Puritan Dilemma

2020-08-25T15:23:00.001-05:00

Click the link above to head over to Storytime with Grandpapa! This is a new place that I started to be a blessing to my Grandchildren during the Pandemic of 2020. Since I couldn't see them, I thought, "Hey, I can still connect with them doing the very things we enjoyed before the restrictions: reading, walking around the farm and just visiting"

So, here it is: Story time with Grandpapa

A change of seasons: Elder Care

2014-07-09T16:17:00.001-05:00

What is elder care?

There comes a point in every persons life that they may begin to depend on others a bit more for the physical, or even mental aspects of daily living. Whether it be through an accident, normal wear and tear of the body and mind, or age related matters, our human frames become frail.

All of this of course is the result of sin.

From the time of the fall, man has been on a downward spiral. The hope of course is the fact that the Son has crushed the head of the serpent. For that we rejoice. But it has not put the breaks on death in the physical sense.

The charlatans of the world who tout mystical healing and immense wealth by trusting in God are all aging just like the rest of us. Their hearing is becoming impaired, their vision is waning, and their gait will slow and eventual stop.

Our hope is not in this world. In fact, it is not our home. But while we are here, as aliens in a foreign world, we are to shine brightly, so that the world may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Part of that is seen in caring for the aged.

It starts at home.

If we have parents who need care, let us be proactive and work diligently to aid them at what ever level they will allow us. Some parents are, naturally, resistant to change, or resistant to an open dependency on their children. This will be more difficult, and it may be that only the passing of time will eventually allow a child to care for the parent, when they are finally unable to care for themselves.

Patience is critical and how one eases into elder care will determine the environment following the integration of a parent into the home.

Take into account things that bring comfort to your parents and insure that they are available after the move. Keep an open mind surrounding the placement of decorations, furniture and personal items. What seems perfectly logical to you may be uncomfortable or unsuitable to your parent.

Are there pets to consider? What about hobbies or guests they may have? These are matters that must be decided well in advance to avoid sharp disagreements in the future.

How about siblings? Are they all in agreement with the move? There can be great stress at family reunions if the move is not done in an amiable way.

Ultimately it is the parents choice, if they are able to make the choice with a clear mind. Don't press, but pray. Ask the Lord to give peace and wisdom to your decisions and weigh your words in the crucible of the Scripture, speaking with great respect to your parents so that honor is truly being shown.

Fantastic Movie: Note, I don't endorse many movies!

2014-01-22T16:28:00.003-06:00

http://crownrights.org/babies/

Check out this movie, and stand the risk of having your world turned upside down.
At least that was the effect on me.
Incredible.

A covenant of Works, or Grace or a mixture?

2013-08-06T10:50:00.000-05:00

The great confessions of old ask questions that cause us to consider things we may have missed at some point in our discussions of theology. The one above is particularly helpful concerning grace and works. Remember, the writings use an "f" for an "s".

Spurgeon on Persecution

2013-07-29T08:04:00.001-05:00

"If your persecution were to cease, it might be the worst thing that could happen to you."

I knew right well a young man, in a good station in life, a believer, apparently a very earnest believer, and the most indefatigable worker I ever met. He was constantly opposed at home on account of his religion, yet he never yielded an inch, but kept on earnestly working for Christ.

The opposition is all gone, and he has a house of his own; but I do not see any earnestness in him now, it disappeared as soon as the persecution ceased.

Some of us are very much like those gas bags that we have when we are exhibiting dissolving views; we put heavy weights on them to press out the gas so that we many have a more brilliant light. I do believe that most of our troubles at home and abroad are just like the weights on the oxygen bags.

I am not disposed to wish that every young Christian should have a smooth path, for I notice that the bravest believers are often those who have had the severest struggles to maintain their integrity. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”

If you have too much fine weather, you will be like some gardeners' plants that grow too fast; they never get much heart, they had too much sun at the first, they would have been all the better for a little early nipping. You know that celery is not really good till it has had a sharp frost on it, and there are some Christians who seem all the better for a little persecution or trial; it seems to pinch them back, and at the same time it sends a sweetness into the very heart of their religion.

If you ask me, “Do you like to hear of our being opposed?” I answer, —“No, I do not; but I would not take this burden off you if I could, for it is best that you should have at least a little of it to bear.”

To be truly saved, to be a Christian, to be on Christ’s side, to know that you have an everlasting Saviour, is worth a great many fools’ laughs, is it not? You can bear to let all the asses bray at once, and yet not be troubled if you know that you have Christ, and eternal life in Him.

My dear friends, I do pray that you may be led to weigh and estimate these things, and that you may be drawn by the Divine Spirit to say, “Jesus shall be mine, I will trust myself to Him whatever the consequences may be.”

Hijacked from Pyromaniacs! Check them out: http://teampyro.blogspot.com

Lighthearted Entertainment

2013-06-27T21:23:00.000-05:00

For many years, I often found myself finishing out the day too tired to really "think" about anything with any gravity. I would say my "brain was fried" after the day's events and just needed to "unwind" and "relax". So how did I do that?

TV.

Yes, I know, it sounds like I am about to talk about the evils of TV and how no self-respecting Christian, who has honestly evaluated it in light of God's word would ever subject himself to such vain imaginations. But I am not going to do that.

While the above paragraph is true, instead I just want to take a minute and talk about how I view video entertainment now, after careful consideration.

Have you ever said, "There are so many good books to read, and just not enough time?" I certainly have. I have at least a dozen books, with book markers in every one of them marking some place I had to stop because I either fell asleep, or ran out of time and couldn't finish the book.

Laying beside my recliner while I write this blog is a book by William Gurnall, another by Douglas Wilson, one by his wife, and another by Bunyan: all with book marks, and a promise to finish them soon. Oh, and here is a small booklet by J.C. Ryle (I have actually read it before, but am reviewing it again as I need all the Ryle I can get.)

We don't have time for reading, because reading requires us to be "engaged" and we are too exhausted at the end of the day to even grasp a good book, so we opt for something else.

When I watched many of the old classics, and well known "family safe" movies from hollywood, as well as Fox News, or Alton Brown on the Food network, I felt like I was making the "conservative choice" and was protecting all the various sensory gates such as my eyes and ears.

After taking a plumb line and checking all these shows by the word of God, I began to see them all very differently:
I was seeing unprotected women going out at night unchaperoned, busying themselves in the workforce competing with men, and more often than not, winning at work, and failing to be godly wives and mothers.

I was seeing inappropriate clothing, that I would never let my daughter or wife wear, but was perfectly accepting of what they had on in the show or on the news broadcast.
I was seeing families portrayed on film with zero generational vision, living for the "now", and doing it quiet nicely as I applauded their efforts to become more secular.
I saw men still acting like boys and refusing to accept their God given roles as husbands, fathers and business and church leaders.

I never saw the Bishop of a church sought out for counsel over any topic, I never saw Dad pray with the family or wife over any issue, I never saw repentance toward God for wrong doing and sinful activities, in fact, and please forgive me for slandering such an American Icon, but I saw Andy Griffith telling Opie to "not tell Aunt Bea" something because it would just be better if she didn't know. In other words, lie. It will all work out. And lo-and-behold...it did on the TV.

What happened to our "filter" system that would prevent us from watching something like I just described? How did we get to the point that this is considered "conservative" entertainment?

All one has to do is lay the "conservative" entrainment alongside the really "sleazy" entertainment, and the conservative entertainment looks really, really acceptable by comparison.

Again, we have not used the plumb line properly. Our foundation was wrong. Our standard was ignored. Thus if I use a crooked ruler to attempt to draw a strait line I will ultimately fail.

Until we start comparing our entertainment with an unchanging standard (God's Word) we will always make the conservative choice and still pollute our minds.

So now what? Do we trash our TV's? No, we renew our minds and control the TV instead of it controlling us. It is much like the circumstance that Luther faced when the town council was fretting over how to handle the drunkards in town. One man suggested that they simply "outlaw" any alcohol. Luther's response is classic and speaks to us today on the issue of TV: Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women? The sun, the moon, and the stars have been worshiped. Shall we then pluck them out of the sky?

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God Bless America??

2013-06-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

Jer 7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

We are living on borrowed time. I know, every time you hear that statement, it is one of those worn out phrases that we ignore for the most part. But this time, it is true.

My great concern is for the souls of my fellow men, and particularly starting with those in my immediate family, then moving to the church and then beyond.

Are there those within my family ranks who are in need of salvation? To be sure.

What about those who have identified themselves as believers, and joined a local assembly? Absolutely.

And then, those who are outside the church altogether, should we be concerned for their souls? Most assuredly.

Many individuals might believe that if they "treat their neighbors kindly, don't physically kill anyone, and don't steal, I might just make it into heaven. Surely haters, murderers and thieves won't make it!"

So if that were true, what would be the purpose of the multitudes of verses declaring that salvation is of the Lord, not of man.

Folks pass over the fact that in His love, God sent his only Son as the one way of salvation for the world: John 3 and John 14.

By ignoring the Scriptures, men will reach false conclusions about the exclusivity of Jesus.

In the text above, there were false prophets who were telling folks that since the Temple of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and since they were Jews, God would not judge them or allow nations to trample them underfoot. Very similar to our false notion that all we need to do is say, "God bless America" and all will be well.

The nations that forget God are the nations that are in trouble, regardless of what our national anthem, Pledge and coins say.

Yes, the Lord chose Jacob to be a holy nation in Exodus 19, but the covenant was clear: Failure to keep His covenant would bring exile! Deut. 28.

Having the Temple in their midst guaranteed them nothing if they were in rebellion, no more than a rabbits foot brings good luck. (Think about the luck of the rabbit for a minute, walking around on crutches!)

Do I pray that God would bless America? Certainly. But only as America conforms to the teachings of God's word and repents and believes the Gospel, can we have any hope.

May we take a 2 Chronicles 7:14 approach to our prayers for America and truly, then, and only then can we say, God bless America, not as a magic talisman, but as an honest statement of truth!

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Is it wrong to suggest that Mormonism is NOT Christian in their beliefs?

2013-06-13T16:25:00.000-05:00

For a long time now, several folks I know personally have protected certain Mormon friends that they have, and have defended them as being of a Christian Sect, that still believes in God and Jesus Christ, but have different orthopraxy.  

I am not bashing the Mormon's in this brief post, but wanting to say, simply, "They do not view the Evangelical Christian as "right" either."

Without apology, I am going to tell you, "they are wrong." At the risk of sounding harsh, Mormonism is a cult, without any legitimate claim on Christianity. It is at the very least a sour perversion of the true religion, and at the worst satanic.

Yes, that is strong, and yes that is the truth.  In the LDS (Mormon) scripture, The Pearl of Great Price, we find passages in which Joseph Smith recounts his alleged "first vision" of God and Jesus Christ, who are two separate being and therefore, according to Mormon teaching, two separate Gods.

(Just a note: They deny the Trinity) 

Smith's account gives us an early idea of what Mormons think about "other" Christians-a view never renounced by the Mormon Church: 

“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt.”

Evidently Smith believed that Christianity as existed at the time he had this vision was wrong. In fact, there were no groups out there who were right. It was not safe to join any of them.

 I am not sure there is really more to say about this, except this: Mormon's are outside of Christ, and are in need of Salvation. We must evangelize them with the same zeal we would any unbeliever. We must pray for them with the same fervor as we would any lost man or woman. May God be glorified in all things.

WORK, an ethic of the past

2013-06-05T09:34:00.002-05:00

Okay, WORK may not be considered an "ethic" by itself, but the philosophy, and particularly the moral philosophy of work is one that is on the decline.

John Cotton

According to Colonial New England’s leading expert on childrearing, Rev. John Cotton, a child should enjoy some “lawful recreation” until the age of seven. Then more serious pursuits should replace games and toys, and an occupation should be chosen by the age of twelve. In keeping with the Puritan ideals of duty and industry, on the Brainerd farm, laziness was considered a sin. Even little boys were expected to do their chores and show an obedient, helpful attitude in the home.

Ranelda Hunsicker, David Brainerd, (Bethany House Publishers: Minneapolis, MN, 1999), 14.

Can you imagine? A child at age 12 knowing what he was going to be doing for the rest of his days?

That is simply unheard of today, as many college graduates "need" a year or so to jaunt around Europe to decide what their real calling is before launching into a career.

Sorry, but I don't see it. In fact, we have lost the true meaning of vocation.

Someone asked me last week at what age should they start putting their son to real work. I don't know how to define real work for them. I know what it means to me, so I had to investigate further. Real work, and false work are genuine issues in today's society. There are those jobs that physically tire you, or mentally tire you and they are real work. There is tomfoolery, and you get tired doing that too, but it is not real work, it is false work.

A boy on the football field comes in tired, but he has not worked, he has played. (oh sure, you have worked a work, but what have you produced?) Scoring a TD is not putting food on your table unless you happen to be Joe Flacco. Last year there were 1696 Pro-footbal players in the United States compared to the total population of over 316 million...the odds of your little tyke becoming one of the less than 2000 is pretty slim. So, I would think "more stable work environment" if I were you. And besides, the Lord's day would be pretty much out the window for the football season anyway.

I remember being a lad (just a few years ago by the way, like 35 or so years ago!) and my Dad having me dig some holes for fruit trees. I thought it was going to be fun! Digging holes in the yard was previously forbidden, and now I get to do it several times! (Dad had an issue with his grass, and still does)

The fun stopped pretty quick after the first 20 min. The hole had to be dug a certain width, a certain depth, and no one mentioned chert. Yes CHERT! In the south, red clay is not the only thing that lies beneath the surface. Chert in the south is this mixture of clay and broken up pieces of limestone and flint rock, often times just inches under the surface but extending down a couple of feet, or miles it seemed in my case...believe me.

My hole digging episode was miserable, as it took me the better part of a week to dig 10 holes the size my dad wanted. After they were dug, I had the pleasure of being told, "Son, I am not planting those trees there, so fill the holes up."

No one has ever told me if it was a rue to keep me busy that week, or some form of sordid punishment, but I learned how to dig a proper hole, and to this day, I know how to use a shovel, which type of shovel I need for particular jobs, why my dad wore gloves when he worked, and why you see many road side workers "leaning" on their shovel. Now, I dig holes often on my own property and am thankful every time I do for my experiences years ago.

I never hated work, but I often times tried to figure out how to get done "quicker" and spent more time trying to invent a way to do it faster than I did actually doing the work. I could have been finished often times much sooner had I just "done the work" rather than scheming trying to figure out how to circumvent the time element in the work.

Scripture is replete with references concerning work, and a helpful place to start is in the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiasties, and then the Apostle Paul's view of work in his epistles.

Solomon instructed his son by telling him in Proverbs 18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

The new testament calls the "great waster" the Prodigal. In fact, that is what the name means. And we all know about the Prodigal son and his demise.

Solomon continues in Ecclesiasties by encouraging us to make sure we work while we have opportunity, and don't think tomorrow is when we will "make it big" but be faithful today to the task at hand, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Paul's take is cut and dry: For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

That is a bit different than our present social programs meted out from the government administration that has subjugated the churches functions: (however, honestly, the church abdicated their responsibility long ago.)

But we work, not because it is the curse from the garden, but rather it was established before the curse. Adam was given dominion over the creatures, he was to dress the garden, it was his work. Eve was given to him to complete him, come along side and aid him in doing his work.

When sin entered, the work became difficult as now part of dominion is pushing back the thorns and thistles, battling with sweat, blisters, fungus, disease, mold, bugs and yes, death.

So Paul echo's Solomon when he reminds us 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Let not work become an ethic of the past, but a present reality that glorifies God as he designed it for our good and His Glory.

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Amazing story of Bass Rock and the Covenanters of Scotland

2013-06-02T21:20:00.002-05:00

Bass Rock from the coast

Scotland's struggle from the tyranny of wicked men

After the castle was converted into a State Prison during the reigns of Charles ll and his brother James Vll, a number of Covenantors were imprisoned there at a time of tyranny and persecution. The Covenanters rebelled against Charles's obsession for a change from Presbyterianism to his Roman Catholic style religion. After a violent struggle against the crown the Covenantors were finally defeated at the Battle of Sheriffmuir when 1,800 of them were brought to Edinburgh to stand trail. A section of Greyfriars graveyard was used as their prison when hundreds were deported and over 130 executed. About forty were incarcerated in the dungeons of the Bass Rock at different dates, varying from a few months to upwards of six years.

Most of them men of culture and learning, of unimpeachable loyalty and charged with no offence but that of preaching the gospel and worshipping according to their own consciences. These included John Blackadder, minister at Tragueer in Dumfries. Blackadder died on the rock in 1687 and is buried in the Churchyard at Kirk Ports. Among the other Covenantors imprisoned on the Bass by the Duke of Rothesay, then Lord Chancellor were Alexander Peden, Thomas Hogg, James Fraser of Brea, Robert Traill and John McGilligen, all of them ministers. Sir Hugh Campbell of Cessnock, and his son Sir George Campbell; Robert Bennett of Chesters and Alexander Gordon of Earlston.

The barbarity of life in the State Prison was beyond credibility. The prisoners unable to support themselves were kept on a diet of dried salt fish and only the guards had barrelled fresh water. The prisoners depended solely upon rock puddles for water so putrid that for a little more palatability they sucked it through porridge oats. In bad weather they starved until calmer seas allowed boats to land provisions and at the whim of the governor, a hated prisoner was confined in the lowest dungeon which was deathly cold from continuous sea spray. Those who did not perish in its vile and stinking cells suffered and died later from lung infections, fevers or rheumatic type ailments as freed men.

One who did survive was the minister Gilbert Rule whose imprisonment was brought to an end by the Revolution of 1688 and later was appointed Principal of the University of Edinburgh. Whitekirk Hill overlooking the Bass Rock was the site of a Covenantors Meeting on Sunday 5th May 1678 when a crowd of over one thousand assembled for the worship of God. The governor of the Bass, Charles Maitland, with sixty soldiers from the garrison, marched to attack and disperse them. As the soldiers approached, James Learmont a chapman or travelling merchant from Haddington exhorted the people to stand firm and defend themselves if attacked. The soldiers ordered the crowd to dismiss in the King's name; where upon they replied that 'they honoured the King, but were resolved to hear the word of God when preached to them.' A scuffle ensued and the soldiers were surrounded and disarmed, one of them being shot dead. Five of the Covenantors were apprehended and tried before the Privy Council in Edinburgh on 11th September 1678. James Learmont was found guilty and executed in the Grassmarket on 27th September 1678. He was guilty of nothing but worshipping the God of his fathers according to his conscience and his treatment at the hands of the arbitrary tyrants who then oppressed the country, outraged the population.

Small cottages today on Bass Rock.

In 1688, most of the Covenantors were released when James VII was relieved of his Crown and William of Orange was proclaimed King. The majority of the country continued to be faithful to James until the Battle of Killiecrankie, after which the only Jacobite stronghold was on the Bass Rock. Where a handful of Jacobites held out for two years under the pro-stuart Governor Charles Maitland until they were starved into submission in 1690. The following year it was the Jacobites again who turned the tables on their captors when the new Governor, Fletcher of Saltoun was absent, by locking out the guards while they were unloading coal at the jetty. The guards had to be taken off by boat; the Jacobites - just four of them initially - managed to hold out for four years.

During this period various attempts were made by the Government of King William to retake the fortress, but in vain. Friends in France and in Scotland kept them supplied with food, and as they had plenty of ammunition, they defied all comers. It had been found that a man called Trotter was secretly supplying them with provisions. To terrorise them, preparations were made for hanging Trotter on the shore opposite the island. The defenders, however would not stand this, and a few well aimed cannon balls promptly dispersed the would-be executioners, and Trotter had to be hanged elsewhere out of sight. In 1694, William dispatched two warships, aided by smaller vessels to cut off all supplies to the rock and the little garrison capitulated in April. They had saved some bottles of the best French wine and these, along with some fine biscuits, led the commissioners to believe that they had provisions for years to come. Thus the rebels - eventually 16 in all - were able to negotiate good terms and were finally granted an amnesty.

Brand New Beekeeping Basics DVD

2013-05-22T06:16:00.001-05:00

Here is our latest release, May 2013. This DVD is chocked full of God honoring information on the Bee. Instead of wading through the evolutionary junk in most DVD's such as this, we go to the heart of the matter: God created the bee, and man is expected to take dominion over it.

I don't suppose I will get an academy award for this DVD, but we are hoping it helps folks shed their fear and wrong ideas about the honey bee, and that God might be glorified in the process.

The following is taken from the back of the DVD.

Have you ever tasted the pure sweetness of locally produced honey, right from the hive? Have you ever wished you could produce your own? Perhaps you are eager to keep honey bees, but are unsure of where to begin...or maybe you are simply interested in learning more about this incredible insect. In either case, Beekeeping Basics will enlighten your understanding of how to keep bees and harvest their honey safely and efficiently. Whether you are new to beekeeping or a veteran of many seasons, we welcome you to join us on this adventure!

Topics covered: The History of the honey bee and its domestication, How to obtain bee equipment, The process of honey extraction from the comb, Pest management and hive care, Medicinal use of honey.

Produced by Garrett Stowe, Hosted by Daniel Michael, with Anna Michael and Edwin Moore, Cover design by Julia Stowe

DVD Running Time 52min.

Get your copy today by ordering from www.parsonsmanor.com Then go to the general store tab!

Perfection in Christ Alone

2013-05-22T06:09:00.002-05:00

2 Samuel 22:31: “As for God, his way is perfect”

John 14:6: “I am the Way.”

When God created all things, he said it was "good". Everything, was made exactly how he wanted it. From the giant Elephant to this tiny Chameleon. Nothing was out of place, it was in a word, Perfect.

Then sin entered into the world, and things changed. We became far from perfect. Now, bent on sinning, we fought against the very thing that could be our help. We rebelled against God in every way imaginable. But in God's grace, he gave us his perfect Son, Jesus.

Christ is perfect (Hebrews 5:9). As a result of this perfection, His work is also perfect (Hebrews 10:14). As, from the cross, He uttered that famous word, “Finished” (John 19:30), He declared that His redemptive work for us had been perfectly accomplished.

What a joy to know that Christ’s redemptive work is finished and complete. There is nothing in it that should be out of it, and nothing out of it that should be in it.

Since Jesus is the perfect One (1 Peter 1:18-19), everything that He touches is coloured with His perfection. He is the embodiment of ‘Sinless Perfection‘. By faith, we now see Him standing between us and the Father. By faith, we see ourselves now clothed in Christ’s perfection. We no longer need to contrive ways and means by which to earn the Father’s approval. Why scheme to obtain that which we already have?

Christ and His gospel are perfect! When we look at Jesus, we see perfect love, perfect obedience, perfect faith, perfect worship, perfect prayer, perfect grace, perfect truth and perfect righteousness.

We see that this perfect Christ has forged a perfect gospel on the anvil of His own obedience.

Our Christian experience is not perfect, it is developing and improving. Our Christian experience, therefore, cannot be considered as being the gospel. If we preach our experience of Christ and about how we are growing in grace, we are not preaching the gospel. We are not preaching the perfect work of God in Christ. We are not preaching that which is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). If we, on the other hand, preach Christ’s experience for us on our behalf, we are building on solid gospel ground.

God, in His perfection, has demanded a perfect righteousness from us. As William Cunningham said,

“"The righteousness of God is that righteousness which God’s righteousness requires him to require."

But how can we attain to such a thing? Ah! How indeed? The answer is that Christ Himself has provided this perfect, required righteousness for us. What the Father has demanded, He has provided in His Son. Although we hate sin, we, as gospel driven believers, will not fall for the lie that tells us that we will, in this life, attain to perfection within ourselves. Countless numbers have already shipwrecked themselves on that perilous error. Why join them?

The only Christian perfection that brings us to heaven is Christ’s. Yet there are those who insist that they have reached such a deep level of Christian experience that they, within themselves, are now sinlessly perfect. One such man once came to the preacher, John Berridge, and began boasting about his perfectionism. The normally gracious minister treated him very rudely. The perfectionist then reacted and began to utter all manner of insulting words directed at the good preacher. Berridge said to him, “That’s not a great perfection you have, for I was able to spoil it in just a few minutes.”

You will always find those so-called “perfection” people far from perfect. They can’t be trusted for, ‘he that says he has no sin is a liar, and the truth of God is not in him’ (1 John 1:10). However, Christ can be trusted. He is sinlessly perfect, and we can completely rest in His perfections before the Father.

To summarise; perfection is not in us but rather, perfection is in the person of Jesus Christ, alone! He is the Perfect One. Dear believer, think of this, the perfect purity of Christ’s sinless life is yours! The perfect obedience of Christ is yours, the perfect goodness of Christ is yours, the perfect holiness of Christ is yours. Everything that Christ has is yours. All that you need is in Him.

Paper Pastors and Porn...a reprint...

2013-05-17T12:14:00.002-05:00

Dan Phillips from Pyromaniacs does it again! This is a worthy read, and a great help to all those who find their Pastor, well, Human. So read it with a discerning mind and feel free to respond. I am interested in your thoughts!

Decades ago, I read a disturbingly candid essay by a pastor about his struggles with pornography. It was in Leadership magazine. Years later, two of his realizations still stand out to me.

The author came to see (as I recall) that he was attracted to these images because they were unreal. The women in the pictures never had bad days, were never crabby and demanding, never disrespectful and demeaning. No mood swings. They always suited his mood, his needs, his wants. They were unreal.

He came to see that he had no actual relationship with these women whatever. If (he named a female celebrity) had sat down next to him in an airplane, she wouldn't know him from Adam. Whatever may have happened in his sinful fantasies, the two of them had no relationship in the real world.

Of course, this is why so many women resent actresses and models. It isn't catty pettiness or smallness. It is that they know how visually-tempted men can be, and they know that they can't compete with a fantasy — if their man is fool enough to chase one.

And they're right, in a way. They can't compete with these women. Because these women don't exist in the real world! Theymay not even look like their pictures! Thanks to computer wizardry, the pictures we see may actually bear only the slightest resemblance to the actual women.

Nobody can compete with a fantasy.

And this post is not about pornography, men, women, nor marriage.

It is about people with paper pastors.

Now, some professed Christians sin outright, by never physically attending an actual, in-person church. We've talked about that, and they aren't our focus.

But others do attend a church — physically. They come in, they sit down. They sing, they may give financially. They may look at you, Pastor, as you preach.

But you know their heart belongs to another.

Their real pastor isn't you. It's Dave Hunt. Or it's John Piper. Or it's John MacArthur, or Ligon Duncan, or Mark Dever, or David Cloud, or Joel Osteen. Or it's Charles Spurgeon, or D. M. Lloyd-Jones, or J. C. Ryle. Or Calvin, or Luther, or Bahnsen, or de Mar, or R. B. Thieme (Jr.), or J. Vernon McGee.

And they're such better pastors than you are! You know they are!

Why?

Well, paper pastors are never in a bad mood. They're never cranky, or sleepy or sick. (Especially the dead ones.)

They've never just had someone else pull their guts out with a rusty fork, and then had to turn and listen graciously to yourcomplaint about the translation they preach from, or argue about a Greek word they can't even pronounce. They don't have a family who loses the time you use. They never half-listen, never have an appointment that cuts short their time. Their office hours are your office hours. They're available 24/7, and everywhere, at your whim, and you always have their undivided attention.

What's more is they always have all the answers! They can tell you with complete confidence and masterful eloquence. They never stammer, guess, nor search their memory. And they can prove it — whatever they're saying! With footnotes!

And these paper pastors maintain the perfect distance. If you don't want to hear something, they don't press it — or you can instantly shut them up, snap! They never ask you to do something uncomfortable and follow up on you. They never persistently probe an area of sin, in you, in person, eyeball to eyeball... nor will they. Church discipline will not be a threat with them.Ever.

Because they don't know you from Adam.

Yet how many pastors know that there are people in their flocks, thinking, "John Piper would never say it that way. Dave Hunt says that what he just preached is heresy. John MacArthur isn't like that. Mahaney says that... Mohler says that... Lloyd-Jonessaid...."

So, because it's awkward for your pastor to say it to you — and because I've no church who'd suspect I'm talking to them, at the moment — I'll just tell you plain:

Brother, sister: John Piper isn't your pastor. John MacArthur knows nothing about you. Dave Hunt never got on his knees and prayed for you. Lloyd-Jones won't come to your house when you're recovering from surgery, or one of your children shatters your heart, or your marriage is shaking and rocking and barely hanging on. Charles Spurgeon won't weep with you as you weep.

You could buy or not buy _____'s next book, and he'd never know it. But if you're in a manageable-size church with a caring pastor and you're suddenly gone next Sunday, he'll be concerned. He may call. He may ask if everything's okay.

God gave you the pastor He gave you.

God told Paul to tell you:

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)

God told the writer to the Hebrews to tell you:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

Your flesh-and-blood pastor can't compete with these paper pastors for the same reasonyou can't compete with paper women and paper men.

Because they're not real.

Epicurus and the problem of evil

2013-05-17T07:14:00.000-05:00

This article appeared at the American Vision website. A link is provided at the bottom. I am not sure who Rob Slane is, but the short bio that follows gives us a glimpse. His article however on the problem of evil is captivating. A worthy read!

Rob Slane lives with his wife and five home-educated children in Salisbury, England. He is the author of The God Reality: A Critique of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and a soon-to-be-released book, A Christian & an Unbeliever discuss Life, The Universe & Everything.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

Thus spake Epicurus, the Greek philosopher who lived from 341-270 BC.

This is what you might call a tight spot argument. It seems to cover all the bases and leave us Christians without the faintest hope of getting out. But tight spots are okay. The people of God have been there before. And so with a range of impregnable rocks to the left and to the right, the most formidable army in the world chasing after us from the rear, and an impassable sea right before us, what do we do? Trust in the God of tight spots and march right on ahead over the path that he clears for us through the waters

Although the riddle is undoubtedly clever, it turns out to be loaded with a couple of erroneous presuppositions: firstly, a flawed presupposition, and secondly, a really flawed presupposition.

So what is the flawed presupposition? In a nutshell, it is the idea that to deal with evil, God must do so in exactly the way we think he ought to, and if he doesn’t, we’re going to get all uppity and tell him that he doesn’t exist. In our wisdom, we know that he ought to deal with evil, and we also know just how he ought to do it. Yet the problem we have is that any of the ways we can come up with to deal with evil end up destroying not just evil, but humanity itself. Let me explain.

Take the simplest example of the kind of evil that Epicurus might have envisaged: Cain and Abel. “Okay,” says Epicurus, “so if God is good, willing and omnipotent, why did he allow Cain to kill his brother?” Now how could God have prevented it? There are only really three options: he could have simply prevented Cain from doing it either by natural or miraculous means; he could have destroyed Cain either before or after he did his deed; or he could have “reprogrammed” Cain so that he never again had such a thought in his head. But with each of these “solutions” there is an insurmountable difficulty.

The problem with the first option – preventing Cain doing the deed – is that Cain’s heart remains unchanged, and he will simply look for another opportunity to carry out his crime.

The problem with the second – destroying Cain – is that not only must Cain be destroyed but Abel too, because he is also a guilty sinner before God.

And the problem with the third – reprogramming Cain – is that Cain loses one of the characteristics that make him to differ from the beasts.

With the first option, sin is harboured within Cain’s heart to be brought out into the open on another day. With the second, all humanity is wiped off the face of the earth, because all – not just the Cains and the Hitlers of this world – are guilty before God. And with the third, Cain is no longer made in the image of God. None of these options deals with evil in a satisfactory way, and if God were to choose any of them, humanity dies.Now in his riddle, Epicurus castigates God for not doing something about Cain, but for choosing another option instead, which was “do nothing.” Here is exactly where the presupposition is flawed. Epicurus assumes that God must deal with Cain in one of the first three ways, and if he doesn’t, this is evidence of his inability, unwillingness or malevolence. Yet God does choose another way, but rather than it being “do nothing”, it is something that not only deals with the evil, but which does so in a way that overcomes all the other problems as well. So how can this be done? Well God’s method, which may well sound like foolishness to the likes of Epicurus, is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is the only method which not only deals with the problem of evil, but does so at the same time as overcoming the three problems mentioned above. It deals with evil by God taking evil upon himself. It deals with the heart problem by drawing men to God through the Cross, changing their hearts and bringing them into a right relationship with God. It deals with the problem of destroying humanity by offering hope of salvation to sinful humanity. And it deals with the reprogramming problem by restoring men to righteousness, so that they learn to choose the good and forsake evil.

Whether Epicurus can accept the “folly” of this method is another matter entirely.

So much for the flawed presupposition, what of the really flawed presupposition?

Well if Epicurus happened to be around today, the one question I would want to put to him would be this: “Mr Epicurus, your famous riddle about evil and the impotence of God has wowed many an atheist with its cleverness, and no doubt stumped many a Christian with its difficulties, but what I am really keen to know is this: what do you actually mean by evil.” At this point it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Epicurus’ face contorting in barely concealed contempt, implying that I am some sort of a dimwit for not knowing what evil is.

Have I never heard of murders and wars and rapes and thefts and that sort of thing? Well yes I have, but contorted faces notwithstanding, that still doesn’t answer my question: what do you mean by evil?

Is it just a bunch of actions such as those you have mentioned, or is it something far deeper than that?

What actually is it?

The problem with Epicurus’ riddle is that it never gets around to telling us what this “evil” is that God ought to be stopping, and so it seems a pretty safe bet that Epicurus had in mind a bunch of things “out there”. But since his riddle assumes the existence of God before apparently going on to disprove him it follows that the riddle really ought to allow God to define evil, rather than leaving it to Epicurus to assume that his half-baked definition will suffice. If God is God, then evil is not defined merely as a bunch of bad actions “out there”, but rather as “anything and everything which is opposite of God.”

Now if this is the case, then what this means – amongst many other things – is that Epicurus’ riddle itself falls into the category of evil. I doubt very much whether this possibility actually crossed his mind when he wrote it, but if evil is defined by God as being that which is opposite to him, then Epicurus is guilty of that very thing in even proposing his conundrum. In which case, his only legitimate questions would be these: why doesn’t God come and strike me down for even daring to state such a thing? Why doesn’t he come and deal with my evil?

The answer, once again, is the mercy of God. Epicurus had an evil heart, just like the rest of us. He was opposed to God, just like the rest of us are by nature. He calls on God to come and deal with evil, but does he include his own in this? Is he really prepared for God to come and deal with his evil? If he really does desire this, is he prepared for God to leave his heart unchanged, or to strike him dead or to reprogram him? Does he really want God to deal with it in that way? Or will he not rather hope that God can deal with it in such a way that changes his heart for good, leaves him alive, and doesn’t turn him into a machine?

The good news is that this is exactly what God does. It took some thorns, some nails and the death of the Light of the World to achieve it. But it is finished. The grave is empty and the throne is filled. So come, Epicurus, God has found a way to deal with evil and he invites you to join him. Now are you willing to accept?

LaGrange Evangelistic Outreach

2013-04-29T13:50:00.007-05:00

Our congregation engages in outreaches throughout the year. This year our first group outreach will be at the Lagrange College site in Colbert County Alabama. This site is where the West Point of the south was located during the Civil War. It was burned by Union Troops.

There will be several thousand visitors pouring through the various displays of old dusty relics, time period demonstrations, all the while lectures about various events that took place on the mountain are being given.

Our goal is first to Glorify God while there. Secondly, we hope to distribute time period literature. Some of the literature was written during the 1860's and distributed among the troops. Gospel tracts were widely read by the soldiers looking for comfort and assurance.

All in all we hope God saves souls through our efforts, but again, that He is ultimately glorified.

There is no question that lots of time and planning goes into these events, and without my wife's diligent efforts, it would never come together. Her organizing results in me NOT agonizing. Our members are pooling all their "folk" talents and planning on displaying various things like tatting, blacksmithing, quilting, homestead displays, gun smithing and much more. All the while, intertwining a gospel witness and tract distribution.

The good folks at Lagrange are pleased we are participating, and glad to be part of our efforts as well. There is no denying that religion was an active part of the Civil war, and to leave it out causes a clear conflict of interest. Our history is intertwined with our religion to a point that leaving one out from the other is like a body without breath.

Join us on the first weekend in May, 2012 at Lagrange!
http://recall-lagrange.00me.com/index.html

Pastors Need Your Prayers

2013-04-29T13:38:00.000-05:00

Pray for your under-shepherd!

Borrowed from PyroManiacs Web Page

Your weekly dose of Spurgeon

The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from the lifetime of works from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The following excerpt is from Eccentric Preachers, pages 52-54, Pilgrim Publications.

"Do you not think it very hard that some of us can never utter a playful sentence without being criticized?"

A minister who is much before the public has need to be thick skinned, and to exercise to a very high degree the virtue of longsuffering. It may help him if he will remember the conduct of good Cotton Mather, a man remarkable for the sweetness of his temper. On one occasion, having taken a prominent interest in the political concerns of his country, he received a large number of abusive letters. All of these he tied up in a packet, and wrote upon the cover, “Libels. Father, forgive them.”

No man of God need be astonished at slander, as though some strange thing had happened unto him, for the best servants of God have been subject to that trial. Mr. Whitefield truly said, “Thousands of prayers are put up for us, and thousands of lies are spread abroad against us.”

Of himself, concerning his tour in Scotland, they said, “Wherever he went he had a gaping crowd around him, and had the address to make them part with their money. He was a pickpocket, and went off to England with a full purse, but with a ruined reputation among all except his bigoted admirers.” This was falsehood itself.

I commend to young preachers when they are tried in this fashion the wise and weighty words of Thomas A’Kempis : —

“My son, take it not grievously if some think ill of thee, and speak that which thou wouldest not willingly hear.
“Thou oughtest to be the hardest judge of thyself and to think no man weaker than thyself.
“If thou dost walk spiritually, thou wilt not much weigh fleeting words.
“It is no small wisdom to keep silence in an evil time, and in thy heart to turn thyself to God, and not to be troubled by the judgment of men.
“Let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men; for whether they judge well of thee or ill, thou art not on that account other than thyself. Where are true peace and true glory? Are they not in God?
“And he that careth not to please men, nor feareth to displease them, shall enjoy much peace.
“From inordinate love and vain fear ariseth all disquietness of heart and distraction of the mind.”

Dr. Campbell once told me the following story:—On one occasion, when Mr. Wesley was preaching, he said, “I have been falsely charged with every crime of which a human being is capable, except that of drunkenness.” He had scarcely uttered these words before a wretched woman started up and screamed out at the top of her voice, “You old villain, and will you deny it? Did you not pledge your bands last night for a noggin of whisky, and did not the woman sell them to our parson’s wife?”

Having delivered herself of this abominable calumny the virago sat down amid a thunder-struck assembly, whereupon Mr. Wesley lifted his hands to heaven, and thanked God that his cup was now full, for they had said all manner of evil against him falsely for Christ’s name-sake. After this we feel reconciled to the idle tales which buzz about us, annoying us for a small moment, but doing no great damage.

Are we being intentionally side tracked?

2013-04-27T20:16:00.002-05:00

Most people I know are concerned about their rights as gun owners.

So much has transpired in the past several months that cause people to question the validity of gun ownership. Is it really necessary any more? With our great police departments, a standing army, a federal government that is dedicated to protecting the citizens of this fair land, why do we need to personally own a gun?

While that last question sounds like it has truth sprinkled through it, the honest truth is that it is the very reason we need private gun ownership.

Response time for the average police department in America is way too slow to rescue you if someone does a forced entry into your home.
The standing army is under the direct control of the federal government that has time and time again failed to exercise godly justice and protection of the innocent (point in case: abortion).
If the government wants to annihilate babies in the womb who cannot testify against their killers, who is to stop them? Obviously the federal government is not concerned about protecting the innocent. Thus our land is full of innocent blood.

The first thing gun owners tend to do is to recite the second amendment. No problem with that. But think for just a second what you are quoting. An amendment. How did it get there? The constitution was changed, amended if you will.

Our "right" is codified by the Constitutional Republic, thereby brought under its jurisdiction, the Constitutional Republic therefore can choose to divest its citizens of this "right- something that has been happening for years, bit by bit.

It was in 2008, the month of June, my birth month, when the District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S., the supreme court decided, five to four, that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own and bear firearms.

What did most of us do? We celebrated!

Hey, the second amendment won! Wooohooo! Now, while I was pleased with that decision, the thing we missed is that we were just a vote away from it going the other way.

Five people decided if an American could own a gun, what kind of gun they could own, and what they were allowed to do with it. They essentially said, "Americans have the right to bear arms, until we decide otherwise."

It reminds me of various denominations voting every year at their annual meetings if the Bible is still the Word of God. Can you imagine: "Hey Bill, you think the Bible is still God's word?" "I don't know Sam, I guess we will have to vote and see!"

So, there we were again, "Hey Justice, do you think folks ought to be allowed to own guns?" "I don't know Chief, lets vote and see how it goes!"

Historically, the right to bear arms in America was there before the government was established. In fact, it was expected. To have food on the table, to protect yourself from wild critters and Indians who may not take kindly to you being here.

Then when America was founded, the framers realized, "Hey, if we don't seal this securely, some despot may try to take a man's gun from him."

As a Christian husband and father, my God given right is to protect my family from injury and harm. Sometimes that might demand serious physical intervention. The state does not sanction my actions to defend my family, God does.

The day God's laws need to be authorized or licensed by the state is the day God becomes subservient to the state.

When the state demands a license to give legality to an action, is the day they can eventually say, "self-defense is not illegal without our sanction."

Jesus gives a simple example, "Luke 11:21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

I believe a man is fully responsible for providing for the Spiritual safety of his family, and to do that, he must feed them and protect them as well.

A well rounded believer takes all of these responsibilities seriously and wants the best tools available for each of them.

Be watchful, and don't get side tracked.

The value of ONE Soul

2013-04-22T09:32:00.002-05:00

Earnest Andrew

Posted: 21 Apr 2013 12:01 AM PDT

Your weekly dose of Spurgeon

The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from the lifetime of works from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The following excerpt is from Words of Counsel for Christian Workers, pages 8-9, Pilgrim Publications.

"If Andrew had not been the means of converting his brother, the probabilities are that he would never have been an apostle."

Christ had some reason in the choice of His apostles to their office, and perhaps the ground of His choice of Andrew as an apostle was this: “He is an earnest man,” said He, “he brought me Simon Peter; he is always speaking privately to individuals; I will make an apostle of him.”

You must have some talent entrusted to you, and something given you to do which no one else can do. Find out, then, what your sphere is, and occupy it. Ask God to tell you what is your niche, and stand in it, occupying the place till Jesus Christ shall come and give you your reward. Use what ability you have, and use it at once.

Andrew proved his wisdom in that he set great store by a single soul. He bent all his efforts at first upon one man. Afterwards, Andrew, through the Holy Spirit, was made useful to scores, but he began with one.

What a task for the arithmetician, to value one soul! One soul sets all heaven’s bells ringing by its repentance. One sinner that repenteth maketh angels rejoice. What if you spend a whole life pleading and labouring for the conversion of that one child? If you win that pearl it shall pay you your life worth.

Be not therefore dull and discouraged because your class declines in numbers, or because the mass of those with whom you labour reject your testimony. If a man could but earn one in a day he might be satisfied. “One what?” saith one. I meant not one penny, but one thousand pounds. “Ah,” say you, “that would be an immense reward.”

So if you earn but one soul you must reckon what that one is; it is one for numeration, but for value it exceeds all that earth could show. What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul? And what loss would it be to you, if you did lose all the world, and gained your soul, and God made you useful in the gaining of the souls of others?

Be content, and labour in your sphere, even if it be small, and you will be wise.

reprinted from Pyromaniacs...

Interesting how our Founding Fathers are accused of not using the Bible to form their opinions...

2013-04-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

Taken from wallbuilders.com, this collection of statements from our founding fathers on the Bible and Christianity is a telling expose' of their TRUE beliefs...don't tell me these guys didn't study the book...I didn't say they were all Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, but they certainly founded their belief system on something other than humanism, for the most part, and it is evident that Christian values ruled the day.
A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and Early Statesmen on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible

(This list is by no means exhaustive; many other Founders could be included, and even with those who appear below, additional quotes could have been used.)

John Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

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.¹

The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . . There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government but what is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words damnation.²

Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean hell.³

The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.⁴

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia – what a Paradise would this region be!⁵

I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.⁶

John Quincy Adams

SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; DIPLOMAT; SECRETARY OF STATE; U. S. SENATOR; U. S. REPRESENTATIVE; “OLD MAN ELOQUENT”; “HELL-HOUND OF ABOLITION”

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.⁷

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].⁸

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.⁹

Samuel Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; “FATHER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

I . . . [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.¹⁰

The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe [Proverbs 18:10]. Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.¹¹

I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace.¹²

He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .

the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known and enjoyed throughout the whole family of mankind.¹³
we may with one heart and voice humbly implore His gracious and free pardon through Jesus Christ, supplicating His Divine aid . . . [and] above all to cause the religion of Jesus Christ, in its true spirit, to spread far and wide till the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.¹⁴
with true contrition of heart to confess their sins to God and implore forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior.¹⁵

Josiah Bartlett

MILITARY OFFICER; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Called on the people of New Hampshire . . . to confess before God their aggravated transgressions and to implore His pardon and forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ . . . [t]hat the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be made known to all nations, pure and undefiled religion universally prevail, and the earth be fill with the glory of the Lord.¹⁶

Gunning Bedford

MILITARY OFFICER; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; FEDERAL JUDGE

To the triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost – be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore – Amen.¹⁷

Elias Boudinot

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; SIGNED THE PEACE TREATY TO END THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION; FIRST ATTORNEY ADMITTED TO THE U. S. SUPREME COURT BAR; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; DIRECTOR OF THE U. S. MINT

Let us enter on this important business under the idea that we are Christians on whom the eyes of the world are now turned… [L]et us earnestly call and beseech Him, for Christ’s sake, to preside in our councils. . . . We can only depend on the all powerful influence of the Spirit of God, Whose Divine aid and assistance it becomes us as a Christian people most devoutly to implore. Therefore I move that some minister of the Gospel be requested to attend this Congress every morning . . . in order to open the meeting with prayer.¹⁸

A letter to his daughter:

You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature – the absolute necessity of a change of heart and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ – of salvation through His meritorious righteousness only – and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord [Hebrews 12:14]. You are well acquainted that the most perfect and consummate doctrinal knowledge is of no avail without it operates on and sincerely affects the heart, changes the practice, and totally influences the will – and that without the almighty power of the Spirit of God enlightening your mind, subduing your will, and continually drawing you to Himself, you can do nothing. . . . And may the God of your parents (for many generations past) seal instruction to your soul and lead you to Himself through the blood of His too greatly despised Son, Who notwithstanding, is still reclaiming the world to God through that blood, not imputing to them their sins. To Him be glory forever!¹⁹

For nearly half a century have I anxiously and critically studied that invaluable treasure [the Bible]; and I still scarcely ever take it up that I do not find something new – that I do not receive some valuable addition to my stock of knowledge or perceive some instructive fact never observed before. In short, were you to ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the world, I should fix on the Bible as the most instructive both to the wise and ignorant. Were you to ask me for one affording the most rational and pleasing entertainment to the inquiring mind, I should repeat, it is the Bible; and should you renew the inquiry for the best philosophy or the most interesting history, I should still urge you to look into your Bible. I would make it, in short, the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.²⁰

Jacob Broom

LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION

A letter to his son, James, attending Princeton University:

I flatter myself you will be what I wish, but don’t be so much flatterer as to relax of your application – don’t forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head, and I hope an indelible impression is made.²¹

Charles Carroll

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SELECTED AS DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; U. S. SENATOR

On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits, not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.²²

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 2d day of August of the same year and of which I am now the last surviving signer.²³

I, Charles Carroll. . . . give and bequeath my soul to God who gave it, my body to the earth, hoping that through and by the merits, sufferings, and mediation of my only Savior and Jesus Christ, I may be admitted into the Kingdom prepared by God for those who love, fear and truly serve Him.²⁴

Congress, 1854

The great, vital, and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.²⁵

Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854

Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle... In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity... That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.²⁶

John Dickinson

SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE; GENERAL IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Rendering thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity.²⁷

[Governments] could not give the rights essential to happiness… We claim them from a higher source: from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth.²⁸

Gabriel Duvall

SOLDIER; JUDGE; SELECTED AS DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; COMPTROLLER OF THE U. S. TREASURY; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

I resign my soul into the hands of the Almighty Who gave it, in humble hopes of His mercy through our Savior Jesus Christ.²⁹

Benjamin Franklin

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.³⁰

The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and guilding, lies here, food for worms. Yet the work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beatiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.³¹(FRANKLIN’S EULOGY THAT HE WROTE FOR HIMSELF)

Elbridge Gerry

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

He called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . .

with one heart and voice we may prostrate ourselves at the throne of heavenly grace and present to our Great Benefactor sincere and unfeigned thanks for His infinite goodness and mercy towards us from our birth to the present moment for having above all things illuminated us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, presenting to our view the happy prospect of a blessed immortality.³²
And for our unparalleled ingratitude to that Adorable Being Who has seated us in a land irradiated by the cheering beams of the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . let us fall prostrate before offended Deity, confess sincerely and penitently our manifold sins and our unworthiness of the least of His Divine favors, fervently implore His pardon through the merits of our mediator.³³
And deeply impressed with a scene of our unparalleled ingratitude, let us contemplate the blessings which have flowed from the unlimited grave and favor of offended Deity, that we are still permitted to enjoy the first of Heaven’s blessings: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ³⁴

Alexander Hamilton

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

Following his duel with Aaron Burr, in those final twenty four hours while life still remained in him, Hamilton called for two ministers, the Rev. J. M. Mason and the Rev. Benjamin Moore, to pray with him and administer Communion to him. Each of those two ministers reported what transpired. The Rev. Mason recounted:

[General Hamilton said] “I went to the field determined not to take his life.” He repeated his disavowal of all intention to hurt Mr. Burr; the anguish of his mind in recollecting what had passed; and his humble hope of forgiveness from his God. I recurred to the topic of the Divine compassion; the freedom of pardon in the Redeemer Jesus to perishing sinners. “That grace, my dear General, which brings salvation, is rich, rich” – “Yes,” interrupted he, “it is rich grace.” “And on that grace,” continued I, “a sinner has the highest encouragement to repose his confidence, because it is tendered to him upon the surest foundation; the Scrip¬ture testifying that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins according to the richness of His grace.” Here the General, letting go my hand, which he had held from the moment I sat down at his bed side, clasped his hands together, and, looking up towards Heaven, said, with emphasis, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Al¬mighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.” ³⁵

The Rev. Benjamin Moore reported:

[I]mmediately after he was brought from [the field] . . . a mes¬sage was sent informing me of the sad event, accompanied by a request from General Hamilton that I would come to him for the purpose of administering the Holy Communion. I went. . . . I proceeded to converse with him on the subject of his receiving the Communion; and told him that with respect to the qualifications of those who wished to become partakers of that holy ordinance, my inquires could not be made in lan¬guage more expressive than that which was used by our [own] Church. – [I asked], “Do you sincerely repent of your sins past? Have you a lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of the death of Christ? And are you disposed to live in love and charity with all men?” He lifted up his hands and said, “With the utmost sincerity of heart I can answer those questions in the affirmative – I have no ill will against Col. Burr. I met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm – I forgive all that happened.” . . . The Communion was then administered, which he received with great devotion, and his heart afterwards appeared to be perfectly at rest. I saw him again this morning, when, with his last faltering words, he expressed a strong confidence in the mercy of God through the intercession of the Redeemer. I remained with him until 2 o’clock this afternoon, when death closed the awful scene – he expired without a struggle, and almost without a groan. By reflecting on this melancholy event, let the humble believer be encouraged ever to hold fast that precious faith which is the only source of true consolation in the last extremity of nature. [And l]et the infidel be persuaded to abandon his opposition to that Gospel which the strong, inquisitive, and comprehensive mind of a Hamilton embraced.³⁶

One other consequence of Hamilton’s untimely death was that it permanently halted the forma¬tion of a religious society Hamilton had proposed. Hamilton suggested that it be named the Christian Constitutional Society, and listed two goals for its formation: first, the support of the Christian religion; and second, the support of the Constitution of the United States. This or¬ganization was to have numerous clubs throughout each state which would meet regularly and work to elect to office those who reflected the goals of the Christian Constitutional Society. ³⁷

John Hancock

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement.³⁸

He called on the entire state to pray “that universal happiness may be established in the world [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.”³⁹

He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray . . .

that all nations may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that the whole earth may be filled with his glory.⁴⁰
that the spiritual kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be continually increasing until the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.⁴¹
to confess their sins and to implore forgiveness of God through the merits of the Savior of the World.⁴²
to cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth.⁴³
to confess their sins before God and implore His forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.⁴⁴
that He would finally overrule all events to the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom and the establishment of universal peace and good will among men.⁴⁵
that the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be established in peace and righteousness among all the nations of the earth.⁴⁶
that with true contrition of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Savior. . . . And finally to overrule all the commotions in the world to the spreading the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ in its purity and power among all the people of the earth.⁴⁷

John Hart

JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION

[T]hanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment [Hebrews 9:27] . . . principally, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent and Christian like manner . . . to receive the same again at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God.⁴⁸

Patrick Henry

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; “THE VOICE OF LIBERTY”; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA

Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.⁴⁹

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.⁵⁰

Righteousness alone can exalt America as a nation. Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.⁵¹

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.⁵²

This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.⁵³

Samuel Huntington

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; JUDGE; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT

It becomes a people publicly to acknowledge the over-ruling hand of Divine Providence and their dependence upon the Supreme Being as their Creator and Merciful Preserver . . . and with becoming humility and sincere repentance to supplicate the pardon that we may obtain forgiveness through the merits and mediation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.⁵⁴

James Iredell

RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON

For my part, I am free and ready enough to declare that I think the Christian religion is a Divine institution; and I pray to God that I may never forget the precepts of His religion or suffer the appearance of an inconsistency in my principles and practice.⁵⁵

John Jay

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; DIPLOMAT; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; ORIGINAL CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U. S. SUPREME COURT; GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK

Condescend, merciful Father! to grant as far as proper these imperfect petitions, to accept these inadequate thanksgivings, and to pardon whatever of sin hath mingled in them for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Savior; unto Whom, with Thee, and the blessed Spirit, ever one God, be rendered all honor and glory, now and forever. ⁵⁶

Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. . . . Blessed be His holy name.⁵⁷

Mercy and grace and favor did come by Jesus Christ, and also that truth which verified the promises and predictions concerning Him and which exposed and corrected the various errors which had been imbibed respecting the Supreme Being, His attributes, laws, and dispensations.⁵⁸

By conveying the Bible to people . . . we certainly do them a most interesting act of kindness. We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since experienced. The Bible will also inform them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed – that this Redeemer has made atonement “for the sins of the whole world,” and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy, has opened a way for our redemption and salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve. The Bible will also [encourage] them with many explicit and consoling assurances of the Divine mercy to our fallen race, and with repeated invitations to accept the offers of pardon and reconciliation. . . . They, therefore, who enlist in His service, have the highest encouragement to fulfill the du¬ties assigned to their respective stations; for most certain it is, that those of His followers who [participate in] His conquests will also participate in the tran¬scendent glories and blessings of His Triumph.⁵⁹

I recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.⁶⁰

The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.⁶¹

[T]he evidence of the truth of Christianity requires only to be carefully examined to produce conviction in candid minds... they who undertake that task will derive advantages.⁶²

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.⁶³

Thomas Jefferson

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.⁶⁴

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.⁶⁵

I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.⁶⁶

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.⁶⁷

William Samuel Johnson

JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE; U. S. SENATOR

[I] . . . am endeavoring . . . to attend to my own duty only as a Christian. . . . let us take care that our Christianity, though put to the test . . . be not shaken, and that our love for things really good wax not cold.⁶⁸

In an address to graduates:

You this day. . . . have, by the favor of Providence and the at¬tention of friends, received a public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to serve your Creator and your country. You have this day invited this au¬dience to witness the progress you have made. . . . Thus you assume the character of scholars, of men, and of citizens. . . . Go, then, . . . and exercise them with diligence, fidelity, and zeal. . . . Your first great duties, you are sensible, are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these be ever present to your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct. Imprint deep upon your minds the principles of piety towards God, and a reverence and fear of His holy name. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and its [practice] is everlasting [happiness] . . . . Reflect deeply and often upon [your] relations [with God]. Remember that it is in God you live and move and have your being, – that, in the language of David, He is about your bed and about your path and spieth out all your ways – that there is not a thought in your hearts, nor a word upon your tongues, but lo! He knoweth them al¬together, and that He will one day call you to a strict account for all your conduct in this mortal life. Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God. Adore Jehovah, therefore, as your God and your Judge. Love, fear, and serve Him as your Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Acquaint yourselves with Him in His word and holy ordinances. . . . [G]o forth into the world firmly resolved neither to be allured by its vanities nor contaminated by its vices, but to run with patience and perseverance, with firmness and [cheerfulness], the glorious career of religion, honor, and virtue. . . . Finally, . . . in the elegant and expressive language are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” – and do them, and the God of peace shall be with you, to whose most gracious protection I now commend you, humbly imploring Almighty Goodness that He will be your guardian and your guide, your protector and the rock of your defense, your Savior and your God.⁶⁹

James Kent

JUDGE; LAW PROFESSOR; “FATHER OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE”

My children, I wish to talk to you. During my early and middle life I was, perhaps, rather skeptical with regard to some of the truths of Christianity. Not that I did not have the utmost respect for religion and always read my Bible, but the doctrine of the atonement was one I never could understand, and I felt inclined to consider as impossible to be received in the way Divines taught it. I believe I was rather inclined to Unitarianism; but of late years my views have altered. I believe in the doctrines of the prayer books as I understand them, and hope to be saved through the merits of Jesus Christ. . . . My object in telling you this is that if anything happens to me, you might know, and perhaps it would console you to remember, that on this point my mind is clear: I rest my hopes of salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ.⁷⁰

Francis Scott Key

U. S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; AUTHOR OF THE “STAR SPANGLED BANNER”

[M]ay I always hear that you are following the guidance of that blessed Spirit that will lead you into all truth, leaning on that Almighty arm that has been extended to deliver you, trusting only in the only Savior, and going on in your way to Him rejoicing.⁷¹

James Madison

SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECRETARY OF STATE; FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.⁷²

I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare their unsatisfactoriness by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.⁷³

James Manning

MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

I rejoice that the religion of Jesus prevails in your parts; I can tell you the same agreeable news from this quarter. Yesterday I returned from Piscataway in East Jersey, where was held a Baptist annual meeting (I think the largest I ever saw) but much more remarkable still for the Divine influences which God was pleased to grant. Fifteen were baptized; a number during the three days professed to experience a change of heart. Christians were remarkably quickened; multitudes appeared.⁷⁴

Henry Marchant

MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF RHODE ISLAND; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; FEDERAL JUDGE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON

And may God grant that His grace may really affect your heart with suitable impressions of His goodness. Remember that God made you, that God keeps you alive and preserves you from all harm, and gives you all the powers and the capacity whereby you are able to read of Him and of Jesus Christ, your Savior and Redeemer, and to do every other needful business of life. And while you look around you and see the great privileges and advantages you have above what other children have (of learning to read and write, of being taught the meaning of the great truths of the Bible), you must remember not to be proud on that account but to bless God and be thankful and endeavor in your turn to assist others with the knowledge you may gain.⁷⁵(to his daughter)

George Mason

DELEGATE AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; “FATHER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS”

I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God that gave it me, hoping that through the meritorious death and passion of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ to receive absolution and remission for all my sins.⁷⁶

My soul I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, Whose tender mercies are all over His works. . humbly hoping from His unbounded mercy and benevolence, through the merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins.⁷⁷

James McHenry

REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER PRESIDENTS GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS

[P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Without the Bible, in vain do we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions.⁷⁸

Bibles are strong protections. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.⁷⁹

Thomas McKean

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA; GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE

In the case Respublica v. John Roberts,⁸⁰ John Roberts was sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty of treason. Chief Justice McKean then told him:

You will probably have but a short time to live. Before you launch into eternity, it be¬hooves you to improve the time that may be allowed you in this world: it behooves you most seriously to reflect upon your past conduct; to repent of your evil deeds; to be incessant in prayers to the great and merciful God to forgive your manifold transgressions and sins; to teach you to rely upon the merit and passion of a dear Redeemer, and thereby to avoid those regions of sorrow – those doleful shades where peace and rest can never dwell, where even hope cannot enter. It behooves you to seek the [fellowship], advice, and prayers of pious and good men; to be [persistent] at the Throne of Grace, and to learn the way that leadeth to happiness. May you, reflecting upon these things, and pursuing the will of the great Father of light and life, be received into [the] company and society of angels and archangels and the spirits of just men made perfect; and may you be qualified to enter into the joys of Heaven – joys unspeakable and full of glory!⁸¹

Gouverneur Morris

REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; “PENMAN OF THE CONSTITUTION”; DIPLOMAT; U. S. SENATOR

There must be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed and its members perish… [T]he most important of all lessons is the denunciation of ruin to every state that rejects the precepts of religion.⁸²

Your good morals in the army give me sincere pleasure as it hath long been my fixed opinion that virtue and religion are the great sources of human happiness. More especially is it necessary in your profession firmly to rely upon the God of Battles for His guardianship and protection in the dreadful hour of trial. But of all these things you will and I hope in the merciful Lord.⁸³

Jedidiah Morse

HISTORIAN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION; EDUCATOR; “FATHER OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY”; APPOINTED BY SECRETARY OF STATE TO DOCUMENT CONDITION OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. All efforts made to destroy the foundations of our Holy Religion ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation… in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom… Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government – and all the blessings which flow from them – must fall with them.⁸⁴

John Morton

LEGISLATOR; JUDGE; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION

With an awful reverence to the Great Almighty God, Creator of all mankind, being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory, thanks be given to Almighty God for the same.⁸⁵

James Otis

LEADER OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY; ATTORNEY & JURIST; MENTOR OF JOHN HANCOCK AND SAMUEL ADAMS

Has [government] any solid foundation? Any chief cornerstone?... I think it has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God… The sum of my argument is that civil government is of God.⁸⁶

Robert Treat Paine

MILITARY CHAPLAIN; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MASSACHUSETTS; JUDGE

I desire to bless and praise the name of God most high for appointing me my birth in a land of Gospel Light where the glorious tidings of a Savior and of pardon and salvation through Him have been continually sounding in mine ears.⁸⁷

I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my existence, in full belief of His Providential goodness and His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state.⁸⁸

I believe the Bible to be the written word of God and to contain in it the whole rule of faith and manners.⁸⁹

William Paterson

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW JERSEY; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U. S. SENATOR; GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. [invoking Proverbs 29:2 to instruct a grand jury].⁹⁰

Timothy Pickering

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; JUDGE; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; POSTMASTER GENERAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON; SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER PRESIDENTS GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS; SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS

Pardon, we beseech Thee, all our offences of omission and commission; and grant that in all our thoughts, words, and actions, we may conform to Thy known will manifested in our consciences and in the revelations of Jesus Christ, our Savior.⁹¹

[W]e do not grieve as those who have no… resurrection to a life immortal. Here the believers in Christianity manifest their superior advantages, for life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel of Jesus Christ [II Timothy 1:10]. Prior to that revelation even the wisest and best of mankind were involved in doubt and they hoped, rather than believed, that the soul was immortal.⁹²

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; DIPLOMAT

To the eternal and only true God be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen!⁹³

John Randolph of Roanoke

CONGRESSMAN UNDER PRESIDENTS JOHN ADAMS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, ANDREW JACKSON; U. S. SENATOR; DIPLOMAT

I have thrown myself, reeking with sin, on the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ His blessed Son and our (yes, my friend, our) precious Redeemer; and I have assurances as strong as that I now owe nothing to your rank that the debt is paid and now I love God – and with reason. I once hated him – and with reason, too, for I knew not Christ. The only cause why I should love God is His goodness and mercy to me through Christ.⁹⁴

I am at last reconciled to my God and have assurance of His pardon through faith in Christ, against which the very gates of hell cannot prevail. Fear hath been driven out by perfect love.⁹⁵

[I] have looked to the Lord Jesus Christ, and hope I have obtained pardon.⁹⁶

[I] still cling to the cross of my Redeemer, and with God’s aid firmly resolve to lead a life less unworthy of one who calls himself the humble follower of Jesus Christ.⁹⁷

Benjamin Rush

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SURGEON GENERAL OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; “FATHER OF AMERICAN MEDICINE”; TREASURER OF THE U. S. MINT; “FATHER OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations! . . . My only hope of salvation is in the infinite tran¬scendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the Cross. Noth¬ing but His blood will wash away my sins [Acts 22:16]. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! [Revelation 22:20]⁹⁸

I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as satisfied that it is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament.⁹⁹

By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects… It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.¹⁰⁰

[T]he greatest discoveries in science have been made by Christian philosophers and . . . there is the most knowledge in those countries where there is the most Christianity.¹⁰¹

[T]he only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.¹⁰²

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.¹⁰³

[C]hristianity is the only true and perfect religion; and… in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.¹⁰⁴

The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.¹⁰⁵

The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life… [T]he Bible… should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness.¹⁰⁶

Roger Sherman

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; “MASTER BUILDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”; JUDGE; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; U. S. SENATOR

I believe that there is one only liv¬ing and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Tes¬taments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. . . . That He made man at first perfectly holy; that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgres¬sion, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever. I believe that God . . . did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer. . . . I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and obedi¬ence to Him, joined by the bond of the covenant. . . . I believe that the sacraments of the New Testament are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. . . . I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy, and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrec¬tion of the dead, and a final judgment of all mankind, when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment.¹⁰⁷

God commands all men everywhere to repent. He also commands them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and has assured us that all who do repent and believe shall be saved… [G]od… has absolutely promised to bestow them on all these who are willing to accept them on the terms of the Gospel – that is, in a way of free grace through the atonement. “Ask and ye shall receive [John 16:24]. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the waters of life freely [Revelation 22:17]. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” [John 6:37].¹⁰⁸

[I]t is the duty of all to acknowledge that the Divine Law which requires us to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, on pain of eternal damnation, is Holy, just, and good. . . . The revealed law of God is the rule of our duty.¹⁰⁹

True Christians are assured that no temptation (or trial) shall happen to them but what they shall be enabled to bear; and that the grace of Christ shall be sufficient for them.¹¹⁰

“The volume which he consulted more than any other was the Bible. It was his custom, at the commencement of every session of Congress, to purchase a copy of the Scriptures, to peruse it daily, and to present it to one of his children on his return.”¹¹¹

Richard Stockton

JUDGE; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

[A]s my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God; the universal defection and depravity of human nature; the Divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior; the necessity of the opera¬tions of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life; and the universality of the Divine Providence: but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge [my children] that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state, [and] that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either im¬mediately or consequentially – even in this life.¹¹²

Thomas Stone

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SELECTED AS A DELEGATE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Shun all giddy, loose, and wicked company; they will corrupt and lead you into vice and bring you to ruin. Seek the company of sober, virtuous and good people… which will lead [you] to solid happiness.¹¹³

Joseph Story

U. S. CONGRESSMAN; “FATHER OF AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE”; U. S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON

One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations.¹¹⁴

I verily believe that Christianity is necessary to support a civil society and shall ever attend to its institutions and acknowledge its precepts as the pure and natural sources of private and social happiness.¹¹⁵

Caleb Strong

DELEGATE AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION TO FRAME THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; RATIFIER OF THE CONSTITUTION; U. S. SENATOR; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

He called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that . . . all nations may know and be obedient to that grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ.¹¹⁶

Zephaniah Swift

U. S. CONGRESSMAN; DIPLOMAT; JUDGE; AUTHOR OF AMERICA’S FIRST LEGAL TEXT (1795)

Jesus Christ has in the clearest manner inculcated those duties which are productive of the highest moral felicity and consistent with all the innocent enjoyments, to which we are impelled by the dictates of nature. Religion, when fairly considered in its genuine simplicity and uncorrupted state, is the source of endless rapture and delight.¹¹⁷

Charles Thomson

SECRETARY OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; DESIGNER OF THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES; ALONG WITH JOHN HANCOCK, THOMSON WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO FOUNDERS TO SIGN THE INITIAL DRAFT OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE APPROVED BY CONGRESS

I am a Christian. I believe only in the Scriptures, and in Jesus Christ my Savior.¹¹⁸

Jonathan Trumbull

JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT; CONFIDANT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AND CALLED “BROTHER JONATHAN” BY HIM

The examples of holy men teach us that we should seek Him with fasting and prayer, with penitent confession of our sins, and hope in His mercy through Jesus Christ the Great Redeemer.¹¹⁹

Principally and first of all, I bequeath my soul to God the Creator and giver thereof, and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial, in firm belief that I shall receive the same again at the general resurrection through the power of Almighty God, and hope of eternal life and happiness through the merits of my dear Redeemer Jesus Christ.¹²⁰

He called on the State of Connecticut to pray that . . .

God would graciously pour out His Spirit upon us and make the blessed Gospel in His hand effectual to a thorough reformation and general revival of the holy and peaceful religion of Jesus Christ.¹²¹

George Washington

JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; “FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY”

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.¹²²

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.¹²³

The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.¹²⁴

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.¹²⁵

Daniel Webster

U. S. SENATOR; SECRETARY OF STATE; “DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”

[T]he Christian religion – its general principles – must ever be regarded among us as the foundation of civil society.¹²⁶

Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.¹²⁷

[T]o the free and universal reading of the Bible… men [are] much indebted for right views of civil liberty.¹²⁸

The Bible is a book… which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man.¹²⁹

Noah Webster

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; EDUCATOR; “SCHOOLMASTER TO AMERICA”

[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.¹³⁰

The moral principles and precepts found in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.¹³¹

All the… evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.¹³²

[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.¹³³

[T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.¹³⁴

The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society – the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men.¹³⁵

[T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.¹³⁶

John Witherspoon

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON

[C]hrist Jesus – the promise of old made unto the fathers, the hope of Israel [Acts 28:20], the light of the world [John 8:12], and the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth [Romans 10:4] – is the only Savior of sinners, in opposition to all false religions and every uninstituted rite; as He Himself says (John 14:6): “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”¹³⁷

[N]o man, whatever be his character or whatever be his hope, shall enter into rest unless he be reconciled to God though Jesus Christ.¹³⁸

[T]here is no salvation in any other than in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.¹³⁹

I shall now conclude my discourse by preaching this Savior to all who hear me, and entreating you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ; for “there is no salvation in any other” [Acts 4:12].¹⁴⁰

It is very evident that both the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New are at great pains to give us a view of the glory and dignity of the person of Christ. With what magnificent titles is He adorned! What glorious attributes are ascribed to him!… All these conspire to teach us that He is truly and properly God – God over all, blessed forever!¹⁴¹

[I]f you are not rec¬onciled to God through Jesus Christ – if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness – you must forever perish.¹⁴²

[H]e is the best friend to American liberty who is the 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. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.¹⁴³

Oliver Wolcott

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MILITARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT

Through various scenes of life, God has sustained me. May He ever be my unfailing friend; may His love cherish my soul; may my heart with gratitude acknowledge His goodness; and may my desires be to Him and to the remembrance of His name….May we then turn our eyes to the bright objects above, and may God give us strength to travel the upward road. May the Divine Redeemer conduct us to that seat of bliss which He himself has prepared for His friends; at the approach of which every sorrow shall vanish from the human heart and endless scenes of glory open upon the enraptured eye. There our love to God and each other will grow stronger, and our pleasures never be dampened by the fear of future separation. How indifferent will it then be to us whether we obtained felicity by travailing the thorny or the agreeable paths of life – whether we arrived at our rest by passing through the envied and unfragrant road of greatness or sustained hardship and unmerited reproach in our journey. God’s Providence and support through the perilous perplexing labyrinths of human life will then forever excite our astonishment and love. May a happiness be granted to those I most tenderly love, which shall continue and increase through an endless existence. Your cares and burdens must be many and great, but put your trust in that God Who has hitherto supported you and me; He will not fail to take care of those who put their trust in Him….It is most evident that this land is under the protection of the Almighty, and that we shall be saved not by our wisdom nor by our might, but by the Lord of Host Who is wonderful in counsel and Almighty in all His operations.¹⁴⁴

Endnotes

1.Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Washington D. C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. XIII, p. 292-294. In a letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.(Return)

2. Letter from John Adams to Benjamin Rush, from Quincy, Massachusetts, dated December 21, 1809, from the original in our possession. (Return)

3. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), Vol. X, p. 254, to Thomas Jefferson on April 19, 1817. (Return)

4. John Adams, Works, Vol. III, p. 421, diary entry for July 26, 1796. (Return)

5. John Adams, Works, Vol. II, pp. 6-7, diary entry for February 22, 1756.(Return)

6. John Adams, Works, Vol. X, p. 85, to Thomas Jefferson on December 25, 1813.(Return)

7. John Adams and John Quincy Adams, The Selected Writings of John and John Quincy Adams, Adrienne Koch and William Peden, editors (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 292, John Quincy Adams to John Adams, January 3, 1817.(Return)

8. Life of John Quincy Adams, W. H. Seward, editor (Auburn, NY: Derby, Miller & Company, 1849), p. 248. (Return)

9. John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport at Their Request on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), pp. 5-6.(Return)

10. From the Last Will & Testament of Samuel Adams, attested December 29, 1790; see also Samuel Adams, Life & Public Services of Samuel Adams, William V. Wells, editor (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1865), Vol. III, p. 379, Last Will and Testament of Samuel Adams. (Return)

11. Letters of Delegates to Congress: August 16, 1776-December 31, 1776, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1979), Vol. 5, pp. 669-670, Samuel Adams to Elizabeth Adams on December 26, 1776.(Return)

12. From a Fast Day Proclamation issued by Governor Samuel Adams, Massachusetts, March 20, 1797, in our possession; see also Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), Vol. IV, p. 407, from his proclamation of March 20, 1797.(Return)

13. Samuel Adams, A Proclamation For a Day of Public Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, given as the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, from an original broadside in our possession; see also, Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), Vol. IV, p. 385, October 14, 1795. (Return)

14. Samuel Adams, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 10, 1793. (Return)

15. Samuel Adams, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 15, 1796. (Return)

16. Josiah Bartlett, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 17, 1792. (Return)

17. Gunning Bedford, Funeral Oration Upon the Death of General George Washington (Wilmington: James Wilson, 1800), p. 18, Evans #36922. (Return)

18. Elias Boudinot, The Life, Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, J. J. Boudinot, editor (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1896), Vol. I, pp. 19, 21, speech in the First Provincial Congress of New Jersey. (Return)

19. Elias Boudinot, The Age of Revelation (Philadelphia: Asbury Dickins, 1801), pp. xii-xiv, from the prefatory remarks to his daughter, Susan, on October 30, 1782; see also Letters of the Delegates to Congress: 1774-1789, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington, D. C.: Library of Congress, 1992), Vol. XIX, p. 325, from a letter of Elias Boudinot to his daughter, Susan Boudinot, on October 30, 1782; see also, Elias Boudinot, The Life Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1896), Vol. I, p. 260-262. (Return)

20. Elias Boudinot, The Age of Revelation, or the Age of Reason Shewn to be An Age of Infidelity (Philadelphia: Asbury Dickins, 1801), p. xv, from his “Dedication: Letter to his daughter Susan Bradford.” (Return)

21. Jacob Broom to his son, James, on February 24, 1794, written from Wilmington, Delaware, from an original letter in our possession. (Return)

22. From an autograph letter in our possession written by Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, Esq., September 27, 1825. (Return)

23. Lewis A. Leonard, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: Moffit, Yard & Co, 1918), pp. 256-257. (Return)

24. Kate Mason Rowland, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890), Vol. II, pp. 373-374, will of Charles Carroll, Dec. 1, 1718 (later replaced by a subsequent will not containing this phrase, although he reexpressed this sentiment on several subsequent occasions, including repeatedly in the latter years of his life). (Return)

25. Journal of the House of the Representatives of the United States of America(Washington, DC: Cornelius Wendell, 1855), 34th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 354, January 23, 1856; see also: Lorenzo D. Johnson, Chaplains of the General Government With Objections to their Employment Considered (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., 1856), p. 35, quoting from the House Journal, Wednesday, January 23, 1856, and B. F. Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 328. (Return)

26. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the First Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1854), pp. 6-9. (Return)

27. From the Last Will & Testament of John Dickinson, attested March 25, 1808.(Return)

28. John Dickinson, The Political Writings of John Dickinson (Wilmington: Bonsal and Niles, 1801), Vol. I, pp. 111-112. (Return)

29. From his last will and testament, attested on September 21, 1840. (Return)

30. Benjamin Franklin, Works of Benjamin Franklin, John Bigelow, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904), p. 185, to Ezra Stiles, March 9, 1790. (Return)

31. Benjamin Franklin, Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (Dublin: P. Wogan, P. Byrne, J. More, and W. Janes, 1793), p. 149. (Return)

32. Elbridge Gerry, Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise, October 24, 1810, from a proclamation in our possession, EAI #20675. (Return)

33. Elbridge Gerry, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 13, 1811, from a proclamation in our possession, Shaw #23317. (Return)

34. Elbridge Gerry, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 6, 1812, from a proclamation in our possession, Shaw #26003. (Return)

35. John M. Mason, A Collection of the Facts and Documents Relative to the Death of Major General Alexander Hamilton (New York: Hopkins and Seymour, 1804), p. 53. (Return)

36. John M. Mason, A Collection of the Facts and Documents Relative to the Death of Major General Alexander Hamilton (New York: Hopkins and Seymour, 1804), pp. 48-50. (Return)

37. Alexander Hamilton, The Works of Alexander Hamilton, John C. Hamilton, editor (New York: John F. Trow, 1851), Vol. VI, p. 542, to James A. Bayard, April, 1802; see also, Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Harold C. Syrett, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1977), Vol. XXV, p. 606, to James A. Bayard, April 16, 1802. (Return)

38. Independent Chronicle (Boston), November 2, 1780, last page; see also Abram English Brown, John Hancock, His Book (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1898), p. 269. (Return)

39. John Hancock, A Proclamation For a Day of Public Thanksgiving 1791, given as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, from an original broadside in our possession. (Return)

40. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving, October 28, 1784, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #18593. (Return)

41. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving, October 29, 1788, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #21237. (Return)

42. John Hancock, Proclamation For a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 16, 1789, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #21946. (Return)

43. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise, September 16, 1790, from an original broadside in our possession. (Return)

44. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, February 11, 1791, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #23549. (Return)

45. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting, Prayer and Humiliation, February 24, 1792, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #24519.(Return)

46. John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving, October 25, 1792, from an original broadside in our possession. (Return)

47. John Hancock, Proclamation for Day of Public Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, March 4, 1793, from a broadside in our possession. (Return)

48. From his last will and testament, attested April 16, 1779. (Return)

49. A. G. Arnold, The Life of Patrick Henry of Virginia (Auburn and Buffalo: Miller, Orton and Mulligan, 1854), p. 250. (Return)

50. William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry(Philadelphia: James Webster, 1818), p. 402; see also George Morgan, Patrick Henry (Philadelphia & London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1929), p. 403. (Return)

51. Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, William Wirt Henry, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. II, p. 592, to Archibald Blair on January 8, 1799. (Return)

52. Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, William Wirt Henry, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. II, p. 592, to Archibald Blair on January 8, 1799. (Return)

53. Will of Patrick Henry, attested November 20, 1798. (Return)

54. Samuel Huntington, A Proclamation for a Day of Fasting, Prayer and Humiliation, March 9, 1791, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #23284. (Return)

55. James Iredell, The Papers of James Iredell, Don Higginbotham, editor (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1976), Vol. I, p. 11 from his 1768 essay on religion. (Return)

56. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J & J Harper, 1833), Vol. I p. 518, Appendix V, from a prayer found among Mr. Jay’s papers and in his handwriting. (Return)

57. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 519-520, from his Last Will & Testament. (Return)

58. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J & J Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 386, to John Murray, April 15, 1818. (Return)

59. John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: Burt Franklin, 1890), Vol. IV, pp. 494, 498, from his “Address at the Annual Meeting of the American Bible Society,” May 13, 1824. (Return)

60. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 457-458, to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York on June 29, 1826. (Return)

61. John Jay, John Jay: The Winning of the Peace. Unpublished Papers 1780-1784, Richard B. Morris, editor (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980), Vol. II, p. 709, to Peter Augustus Jay on April 8, 1784. (Return)

62. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 266, to the Rev. Uzal Ogden on February 14, 1796. (Return)

63. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 376, to John Murray Jr. on October 12, 1816.(Return)

64. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh, editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1904), Vol. XV, p. 383, to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse on June 26, 1822. (Return)

65. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Alberty Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington D.C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. XII, p. 315, to James Fishback, September 27, 1809. (Return)

66. Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Grey & Bowen, 1830), Vol. III, p. 506, to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803. (Return)

67. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, D.C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. XIV, p. 385, to Charles Thomson on January 9, 1816. (Return)

68. Edwards Beardsley, Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1886), p. 184. (Return)

69. E. Edwards Beardsley, Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1886), pp. 141-145. (Return)

70. William Kent, Memoirs and Letters of James Kent, (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1898), pp. 276-277. (Return)

71. Hugh A. Garland, The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1853), Vol. II, p. 104, from Francis Scott Key to John Randolph. (Return)

72. James Madison, Letters and Other Writings of James Madison (New York: R. Worthington, 1884), Vol. I, pp. 5-6, to William Bradford on November 9, 1772.(Return)

73. James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, William T. Hutchinson, editor (Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1962), Vol. I, p. 96, to William Bradford on September 25, 1773. (Return)

74. Letters of Delegates to Congress: November 7, 1785-November 5, 1786, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1995), Vol. 23, p. 337, James Manning to Robert Carter on June 7, 1786.(Return)

75. Letters of Delegates to Congress: May 1, 1777 - September 18, 1777, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1981), Vol. 7, pp. 645-646, Henry Marchant to Sarah Marchant on September 9, 1777.(Return)

76. Kate Mason Rowland, Life of George Mason (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1892), Vol. I, p. 373, Will of Colonel George Mason, June 29, 1715 (this will was later replaced by the will below.) (Return)

77. Will of George Mason, attested March 20, 1773. (Return)

78. Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920 (Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14. (Return)

79. Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920 (Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14. (Return)

80. A. J. Dallas, Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania (Phila¬delphia: P. Byrne, 1806), p. 39, Respublica v. John Roberts, Pa. Sup. Ct. 1778. (Return)

81. William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1847), Vol. II, pp. 36-37. (Return)

82. Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1821 (New York: E. Bliss and E. White, 1821), pp. 32, 34, from “An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris, (President,) 4th September, 1816.” (Return)

83. Letters of Delegates to Congress: February 1, 1778-May 31, 1778, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1982), Vol. 9, pp. 729-730, Gouverneur Morris to General Anthony Wayne on May 21, 1778.(Return)

84. Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon, Exhibiting the Present Dangers and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America, Delivered at Charlestown, April 25, 1799, The Day of the National Fast (MA: Printed by Samuel Etheridge, 1799), p. 9. (Return)

85. From his last will and testament, attested January 28, 1777. (Return)

86. James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (London: J. Williams and J. Almon, 1766), pp. 11, 98. (Return)

87. Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 48, Robert Treat Paine’s Confession of Faith, 1749. (Return)

88. From the Last Will & Testament of Robert Treat Paine, attested May 11, 1814. (Return)

89. Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 49, Robert Treat Paine’s Confession of Faith, 1749. (Return)

90. United States Oracle (Portsmouth, NH), May 24, 1800. (Return)

91. Charles W. Upham, The Life of Timothy Pickering (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1873), Vol. IV, p. 390, from his prayer of November 30, 1828.(Return)

92. Mary Orne Pickering, Life of John Pickering (Boston: 1887), p. 79, letter from Thomas Pickering to his son John Pickering, May 12, 1796. (Return)

93. From his last will and testament, attested October 8, 1807. (Return)

94. Collected Letters of John Randolph of Roanoke to Dr. John Brockenbrough, Kenneth Shorey, editor (New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1988), p. 17, to John Brockenbrough, August 25, 1818. (Return)

95. Hugh A. Garland, The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1853), Vol. II, p. 99, to Francis Scott Key on September 7, 1818. (Return)

96. Hugh A. Garland, The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1853), Vol. 1I, p. 374. (Return)

97. Hugh A. Garland, The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1853), Vol. II, p. 106, to Francis Scott Key, May 3, 1819.(Return)

98. Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, George W. Corner, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1948), pp. 165-166. (Return)

99. Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p. 475, to Elias Boudinot on July 9, 1788. (Return)

100. Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. II, p. 936, to John Adams, January 23, 1807. (Return)

101. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and William Bradford, 1806), p. 84, Thoughts upon Female Education.”(Return)

102. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 112, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.” (Return)

103. Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. I, p. 521, to Jeremy Belknap on July 13, 1789. (Return)

104. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 93, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.” See also Rush, Letters, Vol. I, p. 578, to Jeremy Belknap on March 2, 1791. (Return)

105. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 93, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book;” see also Rush, Letters, Vol. I, p. 578, to Jeremy Belknap on March 2, 1791. (Return)

106. Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), pp. 94, 100, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.” (Return)

107. Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1896), pp. 271-273. (Return)

108. Correspondence Between Roger Sherman and Samuel Hopkins (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1889), p. 9, from Roger Sherman to Samuel Hopkins, June 28, 1790. (Return)

109. Correspondence Between Roger Sherman and Samuel Hopkins (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1889), p. 10, from Roger Sherman to Samuel Hopkins, June 28, 1790. (Return)

110. Correspondence Between Roger Sherman and Samuel Hopkins (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1889), p. 26, from Roger Sherman to Samuel Hopkins, October, 1790. (Return)

111. The Globe (Washington DC newspaper), August 15, 1837, p. 1. (Return)

112. Will of Richard Stockton, dated May 20, 1780. (Return)

113. John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: R. W. Pomeroy, 1824), Vol. IX, p. 333, Thomas Stone to his son, October 1787. (Return)

114. Joseph Story, Life and Letters of Joseph Story, William W. Story, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. II, p. 8. (Return)

115. Joseph Story, Life and Letters of Joseph Story, William W. Story, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. I, p. 92, March 24, 1801.(Return)

116. Caleb Strong, Governor of Massachusetts, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting, Prayer and Humiliation, February 13, 1813, from a proclamation in our possession, Shaw #29090. (Return)

117. Zephaniah Swift, The Correspondent (Windham: John Byrne, 1793), p. 135.(Return)

118. The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush; His “Travels Through Life” together with his Commonplace Book for 1789-1813, George W. Carter, editor (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1948), p. 294, October 2, 1810. (Return)

119. Jonathan Trumbull, Proclamation for a Day of Fasting and Prayer, March 9, 1774, from a proclamation in our possession, Evans #13210. (Return)

120. Last will and testament of Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., attested on January 29, 1785. (Return)

121. Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, A Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving, October 12, 1770, from a proclamation in our possession.(Return)

122. George Washington, The Writings of Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XV, p. 55, from his speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs on May 12, 1779. (Return)

123. George Washington, The Writings of Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XI, pp. 342-343, General Orders of May 2, 1778. (Return)

124. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. 5, p. 245, July 9, 1776 Order. (Return)

125. George Washington, The Last Official Address of His Excellency George Washington to the Legislature of the United States (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1783), p. 12; see also The New Annual Register or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1783 (London: G. Robinson, 1784), p. 150. (Return)

126. Daniel Webster, Mr. Webster’s Speech in Defence of the Christian Ministry and in Favor of the Religious Instruction of the Young. Delivered in the Supreme Court of the United States, February 10, 1844, in the Case of Stephen Girard’s Will (Washington: Printed by Gales and Seaton, 1844), p. 41. (Return)

127. Daniel Webster, The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853), Vol. I, p. 44, A Discourse Delivered at Plymouth, on December 22, 1820. (Return)

128. Daniel Webster, Address Delivered at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1843, on the Completion of the Monument (Boston: T. R. Marvin, 1843), p. 31; see also W. P. Strickland, History of the American Bible Society from its Organization to the Present Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849), p. (Return)

129. Daniel Webster, Address Delivered at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1843, on the Completion of the Monument (Boston: T. R. Marvin, 1843), p. 31; see also W. P. Strickland, History of the American Bible Society from its Organization to the Present Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849), p. (Return)

130. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), p. 300, ¶ 578. (Return)

131. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 339, “Advice to the Young,” ¶ 53. (Return)

132. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 339, “Advice to the Young,” ¶ 53. (Return)

133. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), p. 6. (Return)

134. Noah Webster, A Collection of Papers on Political, Literary, and Moral Subjects (New York: Webster and Clark, 1843), p. 291, from his “Reply to a Letter of David McClure on the Subject of the Proper Course of Study in the Girard College, Philadelphia. New Haven, October 25, 1836.” (Return)

135. Noah Webster, The Holy Bible . . . With Amendments of the Language (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1833), p. v. (Return)

136. K. Alan Snyder, Defining Noah Webster: Mind and Morals in the Early Republic (New York: University Press of America, 1990), p. 253, to James Madison on October 16, 1829. (Return)

137. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 255, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758. (Return)

138. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 245, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758. (Return)

139. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 248, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758. (Return)

140. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 276, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ’ January 2, 1758. (Return)

137. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 267, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758. (Return)

142. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 278, Sermon 15, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758. (Return)

143. John Witherspoon, The Works of the Reverend John Witherspoon(Philadelphia: William W. Woodward, 1802), Vol. III, p. 42.(Return)

144. Letters of Delegates to Congress: January 1, 1776-May 15, 1776, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1978), Vol. 3, pp. 502-503, Oliver Wolcott to Laura Wolcott on April 10, 1776.(Return)

2013-03-30T17:13:00.000-05:00

Justification by Faith and Justification by Faith Alone

Rome'sView of Justification

"The merits of Christ's death are reckoned to the believing sinner not as the immediate and all-sufficient grounds of the sinner's justification, but only as a remote "procuring" cause of that 'infused sanctifying grace' given at baptism (deleting original sin in infants and deleting original sin and past sins in adults) by which the believer would be perfected more and more, not only in this life, but fully in purgatory through the endurance of 'temporal punishment,' Only when the believer had been thus purged from all taint of sin could he be 'made righteous' and thereby be justified in God's eyes and granted the 'beatific vision.'"-John H. Armstrong, 'Justification by FaithAlone'

IS THIS JUSTIFICATION?

Hardly.

Charles Hodge summarizes the doctrine of justification with six crucial points:

1. [Justification is] an act, and not, as sanctification, a continued and progressive work.
2. It is an act of grace to the sinner. In himself he deserves condemnation when God justifies him.
3. As to the nature of the act, it is, in the first place, not an efficient act, nor an act of power. It does not produce any subjective change in the person justified. It does not effect a change of character, making those good who were bad, those holy who were unholy. That is done in regeneration and sanctification. In the second place, it is not a mere executive act, as when a sovereign pardons a criminal, and thereby restores him to his civil rights, or to his former status in the commonwealth. In the third place, it is a forensic, or judicial act, the act of a judge, not of a sovereign. That is, in the case of the sinner, or, in foro Dei, it is an act of God not in his character of sovereign, but in his character as judge. It is a declarative act in which God pronounces the sinner just or righteous, that is, declares that the claims of justice, so far as he is concerned, are satisfied, so that he cannot be justly condemned, but is in justice entitled to the reward promised or due to perfect righteousness.
4. The meritorious ground of justification is not faith; we are not justified on account of our faith, considered as a virtuous or holy act or state of mind. Nor are our works of any kind the ground of justification. Nothing done by us or wrought in us satisfies the demands of justice, or can be the ground or reason of the declaration that justice as far as it concerns us is satisfied. The ground of justification is the righteousness of Christ, active and passive, i. e., including his perfect obedience to the law as a covenant, and his enduring the penalty of the law in our stead and on our behalf.
5. The righteousness of Christ is in justification imputed to the believer. That is, is set to his account, so that he is entitled to plead it at the bar of God, as though it were personally and inherently his own.
6. Faith is the condition of justification. That is, so far as adults are concerned, God does not impute the righteousness of Christ to the sinner, until and unless, he (through grace), receives and rests on Christ alone for salvation.

The believer in Christ, justified before God through faith in Christ’s work may sing in the words of Horatius Bonar:

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
No other work, save thine, no other blood will do;
No strength, save that which is divine, can bear me safely through.

Augustus Toplady adds to this chorus of praise to God’s “grace alone” salvation:

A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on, My person and off’ring to bring.
The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.

John Calvin on the mercy of God.

2012-07-25T12:00:00.002-05:00

This is taken from John Calvin, the epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans: Romans 3:13-18

In his conclusion, [Paul] again repeats, in different words, what we stated at the beginning, namely that all wickedness flows from a disregard of God. When we have forsaken the fear of God, which is the essential part of wisdom, there is no right or purity left. In short, since the fear of God is the bridle by which our wickedness is held back, its removal frees us to indulge in every kind of licentious conduct...

David in Psalm 14:3 says that there was such perversity in men that God when looking on them all in succession, could not find even one righteous man. It therefore follows that this infection had spread into the whole human race, since nothing is hidden from the sight of God....in other psalms he complains of the wickedness of his enemies, foreshadowing in himself and his descendants a type of the kingdom of Christ. In his adversaries therefore, are are represented of all those who, being estranged from Christ are not led by his Spirit. Isaiah expressly mentions Israel, and his accusation therefore applies still more to the Gentiles.

There is no doubt that human nature is described in these words, in order that we may see what man is when left to himself, since Scripture testifies that all who are not regenerated by the grace of God are in this state.The condition of the saints would not be better unless this depravity were amended in them. That they may still, however, remember that they are not different from others by nature, they find in what remains of their carnal nature, from which they can never escape, the seeds of those evils which would continually produce their effect in them, if they were not prevented by being mortified. For this they are indebted to the mercy of God and not to their own nature.

Regeneration at Lagrange

2012-03-02T06:19:00.006-06:00

Our congregation engages in outreaches throughout the year. This year our first group outreach will be at the Lagrange College site in Colbert County Alabama. This site is where the West Point of the south was located during the Civil War. It was burned by Union Troops. There will be several thousand visitors pouring through the various displays of old dusty relics, time period demonstrations, all the while lectures about various events that took place on the mountain are being given.
Our goal is first to Glorify God while there. Secondly, we hope to distribute time period literature. Some of the literature was written during the 1860's and distributed among the troops. Gospel tracts were widely read by the soldiers looking for comfort and assurance.
As well we are planning on preaching all through the day, actual sermons dated in the civil war as well. Some are strong on regeneration, others are directed toward holy living. All in all we hope God saves souls through our efforts, but again, that He is ultimately glorified.
There is no question that lots of time and planning goes into these events, and without my wife's diligent efforts, it would never come together. Her organizing results in me NOT agonizing. Our members are pooling all their "folk" talents and planning on displaying various things like tatting, blacksmithing, quilting, homestead displays, gun smithing and much more. All the while, intertwining a gospel witness and tract distribution.
The good folks at Lagrange are pleased we are participating, and glad to be part of our efforts as well. There is no denying that religion was an active part of the Civil war, and to leave it out causes a clear conflict of interest. Our history is intertwined with our religion to a point that leaving one out from the other is like a body without breath.
Join us on the first weekend in May, 2012 at Lagrange!
http://recall-lagrange.00me.com/index.html

The Northern Kingdom

2012-01-13T08:07:00.006-06:00

As I was growing up, I remember clearly the time we got a color television set. I was in awe. I had gone to my grandparents on many occasions and they had a color set. But I remember the faces were either too green (the way my grandfather liked it) or they were too red. My dad would always try to adjust it when he was there, as he has always been the resident fixer-upper for virtually anything; a gene I did not inherit. By the time we left their home, the set was looking very realistic, but my grandfather was none too happy, because Walter Cronkite was not quite "green" enough. No worries, by the time we came back for another visit, he would have made his particular adjustments on the various color controls and brought Walt back to his envious looking self.
When we got our color set, it had an "auto color" setting. Literally, a click of a button and it was perfect. I sat transfixed on Sunday evenings watching Walt Disney's wonderful world of color programs. I didn't know it, but I was developing an inordinate affection with the television set.
Inordinancy can mean excessive, or better put, not limited to rules prescribed, or to usual bounds; becoming intemperate.
When the two tribes of Judah in Ezekiel 23 saw the Northern Kingdoms involved in their whoredoms and idol worship, instead of learning from the Northern Kingdom's mistakes, they became more wicked and fell further away from God. One would think that observing foolishness, sin or some other action would lead us away from that sin, because we would see the failings and dangers associated with them. But this is hardly the case with human nature. It is why we are commanded by Paul in Colossians to Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; Then he lists them:
fornication,
uncleanness,
inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence,
and covetousness, which is idolatry:
And then tells us WHY we should kill them: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
For me, television was a harmless recreation that I enjoyed first thing in the morning when I arose, and watched prior to school, then shortly after returning home, it was a reward if I had my homework done in a timely manner, and a regular past time on the weekends. But harmless it was not.
I found a world view quite different from the one presented by my immediate family. I was told, "we don't do those things." Or "that is not the right way" or "that will only cause you trouble." But in the midst of it, I continued watching, learning, absorbing all the while saying, "that is not what WE do." I remember when Mariann on Gilligan's Island was going through a censorship issue as to "could she bear her belly button or not" and was it acceptable to the average TV addicted society. The answer was "no" she could not do that. But today? A belly button is not only the accepted norm, but a minimum of flesh.
Today, our home is TV free. (We still own one, but it is not connected to any service that provides network access) But that does not mean we don't still watch the Northern Kingdom in all her whoredoms, and soak up her constant iniquities. No, we still have the internet, and we are bombarded with advertisements for every thing that the Northern Kingdom produces. Local video stores have all but dried up in our town due to the popularity of "internet streaming" of the latest releases. While we don't "stream" any thing from the ever popular Netflix and other competing sites, the temptation is ever present.
What is our answer to avoid the temptation of sitting on the border and watching the Northern Kingdom? Mortification. A cutting off will have to occur or our borders will not be secure. Listen to Ezekiel as he describes the result: And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
Aholibah consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. As they watched the Northern Kingdoms, Aholibah was MORE corrupt in her inordinate love. She didn't just become inordinate, but increased.
We have to admit, first we ourselves are also sinful. It is not just "bad ole' Hollywood" but it is bad ole' us as well. We, as sinners, need to live with our running shoes on, staying one step ahead of the "sins which so easily beset us" "fleeing the temptations of our youth", and "looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith."
As you make viewing choices for your family, remember to set no wicked thing before their eyes (Psalm 101:3) and don't place something before your families eyes that they cannot have, but would otherwise be sinfully tempted to take (Mark 10:19 Defraud not).
Living as lights in a dark world, as salt that has not lost its savour is a daily task, and one we would do well to pursue. Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not...

Family Integrated?

2011-11-22T10:35:00.002-06:00

There are a lot of questions about churches that are purposely integrating the family back into the full activity of worship on the Lord's day. But it affects more than just Sunday. Here are some free messages that touch on those subjects. Enjoy!
http://scottbrownonline.com/product/what-is-a-family-integrated-church/

Vision Forum

2011-11-22T08:27:00.005-06:00

There are several really good places to purchase older books that have been republished with new covers and type set. Vision forum is one of those places. Christian books are available there covering various topics. Use discernment as with any web site. www.visionforum.com