Soon, another Fourth of July will be upon us. What do we celebrate on the Fourth of July? Of course, it’s America’s birthday---dating back to 1776. That’s when 56 men agreed by voice vote for the final wording of our nation’s birth certificate….the Declaration of Independence. A month later they began to sign it.
Samuel Adams said at that signing on August 1, 1776: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and with a propitious eye beholds his subjects assuming that freedom of thought and dignity of self-direction which he bestowed on them. From the rising to the setting sun, may his kingdom come!”
In an Oxford University Press book on this often-neglected founding father, author Benjamin H. Irvin, writes: “The Declaration of Independence represented in many ways the culmination of Samuel Adams’s life work.”
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the first major draft of the Declaration of Independence, penned a letter years later to Samuel Adams on March 29, 1801. He said that as he approached matters of state, he would ask himself: “[I]s this in keeping with the words of Sam Adams, the patriarch of liberty?”
Although many people today try to minimize the role of God in our nation’s founding, the fact is that the Lord is mentioned four times in the Declaration of Independence.
For example, the Declaration mentions the importance of conforming to natural law, as it refers to “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.”
Sir William Blackstone, noted 18th century British legal authority, was cited by the founding fathers many times and has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court throughout our history. He wrote the following before the Declaration mentioned “the laws of nature and of nature’s God”: "Thus, when the Supreme Being formed the universe, and created matter out of nothing, He impressed certain principles upon that matter, from which it can never depart…This will of his Maker is called the law of nature."
The Declaration also says that all men are created equal and have been endowed by their CREATOR with unalienable rights. Somebody may claim that that is not a significant remark. Perhaps it was just a meaningless sop from the founders to placate the Christian populace back home that they represented.
The extensive writings of the founders contradict that notion. And rejecting God as the source of our rights can be fatal. The 20th century was the bloodiest century in the annals of history. In the 1900s, humanity saw the rise of totalitarian governments, which were explicitly anti-God, such as the Communists or the National Socialists, where they did NOT acknowledge God-given rights---and millions died as a result.
A few years ago, a museum opened up in Washington, D. C. that commemorates those killed by the Communists. In the 20th century alone, the figures were staggering.
The museum website notes: “The Victims of Communism Museum is dedicated to commemorating the more than 100 million people killed by Communism around the world and to those pursuing freedom from totalitarian regimes.”
They also write: “Witness the rise of Communism, the terror of Lenin and Stalin, the growth of the tragic Gulag system, the eastward expansion of Communism, and share in the inspiring stories of those fighting against the most deadly ideology man has ever created.” Communism explicitly rejected God, and attempted to build a manmade utopia.
But what about the victims of National Socialism, better known as the Nazis, in Germany? Some people try to blame Christianity for the rise of Nazis---despite all the Christians who risked their lives and paid the ultimate price in opposition to Nazi Germany.
But this distorts the record, as the Nazis were also explicitly anti-God. Adolf Hitler once said, “The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew.”
In a third reference to God in the Declaration, the framers said that they have no recourse but to appeal to “the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of [their] intentions.” Dr. Peter Lillback, founder of Providence Forum, notes that since the vast majority of the founders were professing Christians, and since they were well-versed in the Bible, and since the Scriptures teach that Jesus is the Judge of the world, this is a reference to Jesus in the Declaration of Independence.
The final reference to the Almighty is at the end of the document, where they say that they were relying on the help of Divine Providence. Providence is an old-fashioned way referring to the Biblical God, who answers prayer.
The framers declared independence from Great Britain, but at the same time, they declared dependence upon Almighty God. So Happy Birthday, America.
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