AT ONE TIME, AMERICA WAS AMONG THE
BEST EDUCATED NATIONS IN THE WORLD.
JAMES MADISON OF VIRGINIA,
A KEY ARCHITECT OF THE CONSTITUTION, SAID,
“A WELL-INSTRUCTED PEOPLE ALONE
CAN BE PERMANENTLY A FREE PEOPLE.”
ANTHROPOLOGIST CLAUDE LEVI STRAUSS SAID,
ANCIENT WRITING’S MAIN FUNCTION WAS TO
FACILITATE THE ENSLAVEMENT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
IN OTHER WORDS, IT WAS THE DEEP STATE COMMUNICATION ONLY THE
UPPER CLASS AND THE ELITES AND THE KINGS AND THE PHARAOHS COULD
READ: THE COMMON PEOPLE WERE KEPT IGNORANT ON PURPOSE.
WELL, WHEN THE PILGRIMS AND THE PURITANS FOUNDED NEW ENGLAND,
THEY HAD FLIPPED IT, AND THEY WANTED AN EDUCATED POPULACE.
THIS GOES BACK TO ANCIENT ISRAEL,
WHEN MOSES COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, HE DOES NOT JUST HAVE
THE LAW, HE HAS THE LAW IN TWENTY-TWO CHARACTERS,
SO EASY TO LEARN, KIDS COULD LEARN IT.
IN NEW ENGLAND, AFTER GENERATIONS OF PURITAN
INFLUENCE, JOHN ADAMS REMARKED, AROUND 1800, THAT
TO FIND AN ILLITERATE MAN IN NEW ENGLAND WAS AS RARE AS A COMET.
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THE EARLY SETTLERS ENVISIONED AMERICA AS
“A CITY ON A HILL”---IN THE WORDS OF REV. JOHN WINTHROP,
THE PURITAN LEADER WHO FOUNDED BOSTON.
TO MAINTAIN THAT CITY,
A SOLID EDUCATION BECAME A PREREQUISITE IN EARLY AMERICA.
THE PURITANS DREW A LOT FROM THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
THEY DREW HEAVILY FROM THE BIBLE,
INCLUDING ITS FIRST FIVE BOOKS, THE TORAH.
IF WE GO BACK TO THE TORAH, YOU CAN SEE THAT
WHAT’S CRITICAL TO FAITH AND COVENANTALISM IS SCHOOLING.
WHY DID THE JEWS HAVE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION TWO THOUSAND YEARS
ALMOST BEFORE THE EUROPEANS?
BY AD 70, THE JEWS HAD UNIVERSAL EDUCATION
IN EVERY JEWISH COMMUNITY.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY FATHERS TEACHING THEIR CHILDREN.
ENGLAND WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COUNTRIES IN EUROPE TO HAVE
UNIVERSAL EDUCATION, 1870, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED YEARS AFTER,
TO HAND DOWN FAITH, IT’S GOT TO GO DOWN TRANSMITTED
FROM FATHER TO SON AND SO ON DOWN THE GENERATIONS.
SO, SCHOOLING IS AT THE HEART OF BOTH FREEDOM AND FAITH.
NOW, OF COURSE, THE PURITANS UNDERSTOOD THAT
BECAUSE IT’S IN THE TORAH.
NINETY PERCENT OF THE EUROPEANS COULDN’T READ
THOSE THAT FOUNDED AMERICA WERE
DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF THE REFORMATION.
AND THE REASON THEY BECAME SO SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR
COLONIAL ENDEAVOR OF BUILDING A CIVILIZATION IS
DIRECTLY TIED TO THEIR EDUCATIONAL ABILITY,
WHICH IS DIRECTLY TIED TO THEIR LOVE OF SCRIPTURE.
WITHOUT A KNOWLEDGE BASE, YOU COULD NEVER HAVE A REPUBLIC.
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THE FIRST LAW PASSED IN AMERICA RELATED TO EDUCATION
WAS AN ACT IN THE PURITAN COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN 1642 AND REVISED IN 1647.
IT IS KNOWN AS “THE OLD DELUDER SATAN ACT”
BECAUSE IT STATES THAT ONE OF THE CHIEF PROJECTS OF
“THAT OLD DELUDER SATAN” IS TO KEEP PEOPLE IGNORANT FROM
“THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES.”
THEREFORE, SCHOOLS WERE TO BE
SYSTEMATICALLY ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT THE COLONY.
THAT’S WHY WHEREVER THE PURITANS WENT, THEY PUT A HIGH
PREMIUM ON MAKING SURE THEIR CHILDREN WERE WELL-EDUCATED,
AND THE OLD DELUDER SATAN ACT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT.”
AS AMERICA WAS BEING SETTLED BY THE PIONEERS AND THE PILGRIMS,
THE ONE BOOK THAT WAS BROUGHT WITH THEM WAS THE BIBLE.
TYPICALLY, IT WAS THE GENEVA BIBLE:
THAT’S THE BIBLE OF THE PURITANS OF ENGLAND.
BUT THE ANGLICANS BROUGHT THE KING JAMES BIBLE, TOO,
AND OTHER VERSIONS OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION,
AND IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT.
THE FIRST BOOK TO BE PRINTED IN THE NEW WORLD
WAS THE BAY PSALM BOOK.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY WANTED PEOPLE TO SING THE SCRIPTURES.
THAT’S HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS.
LITERACY FOR THE SAKE OF READING THE BIBLE WENT HAND IN HAND.
WHEN CHILDREN WERE TAUGHT THEIR ABC’S IN PURITAN NEW ENGLAND,
THEY WERE ALSO TAUGHT A GREAT DEAL OF THEOLOGY.
BEGINNING IN THE 1690'S, THOUSANDS OF NEW ENGLAND
CHILDREN WERE TAUGHT BASIC READING SKILLS THROUGH A
SMALL BLUE BOOK, THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER.
THIS BOOK WAS QUITE INFLUENTIAL, AND ALL THE FOUNDING FATHERS
FROM NEW ENGLAND AND EVEN SOME BEYOND WERE WEANED ON
BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES, IN PART THROUGH THIS LITTLE BOOK.
THIS WOULD INCLUDE SAM ADAMS, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
JOHN ADAMS, JOHN HANCOCK, AND PAUL REVERE.
WE FIND THAT MANY IN THE FOUNDING GENERATION WOULD’VE
LEARNED TO READ WITH A BIBLE OPEN IN FRONT OF THEM.
AND THERE WERE OTHERS WHO LEARNED
TO READ WITH EXCERPTS FROM THE BIBLE.
THINK, FOR EXAMPLE, THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER, WHICH IS
SOMETIMES CALLED THE LITTLE BIBLE OF NEW ENGLAND.
WHY? BECAUSE IT WAS FILLED WITH PASSAGES FROM SCRIPTURE,
AND HERE WAS A TEXT SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED
TO TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO READ.
SO, WE LIVED IN A CULTURE AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
THAT KNEW THE BIBLE AND KNEW IT WELL.
THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER TAUGHT BIBLICAL TRUTHS
TO GENERATIONS OF EARLY AMERICANS.
IT INCLUDED BASIC SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS,
LIKE THE APOSTLES' CREED OR THE LORD'S PRAYER.
AND ULTIMATELY, THE BIBLE AND THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER,
WHICH SPECIFICALLY TALKED ABOUT THE THINGS OF THE BIBLE IN SOME
KIND OF CONDENSED FORM THROUGH CATECHISMS, WERE THE
TWO MAJOR BOOKS THAT WERE USED TO TEACH PEOPLE TO READ,
TO TEACH PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW
TRUTH COULD BE USED PURPOSEFULLY TO MAKE SOCIETY BETTER.
EVEN THE ABC’S TAUGHT IN THE
NEW ENGLAND PRIMER TAUGHT BIBLE LESSONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, A IN ADAM'S FALL WE SINNED ALL.
B HEAVEN TO FIND: THE BIBLE MIND.
C CHRIST CRUCIFY'D FOR SINNERS DY'D.
.....AND, MOVING AHEAD TO THE END OF THE ALPHABET.....
X XERXES DID DIE, AND SO MUST I.
Y WHILE YOUTH DO CHEAR DEATH MAY BE NEAR.
Z ZACCHEUS HE DID CLIMB THE TREE OUR LORD TO SEE.
MANY OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS FIRST LEARNED THEIR
ABC’S THROUGH BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES AS
TAUGHT IN THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER.
THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER IS ONE OF THE CLASSIC EARLIEST FORMS.
MILLIONS OF COPIES WERE USED
OF THIS BOOK AND IT INCLUDED, IF YOU WILL,
THE WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM, ITS VARIATION,
AND IT HAD ALL KINDS OF BIBLICAL TRAINING IN IT.
SO, THE BIBLE WAS IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION IN AMERICA.
IT WAS, IF YOU WILL, THE CORE OF WHAT AMERICA TO BE AMERICA.
OVERALL, THE CHILDREN OF NEW ENGLAND WERE WEANED ON THE
BIBLE; INCLUDING BIBLICAL LESSONS
IN THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER.
AND THE RESULT WAS A LITERACY THAT
HAS NEVER BEEN MATCHED SINCE.
THE PURITANS TOOK TO HEART THE BIBLE VERSE THAT SAYS,
"THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM."
THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN AMERICA WAS NOT LOST
ON A PROMINENT VISITING FRENCHMAN IN THE 1830'S.
WHEN TOCQUEVILLE CAME TO THE UNITED STATES
ABOUT 50 YEARS AFTER OUR REVOLUTION, OF COURSE,
IT’S ALSO SOME DECADES AFTER THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
AND HE, SORT OF, WANTS TO INVESTIGATE, HE’S, YOU KNOW,
HIRED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT TO LOOK INTO WHAT’S GOING
ON IN AMERICA AND WHAT THEY’RE GETTING RIGHT.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT HIS VISIT TO AMERICA
ENTITLED, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA.
THAT BOOK, PUBLISHED IN THE 1830S IS STILL IN PRINT TODAY.
HE SAID, “AMERICANS ARE INFINITELY MORE RELIGIOUS
THAN THE FRENCH, AND YET, THEY SEEM TO HAVE MORE LIBERTY.”
HE WROTE IN HIS FAMOUS BOOK THAT NOT ONLY ARE FAITH AND LIBERTY
NOT AT ODDS IN AMERICA, BUT THEY ACTUALLY BOLSTER EACH OTHER.
LIBERTY LEADS TO GREATER FAITH,
AND FAITH LEADS TO GREATER LIBERTY.
HE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, THERE’S A FOURTH BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA: IT’S CALLED THE CHURCH OR RELIGION.
WHILE THERE’S ALL THIS DIVERSITY OF RELIGIOUS OPINION, INSTEAD OF
IT TEARING APART AMERICAN UNITY, IT SUPPORTS IT,
BECAUSE IT’S CONSTANTLY SUPPORTING THE
PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM AND SELF-GOVERNMENT.
IT WAS RELIGION THAT HE SAW THAT WAS THE SECRET OF THIS
NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT, THAT MADE IT WORK SO WELL.
HE’S AN OUTSIDER, WHO WAS NOT A PROTESTANT, WATCHING AMERICA,
TRYING TO FIGURE WHAT WAS MAKING IT WORK.
BASICALLY, IT WAS THE EDUCATION IN CHRISTIAN THINGS THAT HE SAW
THAT MADE AMERICA WORK.
PROMOTION OF BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE CONTINUED WELL
INTO THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES.
THE FIRST CONGRESS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION GAVE US THE
FIRST AMENDMENT AND ALSO PASSED A LAW THAT ENSURED THAT EACH
STATE AND TERRITORY TO BE ADDED TO THE NEW NATION
WOULD ALSO BE COMMITTED TO BUILDING SCHOOLS.
IF THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT WERE TO WORK, IT COULD ONLY
DO SO IF THE PEOPLE COULD READ AND WRITE FOR THEMSELVES.
SO ON AUGUST 4, 1789, CONGRESS PASSED THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE.
THEN THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE THAT PROVIDED FOR STATEHOOD
AND MADE CLEAR THAT RELIGION, MORALITY, AND EDUCATION, BEING
NECESSARY TO GOOD GOVERNMENT, NECESSARY TO GOOD GOVERNMENT,
AND THE HAPPINESS OF MANKIND, SCHOOLS
AND THE MEANS OF EDUCATION SHALL FOREVER BE ENCOURAGED.
THE FOUNDERS BELIEVED THAT RELIGION AND MORALITY WENT
HAND-IN-HAND, AND EDUCATION WAS THE KEY TO THAT.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE FOUNDERS, WE’RE NOT TALKING
ABOUT A HANDFUL OF CHRISTIAN FOUNDERS, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF
THE FOUNDERS, INCLUDING BEN FRANKLIN AND THOMAS JEFFERSON,
KNEW THAT THERE WAS NO WAY, GENUINELY NO WAY TO HAVE
SELF-GOVERNMENT AND GENUINE LIBERTY ALONG THE LINES THAT
THEY WERE PROPOSING WITHOUT A VIRTUOUS POPULOUS.
AND THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT YOU
CAN NEITHER HAVE VIRTUE WITHOUT FAITH.
THE VERY CONCEPT OF A SECULAR CULTURE WAS NOT ONLY FOREIGN TO
THEM, IT WAS ANATHEMA TO THEM: THEY KNEW THAT WITHOUT FAITH
THERE WAS NO WAY TO HAVE THE KIND OF LIBERTY THAT THEY
WERE HOPING TO HAVE AND TO KEEP FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
ALTHOUGH THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE ENCOURAGED SCHOOLS,
THESE WERE VOLUNTARY.
IF THEY WERE UNDER ANY PARTICULAR GOVERNMENT,
THAT WOULD BE LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT AT MOST,
NOT UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
THE FOUNDERS THOUGHT THAT EDUCATION WAS VERY, VERY
IMPORTANT, BUT THEY GAVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NO AUTHORITY
TO DEAL WITH EDUCATION, THAT IS,
EDUCATION WAS MOSTLY A STATE FUNCTION.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT JAMES MADISON AND OTHERS WHO WROTE IN THE
FEDERALIST PAPERS, TRYING TO GET THE COLONIES TO RATIFY THE
UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, JAMES MADISON AND OTHER FOUNDERS
HAD A VERY LIMITED VIEW OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
IN FACT, IN FEDERALIST PAPER FORTY-FIVE, JAMES MADISON, WHO
WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHAT’S IN THE CONSTITUTION, AND HE WAS
SAYING THAT THE POWERS THAT WE LEFT TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
ARE FEW AND DEFINED, AND MOSTLY RESTRICTED TO EXTERNAL AFFAIRS.
SOME KEY EARLY AMERICAN EDUCATORS
WERE ALSO COMMITTED TO FAITH.
NOAH WEBSTER, WHOSE NAME IS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE DICTIONARY,
WAS BORN IN 1758 AND DIED IN 1843.
HE WAS ONE OF AMERICA'S FOUNDING FATHERS.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE WAS THE
“FOUNDING FATHER OF AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP AND EDUCATION.”
TO THIS DAY, HIS NAME IS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE DICTIONARY,
SINCE HE CREATED SUCH IMPORTANT
DICTIONARY WHICH HE LATER REVISED.
ONE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF WEBSTER’S WORK WAS TO STANDARDIZE
THE SPELLING OF MANY OF OUR WORDS.
NOAH WEBSTER IS CALLED THE FATHER OF AMERICAN EDUCATION.
HE WROTE THE BLUEBACK SPELLERS,
WHICH SOLD OVER 100 MILLION COPIES.
IT WAS THE BOOK THAT WAS USED TO TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO READ,
AND HE WROTE WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY.
AND HE SPENT DECADES RESEARCHING THIS, LEARNING THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGES, TRAVELING OVER TO EUROPE.
OVER A THIRD OF THE DEFINITIONS
USE BIBLE VERSES TO EXPLAIN HOW THE WORD IS USED.
"WEBSTER'S AMERICAN DICTIONARY WAS A SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENT OF
THE FIRST RANK, WINNING CRITICAL ACCLAIM AT HOME AND ABROAD." -
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY
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ANOTHER DEDICATED MAN WHO HELPED PROMOTE EDUCATION,
INCLUDING A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, WAS THE 19TH CENTURY
PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, WILLIAM HOLMES MCGUFFEY.
HE EVENTUALLY BECAME A PROFESSOR AT THOMAS JEFFERSON'S SCHOOL
OF HIGHER LEARNING, THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
WHICH WAS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY AS A NON-DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOL.
JEFFERSON SAW HIS NEW SCHOOL AS A NON-SECTARIAN INSTITUTION,
BUT NOT A SECULAR INSTITUTION PER SE.
RELIGION WAS ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED,
BUT IT WAS NOT MANDATED.
NO ONE AT THAT SCHOOL WAS TO BE FORCED
TO ATTEND RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLIES.
BUT SUCH ASSEMBLIES WERE WELCOME.
PROFESSOR MCGUFFEY WAS COMMITTED TO CHILDREN BEING ABLE TO READ,
SO HE COMPILED A NUMBER OF READING BOOKS.
ONE OF THE EARLIEST FORMS OF EDUCATION THEY HAD
WAS CALLED “THE MCGUFFEY READERS.”
THIS WAS AN EDUCATED SYSTEM OF MEASURED READING.
AND AS IT WAS DEVELOPED, IT INCLUDED ALL
SORTS OF BIBLICAL TRAINING, BIBLICAL VOCABULARY.
AND SO, WE CAN SEE THAT
EDUCATION IN AMERICA VERY MUCH WAS BASED UPON BIBLICAL TRUTHS.
“MOST YOUNGSTERS OF MY DAY WERE
BROUGHT UP ON THE MCGUFFEY READERS.
MOST OF THOSE YOUNGSTERS WHO STILL SURVIVE HAVE A PROFOUND
RESPECT FOR THE COMPILER OF THE READERS.” -HENRY FORD.
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OVERALL, THESE MCGUFFEY ECLECTIC READERS SOLD 120 MILLION COPIES.
FOR MANY DECADES, THESE PROVIDED THE
BACKBONE OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR THIS COUNTRY.
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AMERICANS IN THE LATE 1780’S LIVED IN
A PROFOUNDLY BIBLICALLY LITERATE CULTURE.
THESE WERE A PEOPLE THAT KNEW THE BIBLE, THESE WERE A PEOPLE,
MANY OF WHOM LEARNED TO READ WITH
A COPY OF THE BIBLE OPENED IN FRONT OF THEM.
THE KING JAMES TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE IS A TRANSLATION THAT
IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO READ.
IT IS A TRANSLATION THAT HAS A SHORT VOCABULARY,
A LIMITED VOCABULARY.
THE VOCABULARY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE, FOR EXAMPLE, IS PROBABLY
ABOUT A THIRD OR MAYBE EVEN A QUARTER OF THE VOCABULARY THAT
WE KNOW AND FIND IN THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE.
THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND.
IT IS A VERY LIMITED VOCABULARY: IT TENDS TO USE SHORT WORDS.
THE AVERAGE WORD IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
FOUR AND FIVE LETTERS.
IT USES ANGLO SAXON...
WORDS, IT FAVORS ANGLO SAXON WORDS OVER LATIN WORDS, SO
THERE’S A SHARP PUNCHINESS TO THE LANGUAGE THAT’S VERY
APPEALING TO THE READER.
AND SO, THE LANGUAGE OF THE KING JAMES, SHORT WORDS, SIMPLE
VOCABULARY, AND YET, IT CAN COMMUNICATE PROFOUND IDEAS.
THIS ALL MADE FOR AN IDEAL TOOL FOR LITERACY EDUCATION.
CONSIDER ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE 16TH PRESIDENT,
WHO WAS HOME TAUGHT.
HE EVEN LEARNED THE LAW THROUGH READING
A SECOND-HAND COPY OF ONE VOLUME OF
SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE’S COMMENTARY ON THE LAW.
LINCOLN READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY.
WHEN HE SAID, “A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND,”
HE WAS QUOTING THE BIBLE AND
MOST OF HIS OF HIS AUDIENCE KNEW THAT.
GUNFIRE
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HIS GETTTYSBURG ADDRESS, NOTES
DR. DANIEL DREISBACH OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDES A TEXTBOOK,
ALBEIT LENGTHY, CASE OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE
ON THE FOUNDING AND UNFOLDING DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICA.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, EVEN WHEN NOT QUOTING THE BIBLE,
SPOKE THE LANGUAGE OF THE BIBLE.
SO, TAKE, FOR EXAMPLE, PERHAPS HIS MOST FAMOUS SPEECH,
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
NOW, THERE IS NO DIRECT QUOTATION FROM THE BIBLE IN
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, BUT THERE IS
HARDLY A LINE THAT DOESN’T ECHO KING JAMES-LIKE LANGUAGE. SO,
WE BEGIN WITH THESE WORDS, “FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO.”
CIVIL WAR BATTLE
NOW, WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU THAT
HE DELIBERATELY CHOOSES THIS MODE OF COMMUNICATION,
FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO, TO PUT HIS
AUDIENCE IN A BIBLICAL FRAME OF MIND.
HE’S SIGNALING TO THEM; I HAVE SOMETHING SERIOUS TO SAY HERE.
BUT HE DOESN’T STOP THERE.
HE GOES, FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO,
OUR FATHERS, OUR FATHERS.
NOW, THAT’S AN INTERESTING PHRASE.
THAT IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE PATRIARCH, RIGHT,
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB.
IT IS ALSO THE LANGUAGE OF THE LORD’S PRAYER,
“OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN.” BUT HE DOESN’T STOP THERE.
“OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH,” THE PHRASE, “BROUGHT FORTH”
IS USED DOZENS OF TIMES IN THE
KING JAMES BIBLE IN A VARIETY OF WAYS.
CIVIL WAR BATTLE
THE THEMES OF THE BIBLE, ESPECIALLY THE NEW
TESTAMENT ARE THE CORE THEMES OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
WHAT IS THE CORE THEME OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS?
IT IS ABOUT THE CONCEPTION, BIRTH, LIFE, AND DEATH,
AND NEW BIRTH OF A NATION.
THAT’S THE GOSPEL NARRATIVE, IS IT NOT?
THE CONCEPTION OF THE INCARNATED CHRIST WHO COMES TO EARTH.
BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION.
THINK, FOR EXAMPLE, OF THE
POWERFUL LINES OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
THERE IS LINCOLN ON THAT BATTLEFIELD, AND LITERALLY,
IN FRONT OF HIM AS HE DELIVERS THIS SPEECH ARE
THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO PERISHED ON THAT BATTLEFIELD.
CIVIL WAR BATTLE
AND WHAT DOES HE SAY TO THEM?
HE SAYS, YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS DID NOT PERISH HERE IN VAIN.
THEY GAVE THEIR LIFE SO THAT THIS NATION CAN ENJOY
A NEW LIFE, A NEW LIFE THAT WILL NOT PERISH.
NOW, THAT’S THE FINAL ENDING OF
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, WILL NOT PERISH.
ISN’T THAT KIND OF INTERESTING.
THAT ECHOES THE LANGUAGE OF JOHN 3:16 AND ELSEWHERE, RIGHT?
BUT THINK ABOUT THIS THEME, THERE HAS BEEN DEATH HERE,
BUT IT’S NOT A DEATH IN VAIN.
IT IS A DEATH THAT GIVES US A HOPE OF A NEW LIFE,
NOT SIMPLY A NEW LIFE, BUT AN ETERNAL LIFE.
HE USES THE BIBLE IN PROFOUND WAYS, AND HE’S SPEAKING TO AN
AUDIENCE THAT KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE’S SPEAKING TO...THESE BROADER
THEMES ABOUT CONCEPTION, BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH, AND REBIRTH.
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EDUCATION IN THE FIRST 200 YEARS
OF AMERICA WAS BASED ON THE BIBLE.
IN FACT, THE BIBLE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WAS THE CHIEF TEXTBOOK.
THE BIBLE WAS THE BASIS OF EDUCATION IN
AMERICA UNTIL THE 20TH CENTURY.
THAT’S HOW PARENTS TAUGHT THEIR CHILDREN.
MANY CONSIDER MOBY DICK THE
GREATEST NOVEL IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
HERMAN MELVILLE OPENS THE BOOK WITH “CALL ME ISHMAEL,”
BECAUSE HE KNEW EVERY AMERICAN KNEW WHO ISHMAEL WAS.
I WONDER IF FIVE PERCENT OF THE STUDENTS
AT HARVARD TODAY COULD IDENTIFY ISHMAEL.
I’D BE SURPRISED IF FIVE PERCENT COULD,
EXCEPT FOR THE HANDFUL OF CHRISTIANS WHO ATTEND OR
ORTHODOX JEWS WHO ATTEND HARVARD.
EDUCATION WAS NOT JUST FOR CHILDREN.
ALL THE ORIGINAL COLLEGES IN AMERICA WERE STARTED IN ORDER
TO TRAIN MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.
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THE PURITANS GREATLY VALUED EDUCATION.
JUST LOOK AT THIS EXAMPLE.
HERE THEY ARRIVE IN THIS FOREIGN COUNTRY, WHAT COTTON MATHER
LATER WOULD CALL AN ERRAND INTO THE WILDERNESS.
AND THEY HAVE TO BUILD A CIVILIZATION FROM SCRATCH.
THEY ARRIVES AS A LARGE GROUP IN 1630 AND BY 1636, THEY FOUND A
COLLEGE FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRAINING FUTURE MINISTERS OF THE
GOSPEL, AND OF COURSE THAT’S HARVARD.
“THE FIRST POSSESSORS OF THIS PROTESTANT AND PURITAN COUNTRY
WERE ZEALOUS FOR AN UNIVERSITY. THE
CHRISTIANS IN THE MOST EARLY TIMES OF NEW-ENGLAND WERE TO
FORM A COLLEGE, WHEREIN A SUCCESSION OF A LEARNED AND ABLE
MINISTRY MIGHT BE EDUCATED." -COTTON MATHER,
IN THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES,
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY WANTED TO DO IS TO TRAIN
MINISTERS SO THEY WOULDN’T HAVE AN IGNORANT CLERGY.
THEY WANTED TO HAVE MEN OF WISDOM IN THE PULPIT AND
THEY BECAME THE INTELLECTUALS OF THE COMMUNITY AND
THE CENTER FOCUS OF EDUCATION AND TEACHING.
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THERE IS A PLAQUE IN STONE AT THE ENTRANCE OF HARVARD
WHICH DECLARES, "AFTER GOD HAD CARRIED US SAFE TO NEW ENGLAND,
AND WE HAD BUILT OUR HOUSES, PROVIDED NECESSITIES FOR OUR
LIVELIHOOD, REARED CONVENIENT PLACES FOR GOD’S WORSHIP, AND
SETTLED THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT: ONE OF THE NEXT THINGS WE LONGED
FOR, AND LOOKED AFTER WAS TO ADVANCE LEARNING,
AND PERPETUATE IT TO POSTERITY:
DREADING TO LEAVE AN ILLITERATE MINISTRY TO THE CHURCHES,
WHEN OUR PRESENT MINISTERS SHALL LIE IN THE DUST."
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THE GENESIS OF WHAT WE CALL TODAY HARVARD TOOK PLACE ON
SEPTEMBER 8, 1630-WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE ARRIVAL
EN MASSE OF THE PURITANS, WHEN SOME OF THE
PURITAN LEADERS HELD A GENERAL COUNCIL IN BOSTON.
THEY CONCEIVED OF SUCH A UNIVERSITY, AND THEY
ADVANCED A “SMALL SUM” TO THAT END, FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS.
COTTON MATHER COMMENTS ON THIS INCONSPICUOUS BEGINNING:
“IT WAS THEN A DAY OF SMALL THINGS.”
ONE OF THE MOTTOES EARLY ON COMES FROM JESUS' PRAYER
IN THE 17TH CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN,
“AND THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE
THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM THOU HAST SENT.”
THEY CAME TO NAME THE TOWN OF THE NEW COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE
IN HONOR OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY,
WHERE REV. HARVARD HAD GONE TO SCHOOL.
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
IS NAMED AFTER CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.
THEY HOPED THAT THIS NEW CAMBRIDGE MIGHT LIVE UP TO THE
REPUTATION OF THE CAMBRIDGE IN THE OLD WORLD.
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HISTORY DOES NOT RECORD MUCH ABOUT THE SHORT-LIVED
REV. JOHN HARVARD, WHO WAS BORN IN ENGLAND IN 1607.
HE WAS A YOUNG MINISTER NEWLY ARRIVED FROM ENGLAND,
WHO, SOON AFTER, IN 1638,
DIED OF CONSUMPTION THAT IS, TUBERCULOSIS.
COTTON MATHER SAYS OF HIM THAT HE WAS
“A REVEREND AND EXCELLENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.”
HARVARD'S WILL GRANTED
SEVEN HUNDRED, SEVENTY NINE POUNDS, SEVENTEEN SHILLINGS AND
TWO PENCE FOR THE “PIOUS WORK” TO BE BUILT IN CAMBRIDGE.
HE ALSO DONATED 400 BOOKS TO THE NEW INSTITUTION.
SO TO HONOR HIS MEMORY, IN THE LATE 1630'S,
THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS NAMED
THE SCHOOL ESTABLISHED TWO YEARS EARLIER IN 1636 AFTER HIM.
THE ORIGINAL MOTTO IN LATIN WAS
“TRUTH, THAT IS, VERITAS, FOR CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.
IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, THE SCHOOL JETTISONED THE
LAST PART OF THE PHRASE LEAVING ONLY VERITAS.
YET STILL ONE CAN FIND AT HARVARD TODAY
VESTIGES OF ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE.
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THE HARVARD LAWS DECLARED THE STUDENTS,
WHOM THEY CALLED SCHOLARS, AND THE PROFESSORS SHOULD READ
AND STUDY THE BIBLE DILIGENTLY, AT LEAST TWICE A DAY.
PROFANITY WAS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ONE WAS EVEN TO CHOOSE HIS
FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES CAREFULLY.
AND THEY WERE TO FOLLOW THE PRECEPTS OF THE BIBLE CLOSELY.
ALSO, RIGOROUS ACADEMIC STANDARDS
WERE PRACTICED AND WERE EXPECTED.
HARVARD STUDENTS LEARNED THE SCRIPTURES, EVEN IN THE
ORIGINAL LANGUAGES; HEBREW AND GREEK, AND THEY WERE TO BE
“BLAMELESS IN LIFE AND CHARACTER.”
THEOLOGY, THE STUDY OF GOD,
THAT’S WHAT THEOLOGY LITERALLY MEANS,
THAT SO MUCH SO AND SO MUCH WAS THE BIBLE CENTRAL, YOU COULD
NOT GET A B.A. AT HARVARD UNTIL 1800 IF YOU DID NOT KNOW HEBREW.
THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES, IT IS CLEAR THAT HARVARD HAS HAD
A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE UNITED STATES, MOSTLY FOR GOOD.
EVEN A FEW OF OUR PRESIDENTS WERE TRAINED AT HARVARD,
INCLUDING JOHN ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT,
JOHN F. KENNEDY, GEORGE W. BUSH, AND BARACK OBAMA.
“HARVARD COLLEGE...ASSISTED IN FORMING THE
EARLY CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY.” -GEORGE BANCROFT
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HARVARD SLOWLY BEGAN TO BE CUT OFF FROM
ITS INITIAL CHRISTIAN MOORINGS IN THE EARLY
19TH CENTURY BECAUSE OF UNITARIANISM.
HOWEVER, LONG BEFORE THAT HAPPENED,
A PURITAN DIVINE WARNED AGAINST ANYONE TURNING
HARVARD AWAY FROM ITS SPIRITUAL ROOTS.
PURITAN JOHN WILSON WROTE A POEM DEDICATED TO
“THE MOST PIOUS AND REVEREND JOHN HARVARD.” HE NOTED...
CHOSEN OF GOD TO FOUND, THROUGH GRACE DIVINE,
FOR CHRISTIAN LEARNING AN ENDURING SHRINE
IF DARLING HERESIES DELIGHT AFFORD,
AND YE DENY YOUR CONSCIENCE AND YOUR LORD,
HOW WILL YE SPURN THE PATH YOUR FOUNDER TROD-
HOW TEMPT A COVENANT-KEEPING GOD! -JOHN WILSON
EDUCATION WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE EARLY AMERICANS
THAT YOU CAN SEE ALMOST ALL OUR GREAT COLLEGES WERE FOUNDED BY
CHRISTIANS, MANY OF THEM BY EVANGELICALS, SOME OF
THEM COMING OUT OF THE AWAKENING AND THE REVIVAL ITSELF.
NOW, THERE’RE EXCEPTIONS, SUCH AS SAY CORNELL,
WHICH WAS FOUNDED QUITE
DELIBERATELY TO BE ANTI-CHRISTIAN AND SECULARIST.
BUT MOST OF THE GREAT ONES LIKE HARVARD, YALE, PRINCETON,
DARTMOUTH, GO ON DOWN THE LINE, WERE FOUNDED BY CHRISTIANS,
MANY OF THEM BY EVANGELICALS, WHO REALIZED
THAT SCHOOLING IS ABSOLUTELY VITAL TO THE TRANSMISSION
OF FAITH AND ALSO FREEDOM.
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BIBLICAL REFERENCES PERVADE AMERICAN LITERATURE.
THIS WAS THE AMERICAN TEXT.
THIS WAS THE TEACHER OF MORAL VIRTUE
TO THE NEXT GENERATION, THE BIBLE.
THE UNIVERSITIES WERE FOUNDED, ALL OF THEM WERE FOUNDED
TO TEACH THEOLOGY AS WELL AS SCIENCE.
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THE SECOND UNIVERSITY TO BE FOUNDED ON AMERICAN SOIL
WAS WILLIAM AND MARY, FOUNDED IN 1693.
IT WAS A PROMINENT SCHOOL CREATED IN VIRGINIA
IN WILLIAMSBURG, IN ORDER TO TRAIN
MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
WILLIAM AND MARY WAS ANGLICAN IN ITS FOUNDING.
THIS WAS AT A TIME WHEN THE 39 ARTICLES OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
GAVE IT A CALVINISTIC TRAJECTORY.
THE SCHOOL WAS TO TRAIN STUDENTS TO LEARN GODLY MORALS;
TO RAISE UP MINISTERS FOR THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND;
AND TO TRAIN UP INDIAN YOUTH, SOME OF WHOM MIGHT GO ON
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
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IN 1700, IN THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT,
TEN CLERGYMEN STOOD AROUND A TABLE
AND DONATED THEIR BOOKS SO THAT A NEW COLLEGE
COULD BE STARTED IN ORDER TO TRAIN FUTURE MINISTERS.
AS THEY PLACED THEIR DONATION DOWN ON THE TABLE,
EACH MINISTER SAID, "I GIVE THESE BOOKS
FOR THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE IN THIS COLONY."
THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER SCHOOL TO TRAIN
PURITAN MINISTERS; YALE UNIVERSITY.
IT WAS NAMED AFTER A SUCCESSFUL AND
GENEROUS PURITAN NAMED ELIHU YALE.
THE YALE INSIGNIA, THE INSIGNIA OF YALE UNIVERSITY IS IN HEBREW.
IT’S THE MANTLE OR THE BREASTPLATE THAT THE HIGH PRIEST
OF ISRAEL WORE URIM VEHA-TUMMIM, AND IT’S IN HEBREW.
THE URIM VEHA THUMMIM WHICH TECHNICALLY TRANSLATES TO
“LIGHTS AND PERFECTIONS,” WERE TRADITIONALLY BELIEVED TO BE
MEANS OF DIVINE GUIDANCE.
THE URIM VEHA-TUMMIM, THE BREASTPLATE OF THE HIGH PRIEST,
YOU KNOW HOW IMMERSED YOU HAD TO BE IN THE BIBLE TO KNOW THAT,
AND IF YOU WERE NOT A JEW TO KNOW THOSE WORDS,
URIM VEHA-TUMMIM, AND THAT’S TO THIS DAY
THE INSIGNIA OF YALE UNIVERSITY.
“ALL SCHOLARS SHALL LIVE RELIGIOUS, GODLY, AND BLAMELESS
LIVES ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF GOD’S WORD, DILIGENTLY
READING THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT AND TRUTH:
AND CONSTANTLY ATTEND UPON ALL THE DUTIES OF RELIGION,
BOTH IN PUBLIC AND SECRET.” -YALE CHARTER OF 1745
YALE WAS OUTWARDLY CHRISTIAN FOR THE
FIRST TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES OF ITS EXISTENCE.
SO MUCH SO THAT ONE OF ITS YOUNG ALUMNI CAUSED AN UPROAR IN THE
EARLY 1950'S WHEN HE PROCLAIMED TO THE WORLD THAT YALE
WASN'T LIVING UP TO ITS CHRISTIAN REPUTATION.
IT WAS THOUGHT TO BE QUITE SCANDALOUS WHEN
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY PUBLISHED HIS AMAZING BOOK, GOD & MAN AT YALE,
IN WHICH HE BASICALLY ACCUSED YALE OF HAVING
TURNED ITS BACK ON ITS FOUNDING HERITAGE.
AND YET, I THINK HIS ACCUSATIONS WERE TRUE.
THAT REALLY IS A PATTERN, VERY SAD TO SAY,
THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY MANY, MANY COLLEGES
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PRINCETON WAS FOUNDED IN 1746 AS THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY.
LIKE VIRTUALLY ALL THE OTHER UNIVERSITIES IN AMERICA IN THE
FIRST COUPLE OF CENTURIES, PRINCETON WAS ALSO FOUNDED BY
MINISTERS, SPECIFICALLY PRESBYTERIAN ELDERS.
THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON WAS REV. JONATHAN DICKINSON.
"CURSED BE ALL THAT LEARNING THAT IS
CONTRARY TO THE CROSS OF CHRIST."
-REV. JONATHAN DICKINSON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON
THE MOTTO OF PRINCETON WAS
“UNDER GOD’S POWER, SHE FLOURISHES.”
THE GREAT PREACHER JONATHON EDWARDS WAS A
PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNTIL HIS UNTIMELY DEATH
AFTER RECEIVING A SMALL BOX INOCULATION IN 1758.
WHEN HE WAS ELECTED TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, HE TOOK A SMALLPOX VACCINE
BEFORE THE STUDENTS GOT IT, BECAUSE
HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WORKED RIGHT, AND IT KILLED HIM.
AND HIS BELOVED WIFE ENDED UP DYING
A YEAR LATER OF A BROKEN HEART.
I BELIEVE THEY HAD 12 CHILDREN, TREMENDOUSLY GREAT LEGACY, A
GREAT FAMILY, BUT THE INFLUENCE ON AMERICA IS NEXT TO NONE.
A DECADE LATER, REV. JOHN WITHERSPOON
BECAME THE SCHOOL’S PRESIDENT.
JOHN WITHERSPOON, WHO WAS CALLED TO THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY,
WHAT EVENTUALLY BECAME PRINCETON, AS PRESIDENT IN
THE 1700S WAS A PRESBYTERIAN PASTOR FROM PAISLEY,
WHICH IS A TOWN OUTSIDE GLASGOW IN SCOTLAND,
AND HAD IMBIBED COVENANTER THINKING ABOUT
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY VERY DEEPLY.
HE TAUGHT POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, MORAL PHILOSOPHY AT
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY TO 19 PEOPLE WHO BECAME MEMBERS OF
THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS OR THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
PRINCETON PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART AT THE TIME OF
INDEPENDENCE, PRIMARILY BECAUSE ITS PRESIDENT AT THE TIME,
REV. JOHN WITHERSPOON, TRAINED SO MANY OF THE MEN WHO SERVED
IN THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, SUCH AS JAMES MADISON,
A KEY ARCHITECT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
JOHN WITHERSPOON WAS A PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND
THE PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATED
JAMES MADISON IN THESE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL TRUTH
THAT OUR CIVIL SOCIETY IS FOUNDED UPON.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CIVIL
SOCIETY OPERATES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF OUR LIVES
AND PROTECTS OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS,
WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR FOUNDERS RECOGNIZED
THAT WE HAVE TO SEPARATE THOSE POWERS FROM GOVERNMENT
IN ORDER TO DO GOOD AND RESTRAIN EVIL IN SOCIETY.
REV. JOHN WITHERSPOON HIMSELF DIRECTLY SERVED
IN THE 1776 CONTINENTAL CONGRESS THE
CONGRESS THAT DECLARED INDEPENDENCE FROM ENGLAND.
ON MAY 17TH, 1776, THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CALLED FOR
A NATIONAL DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER FOR THE COLONIES
THAT WERE BEING UNJUSTLY OPPRESSED BY MOTHER ENGLAND.
JOHN WITHERSPOON WAS CALLED UPON TO
PREACH THE SERMON FOR THAT DAY.
“HE IS THE BEST FRIEND TO AMERICAN LIBERTY, WHO IS MOST
SINCERE AND ACTIVE IN PROMOTING TRUE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION, AND
WHO SETS HIMSELF WITH THE GREATEST FIRMNESS TO BEAR DOWN
PROFANITY AND IMMORALITY OF EVERY KIND.” -JOHN WITHERSPOON
MANY PEOPLE WOULD SUGGEST THAT
THE OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1776,
THE TWO BEST KNOWN PATRIOTS IN THE THIRTEEN COLONIES WERE,
OBVIOUSLY, GEORGE WASHINGTON: AND THE
SECOND ONE WOULD’VE BEEN WITHERSPOON, BECAUSE OF HIS HUGE
INFLUENCE ON PEOPLE THROUGH ALL THE COLONIES BECAUSE OF WHAT
HE’D WRITTEN AND SOME OF THE THINGS HE’D SAID.
WITHERSPOON WAS ONE OF THOSE
56 MEN WHO HAD SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
THAT MADE THEM SPECIFIC TARGETS OF THE BRITISH, WHO SOUGHT OUT
THESE MEN AND LOOTED THEIR FARMS AND HOUSES.
IN THE CASE OF WITHERSPOON, THE BRITISH BURNED DOWN HIS
BELOVED LIBRARY---THAT IS, THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON.
FIRE BURNING
FOR CENTURIES, PRINCETON CONTINUED TO MAKE ITS
CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICA---IN PRODUCING GREAT THEOLOGIANS,
LIKE CHARLES HODGE AND A. A. HODGES AND B. B. WARFIELD OR IN
PRODUCING PRESIDENTS, LIKE JAMES MADISON AND WOODROW WILSON.
EVEN ALBERT EINSTEIN SPENT SOME TIME AT
THE PRESTIGIOUS IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL.
PRINCETON WAS A PRODUCT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN ELDERS WHO
FOUNDED IT AND WAS FAITHFUL TO THE GOSPEL,
UNTIL THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.
THE SPIRITUAL ORGINS OF OTHER MAJOR COLLEGES
AND UNIVERSITIES IS WELL-DOCUMENTED.
IN NEW YORK CITY, THERE WAS KING'S COLLEGE,
WHICH OPENED IN 1754.
TODAY, STILL IN NEW YORK CITY,
KING'S COLLEGE IS KNOWN AS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
DARTMOUTH WAS ORIGINALLY FOUNDED FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRAINING
MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL AND MISSIONARIES TO THE INDIANS.
BROWN UNIVERSITY IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, WAS FOUNDED
IN 1764 BY BAPTISTS, SUCH AS ITS EARLIEST KEY PROMOTER,
REV. MORGAN EDWARDS, THE MODERATOR
OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION.
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN PHILADELPHIA
IS ANOTHER IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL. IT TOO HAD SPIRITUAL ORIGINS,
BUT NOT TIED TO ANY ONE DENOMINATION.
2 OF ITS KEY FOUNDERS WERE BEN FRANKLIN AND REV. GEORGE
WHITEFIELD, THE GREAT PREACHER OF THE FIRST GREAT AWAKENING.
THROUGH THESE VARIOUS SCHOOLS, VIRTUALLY
ALL THE FOUNDING FATHERS RECEIVED A CLASSIC EDUCATION
IN THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
AS ONE SCHOLAR, DR. DONALD S. LUTZ,
WHO TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON NOTED, THE
FOUNDING FATHERS KNEW THE BIBLE “DOWN TO THEIR FINGERTIPS.”
ALL OF THE IVY LEAGUES SCHOOLS, EXCEPT FOR CORNELL, WAS FOUNDED
BY PASTORS OR CHURCH LEADERS OR CONGREGATIONS OF CHURCHES,
AND THAT SHOULD SAY A WHOLE LOT ABOUT WHAT THEIR PURPOSE WAS.
A CHURCH OR A PASTOR IS NOT GOING TO START AN INSTITUTION
WITH THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING ITSELF.
JUMPING AHEAD TO THE 2ND HALF OF THE 1800S, OTHER SCHOOLS OF
ALL LEVELS WERE ALSO HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THE SCRIPTURES.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON WAS A CHRISTIAN MAN,
AND WHEN HE FOUNDED TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE,
HE SHARED THOSE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES WITH THE STUDENTS.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, BE BELIEVED IN THE BROOM,
THE BIBLE, AND THE BOOK, MEANING,
EDUCATION, CHORES, AND THE WORD OF GOD.
FEW PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF THE SCENES CAN FORM
ANY EXACT IDEA OF THE INTENSE DESIRE WHICH THE PEOPLE OF MY
RACE SHOWED FOR AN EDUCATION...IT WAS A WHOLE RACE
TRYING TO GO TO SCHOOL.
FEW WERE TOO YOUNG, AND NONE TOO OLD,
TO MAKE THE ATTEMPT TO LEARN.
AS FAST AS ANY KIND OF TEACHERS COULD BE SECURED, NOT ONLY WERE
DAY SCHOOLS FILLED, BUT NIGHT SCHOOLS AS WELL.
THE GREAT AMBITION OF THE OLDER PEOPLE WAS TO TRY TO LEARN
TO READ THE BIBLE BEFORE THEY DIED.
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
CHURCH BELLS
IN 1789, CATHOLICS FOUNDED GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
IN WHAT IS NOW WASHINGTON, DC AND IN 1842,
THEY FOUNDED NOTRE DAME IN SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.
MEANWHILE, DURING THE 1800S, WHEN MILLIONS OF CATHOLIC
IMMIGRANTS FIRST CAME TO AMERICA, THEY FOUNDED MANY
SCHOOLS AT ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION---IN PARTICULAR
BECAUSE OF ANTI-CATHOLIC SENTIMENT THEY EXPERIENCED.
CERTAINLY, THE ANTI-CATHOLICISM THAT HAPPENED IN THIS COUNTRY
EARLY ON MADE PEOPLE VERY, VERY NERVOUS AND THAT IS
WHY EVEN CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES BEGAN TO ISOLATE THEMSELVES
FROM THE REST OF THE POPULATION.
AND I THINK SLOWLY WE BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT THAT
THAT WASN’T THE WAY TO GO, BUT IT WAS ABOUT COOPERATION
THAT THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT THEN WAS TO
ALLOW RELIGIOUS TOLERATION FOR ALL PEOPLE.
TO THIS DAY MANY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN AMERICA’S INNER
CITIES ARE A LIFELINE TO STUDENTS TO GIVE THEM A FUTURE,
WHEREAS THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE MORE LIKE A WAR ZONE.
SIRENS
EDUCATION WAS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
TO AMERICA'S SETTLERS AND FOUNDING FATHERS.
“PROMOTE AS AN OBJECT OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE INSTITUTIONS
FOR THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE.” -GEORGE WASHINGTON
AND RELIGION---WHICH IN THOSE DAYS USUALLY MEANT
CHRISTIANITY WAS NOT TO BE IGNORED IN THE SCHOOLS.
“THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE HATH A
NATURAL TENDENCY TO CORRECT THE MORALS OF MEN, RESTRAIN THEIR
VICES, AND PRESERVE THE PEACE OF SOCIETY." -PATRICK HENRY
“IN VAIN ARE SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES,
AND UNIVERSITIES INSTITUTED, IF
LOOSE PRINCIPLES AND LICENTIOUS HABITS ARE IMPRESSED UPON
CHILDREN IN THEIR EARLIEST YEARS." -JOHN ADAMS
I THINK THE FOUNDERS OF OUR COUNTRY INTENDED GOD TO BE ...
IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, IN OUR PUBLIC SQUARE, CITY HALL, YES,
I DEFINITELY THINK THAT GOD IS A PART OF EVERYTHING WE DO.
HE’S INTERWOVEN INTO THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY.
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IN THE FIRST 300 OR SO YEARS OF AMERICAN HISTORY,
LOVE OF THE BIBLE LED TO WIDESPREAD LITERACY.
AND WIDESPREAD LITERACY LED TO LOVE OF LIBERTY.
THE ANTECEDENTS FOR AMERICA’S ROOTS, THE THINKING THAT WENT
INTO THE FOUNDING DOCUMENTS AS ANALYZED BY HISTORIANS
INDICATE THAT THE THREE PREDOMINATELY QUOTED AUTHORS
WERE MONTESQUIEU, BLACKSTONE, AND LOCKE, IN THAT ORDER.
THAT SUGGESTS TO ME AND, I THINK, OTHER THINKERS THAT
THIS IS THE VERY CLEAR BIBLICAL UNDERPINNING OF AMERICA.
THEIR WRITINGS, THE CHECKS AND BALANCES THAT
MONTESQUIEU WROTE ABOUT HAD TO DO WITH THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN.
IT WASN’T A CONFIDENCE IN MAN, IT WAS THE NOTION THAT
POWER CORRUPTS, AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY.
THE BIBLE IS OVERWHELMINGLY THE MAJORITY SOURCE OF QUOTATIONS
BY NOT JUST THE PRIMARY FOUNDING FATHERS, THE SORTS OF PEOPLE
WE THINK OF LIKE WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON AND FRANKLIN
AND MADISON, AND SO ON.
BUT OF ALL OF THE VARIOUS PAMPHLET WRITERS,
THE TRACTARIANS, LEADING UP TO THE TO THE REVOLUTION.
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY BY ITSELF IS QUOTED MORE TIMES
THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE, INCLUDING MONTESQUIEU AND LOCKE.
AND SO, THOSE WHO THINK THAT THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS REALLY BASED
THEIR THOUGHT ON THE ENLIGHTENMENT, PARTICULARLY
THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT, ARE IGNORING THE VAST
MAJORITY OF THE SOURCES OF THE QUOTES THAT THEY USED.
THEY WENT TO THE BIBLE FOR THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF
JUST GOVERNMENT, FOR THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF JUSTICE ITSELF,
AND FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE KIND OF PEOPLE
WHO OUGHT TO BE ENTRUSTED WITH PUBLIC OFFICE.
WERE IF NOT FOR THE BIBLE,
THERE WOULD BE NO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE BIBLE, THERE WOULD BE NO CONSTITUTION
TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
“...THE DIVINE BOOK, ABOVE ALL OTHERS, FAVORS THAT EQUALITY
AMONG MANKIND, THAT RESPECT FOR JUST LAWS,
AND ALL THOSE SOBER AND FRUGAL VIRTUES
WHICH CONSTITUTE THE SOUL OF REPUBLICANISM.” -BENJAMIN RUSH
BUT ALREADY, BY AROUND 1800,
FOUNDING FATHER DR. BENJAMIN RUSH COULD SEE THAT A DAY COULD
COME WHEN AND IF SCHOOLS COULD IGNORE TEACHING THE BIBLE.
WHAT IF SUCH A DAY CAME? ASKED RUSH:
“I LAMENT THAT WE WASTE SO MUCH TIME AND MONEY IN
PUNISHING CRIMES AND TAKE SO LITTLE PAINS TO PREVENT THEM.”
-BENJAMIN RUSH
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH WAS A FOUNDING FATHER.
HE WAS A SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
AND HE WAS A PIONEER IN MEDICINE AND ALSO EDUCATION.
AND HE WARNED US AS A NATION, BY AROUND THE YEAR 1800,
THAT GOD SHOULD NEVER BE REMOVED FROM THE SCHOOLS,
AND IF WE DID SO, WE’D BE TRULY UNDERMINING MORALITY.
EARL WARREN WAS THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
AND HE WAS APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT.
HE WAS NEVER A JUDGE IN HIS WHOLE LIFE.
BUT HE BECAME THE HEAD OF THE MOST LIBERAL COURT THAT
WE’VE PROBABLY EVER KNOWN IN OUR LIFETIME ANYWAY.
AND DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME,
WE HAD THE BIBLE REMOVED FROM SCHOOL,
WE HAD PRAYER REMOVED FROM SCHOOL.
IN THE EARLY 1960S AND EARLIER
GOING BACK TO COLONIAL TIMES, SCHOOLS OPENED IN PRAYER.
IN 1962, THERE WAS A CASE CALLED, ENGEL V. VITALE,
THAT CAME OUT OF NEW YORK BOARD OF REGENTS
PRAYER THAT WAS A VERY TEPID PRAYER,
ASKED GOD’S BLESSING ON OURSELVES, OUR PARENTS,
OUR TEACHERS, AND OUR COUNTRY, AMEN,
AND THAT WAS STRUCK DOWN BY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT,
THEY NULLIFIED THAT PRAYER.
AND IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR DEVOTIONAL READING OF THE BIBLE
IN A CASE CALLED, ABINGTON V. SCHEMPP,
THAT WAS NULLIFIED AS WELL.
THE SUPREME COURT CHANGED AMERICA MORE WITH
THE 1962 DECISION THAT PRAYER IN SCHOOL WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
THAT WAS THE DECISION THAT
BEGAN THE END OF AMERICA AS WE KNEW IT.
IT’S AS UNIVERSAL A PRAYER AND NON-DENOMINATIONAL
AS YOU COULD HAVE.
AND AS I OFTEN POINT OUT, WITHIN ONE GENERATION, KIDS WENT
FROM BLESSING THEIR TEACHERS TO CURSING THEIR TEACHERS.
A SHOCKING EXAMPLE OF WHERE THE SUPREME COURT DECIDES WHEN
RELIGION IS OKAY AND WHEN IT’S NOT OKAY IS THE 1980 CASE.
IT’S CALLED STONE V. GRAHAM,
BUT IT WAS A TEN COMMANDMENTS’ CASE.
THIS DECISION WAS MADE IN THE HIGH COURT BUILDING WHERE
DEPICTIONS OF MOSES AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CAN BE SEEN ON THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE.
THE COURT, AND I’M PARAPHRASING HERE, BUT THE COURT SAID
ESSENTIALLY IF THE CHILDREN ARE EXPOSED TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY READ THEM AND ADOPT THEM AND FOLLOW THEM.
NOW, SHOCKINGLY, WE LIVE IN A DAY WHERE UNFORTUNATELY
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND OTHER THINGS DOMINATE OUR NEWS
AT LEVELS THAT ARE HEARTBREAKING.
AND I THINK MANY AMERICAN CITIZENS WOULD DISAGREE WITH THE
SUPREME COURT AND SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE
SOME PRINCIPLES AND SOME VALUES, WHERE THE YOUNG PEOPLE
OF OUR NATION WOULD BE TAUGHT THAT THERE
IS A RIGHT, THERE IS A WRONG, THAT THOU SHALT NOT KILL.
POLICE SIRENS
AMERICA’S FOUNDERS DID NOT INTEND FOR
THIS NATION TO BE A SECULAR ONE.
IN FACT, THE WORD, SECULARISM, DID NOT EXIST UNTIL 1851,
WHEN GEORGE JACOB HOLYOKE COINED THE WORD TO TAKE THE
PLACE OF ATHEIST, INFIDEL, OR SKEPTIC IN A MANNER
THAT WAS NOT AS UNAPPEALING AS THOSE WORDS.
THE FOUNDERS WOULD SAY, LOOK, IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT LIBERTY,
YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT FREEDOM, YOU HAVE TO TALK ABOUT VIRTUE.
YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO TALK
ABOUT VIRTUE, HONOR, THOSE THINGS THAT
THEY KNEW WERE INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED WITH LIBERTY.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE CEASED TO TEACH REALLY FOR
PROBABLY ABOUT 50 YEARS, SINCE I’VE BEEN IN SCHOOL.
WE DON’T TEACH THIS ANYMORE.
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THAT WE FACE IS THAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD.
SECULAR HUMANISM HAS TAKEN OVER AND
WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS REPENT.
OUR FOUNDERS WERE NOT ATHEISTS.
THEY PLEDGED THEIR LIVES, THEIR FORTUNE, THEIR SACRED HONOR
ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES, BUT ALSO, ON BEHALF OF POSTERITY.
THAT’S US AND OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND
WE HOLD THE TRUTHS OF THE CONSTITUTION
AND THE SACRED GUARANTEES THAT ARE OURS AS AMERICANS.
WE HOLD THEM NOT AS OWNERS, BUT IN TRUST.
WE ARE TRUSTEES FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.
CRITICS NOTE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A CONCERTED EFFORT
TO TOTALLY SECULARIZE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
FOR EXAMPLE, JOHN DUNPHY, WRITING IN THE
HUMANIST MAGAZINE, SAID SOME TIME AGO:
“THE CLASSROOM MUST AND WILL BECOME AN ARENA OF CONFLICT
BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW-THE ROTTING CORPSE OF CHRISTIANITY,
TOGETHER WITH ALL ITS ADJACENT EVILS AND MISERY,
AND THE NEW FAITH OF HUMANISM, RESPLENDENT IN ITS
PROMISE OF A WORLD IN WHICH THE NEVER-REALIZED CHRISTIAN
IDEAL OF ‘LOVE THY NEIGHBOR’ WILL BE FINALLY ACHIEVED.”
TODAY, GOD HAS BEEN EXCISED OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS,
OUT OF SAFE SPACES, OUT OF SO MANY DIFFERENT AREAS OF
GOVERNMENT THAT WE HAVE BOUGHT INTO THIS
NOTION OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
THAT WAS NEVER WHAT THE FOUNDERS INTENDED.
IF WE LOOK AT THE SPECIFIC POWERS THAT
ARE GIVEN TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
WE CAN SEE THAT EDUCATION ISN’T EVEN AMONG THEM.
AND SO, WHEN WE LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE A
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PRESUME THAT WE
CAN COMPEL OUR CHILDREN TO GO AND RECEIVE A SECULAR EDUCATION
THAT SPECIFICALLY BANISHES GOD IS PRECISELY WHAT
THE FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD HAVE SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED.
BECAUSE EFFECTIVELY WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING
IS ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL RELIGION,
BUT IT’S ONE OF SECULAR HUMANISM AND ATHEISM.
IF YOU TAKE AWAY RELIGION, YOU TAKE AWAY MORALITY.
IF YOU DESTROY RELIGION, YOU DESTROY MORALITY.
IF YOU DESTROY MORALITY, YOU DESTROY SOCIETY.
AND THEY HAD A PROFOUND LINK
BETWEEN FAITH AND VIRTUE AND SOCIETY.
I DEFINITELY THAT GOD SHOULD BE A PART OF EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
MATTER OF FACT, YOU KNOW IN MY PERSONAL LIFE AND
IN THE LIVES OF THOSE I, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE FAMILIES
THAT I KNOW WHO HOMESCHOOL, GOD’S IN OUR CURRICULUM.
YOU KNOW, THERE’S AN OLD SAYING THAT SAYS YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.
AND AS WE GIVE OUR CHILDREN THE EDUCATION THAT THEY DESERVE,
WE HAVE TO BE VERY, VERY CONSCIENTIOUS
OF WHAT WE ARE SHARING WITH THEM VIA CURRICULA.
SO, GOD IS INTERWOVEN IN ALL OF OUR CURRICULUM,
SO THAT OUR CHILDREN WILL HAVE A CONSCIENTIOUSNESS,
A SENSE OF GOD.
WHEN I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL DURING THE SIXTIES,
I CAN STILL SEE MYSELF AS THIS LITTLE GIRL,
STANDING UP, SAYING A MORNING PRAYER.
AND OUR PRINCIPAL OR THE GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
WOULD COME OVER THE SPEAKER, AND THEY WOULD SAY
STAND FOR THE MORNING PRAYER.
THAT KIND OF SET THE TONE FOR THE DAY.
AMERICA DEEPLY NEEDS A RESTORATION.
WHAT LINCOLN DID WAS ADDRESS THE EVILS, SLAVERY, IN THE LIGHT OF
WHAT HE CALLED THE BETTER ANGELS OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER.
AND HE CONSTANTLY, TAKE HIS SPEECHES IN PHILADELPHIA AND SO
ON, HE CONSTANTLY APPEALED TO THE DECLARATION.
AND THEN, HE CALLED FOR A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM.
WELL, WHAT WE NEED TODAY IS A NEW, NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM, WE
NEED A LEADER WHO WILL ADDRESS THE PRESENT CRISIS IN THE LIGHT
OF THE BETTER ANGELS OF THE AMERICAN NATURE.
AMERICA IS A NATION BY INTENTION AND BY IDEAS, AND UNLESS YOU SEE
A RESTORATION OF THOSE IDEAS, IT’S FINISHED.
ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
ALL CREATED BY A CREATOR WHO SAW US AS THE ONE FAMILY.
AMERICA CONSTANTLY NEEDS TO BE
REFRESHED, REMEMBERED, AND REVIVED.
AMERICA CERTAINLY NEEDS A GREAT TRANSFORMATION, AND WE HAVE
HAD THOSE TRANSFORMATIONS IN AMERICA.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
IN ALL THIS, THE SETTLERS AND FOUNDERS OF AMERICA KNEW THAT
FOR THE REPUBLIC TO LAST, EDUCATION BASED ON A BIBLICAL
FRAMEWORK WAS AT THE HEART OF THEIR EXPERIMENT.
SO, NOT ONLY WAS ANCIENT ISRAEL DEPENDENT ON A LITERATE
POPULACE, THE PURITANS AND THE PILGRIMS, WITHIN JUST
A FEW YEARS OF THEM FOUNDING AMERICA, THEY FOUNDED HARVARD.
GOING FORWARD, THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CONFLICT OF
VISIONS FOR WHAT SCHOOLS TEACH.
MANY PARENTS WANT SCHOOL CHOICE, SINCE THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING.
ALSO, CRITICS ARGUE THAT TODAY’S POLITICAL CORRECTNESS HAS
CREATED WHAT THE LATE CATHOLIC SCHOLAR RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS
CALLED, “THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE,” MEANING
THAT GOD AND FAITH HAVE NO PLACE IN PUBLIC
PLACES IN AMERICA, INCLUDING IN OUR SCHOOLS.
THERE IS SIMPLY NO QUESTION THAT THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE IN WHICH
WE SOMETIMES LIVE TODAY WAS NOT THE VISION OF THE FOUNDERS
AND WOULD INEVITABLY AND WILL INEVITABLY LEAD TO A BREAKDOWN,
NOT JUST IN VIRTUE AND MORALITY,
BUT IN LIBERTY AND SELF-GOVERNMENT.
“IF A NATION EXPECTS TO BE IGNORANT & FREE, IN A STATE OF
CIVILIZATION, IT EXPECTS WHAT NEVER WAS & NEVER WILL BE.
WHERE THE PRESS IS FREE AND EVERY MAN ABLE TO READ,
ALL IS SAFE.” -THOMAS JEFFERSON
THIS HAS BEEN A PRODUCTION OF CORAL RIDGE MINISTRIES.