ARE YOU ANCHORED IN CHRIST TOO?

 

Napoleon Bonaparte has been quoted as saying, “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.” At first glance this appears to be true but a closer look reveals the fallacy of that statement. History does not change but history books do.

Historical revisionism can in its purist form be welcome and constructive when it consists of the addition of new found evidence that leads us to a more accurate understanding of past events. But what we are witnessing in America today is the distortion of truth for the purpose of advancing a political agenda.

The historical fact that our country was founded by Christians and that the United States Constitution is based on principles originating in the Bible has been the target of this type of revisionism. For a century and a half textbooks contained references to our strong Christian heritage but now these facts have all but been erased. It is often stated as fact that most of the Founding Fathers were Deists but in their book, “One Nation Under God,” Dr. David C. Gibbs, Jr., and Jerry Newcombe record the following:

“The vast majority of delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention were professing Christians. Only Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson of Pennsylvania were known to be Deists, while Hugh Williamson of North Carolina and James McClurg of Virginia may also have been non-Trinitarian. John Eidsmoe, author of ‘Christianity and the Constitution,’ concludes that, at most, 5.5% of those attending the Constitutional Convention were Deists.”

If those who fought for our nation’s freedom were not Christian then why did the First Continental Congress in 1776 appropriate funds for the purchase of 20,000 Bibles? And when a shortage of Bibles arose again in 1782, why did Congress authorize printing the “Bible of the Revolution” and state they were to be, “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools?” Why did they begin their sessions with prayer, and why did George Washington swear with his hand on the Bible when he accepted the office of president?

In recent years the display of The Ten Commandments or anything relating to Christianity and the Bible in government buildings and public schools has been under attack by the American Civil Liberties Union. It appears this organization that was started in 1920 by an atheist, Roger Baldwin, is attempting to erase all evidence of our Christian heritage. But many of the words of the Founding Fathers have been preserved and the following examples taken from “America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations,” by William J. Federer show these men to be Christians:

“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. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” – Patrick Henry

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege of this Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” – John Jay

Critics of the Bible often point out that the Constitution of the United States does not mention God or the Bible but perhaps they fail to realize that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence go hand in hand. The Constitution gives us the “how” but the Declaration of Independence tells us “why.” God is mentioned four times in that document and its signers knew only one God. When the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” it is a direct reference to the God of the Bible. Where else do we know of a Creator who has revealed himself to his creation other than from the Bible’s Book of Genesis?

Chapter one of the Bible’s Book of John attests to the fact that the God that is found in the Book of Genesis is one and the same with Jesus Christ (who is the Word) when it states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1: 1-2) It then states undeniably that Jesus Christ is the Creator, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1: 3)

If our unalienable rights come from our Creator and our Creator is Jesus Christ, then the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and endorsed the Constitution of the United States must therefore have been Christians. It would be illogical and dishonest to claim otherwise.

GOD BLESS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Bob Rani                                                 Mike & Sheri Rani

 

All scripture from the New International Version (NIV) 1984 edition.