decided to self-study law since there were no law schools in the colonies. Only the wealthy could afford to travel to London to study law formally. He studied Virginia laws and foundational legal texts on his own. Henry spent many hours observing lawyers in the Hanover County Courthouse. Apparently, he observed well the proceedings and listened to legal arguments because he was able to pass the bar examination in 1760. Historians have maintained that initially his knowledge of complex legal procedure was scant, but he had a sharp mind and a natural intellect. He had a deep understanding of human nature, a quick wit, and superior oratorical skills which permitted him to become a successful lawyer.
He supposedly concluded his speech with the line: “but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” Although he is given credit that his rousing speech at St. John Episcopal Church led to adoption of his amendments opposing British action, scholars have debated the exact wording of “give me liberty or give me death.”  Currier & Ives depiction of Henry giving his famous speech. Created 1876. Public Domain. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001700209/ |
Archives
July 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed
