By Davd W. Rowell

My family stops everything to watch the series “24”. A few weeks or so ago, I was forced to look up some facts in the U.S. Constitution right before 24 started. When that famous weekly clock started ticking on my television, I found myself torn and that dry old document actually won out! Let me ask you some pointed questions.

Is America a Christian nation or not? Did it used to be? Should it be now? Do we want a “Christian government”, or a secular one?

What drove me to read the Constitution was that a colleague of mine and I found ourselves in a challenging discussion about the religious roots of American history. I was forced to “look it up”, which helped me to galvanize the facts in my own mind and to dig deeper into other historical records.

Regardless of how much influence the church (Christianity in general) once had in our nation, it has definitely lost influence and lost interest in civil government to a great degree during this century. If you take a deep look down into the pool of historical documents you will find that it was actually "the church" that started this nation. I use that term loosely here referring to no particular Christian denomination.

The pilgrims came here for the stated purpose of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the natives of this continent. That's spelled out clearly in the Mayflower Compact, which should be considered one of our earliest founding documents, “Haveing undertaken, for the glorie of god, and advancemente of the Christian faith and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia…”

Henry Wilson wanted us to keep that in mind, "Remember ever, and always, that your country was founded, not by the 'most superficial, the lightest, the most irreflective of all European races,' but by the stern old Puritans who made the deck of the Mayflower an altar of the living God, and whose first act on touching the soil of the new world was to offer on bended knees thanksgiving to Almighty God." (Former U.S. Senator Henry Wilson (1855-72), and Vice-President under Ulysses S. Grant (1873-75))

If the only U.S. history books you have ever read were the revisionist propaganda foisted on you by the public school system or most universities, I may have some real eye opening quotes to share with you. You will find them encouraging and may find some, if not all, shocking.

The church was heavily involved in writing the Declaration of Independence and the writing of the Constitution. Twenty four of the fifty six signers of the Declaration of Independence were holders of what we would call today seminary or Bible school degrees. Fifty three of the fifty five signers of the Constitution are known to have been of the Christian faith. Benjamin Franklin was a “diest” (a non-Christian doctrine) at the time of the signing, but many have pointed out the evidence of Christian faith later on in his life. Similarly, Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian (did not believe in the Trinity) early in life, but Christian leanings seemed to be part of his latter years.

The original form of our government was clearly a secular one, and I definitely agree that it should be secular. However, our national civil government clearly began as one that was based on the laws of God and was expected to be directed by Christians. The founders stated quite vociferously and clearly that "the Christian religion" is “the best of all religions” and the mores of that religion would be needed to run the country.

John Adams said it most eloquently when he said, "Statesmen my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand. ... The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty." No speific mention of Christianity there, some may say. Read on.

John Q. Adams said something that would draw gasps from many readers today, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."(John Quincy Adams, from "The Principles of Civil Government")

George Washington was also quite “politically incorrect” about it, "Do not let any one claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

James Garfield didn’t mince words about this subject either, "If the next century does not find us a great nation...it will be because those who represent the...morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."

James Madison spoke of God’s hand in forming the government of our nation saying, "It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution." (James Madison, Federalist No. 37, 11 January 1788)

Speaking of the Christian and Jewish Holy Bible Alexander Hamilton said, "That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests." Thomas Jefferson opined for posterity, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.”

Jefferson would eventually warn that "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." And: "[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore...never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market." We are in the midst of that progressive “sell out” with states’ rights giving way to the centralized national government that he warned against.

We are seeing what the founding fathers forewarned of happening now, a change in the "forms of government". The thing that most people do not realize is that the end results will also come true "they will not obtain a lasting liberty".

We can sit here like comfortable frogs in a pot of water that is slowly warming up toward a tragic boil, or we can do what Samuel Adams said, "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Those “brushfires” are the alarming words spoken to help people see where we came from and what we are headed for in the current spiritual state of the union.

God blesses even imperfect attempts at governing ourselves by his word. Clearly the Christians at the beginning of this nation were imperfect. Many even condoned slavery, though the northern churches spoke out against it. George Washington endeavored to eradicate it, "The scheme, my dear Marqs. which you propose as a precedent, to encourage the emancipation of the black people of this Country from that state of Bondage in wch. they are held, is a striking evidence of the benevolence of your Heart. I shall be happy to join you in so laudable a work."

Today we don't condone slavery. No, we just sit back and allow ourselves to become enslaved to immoral entertainment, materialism and complacency. The U.S.A. will never be a completely Christian nation, but we can be a more brightly "shining city on a hill" to other nations with God's renewed blessing.

This nation will be blessed to the extent that we do the right things. I have children who will have to inherit this country, for better or worse. I agree with Thomas Paine, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”

If I have my way and if my prayers and those who are praying with me are answered, and if God has his way, it will be better for our children. "(F)irst and above all, our thanks are due to Almighty God for the numerous benefits which he has bestowed upon this people, and our united prayers ought to ascend to Him that He would continue to bless our great Republic in time to come as he has blessed it in the past." (President James Buchanan, 1857)

"No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words 'no' and 'not' employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights." (Edmund A. Opitz)

"When the same man, or set of men, holds the sword and the purse, there is an end of liberty." (Col. George Mason, Virginia delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1787)

We're losing what we started with by allowing the government to put its ever lengthening fingers in our personal business. We need to correct the situation. That will only happen with God's answering of heartfelt prayers from repentant hearts seeking His will for this great nation, a nation controlled by those who are humble, faithful and bold in preserving and restoring truth .

I love old outspoken Patrick Henry, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ". You tell 'em Henry! Honestly, most of our citizens don't know these things because the public schools are purposely not teaching it. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves and then teach it to others. Now you know it. Tell someone. Set some brushfires of freedom!

"It is the duty of every good citizen to use all the opportunities which occur to him, for preserving documents relating to the history of our country." (Thomas Jefferson) "It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn." (George Washington)

The United States of America has become to many of us like a very old, valuable piece of jewelry, whose value is grossly underestimated upon a cursory glance. It cannot be fully appreciated until we look into the circumstances of its formation and the intricate details of its structure. After taking a serious review of the facts surrounding the original construction performed by the multiple inspired artists so long ago, one is stirred with great emotion toward carefully polishing it up, restoring its original beauty and putting it on honored display. It would be a shame not to defend it from those who would apply modern tools to it, to render it something new, something far less than what it was formed to be by the original craftsmen. God preserve the masterpiece!