JULY FOURTH

In keeping with the American tradition of abbreviating names and terms, many refer to Independence Day as JULY FOURTH. That was the background that prompted an American to ask her pastor, Stewart Briscoe, if his homeland England had a JULY FOURTH. The witty Briscoe quickly replied, “No…we go from JULY THIRD to JULY FIFTH.” About 15 years ago my wife and I heard Briscoe’s response and smile whenever July 4th is approaching.

Well, it is time for us to smile again - in a few hours America will be celebrating her 236th birthday on July 4, 2012. Although still young when compared with many countries in Europe, it is an achievement for which every American should be proud. Apart from the national sense of pride, we ought to be proud because of the role the Christian faith played in the declaration of independence in 1776.

Agreed, today America is the most religiously diverse country in the world. However, it was Christianity that influenced the foundation of the nation in 1776. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, about 95% of them were orthodox Christians. Here is a breakdown of the religious affiliation of the signers:

Episcopalian/Anglican      32      57.1%
Congregationalist              13      23.2%
Presbyterian                      12      21.4%
Quaker                               02      03.6%
Unitarian/Universalist      02      03.6%
Catholic                             01      01.8%

In addition, of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 24 of them held seminary or Bible school degrees. It has been said that “the Declaration is a statement of religious faith as well as a political manifesto.”

The document contains repeated references to God:
“…the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God…”

 “…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”

“…appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions…” and

“…a firm reliance on the Protection of divine Providence.”

Despite this information, many modern day historians would want us to believe that many of the nation’s founders were a diverse group of atheists, deists and revolutionaries. How could that be, especially in light of direct religious quotations attributed to the Founding Fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence?

One such signer was John Adams. He was a judge, diplomat and the second president of the United States. He believed, “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." (Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Washington D.C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. Xlll, p. 292-294. In a letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813).

Similar quotations can be cited from many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. For instance, it was Senator Charles Carroll who said, “Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He had conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation and on myself in permitting me, under circumstances of mercy, to live to the age of 89 years, and to survive the fiftieth year of independence, adopted by Congress on the 4th of July, 1776, which I originally subscribed on the 2nd day of August of the same year and of which I am now the last surviving signer…” (Kate Mason Rowland, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1890), Vol. 2, pp. 373-374).

Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration, once asked, “Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

Until recently, most Americans had little difficulty acknowledging the relationship between God and the freedoms offered to this place we call home. However, we are now overrun by atheistic and politically-correct ideologies that have expunged God from the marketplace of ideas.

Take some time this JULY FOURTH and thank God for the Founding Fathers who set us on the right course. Today, 236 years later, we are recognized as one of the most stable societies in the world.

RECOMMENDED:

Barton, David. The American Heritage Series (DVD);
         -Why History Matters
         -Unearthing America’s Christian Foundations

Benson, Lossing. Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence