The Glories of America - 1

The Glories of America - 1
In pursuit of the Truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Sunday, June 28, 2009

On this day in 1706, Ben Franklin was born. Renowned as scientist and philosopher, many modern Americans think he was an agnostic. But in 1787, when the Constitutional Convention – and the future of the United States – was on the verge of collapse, he made an extraordinary appeal. They had prayed before, when the nation was in peril…

“And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘that God governs in the affairs of men.’ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable than an empire can rise without His aid?” Cousins, Trust, 42.

Preaching in Boston in 1770, Samuel West considered the spiritual aspect of the War for Independence:

“Our cause is so just and good that nothing can prevent our success but only our sins. Could I see a spirit of repentance and reformation prevail throughout the land, I should not have the least apprehension or fear of being brought under the iron rod of slavery, even though all the powers of the globe were combined against us? And though I confess that the irreligion and profaneness which are so common among us gives something of a damp to my spirits, yet I cannot help hoping, and even believing, that Providence has designed this continent to be the asylum of liberty and true religion. Thornton, The Pulpit. 311.

Among America’s most famous soldiers during the War for Independence were the Minutemen of Massachusetts. Concerned that their lives reflect Christian principles, the State Provincial Congress exhorted them with these words:

“Your are placed by Providence in the post of honor, because it is the post of danger… They eyes of not only North America and the whole British Empire, but all of Europe, are upon you. Let us be, therefore, altogether solicitous that no disorderly behavior, nothing unbecoming our character as Americans, as citizens and Christians, be justly chargeable to us.”

On this day, June 20, 1776, a letter was on its way to Philadelphia, via the Boston Post road from Massachusetts. In it, Abigail Adams reassured her husband John: “I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interpositions of heaven in our favor cannot be to gratefully acknowledged. He who le the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds young ravens whey they cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so righteous a cause, if we remember His loving kindness.” Adams Family Correspondence, II. 16

Noah Webster, in his preface to his “History of the United States,” notes:

“The brief exposition of the Constitution of the United States, will unfold to young persons the principles of republican government: and it is the sincere desire of the writer that our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian religion.”

In 1788, a letter from George Washington was on its way to Benjamin Lincoln, after the ratification of the Constitution:

“No Country upon Earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings… Much to be regretted indeed would it be, were, we to neglect the means and depart from the road which Providence has pointed to us to, so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass. The Great Governor of the Universe had led us too long and too far… to forsake us in the midst of it…. We may, now and then, get bewildered; but I hope and trust that there is good sense & virtue enough left to recover the right path.” W. Writings,XXX,11