Shoulder To Shoulder #1254 -- 8/30/21---- "The Tale of Two Systems" (Pt 10 -- System Two and Its Origin: The Founders' Other Primary Resources -- Pt 5)
Posted by: lifeunlimited1010 <lifeunlimited1010@...>
Shoulder To Shoulder, As We Fight the Good Fight of Faith"
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is a weekly letter of encouragement
Bob has written since 1997, covering many topics
selected to motivate people to be strong students of the Word and
courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ.
It is a personal letter of encouragement to you, written solely to
help "lift up hands that hang down".
"The world
will not be destroyed by those who do evil,
but by those who watch them without doing anything."
-- Albert Einstein
“There is a common, worldly kind
of Christianity in this day,
which many have, and think they have -- a cheap
Christianity
which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice, which
costs nothing, -- and is worth nothing.” –
J. C. Ryle
"Now
these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica,
for they received the word with great eagerness, examining
the
Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
-- Dr. Luke (Acts 17:11)
Shoulder To Shoulder #1254 -- 8/30/21
Title: "The Tale of Two Systems" (Pt 10 -- System Two and Its Origin: The Founders' Other Primary Resources -- Pt 5)
My Dear Friend and Fellow Kingdom Seeker:
Greetings again from the lush and cool White Mountains of eastern
Arizona on a spectacular early Monday morning. Currently the skies are
almost completely void of clouds, but within five or six hours we'll
have another refreshing rain. Throughout most of Arizona -- with the
exception of a few regions of the state -- rainfall has been
significantly above normal. The monsoon season (usually mid-July
through mid-September) brought significant amounts of rainfall in much
of the state in July and August. Both mountainous and desert areas,
particularly along the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains have gotten up
to 200% of normal amounts of rain. Yuma, for example (where we now call
"home"), got almost 2" in just a couple hours, while their normal
accumulation for the entire years is just over 3". However, within the
next few weeks things will probably change as prospects of rain (and
winter snow in the mountains) may diminish in the fall and winter with
another La Niña episode looming.
In the meantime, the area around us is more lush and green than we can
remember in the past six years we've been ministering in Greer. At
8,500 feet elevation, nighttime temperatures usually drop into the high
40's to low 50's and daytime highs seldom reach past 85 degrees. The
mountainsides -- especially the grassy cinder cones (sometimes called
"sputter cones") are ablaze with shades of grassy greens dotted by the
rich dark greens of Junipers and scattered Pines.
The roadsides and vistas of high prairie pasture land are awash with
brilliant golden yellows, whites, lavenders, pinks, and rich deep
burgundies as hundreds of wildflower species seem to compete to see
which is the most beautiful. The mountain peaks and ridges display the
numerous green hues of different conifer species with ever-increasing
patches of Aspens progressively reclaiming areas impacted by past forest
fires. And, as the season progresses, those Aspens will show off their
color changes from soft golden shades to bright orange and scattered
blazing red.
Even wildlife has been more visible this Summer. We've seen more Elk
and Bighorn Sheep this season than just about any of the six we've been
here. Mule deer and Antelope have also been abundant. It is common to
see deer grazing in the meadow along the east side of town and Elk lying
in the grassy meadow or in the shadows of the wooded areas. Just this
past Saturday as Jo Ann and I drove up to Alpine to celebrate one of our
chapel member's 90th birthday, Jo Ann spotted three groups of Elk
immediately above the highway as it cut its way through the mountain
pass.
In just over four weeks Jo Ann and I will leave this amazing mountain
valley to begin our winter ministry in the dry Sonoran Desert of Yuma
alongside the tiny Colorado River barely qualifying to be called a
river. In its own way, it is also an ideal place to spend Fall and
Winter months. Now that we call Yuma "home", we will probably arrive
there just two or three days after our final service in Greer on
September 26th. We'll spend a month getting settled into our "new" home
before kicking the season off on November 7th at Chapel de Oro.
It's hard to believe we have only four Sundays left in the Greer Chapel
season. It has been an amazing season thus far notwithstanding our
attendance has remained significantly lower than normal due to health
and "aging out" of some regulars as well as the remnants of COVID
keeping some people still too fearful and wary. While a normal season
shows us getting as high as the 70's, we have reached the 40's only one
time. Yesterday was a surprising 27. Our online viewing via YouTube,
however, has remained quite high.
Today I want to visit again the extraordinary role that pastors and
evangelists played in the formation of our government. This has been
one of the most arduous and hindered letter I've written in a long
time. It is now late Tuesday evening after some 20 hours of research
and writing, the sunshine has turned to steady rain, and the internet
remains slower than a snail in cold molasses, and I have tried literally dozens of times to send to you.
share with you, and I'll do that right after you consider . . .
THIS 'N' THAT:
+ ALTERNATIVE TO WHAT'S APP: Many peopleare cutting their umbilical cords to retailers and social
media giants who are known for supporting anti-Anerican or
unbiblical enterprises and communications -- such as
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, etc. I have looked at
many options since I am doing the same thing. One thing my
family and I have recently left is What's App, and now use a
secure and encrypted service called Signal. I would
recommend that you check it out.
+ Head of Chaplains at Harvard Is An Atheist:
Well, nothing is surprising anymore. This is a far cry from how Harvard
began as a Christian institution of higher learning. Go to
https://www.afa.net/the-stand/culture/2021/08/harvard-hires-atheist-to-lead-chaplains/?fbclid=IwAR09PNPbC7ZfEqzKLNtosRbkN6eRS8XQv1RhywUayfmD38MIWo7ktKV05hI
.
+ The Process of Afghanistan's Fall: I am by no means trying to make any kind of a political statement, but the Washington Post
has a "blow-by-blow" detailed account of what led to the collapse of
the Afghan government and military and the U.S. pull-out that
facilitated the process. I'm seldom a WAPO reader, but found this
unusually interesting. If this type of detail appeals to you, I think
you'll find the article quite interesting. Go to
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/28/taliban-takeover-kabul/ .
Another link that gives a bit more detail is
https://patriotalerts.com/2021/08/shocker-wapo-says-u-s-given-chance-to-secure-kabul-but-biden-wouldnt-allow-it/
.
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> "Unless there is a God who is Himselfgoodness and justice, there can be no moral basis for the law.
No human standard--no person, no group of people no document
is immune to challenge." -- Arthur Leff, Yale Law
School
> "They [the colonists] brought with them ... a form of Christianity, which I
cannot better describe, than by styling it a democratic and
republican religion ... From the earliest settlement of the
emigrants, politics and religion contracted an alliance which
has never been dissolved." -- Alexis de Tocqueville
> "Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts
-- the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims." -- Josiah Hotchkiss (The Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, 1895)
> "“The ministers of the Revolution were, like their Puritan
predecessors, bold and fearless in the cause of their country. No class
of men contributed more to carry forward the Revolution and to achieve
our independence than did the ministers. . . . By their prayers,
patriotic sermons, and services [they] rendered the highest assistance
to the civil government, the army, and the country.” – B. F. Morris, (Historian, 1864)
> “Mr. Otis, understanding the foibles of human nature
advanced one shrewd position which seldom fails to promote popular
Commotions, that ‘it was necessary to secure the black Regiment.’ These
were his words and his meaning was to engage ye dissenting Clergy on his
Side…. Where better could he fly for aid than to the Horns of the
Altar?… This order of Men … like their Predecessors of 1641 … have been
unceasingly sounding the yell of rebellion in the ears of an ignorant
and deluded People.” -- Peter Oliver, (18th Century British sympathizer who coined the term, "Black Robe Regiment")
> "Without the Black Regiment, there is absolutely no doubt
that we would still be a Crown colony, with no Declaration of
Independence, no U.S. Constitution, no Bill of Rights, and little
liberty. . . . Their understanding of the principles of both Natural
and Revealed Law was so proficient, so thorough, and so sagacious that
their conscience would let them do nothing else." -- Moira Crooks
> "“You may say that as a clergyman nothing can excuse my
conduct. I am a clergyman, it is true, but I am a member of society as
well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as any man. I
am called by my country to its defense. The cause is just and noble.
Were I a Bishop … I should obey without hesitation; and as far am I from
thinking that I am wrong, I am convinced it is my duty so to do — a
duty I owe to my God and my Country.” -- John Peter Muhlenberg (Revolutionary War Pastor)
> “It is the duty of the clergy to accommodate their
discourses to the times, to preach against such sins as are most
prevalent, and recommend such virtues as are most wanted. For example,
if exorbitant ambition and venality are predominant, ought they not to
warn their hearers against those vices? If public spirit is much wanted,
should they not inculcate this great virtue? If the rights and duties
of Christian magistrates and subjects are disputed, should they not
explain them, show their nature, ends, limitations, and restrictions,
how muchsoever it may move the gall of Massachusetts?” -- John Adams (Signer of Declaration of Independence)
> "If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is
responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the
pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly,
the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in
religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls
of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become
so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to
fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it." -- Charles G. Finney
THE BLACK ROBE REGIMENT -- ITS SIGNIFICANCE:
Irregardless of the longstanding trail of recorded documentation, there
are still those who -- exposing their own ignorance or anti-religious
bias -- continue insisting that ministers of the Gospel had little or no
effect on the development of our national founding documents. They
seem to be "intentionally oblivious" to the influence that
pastors and evangelists had on our national birth. This is not a new
thought, for as early as 1864, historians such as Joel Tyler Headley
pointed out this resistance to admitting our spiritual roots. In His
book, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (1864, Strait Gate Publications, Charlotte, NC), he wrote, . . .
"NOTWITHSTANDING the numberless books that have been written on the
American Revolution, there is one feature of it which has been sadly
overlooked. I mean the religious {i.e., primarily the Christian element}
element.
"In this respect there is not a single history of that great
struggle which is not so radically defective as to render the charge
against it of incompleteness a valid one. This omission on the part of
historians, seems the more remarkable from the fact that common belief,
the universal impression, is against it.
"There has scarcely been a celebration of the day on which our
independence was declared, in which this religious {i.e., Christian}
element is not referred to as constituting one of the chief features of
the Revolution, yet it receives a subordinate place in history.
"One reason of this, doubtless, is, that it did not enter into the
machinery of political or military life. It was not an organized force
that could be numerically calculated or physically disposed of in making
outward achievements.
After illustrating his point by imagining the Crusades
without mention of religion or the English Revolution without Cromwell,
he went on to state, . . .
". . . it is not on that account to be overlooked. He who forgets or
under-estimates the moral forces that uphold or bear on a great
struggle, lacks the chief qualities of a historian. It is
unquestionably true that, if the clergy of New England had from the
outset taken the decided and determined stand against the cause of the
colonies, which they did for it, the result would have been totally
different.
"Why then should not they and their sermons, addresses, and prayers,
have as prominent a place it the history of the Revolution, as town
committees of safety, and local petitions, and resolutions, and
remonstrances, which the historian thinks so necessary to the
completeness of his narrative."
Publisher and Editor Clarence Vance said essentially the same thing in the introduction to Samuel Seabury's Letters of a Westchester Farmer, published in 1930. Vance noted that . . .
"The lack of appreciation of the religious factor in American
history is at least partly due to the general historian's unfamiliarity
with the records of religious bodies. Not only do these records, for
the revolutionary period alone, constitute a formidable number, but they
are less available than those pertaining to the political, economic,
and military factors. There is also likely to be less understandin of
the significance of thought and feeling in any revolutionaryera than of
military operations and political maneuvering, but opinions and
prejudices are facts with which the historian must recon. The
lon-standing antipathy on the part of historians, bitten by the bug of
economic determinism, to giving religion any consideration in any part
of our history is too well known to need comment."
That lack of knowledge -- or interest, for that matter -- does not negate the significance of "The Black Robe Regiment" and its role in the fight for independence. As far as we can tell, the term itself originated with British
Loyalist Peter Oliver. Born in Boston on March 26, 1713, Oliver
graduated from Harvard College in 1730 and had a Boston importing
business with his brother Andrew for several years before buying an
iron works factory in Middleborough, MA, where he manufactured
everything from household items to cannonballs.
Peter was extremely
loyal to the British Crown, -- probably for economic more than
political or religious reasons -- thus eventually being appointed as
Chief
Justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts in 1772. He was one
of the three judges who presided over the trials following the
Boston Massacre, and before whom John Adams argued in defense of the
British soldiers.
He was so intimidated and angered over the extraordinary
influence that pastors had over the citizenry that he used the term
"Black Robe Regiment" in describing the clergy to the British Crown,
seeing them as a threat and nemesis to British interests. He
eventually became so disenfranchised and infuriated with
revolutionary developments that he actually moved permanently to
England in 1776.
The term was his backhanded sarcasm of the black
robes that clergy would normally preach in at that time, and it soon
was used among the loyalists and even in the British King's court.
It is said that King George III felt that the ministers were a
greater threat to the British Crown that was General Washington and the
Revolutionary Army. Many if not most of
the British authorities and other loyalists at that time blamed the
pastors for American Independence. Even a handful of modern
historians have had the courage to voice that belief.
THE BLACK ROBE REGIMENT -- ITS IMPORTANCE:
In his November 16, 2018 post entitled, The Black Regiment Led The Fight In Our War For Independence, Pastor Wayne C. Sedlak wrote, "British
sympathizers (Loyalists), so named them because of the black robes worn
by the ministers when they ascended their pulpits each Lord's Day. The
name 'stuck'. Colonial enemies knew that the seeds of what the British
called 'sedition'' or 'revolution' were being sown in the pulpits of
America. Without the outspoken, tenacious and courageous leadership
exhibited by the pastors of the 'Black Regiment', it is doubtful whether
American independence could ever have been achieved."
There was actually a reason for Peter Oliver to be so alarmed over the
influence that the American clergy had on the American Revolution.
Whether it be the earliest voices of people like William and Gilbert
Tennent, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield -- as we considered in
my previous letter -- or others, some of whom we'll consider now, their
impact was noticeable . . . and exceptionally effective.
I am certainly no authority on early American history, but from my
perspective as an amateur, it appears that the pastors of the Revolution
had some serious influence and effect on the colonists in five ways
----
1. They were preachers who trained and educated even more pastors,
future educators, and political leaders to populate the colonies;
2. They were theologians who entered and expanded the educational field itself as school administrators and professors;
3. They were pastors unafraid to actually engage in politics itself, often themselves holding office;
4. They included pastors who even entered the military forces as chaplains, leaders and commanders;
5. They were strong moral "trumpets" who preached socially and
politically charged sermons from both their pulpits and even legislative
bodies.
When you think about it, what more qualified people are there in a
culture to have influence on the social order than clergy? Who else
could stir up the patriotic spirit and determination of the colonists
even more than the voices of Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas
Paine? After all, in colonial days, the . . .
1. Preachers were like the sons of Isaachar, "men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do" (I Chron 12:32).
2. Preachers were grounded in scripture, understanding the social and moral applications of biblical truth.
3. Preachers were "people" people by virtue of their divine callings to minister to others through the Word and ministry.
4. Preachers were men of conviction who backed up their conviction with unwavering courage.
5. Preachers were men who saw the existence of America through the biblical prism of eternity.
Sadly, it's not the case now, but it was true until the latter Twentieth
Century here in America. Even then you had people like Billy Graham,
Cardinal O'Conner, Chuck Swindol, and other prominent men.
THE BLACK ROBE REGIMENT -- ITS OPPONENTS:
No doubt there were many other pastors -- most notably from the
state-established Church of England -- who were not sympathetic to those
other preachers who were either like Anglican preacher George
Whitefield or those from Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregationalist
backgrounds. Some historians sympathetic to the Church of England and
opposed to the more evangelical theology of "The Black Robe Regiment" preachers
claim that there were at least 180 clergy Loyalists who strongly
opposed what these patriot preachers were doing. The
http://www.stlukesmuseum.org website carried an interesting blog entitled, God And Country -- Loyalist Clergy in which the author stated, . . .
"The Revolutionary War created a dilemma for clergyman who had
taken an oath of loyalty to the head of the Church of England, his
Majesty King George III. By the 1770’s English clergy were facing a
stark choice, stay and join the patriot cause or go back home to England
to maintain their status within the Church of England. But, some
Loyalist Clergy also decided to stay. Patriots within the Church were
often making life difficult for these Loyalist Rectors. Confrontation
even within the context of worship was not unheard of and the conflict
could divide congregations. . . . The conflict would divide families
and religious communities, especially in Virginia where the Established
Church was central to the Community’s life for more than 160 years."
In similar
fashion, Clarence Vance also pointed out in his introductory essay to
Seabury's book that historians have generally overlooked the important
influence that religion had leading up to and during the American
Revolution. He made the claim that the theological battle and also the
issue of a free church vs. the State Church of England as "one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of its underlying causes." He went on to state, . . .
"To any historian studying chiefly the religious records of
Colonial America, as many others have studied the political, it would
appear that the religious strife between the Church of England and the
Dissenters furnished the mountain of combustible material for the great
conflagration, while the disputes over stamp, tea and other taxes and
regulations acted merely as the matches of ignition."
Many of the loyalists who opposed the message and agenda of "The Black Robe Regiment" did
so because of theological differences, but a huge majority opposed them
because of their loyalty to the Church of England -- who's head, by the
way, was none other than King George III. They, for a confusing
variety of reasons, remained loyal to the British Crown and strongly
opposed to the influence of their "more revolutionary" counterparts.
In his 2016 dissertation for his Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University, entitled The Church Militant: The American Loyalist Clergy and the Making of the British Counterrevolution, 1701-92, Peter W. Walker gave this assessment in the paper's introduction. He stated, . . .
"In May 1773, on the eve of the American Revolution, John
Sayre preached to a convention of Anglican clergy assembled in the city
of New York. These sermons usually discussed the state of the Church of
England in America and the nature of the mission facing its clergy.
Sayre chose to emphasise the suffering, persecuted condition of what
he called 'our established church.' 'In this new world,' he lamented,
'we behold the church in an unparalleled situation.' Without the
blessing of a resident bishop, it was 'like a system without a centre,' a
pale shadow of its parent church. These 'present humiliating
circumstances' could only be, 'a punishment on her children'."
Walker went on to state, . . .
"It is hard to sympathise with Sayre’s conviction that colonial
American Anglicans were weak, suffering, and persecuted. The
eighteenth-century Church of England thought of itself as a powerful,
established state church. In Britain, the church was an entrenched
pillar of the political establishment, a principal component of the
accumulated 'old corruption' that liberal reformers would whittle down
in the half-century following American independence. . . .
"[I]t is difficult to reconcile the idea of colonial Anglicans as
powerless victims with the wide array of very real privileges they
enjoyed. These included the financial backing of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) and the political
support of the many colonial governors, office-holders, and imperial
administrators who were members of the Church of England.
"Finally, the idea sits uneasily with American Anglicans’ subsequent
history as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, which
became the church of the social and economic elite. . . . . In the
southern colonies of Maryland and Virginia, Anglicans comprised a large
majority of the population and retained many of the political privileges
they enjoyed in England. "
John D. Wilsey wrote an article for the November 12, 2018 issue of Christianty Today, entitled These Pastors Loved America So Much, They Wanted It to Stay British. The article was a review of a book by Gregg L. Frazer that was released the previous month entitled, God against the Revolution: The Loyalist Clergy's Case against the American Revolution. In his review, Wilsey stated, . . .
"While biblical authority was paramount to the Loyalist cause,
legal, rational, and practical arguments were also essential. The
Loyalists acknowledged innate hierarchies in human societies. They also
recognized the authority of Parliament in governing the colonies,
invoking historical precedents to challenge the Patriot claim that
Parliament had never attempted to regulate the colonies’ internal
affairs. They argued not only that Parliament had the right to make laws
for the colonies, but also that the Continental Congresses were
themselves arbitrary and illegal.
"According to Loyalist pastors, the colonies existed in a dependent
relationship with the mother country and ought to have regarded
themselves as Britain’s loyal children. Britain, they argued, had
undertaken heroic efforts to rid the North American continent of threats
from the French, and the colonists ought to show gratitude in the form
of affection and obedience to its lawful commands. As for the hated
taxes and regulations that Parliament had levied on the colonies, they
dismissed them as a mere pittance.
"True, according to Jonathan Boucher, many of the 'best &
dearest rights … have been mercilessly invaded by Parliament,' and the
Proclamation of 1763 (forbidding settlement west of the Appalachians)
was a 'very impolitic, as well as unjust' action taken by an imperfect
government. And Zubly preached that the British government had 'wasted
British blood and treasure to alienate America and Great Britain.'
"But rebellion was sinful, and furthermore, the colonists could have
used legal avenues to plead their case to Parliament and the king.
Instead, while the colonists were condemning their rightful sovereign as
a tyrant, they were hypocritically persecuting the Loyalists among
them, depriving them of their property, their rights, and often their
lives."
THE "KERUX" FACTOR:
In juxtaposition to the Loyalists' argument, the preachers of the Black
Robe Regiment saw things very differently -- both biblically and
politically. Perhaps a look at the understanding of the Apostle Paul
would be helpful at this point. He often used a term from the Greco
Roman world to
describe the role of a preacher -- be he pastor, evangelist, or
missionary.
It was the Greek term, "kerux", describing the role of an
imperial herald or "ambassador" I suppose you could say. He was the
emperor's herald or official spokesman sent to cities and provinces to
announce the decrees, laws, and will of the emperor himself. This herald of the king had four primary elements to his message:
1. He, the "Kerux", was to
announce to the people how they must order, arrange, and carry out their
affairs (you could call it the "LAW") in preparing for the kng's
upcoming arrival.
2. The "Kerux" (herald) was also responsible to declare any condition or
conduct that was displeasing to the king (we could call it "SIN").
3. The
herald was also to announce and explain any remedies the king might
mandate (this could be described as "REPENTANCE").
4. His final duty,
should the first three not be heeded was to announce any sanctions which
would be implement edif the three previous directives were not obeyed
(this we would identify as "JUDGMENT").
Now, the "Kerux" (herald) had no self-generated authority of his own, but he DID have the absolute authority both of and
from the king to announce such directives, remedies and sanctions, and
no other earthly authority of any kind could legally or safely abuse
him. Nor could they ever disregard his proclamations commissioned by the
king.
Such was the role an innumerable members of the "Black Robe Regiment"
believed, both preceding and during the days of the American Revolution. Their
discourses from Their "King", the Lord Jesus Christ, were to be
heeded -- not because some earthly king had sent them
with the message, but because the colonists, most of whom had strong
religious backgrounds and likely owned and read read a Bible, knew full
well to be the
authority with which these revered "men in black" spoke. They were the
most respected and trusted men in the community.
There
is no possible way to do even a thumbnail bio on all of them, for there
were thousands scattered all across the thirteen colonies. I have
gleaned powerful descriptions of several hundred through diligent
research. It has become almost an obsession with me -- I so admire
these courageous voices from the past that still have much to say -- even to our
generation. Perhaps these brief descriptions of a few will stir our
own hearts.
So, in addition to people such as William Tennent and his four preacher
sons, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield, there were other "point
men" -- "Kerugs", if you please -- preparing the way for the powerful
preaching that would fuel and propel the colonists into both the First Great Awakening, and also their bold,
courageous, and very risky opposition against the British Crown.
THE BLACK ROBE REGIMENT -- SOME OF ITS VOICES:
While the vast majority of preachers did not actually physically fight in the
Revolutionary War, some of them actually did more than
teach the principles that led to independence. They also
fought or otherwise served for the cause of independence.
There are dozens of examples where pastors went to battle.
Because, outside of the role of military chaplain, we have
no example of or occasion for such military action . . . at
least not yet, . . . I'll only refer to some
examples. My primary hope is that America's preachers will
at least preach with the same patriotic intensity for the
rescue of our nation that some of our Founding Fathers did
for her birth.
Here
are more brief sketches of how many pastors rose to the occasion and
impacted the ultimate outcome of our fight for independence. Any one of
them is worthy of deeper and more thorough research into their lives
and messages. First off, . . .
+ Samuel Davies: -- The
Rev. Samuel Davies was one such colonial "kerux", and consciously saw
himself as an Imperial herald of the King of all Kings and the Lord,
"King Jesus". An evangelist and fourth president of Princeton
University, he was convinced that it was his duty to expose every
element of corruption, sin,and evil that violated God's Righteous Law.
It was actually his preaching that was an impressive forerunner that
led up to the powerful preaching of the Black Robe Regiment that was to
follow.
On one occasion the King of England had actually attended one of his
services. After all, Davies' fame had reached the attention of the King
himself. After a period of time listening to Davies, the king and his entourage stood up
to leave, causing no small disturbance among the audience as the gaze of
the people switched from Davies to the King. Noting that the King had
disrupted his message and kings were accustomed to being rude, , Davies
directed his gaze toward to the king and declared directly to the King,
. . .
"When the lion roars, the beasts of the field tremble. When the Lord speaks, the kings of the earth are silent!"
The Encyclopedia Virginia website described Davis in this way: -- "Davies
was a skilled orator whose sermons were filled with vivid language and
punctuated with passionate calls for conversion; his rhetorical style
influenced future revolutionary and Governor Patrick Henry, who
as a boy accompanied his mother to Davies’s church. Unlike other
itinerant preachers of his day, Davies worked within the confines
English law set for dissenters, and in doing so established no fewer
than eight licensed meetinghouses in colonial Virginia. Davies also
wrote poetry as a means of spreading God’s word, and was one of the
first colonial Americans to compose hymns."
Davies was not known to pull any punches when he preached. During the
French and Indian War, the colonists had been severely defeated at just
about every point. In fact, the defeats were so bad that many simply
fled from their call of duty out of pure cowardice. When he learned of
the defeat and the many who fled the battles,
Davies went to the pulpit and confronted their sin of cowardice in the
face of
duty, preaching one of the most compelling sermons in history (1758).
It was so powerful and persuasive that it was reprinted over and over in
newspapers and "broadsides" and literally helped reverse
the tide of that war. In that sermon he declared, . . .
"Such, my brethren, such, alas! is the
present state of our country. It bleeds in a thousand veins...And, in
such circumstances, is it not our duty, in the sight of God, is it not a
work to which the Lord loudly calls us, to take up arms for the defense
of our country?
"Our countrymen, in general, have acted as if beings of their
importance and merit might certainly rest in the quiet, unmolested
possessions of their liberty and property without anyone daring to
disturb them, and without their doing anything for their own defense; or
as if neither God nor man could strip them of their enjoyments. What
vain, self confident presumption, what intolerable insolence is this, in
a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, who have forfeited every
blessing, even the ground they tread upon and the air they breathe in,
and who live merely by unmerited grace and bounty of God?
"Ye that complain of the burden of our public taxes; ye that love
ease and shrink from the dangers of war; ye that wish to see peace
restored once more; ye that would be happy beyond the grave and live
forever attend to my proposal. It is this: -- A Thorough National
Reformation." -- Mortimer J. Adler, The Annals of America, vol 1.)
In researching Davies' life and looking at all his accomplishments and
the powerful influence he had on colonial America, I was stunned to
discover that he died at age 37. I would encourage you to learn more
about him from the Encyclopedia Virginia website at
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/davies-samuel-1723-1761/ .
Fueled and encouraged by Davies and other such people, the baton was
then handed off to literally thousands of other courageous and principled
preachers leading up to and during the Revolution itself -- preachers
such as . . .
+ Rev. Samuel Langdon
(1723-1797) -- Langdon was a native of Boston, MA, and a graduate of
Harvard College (now University), fellow graduate with Samuel Adams in
1740. He became the pastor of the Congregational Church in Hampton
Falls, NH, preaching with boldness
and conviction regarding what was going on in the tyrannical
British control of his country. One historian and author described
Langdon as ". . . a very zealous Whig. His bold and open opposition
to the measures of the British government, rendered him highly
acceptable to the patriots of New England, . . ." Based on Isaiah 1:26, Langdon preached a powerfully persuasive indictment on "Government Corrupted By Vice". Sermons like that quickly drew him into the limelight as a significant patriot preacher.
New Hampshire, the state to whom he had moved earlier, had wavered on
its ratification of the new Constitution, with opposition growing
stronger by the day. The state ratification assembly was delayed as the
opposition maneuvered a move to Concord in an attempt to gain more
support for rejecting the newly written national Constitution.
However, in keeping with New Hampshire's tradition that each session of
the legislature should open with an “election sermon,” to be delivered
by a clergyman chosen by the legislature, it set things in motion for
the "sermon that persuaded" to be preached prior to the legislative session in which it would be decided.
Langdon was asked to preach that sermon on June 5th. He was also a
delegate to the ratifying convention and used the opportunity to give
his strong support to constitutional government. On June 22nd, he gave
a lengthy discourse -- some called it a "fiery sermon" -- on "The Republic of the Israelites as an Example to the American States". Using examples from the Old Testament, Langdon described the government delivered by God to Moses as one “settled on republican principles” and
expounded on how those principles were reflected in the legislative,
executive, and judicial structures and processes of ancient Israel.
While New Hampshire had delayed voting on ratifying the Constitution,
Maryland and South Carolina proceeded, thus becoming the seventh and
eighth States respectively to ratify. New Hampshire’s earlier
adjournment had inadvertently resulted in its being the ninth state to
ratify the Constitution – which was the final ninth State that was
required to inaugurate the new government under the Constitution of the
United States, ratified by “We the people.”
Most historians agree that Langdon's sermon swayed the delegates at the
New Hampshire assembly to ratify, and as a result, the Constitution and
its accompanying form of government became a reality, thanks in large
part to Samuel Langdon. For that reason and others, he was highly
revered throughout the colonies. He was also appointed as Successor to
President Samuel Locke to Harvard College, serving as the institution's
fourth President. .
Like
other members of "The Black Robe Regiment", his sermons were printed in
area newspapers and also
printed in booklet form for distribution. Langdon was one of the
strongest theological and academic voices of the Revolution. He was a
pastor that engaged theologically, in academia, and in politics --
without apology or any sense that doing so was wrong.
+ Rev. Jacob Duche'(1737-1798) --
Duché was born in Philadelphia in 1737, the son of Colonel Jacob Duché,
Sr. (later mayor of Philadelphia from 1761–1762) and the grandson of
Anthony Duché, a French Huguenot. He was educated at the Philadelphia
Academy and then was in the first class of the College of Philadelphia
(now the University of Pennsylvania).
Already proficient in the languages, he served as a tutor of both Greek
and Latin. Following his graduation there as valedictorian in 1757, he
returned to England and studied briefly at Cambridge University and soon
thereafter was ordained as an Anglican clergyman by the Bishop of
London. Sometime during the next two years, he then returned to
Philadelphia.
Duche' was known for his strong preaching on social and political issues
from the pulpit. In 1771 he published a series of letters under the
signature of Tamoc Caspipina, dealing specifically with the English
politics of the day. They were later published in a single volume in
several editions. However, the thing that brought him to national
prominence is when he was asked to come to Carpenters' Hall during the
First Continental Congress in September, 1774, to lead the opening
prayers.
Opening the session on the 7th of that month, he read the 35th Psalm,
and then broke into extemporaneous prayer. I hesitate for the sake of
space to include the prayer, but it made such an impact that I think you
and I need to read it. He prayed, . . .
"O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and
Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth
and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms,
Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these
our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor
and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be
henceforth dependent only on Thee,
"To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to
Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou
alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy
nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field;
defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of
the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their
sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts,
constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved bands in
the day of battle!
Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this
honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest
foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order,
harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice,
religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve
the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them
and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou
seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting
glory in the world to come.
"All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen."
His prayer and demeanor were so powerful that John Adams wrote to his
wife, Abigail, stating that the experience was so enrapturing that it
appeared as if heaven's skies opened up to reveal God's glory. This was
the first prayer ever prayed in the U.S. Congress, and the practice
became an annual tradition still observed in the U.S. Senate although
secular liberals voted to discontinue the practice in the House of
Representatives a few years ago.
Duche' was so committed to the formation of the United States that when
the Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4, 1776, the church
vestry introduced a resolution that the name of King George III of
Great Britain was to no longer be read in the prayers of the church. In
response, Duché complied, and crossed out all prayers from his Book of
Common Prayer that included the King's name. This act was actually an
act of treason against England, and extremely dangerous for any Anglican
clergyman in that each had taken an oath of loyalty to the King. Just
scant days later, on July 9, Congress elected him its first official
chaplain.
The following September,1777, the British occupied Philadelphia and
Duché was immediately arrested by General William Howe. After being
detained because of the seriousness of his actions, Ducke' was later
released, and, for some reason reverted back to being a Loyalist to the
King and a propagandist for the British.
At that time he wrote a letter to General George Washington, who was
camped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and begged him to lay down arms
and negotiate for peace with the British. Duche' had become adamantly
opposed to the idea of military action against Britain. This, of
course, moved Duche' from being a hero of the Revolutionary cause to
becoming a treasonous outcast in the new United States. He was convicted
of high treason to the State of Pennsylvania, his estate was
confiscated, and he fled to England.
On October 1, 1777, less than a month after his actions, Congress
appointed joint chaplains. One was William White, who had succeeded
Duche' at Christ Church in Philadelphia, and the other was George
Duffield, pastor of Third Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.
Upon Duche's return to England, he was appointed chaplain to the Lambeth
orphan asylum, and quickly developed a reputation as an eloquent
preacher. He didn't to return to America until 1792, after he had
suffered a stroke. Even though he was opposed to the war, he still
preached strongly on the freedoms the colonists desired, and preached on
"The Duties of Standing Fast In Our Liberties" based n Gal 5:1.
Duche' died in 1798 in Philadelphia and was buried in St. Peter's
churchyard. A year later, his daughter, Elizabeth Sophia Duché married
Captain John Henry in 1799. Ironically, Henry was an Army officer and
political adventurer who was indirectly instrumental in the declaration
of war on Great Britain by the United States in 1812.
+ Rev. Jonas Clark: -- Another of the countless examples of "The Black Robe Regiment" is the
Rev. Jonas Clark. On April 19, 1775, 700 British troops
were sent to confiscate the Colonists' military supplies
thought to be stored in Concord, MA. They were also to
capture Sam Adams and John Hancock reportedly in nearby
Lexington. Paul Revere had already arranged for the "one if
by land, two if by sea" signal to alert people of any
British troop advance. The previous night the lantern's
alarm was given, and Revere, William Dawes, and others went
separate directions sounding the warning that the British
were coming.
As Paul Revere was making his famous ride through the Lexington countryside yelling, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” he
was actually heading for a particular house; -- the house of pastor
Jonas Clark, a pastor in Lexington. For weeks previously on Sunday
afternoons after church, he and Deacon John Parker, a captain from the
French Indian War, had been organizing the Lexington men into a citizen
army to fight the British if they ever invaded.
On that night of April 18, Rev. Clark had two special guests staying in
his home, -- Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The British had heard of
Adams’ and Hancock’s whereabouts and they were marching toward Lexington
to capture them. Hiding at Clark's home, they were warned, and then
fled to other
locations. Before their departure, and as Revere rode up to
the front yard of Clark’s home, Clark, Adams, and Hancock ran out to
meet him. When they heard that the British were marching toward
Lexington, Adams and Hancock asked pastor Clark if the men of Lexington
would fight. Clark responded, “I trained them for this very hour; they would fight, and, if need be, die, too, under the shadow of the house of God.”
Pastor Clark had been ordained in Lexington in
1755, and had drafted the instructions for the colony on
resisting the Stamp Act of 1765. He had also drafted the
instructions for Lexington's boycott of English goods in
1774, preaching on the doctrine of interposition. On that
April 18, 1775 night when he was asked if his men were ready,
he replied, "I have trained them for twenty years for this
hour."
When the original alarm sounded in Lexington to warn of the
oncoming British menace, citizens gathered at the town
green, and apparently under the command of Jonas Clark,
readied themselves for an inevitable encounter with British troops.
According to early historian Joel Headley, . . .
"There
they found their pastor the [Rev. Clark] who had arrived
before them. The roll was called and a hundred and fifty
answered to their names . . . . The church, the pastor, and
his congregation thus standing together in the dim light
[awaiting the Redcoats], while the stars looked tranquilly
down from the sky above them."
The next morning, April 19, 1775, Pastor Jonas Clark and Deacon John
Parker led the Lexington “Minutemen” out to face the invaders. As the
British approached the Minutemen, the captain of the British contingent cried out, “in the name of the
King of England throw down your arms.”
This response rang out from the
colonists, “We recognize no Sovereign but God and no King but Jesus!”
Then Captain Parker said to his Minutemen, “Stand your ground, don’t
fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin
here.”
By the time the British troops arrived at the Concord Bridge, hundreds
of colonists had amassed to defend the bridge, including the men from
Jonas Clark's congregation. Then the first shot rang out, the shot
heard around the world. According to eyewitnesses, the king’s troops
opened fire on the militiamen almost without warning, immediately
killing eight of Pastor Clark’s parishioners. In self defense, the
Minutemen returned fire. America’s War for Independence had begun!
Pastor Clark identified the men of his congregation who died ---- Robert
Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Jr., Isaac
Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown, all of Lexington, and one Mr.
Porter of Woburn. By the end of the engagement, the British troops were
routed and soon retreated back to Boston. These were the first shots of
the Revolutionary War.
+ Rev. Joab Houghton (1725-1798) -- Then there was
the Baptist, Joab Houghton, of New Jersey. Houghton was in the Hopewell
Baptist Meeting-house at worship when he received the first information
of Concord and Lexington, and of the retreat of the British to Boston
with heavy losses. According to William Cathcart in his book, The Baptists and the American Revolution (1876) Houghton's great-grandson gave the following description of Houghton's response to the news:
"Stilling the breathless messenger, he sat quietly through the
services, and when they were ended, he passed [walked] out [outside], and ,mounting the
great stone block in front of the meeting-house, he beckoned to the
people to stop. Men and women paused to hear, curious to know what so
unusual a sequel to the service of the day could mean.
"At the first words a silence, stern as
death, fell over all. The Sabbath quiet of the hour and of the place was
deepened into a terrible solemnity. He told them all the story of the
cowardly murder at Lexington by the royal troops; the heroic vengeance
following hard upon it; the retreat of Percy; the gathering of the
children of the Pilgrims round the beleaguered hills of Boston.
"Then
pausing, and looking over the silent throng, he said slowly: 'Men of New
Jersey, the red coats are murdering our brethren of New England! Who
follows me to Boston?' And every man of that audience stepped out into
line, and answered, 'I!' There was not a coward nor a traitor in old
Hopewell Baptist Meeting-house that day."
Joab Houghton, and a Rev. David Avery both served as chaplains for
General George Washington. They not only preached in their respective
churches and to other audiences, but also preached to the discouraged
and beleaguered troops, helping to lift the sagging morale of exhausted
soldiers as the war dragged on.
Numerous officers in the army and historians afterwards repeatedly indicated that it was the preaching of "The Black Robe Regiment" that, to a large degree, got the army through that bitter winter and helped "save the day."
It has been difficult to find very much information about Houghton. In
fact, there is some question as to whether he was the pastor of the
church, or a member. All the information I've been able to gather would
indicate that he was the pastor. Several of the paintings and drawings
of him show him in the black robe of a minister.
Whichever the case, he certainly could be identified with "The Black Robe Regiment".
On October 13, 1775, he was made a Captain in the Continental Army, and
on March 15, 1777, he was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. He was a
member of the first legislature of New Jersey, and also of the Baptist
Church. He died in 1796.
+ Rev. John Gano (1727-1804) -- I found Rev. John Gano to be one of the least recognized but most interesting pastors of "The Black Robe Regiment".
I actually stumbled across his name as I was finishing today's letter.
I had never heard of him at all in my numerous earlier "BRR"
researches. It turns out that Gano was one of the most ardent
proponents for the Revolution and, at the same time, one of the most
proficient and powerful voices for personal salvation, following the
messages of Whitefield, Edwards, and Calvin.
According to the Daughters of the American Revolution website, Gano was
born in Hopewell, NJ and became a Chaplain during the Revolutionary War
under a Gen. Clinton. He was raised as a Presbyterian; his father was a
direct descendant of the Huguenots and his mother of English Baptists.
Following a dramatic conversion experience, and following a period of
intense study, he left the family farm to study at the College of New
Jersey (Princeton University).
However, leaving the school before graduating, he became a Calvinist
Baptist minister, and was ordained as pastor of the Scotch Plains, New
Jersey, Baptist Church in 1754. In 1760 he became founding pastor of
what two years later became the First Baptist Church in New York City,
presently located at the intersection of Broadway and 79th St. After
serving in both New Jersey and New York.he traveled up and down the east
coast as an itinerant evangelist.
On these long itinerant trips evangelizing throughout the thirteen colonies, Gano declared, "I... had a right to proclaim free grace wherever I went." Sometimes
away from home for as long as two years at a time, Gano preached
throughout the entire Atlantic seaboard, from New England to the
Mid-Atlantic states, and into the South . In 1764 Gano joined with
several others as an original trustee and together chartered Brown
University as a Baptist school. The original name was The College in
the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Brown
University still exists today, but is no longer a Baptist school, and is
reportedly thoroughly liberal.
When the American Revolution began some ten years later, Gano served as a
soldier and a chaplain for the Continental Army. He and General George
Washington became good friends and when the war ended in 1783, he was
chosen by General Washington to say a prayer marking the official end of
the War. During his chaplaincy he served as Washington’s personal
chaplain and also earned the title “the Fighting Chaplain”.
It was apparently during this time that the story came out that Gano had
actually baptized Washington by immersion. There has been a general
50/50 split over whether or not the story is true, but during the 1930's
an article appeared in TIME Magazine sparking a national debate over
this question. While some researchers insist the story is not true, two
of Gano's grandchildren claimed in an 1889 affidavit that Gano's oldest
daughter told them that he had indeed baptized Washington by immersion
at Valley Forge.
Many people apparently believe the story to be true. In fact Gano
Chapel at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri ,is named after
John Gano, and a painting of Gano baptizing Washington hangs in the
Chapel. The chapel also contains a sword owned by the Marquis de
Lafayette that Washington purportedly gave to Gano. The college has
taken no official position on the authenticity of the story.
After the War, Gano returned to his congregation in New York, and in
1787 he moved to Kentucky where he lived until his death in 1804, buried
in the Daughters of the Revolutionary War Section of the Frankfort
Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky just beyond Daniel Boone's grave.
According to the DAR website, his descendants are many, and include
noteworthies such as billionaire Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., whose mother
was Allene (Gano) Hughes; Rev. Stephen Gano; Admiral Roy Alexander
Gano; Confederate States of America General Richard Montgomery Gano, and
Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge.
Few preachers of the Revolutionary War era, apart from George
Whitefield, traveled more extensively preaching the Gospel of repentance
and salvation, and also rallying people for independence and liberty,
than did John Gano, "the fighting chaplain".
FINALLY:
Well, in spite of horrible internet connection these two days I have
spent writing today's letter, and in spite of the fact that I have so
many more amazing stories of other members of "The Black Robe Regiment",
I must close this letter. Far too much time and space have already
been taken. Should you be intrigued by the lives of men who fueled the
passion for the colonists to become free and independent from both
Britain and its State Church, you can find a list with appropriate links
to many of them at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_clergy_in_the_American_Revolution .
As I conclude today's edition of this series, nothing is probably more
significant that the last few paragraphs of Moira Crooks' Patriots From the Pulpit blog of 2013. Her remarks are even more needful today. She wrote, . . .
"It was the patriot-pulpit that delivered America from bondage.
This is the fighting heritage of America’s pastors and preachers. So,
what has happened? What has happened to that fighting spirit that once
existed, almost universally, throughout America’s Christian
denominations? How have preachers become so timid, so shy, and so
cowardly that they will stand apathetic and mute as America faces the
destruction of its liberties? Where are the preachers to explain,
expound, and extrapolate the principles of liberty from the Word of God?
Where are the pastors who take Ezekiel 34 to heart?
"It is the timid pulpit, on the part of those who do or should know,
that is helping to deliver America to the brink of destruction and
judgment. The America that our founding fathers and countless millions
have fought and died for is under attack. Not by some foreign aggressor
but from an ideological mindset and post modern worldview. We have lost
our moral compass and are in danger of losing our liberties and
freedoms.
"The sermons Americans frequently hear today deal with prosperity
theology and entertainment evangelism. This milquetoast preaching makes
it hard to find Christian men who even have control of their children,
much less the courage and resolve to stand against the onslaught of
socialism, and, yes, fascism that is swallowing America whole.
"America cut its spiritual teeth on the powerful preaching and
exemplary examples of men of the Black Robe Regiment. We need them as
much now as we did then. The time has come again for the church leaders
to assume their rightful roll as leaders of the community and make a
stand for freedom. The entire Christian community must now unite in
opposition to the erosion of our founding principals and return this
nation back to the divinely inspired constitutional precepts and values
that facilitated Americas rise to greatness.
"I believe that the only thing needed for God to send another Great
Awakening upon our nation and for us to reclaim our liberty and
independence is for men of God in the pulpits to return to the
traditions of those of the Black Robe Regiment. They need to become
champions of freedom, sounding the call to resist tyranny and defend
American liberty."
Amen, Moira Crooks!!!
In His Bond,
By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal
Copyright August, 2021
"A
fire kept burning on the hearthstone of my heart, and I
took up the burden of the day with fresh courage and
hope." -- Charles F. McKoy
"If Jesus had preached the same
message that many ministers preach today, He would never
have been crucified." -- Leonard Ravenhill
"The time will come when instead
of shepherds feeding the sheep, the Church will have clowns
entertaining the goats." -- Charles H.
Spurgeon
If this letter has blessed you, feel free to forward it or copy
from it, with proper credits, to any and all you wish.
Please do NOT hit reply to this letter. This is an automated
unmanned system.
If you want to write Bob, send directly to [email protected].
Replying to "Shoulder To Shoulder" mailer gets you nowhere.
--
To subscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]>
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [email protected]