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QUESTION #5
WEREN'T WE FOUNDED BY DEISTS
UNRULY ADVENTURERS AND RELIGIOUS CASTAWAYS?
This stereotype presented in TV docu-dramas and history classrooms
throughout the nation is one of the greatest defamations of
national character ever perpetrated upon a people.
The influence of Deism in America was minimal until the nineteenth
century when it made inroads through the Unitarian Church and the
atheistic philosophy of the French Revolution. During our Founding
period, however, it had little influence. According to history Perry
Miller, Deism was strictly "an exotic plant" imported from europe which
did not flourish here. This distinguished historian also makes the point
that the colonial clergy presented to the people a religious rationale
for the American Revolution which united them behind its goals. Deism
was incapable of producing such a phenomenon. it professed a belief in
one God but denied the divine origin of Scriptures. Its weak philosophy
of a non-active, spectator God who left all the affairs of the world to
human whim was no match for the powerful Biblical faith of the majority
of our people in the Founding Father generation. Even Jefferson and
Franklin, the two men most often quoted as being Deists, give little
credence to the view in there writings. Undoubtedly, both of these men
did imbibe a mixture of European religious heresy, but the predominant
influence upon their world continued to be Christian.
Franklin's Plea for Public Prayer
In the summer of 1787 a feeling of desperation and deadlock had
descended upon the Consitutional Convention. Men from various states
were planning to leave and it would be years before they could gather
again for another try at bringing the loosely-knit confederation colonies
together to form a republic.
On June 28, 1787, as the Convention was ready to adjourn in dissension,
a wise old man addressed its President, George Washington, with quiet
simplicity:
"How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of
humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our
understandings? in the beginning of the contest with Great Britain,
when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room
for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were
graciously answered...I have lived, Sir, a long time and 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 that an empire can rise
without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings
that'except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build
it.'....I firmly believe this..."
Benjamin Franklin's words were heeded and the Convention went on to
complete its task. Although Franklin is often classified as a Deist, it
is clear from the above statements that he had been deeply influenced by
the Christian world-view and such great Christian ministers as George
Whitefield.
It could be well argued that many Christians today have acted more like
Deists than the few accused of this heresy in our founding, because
today we often give lip service to the Lord Jesus Christ over all
things, but then act as though He were an absentee, distant monarch just
biding His time to claim His throne!
Don't Believe What You See?
Regarding the charge that wild adventurers and womanizers roamed the
land in early America, there is little need for refutation. On the
frontier, starting in the times of the Puritans, some scouts and
settlers did precede the church and families, and there were some
atrocities perpetrated upon the Indians and some rowdy settlements. But
as soon as settlements were established and churches were formed, the
immoral and rowdy were made subject to the rule of the law. The
Christian women of the community, especially, demanded it. Our TV
generation has absorbed too much western cowboy-fever, most of it
fictitious distortions of true life in early America. The US News and
World Report (May 21, 1979)reports that the American people receive most
of their knowledge of history from watching TV docu-dramas. And most of
these docu-dramas bear little resemblance to the true story of our
history. Only by going back and reading the original documents, as you
are going to be challenged to do in this study of America's Christian
History, can you determine the real story.
The truth is that those that saved their money and possesed the fortitude
to settle this country were for the most part character-filled
Christians. Rev R.J. Rushdoony points out that it took two years living
expenses just to cross and settle America and that the well-established
families with the Puritan work ethic and Christian faith were the true
hardy breed that settled our country. These godly men and women, due due
to their family orientation, free-enterprise spirit, and Christian
discipline, maintained cultural dominion over the sin-loving reprobates
that we read so much about. Our history is evidence of the fact that, in
the long-run, nothing can thwart an individual who has an understanding
of his Commission from God to subdue the earth and who believes God for
the victory.