Forsaken Roots by Phil Lacy

Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were
orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three all believed in the Bible
as the divine truth, the God of scripture, and His personal intervention.
It is the same Congress that formed the American Bible Society. Immediately
after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted
to purchase and import 20,000 copies of scripture for the people of this nation.
Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still
remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death." But in current
textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is what he said: "An
appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not
fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of
nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so
sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty
God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or
give me death." These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick
Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this "It cannot be
emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by
religionists, but by Christians; not on religious, but on the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths
have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his well-worn
Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of
Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the
unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of Jesus also." Consider
these words from George Washington, the Father of our Nation, in his farewell
speech on September 19, 1796: "It is impossible to govern the world without God
and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political
prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us
with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without
religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." Was George Washington
a Christian? Consider these words from his personal prayer book: "Oh, eternal
and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash
away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by thy Holy
Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ,
that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time
obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the
whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and
thy son, Jesus Christ."
Consider these words by John Adams, our second president, who also served as
chairman of the American Bible Society. In an address to military leaders he
said, "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with
human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other." How about our first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay?
He stated that when we select our national leaders, if we are to preserve our
Nation, we must select Christians. "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."
John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President. He was also
the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and
most important role. On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "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."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth
when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much
on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if
faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our
country."
In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The Congress of the
United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used
for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold until
it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the
Nation." Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the
religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on the character of
God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded
the peculiarities of our free institutions. From no source has the author drawn
more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from
the Bible I make no apology."
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly
Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In the
original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that students seeking
entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the scriptures: "Let
every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the
main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is
eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only
foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth
wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of
him (Proverbs 2:3)." For over 100 years, more than 50% of all Harvard graduates
were pastors!
It is clear from history that the Bible and the Christian faith, were
foundational to our educational and judicial system. However, in 1947, there was
a radical change of direction for the Supreme Court. It required ignoring every
precedent of Supreme Court ruling for the past 160 years. The Supreme Court
ruled in a limited way to affirm a wall of separation between church and State
in the public classroom. In the coming years, this led to removing prayer from
public schools in 1962. Here is the prayer that was banished: "Almighty God, we
acknowledge our dependence on Thee. We beg Thy blessings upon us and our parents
and our teachers and our country. Amen."
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading was outlawed as
unconstitutional in the public school system. The court offered this
justification: "If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation,
they could and have been psychologically harmful to children." Bible reading was
now unconstitutional, though the Bible was quoted 94 percent of the time by
those who wrote our Constitution and shaped our Nation and its system of
education and justice and government.
In 1965, the Courts denied as unconstitutional the right of a student in the
public school cafeteria to bow his head and pray audibly for his food. In 1980,
Stone vs. Graham outlawed the Ten Commandments in our public schools. The
Supreme Court said this: "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments were to
have any effect at all, it would be to induce school children to read them. And
if they read them, mediated upon them, and perhaps venerated and obeyed them,
this is not a permissible objective." Is it not a permissible objective to allow
our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments? James
Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said this:
"We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of
government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political
constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves
according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
Today, we are asking God to bless America. But, how can He bless a Nation that
has departed so far from Him? Prior to September 11, He was not welcome in
America. Most of what you read in this article has been erased from our
textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about our
country's Christian roots.
You are encouraged to make copies, and share with others, so that the truth of
our nation's history will be told.

Bible Truths For Believers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bibletruths_forbelievers/







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