Also, Thank God for the Men Who Upheld it in America on the Occasion of the Birth of this Nation
In a post I published earlier this year, I wrote the following:
There are so many crazy things going on in the world, and each one needs a biblical solution. Solutions are available! In John 17:17, Jesus prayed to His Father for His disciples, “Sanctify them by Your truth.Your word is truth.” Earlier, He had said to a group of His followers, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We have to be willing, however, to hear and apply the wisdom the Scriptures offer.
Heinrich Hofmann
Certainly we can mine the truth directly from God’s Word. We must never hesitate to do this, but it can be extremely helpful for us us to look in the past and see examples of other men and women who followed biblical wisdom in the situations they faced. What were their challenges? How did they respond? How did they apply biblical teachings to the problems they had to address?
Contrary to the opinion that continues to gain traction in our country today, America’s Founders were wise men. Yes, they had their flaws. They were not perfect. But they were not the selfish, arrogant, pompous racists that they are so often made out to be today.
America’s Founding Fathers were not the selfish, arrogant, pompous racists that today they are so often made out to be.
John Trumbull / The Declaration of Independence
I get the sense that on days like Independence Day and on other occasions when we think of the Founders, more Americans are thinking, even subconsciously, “They were just a bunch of privileged white males. Yeah, they said all men are created equal, but they really didn’t mean it!” This reflects
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- the prejudicial attitudes of racism and sexism,
- a very, very simplistic view of history,
- a willingness to ignore reality in favor of jumping on and riding a contemporary cultural bandwagon, and, however unintentional,
- an air of superiority that is quick to judge and slow to understand.
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The Founders Were Serious About Liberty
John Hancock / John Singleton Copley / c. 1765
I can tell you with absolute confidence: the Founders of the United States of America absolutely did mean what they said in the Declaration of Independence. No, they didn’t apply it with 100 percent consistency, but neither have we applied all we say we believe to that extent, either.
Charles Carroll / Michael Laty
In another post — one I published one year ago today — I commended the Founders for being unashamed of what they believed about liberty. The reality that they were not embarrassed
is evident in this less-than-two-minute clip from an episode of the radio series “Makers of History.” The program, which spotlights the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence, can be downloaded from this page.
A Special Anniversary
You see, today — August 2, 2020 — is the 244th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On that Friday in early August during the summer of 1776 in Philadelphia when the delegates to the Second Continental Congress gathered to sign the Declaration, victory for the Colonies in the American Revolution was anything but certain. As the Declaration expressed, these men were putting their “Lives,…Fortunes, and…sacred Honor” on the line for the cause of liberty.
On this, the 244th anniversary if the signing of that great document, take a few minutes to watch this presentation on the lives of the signers.
Also, pledge that you also will work to preserve liberty in the United States, for it is under attack as never before.
This cause is worth our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor as well.
A Special Note, and an Invitation
May God bless and preserve the United States of America, and may we rediscover what the Founders meant when they used these words:
Law, Liberty, Rights, Equality, and Entitle
A new Bible study titled Principles of Liberty: Ten Biblical Truths Embedded in the Declaration of Independence explores these words and their meanings, as well as the ten biblical truths to which the title of the study alludes.
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Americans today need a heavy—and healthy—dose of truth, both from history and from God’s Word. We’re not talking about cramming anything down anyone’s throat or imposing our beliefs on anyone. We’re talking about benefitting from the insights that both history and the Bible have to offer.
Join me on a journey to mine from the Declaration of Independence ten biblical truths Americans need to rediscover and uphold anew.
Copyright © 2020 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
top image credit: The Assembly Room in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence
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