Shoulder To Shoulder #1257 -- 9/20/21 ---- "The Tale of Two Systems" (Pt 13 -- Today's Treasure from Yesterday's Inheritance)
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 #1257 -- 9/20/21
Title: "The Tale of Two Systems" (Pt 13 -- Today's Treasure from Yesterday's Inheritance)
My Dear Friend and Fellow Kingdom Seeker:
Today I greet you for the next to last time from the town of Greer, AZ,
up in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. Our season at Greer
Chapel is coming to a rapid close with only one Sunday remaining in our
services. Apart from one more men's Bible study on Thursday, all other
chapel ministries have concluded. Jo Ann and I are making the rounds
with the remaining members, beginning to store outside equipment, and
have final fellowship time with various families at Trail Riders
Restaurant in Eager.
In just nine days we will drive down from the mountains to spend the
night in Gilbert, AZ just outside of Phoenix and conduct the memorial
service on September 30th for my cousin, Sara Crouse Brittain Rex. Then
we'll make our way westward through the desert to our now "permanent"
home in Yuma, AZ, in the Sonoran Desert of extreme southwestern AZ. The
contrast between the two ministry locales is stark.
Greer is at 8,500 feet elevation sitting in a lush valley with the
Little Colorado River meandering its way between mountain ridges covered
with Ponderosa Pines and tall Aspens. Desert Willows line the River
and it is common to see deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and antelope in the
valley meadowland and mountain slopes. The town is made up almost
entirely of log and faux log cabins, some of them dating back to the
late 19th Century when farmers and sheep herders from Utah first settled
in the late 1870's. While its year round population is around 100
permanent residents, the 450+ cabins and resorts will house several
thousand people during peak season. People come here to escape the
triple digit heat of desert cities of the Southwest and humid regions
of the lower US.
Yuma, on the other hand, sits at approximately 200 feet elevation in the
middle of a giant sandbox called the Sonoran Desert with the main
Colorado River sneaking by town on the west side, separating us from
CA. Mesquite, Sagebrush, and Creosote trees spatter the valley along
with an occasional cholla or prickly pear cactus. If you keep an eye
open, you might occasionally see a wily coyote, a jack rabbit, or a
rattle snake -- sometimes a roadrunner -- sneaking through the brush.
Both the foothills and the city proper are filled with stucco coated
flat-roof houses, manufactured houses, trailers, park models, and a wide
assortment of RV's dating from the early 20th Century to the latest
2021 budget killer RV with all its toys.
Year round population stands at around 180,000, but during winter months
the "snowbirds" from AK, Canada, and the lower US will increase it by
90,000 to 100,000. Folks go to Yuma to escape the cold winters,
hike/ride desert mountain trails, play golf and tennis and pickleball,
and enjoy the amazing citrus fruit, fresh vegetables, and dates. And,
of course, they can't miss the historic Yuma Territorial Prison and the
Army Quartermaster Depot along with the Army Proving Ground, mini
Painted Desert, and wild donkeys.
So, these two places are where we minister 10+ months out of each year.
Now that we no longer have a home in the Missouri Ozarks, we hope to
squeeze in a little time to travel and sight see between ministries.
There is plenty to see. And, Jo Ann is happy to be back in the state of
her birth and upbringing.
Changing directions, I think with today's letter we'll conclude the
series on the tale of "Two Systems of Government" by taking a final look
at the most powerful voices in colonial America. I am not talking
about those who debated and conversed with agonizing deliberation
whether or not to risk declaring independence from Great Britain; nor am
I talking about those courageous men who penned and signed the
Declaration of Independence. Neither am I talking about those who took
nine painful and often contentious months to design a form of government
and hammer out a Constitution to regulate it.
I'm talking about the men who were the most highly respected men in the
colonies -- the pastors and evangelists who some took up arms, but
weekly took to their pulpits to address major grievances that King
George III had piled on their burdened backs. The more I have studied
these men and what they preached and wrote, the more I understand the
reason the British monarchy saw them, "The Black Robe Regiment", as a greater threat to British control over the colonies than even the Continental Army and its ally, the French Navy.
We'll take one final look at some of these men just as soon as you consider . . .
THIS 'N' THAT:
+ Praise God For Unashamed Followers: -- We have known
for many years that the Seattle Seahawks QB, like Tim Tebow, are devout
and unashamed Christians. This is a great article about Russel Wilson
and his wife seen worshiping in a local church. Go to
https://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=33463&https://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=33463&fbclid=IwAR3l91bP4vEzBkbxn1PcFiU_SEHqL6iWLwVyMG2T6rCu60CKppImMZO5usMfbclid=IwAR3l91bP4vEzBkbxn1PcFiU_SEHqL6iWLwVyMG2T6rCu60CKppImMZO5usM
+ Massacre of Florida's French Huguenots: -- 456 years
ago today, September 20, 1565, Spanish captain Pedro Menéndez
slaughtered most of Florida's Christian Huguenots at St. Johns,
Florida. The Huguenots and Anabaptists were the two most persecuted
Christian groups of all of Protestantism. For the brief story, go to
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/senseless-butchery-of-floridas-huguenots-11630010.html?utm_source=This%20Week%20in%20Christian%20History%20&utm_campaign=This%20Week%20in%20Church%20History%20-%20Christianity.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=5350351&recip=521085018
.
+ C. S. Lewis Conversion Anniversary: --
Ninety years ago this Wednesday, September 22, 1931, one of the world's
greatest skeptics came to faith in Christ following a long discussion
with two friends, J. R. R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson. Lewis was to soon
rise to the same level of fame and popularity as his friends, and became
one of the greatest Christian apologists of the 20th Century. His
books are still among the top Christian books today, continuing to sell
millions of copies worldwide. Read the story at
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/cs-lewis-sidecar-conversion-11630750.html?utm_source=This%20Week%20in%20Christian%20History%20&utm_campaign=This%20Week%20in%20Church%20History%20-%20Christianity.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=5350351&recip=521085018
.
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> Whoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world." -- Benjamin Franklin (In Letter to the French ministry, March, 1778)
> "And 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." -- Thomas Jefferson (in Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18, 1781)
> "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine (In The American Crisis, No. 4, September 11, 1777)
> "We have no government armed with power capable of
contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.
Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest
cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is
wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- John Adams (In Address to the Military, October 11, 1798)
> "Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a
wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of government can
render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure
liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical
idea, if there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community,
it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not
depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the
people who are to choose them." -- James Madison (In Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 20, 1788)
> "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! For this very
reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity,
and freedom of worship here." -- Patrick Henry (In Speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses, May, 1765)
> "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all 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." -- Samuel Adams (In Speech at the State House, Philadelphia, August 1, 1776)
BRINGING THE SERIES TO AN END:
I am so torn about bringing this current series to a conclusion. So
much has already been said, and yet there is still so much that could be
said. The deeper I dig into America's Judeo-Christian heritage the
more upset I become over how revisionists and rejectionists have deleted
the very elements that brought America into existence and also created
her into "an exceptional nation", as Alexis de Tocqueville so aptly
described it in his Democracy In America, written in 1835 after his nine-month visit to America at age 21.
And, the more I study the lives of the pre-revolution and Revolutionary
War clergy, the more blatantly obvious it becomes that these voices from
the pulpit played enormous roles in helping the founders pen the
Declaration of Independence and craft our U.S. Constitution and the form
of government you and I are blessed to enjoy in our day. Trying
to find a good ending to this series is, ultimately, not an easy
task. In fact, it is nigh on impossible to create a smooth cut-off.
In this most recent research I have discovered books written over 150
years ago filled with events impacted by these courageous and principled
preachers who still understood the place moral values and biblical
principles have in sculpting a democratic nation that could thrive. I
visited the archives of Congress, numerous encyclopedias, biographies,
state history websites, family trees, American Revolution websites,
historic websites of small towns, and more. The volume of information
verifying the legitimacy of our Judeo-Christian origin is mind boggling.
Modern author, John Wingate Thornton in his 2017 book, The pulpit of the American revolution: or, The political sermons of the period of 1776
seems to have had the same sentiments as I do -- we have been grossly
shortchanged, and perhaps even willfully banned from understanding what
really was the re-bar of our national founding, survival, and
prosperity, namely that Judeo-Christian influence that runs through
every layer of American society. He wrote in the book's Preface, . . .
"The true alliance between Politics and Religion is the lesson
inculcated in this volume of Sermons, and apparent in its title, 'The
Pulpit Of The Revolution.' It is the voice of the Fathers of the
Republic, enforced by their example. They invoked God in their civil
assemblies, called upon their chosen teachers of religion for counsel
from the Bible, and recognized its precepts as the law of their public
conduct.
"The Fathers did not divorce politics and religion, but they
denounced the separation as ungodly. They prepared for the struggle, and
went into battle, not as soldiers of fortune, but, like Cromwell and
the soldiers of the Commonwealth, with the Word of God in their hearts,
and trusting in him. This was the secret of that moral energy which
sustained the Republic in its material weakness against superior
numbers, and discipline, and all the power of England.
"To these Sermons — the responses from the Pulpit — the State
affixed its imprimatur, and thus they were handed down to future
generations with a two-fold claim to respect. The Union of the colonies
was a condition precedent to American Nationality. One nationality, and
that of a Protestant people, was essential to constitutional liberty in
America.
"If the colonies had become separate independencies at different
times, America would have but repeated the history of European divisions
and wars. The combination and balance of forces necessary to the grand
result seems to have been calculated with the nicety of a formula.
France, the champion of the Papal system of intellectual and political
slavery and despotism, and England, the assertor of enlightened freedom,
competed for the dominion of America.
"The red cross of St. George shielded the brotherhood of English
Protestants from the extermination meditated by Papal France, whose
military cordon reached along our northern and western frontiers, and
thus insured to England the fealty of her Atlantic colonies, till, "in
the fulness of time," France, by the treaty of 1763, relinquished
Canada.
"Then the colonies, relieved from the hostile pressure, became
restless under the restraints of dependency, and England was the only
power whose strength and common relation to them could at once endanger
the liberty of all, impel them to a league of domestic amity, and bind
them in fraternal resistance to a common enemy.
"But a brief contest would have left danger of colonial
disintegration; and the stupid obstinacy of George III. was necessary to
prolong the war in order to blend the colonists, by communion under a
national flag, in national feeling, and by general intercourse, common
interests, and common sufferings. So God formed the fair Temple of
American Liberty."
Then in the book's preface, Wingate went on to assert, . . .
"There is a natural and just union of religious and civil
counsels, — not that external alliance of the crosier and sword called
'Church and State,' — but the philosophical and deeper union which
recognizes God as Supreme Ruler, . .
"There is also a historical connection, which is to be found rather
in the general current of history than in particular instances. In this
we may trace the principle, or vital cord, which runs through our own
separate annals since our fathers came to the New World, and also marks
the progress of liberty and individual rights in England. "New England
has the proud distinction of tracing her origin to causes purely moral
and intellectual,— a fact which fixes the character of her founders and
planters as elevated and refined, — not the destroyers of cities,
provinces, and empires, but the founders of civilization in America."
While there is still much more to understand about the role of preachers
in the formation of our country, it is time to bring this series to a
close by remembering exactly who some of the earliest voices of freedom
and independence were. To do that, you have to retrace your steps back
hundreds of years to remember people like . . .
> King Alfred the Great (the Reformer King -- 849-901 AD),
> John Wycliffe (the Morning Star of the Reformation -- 1320-1384 AD),
> Jan Hus (Professor of Purity -- 1372-1415 AD).
> Martin Luther (Captive to the Word of God -- 1483-1546 AD),
> Ulrich Zwingli (The Reformer of Zurich -- 1484-1531),
> William Tyndale (Father of the English Bible -- 1494-1536),
> John Calvin (The Reformer From France -- 1509-1564),
> John Knox (Scotland's Reformer -- 1514-1572),
> William Carey (The First Missionary Reformer -- 1761-1834), and
> William Wilberforce -- (Reformer of Slave Trade -- 1759-1833).
All of these people and others had major impacts on the state of the
Church from which our earliest pilgrims (both Puritans and Separatists)
began streaming to the numerous New England Colonies. As early as the
Virginia settlement at Jamestown in 1606 AD and Plymouth Plantation in
1620 AD, clergymen were significantly involved both as motivators and
leaders bringing pilgrims across the Atlantic, giving them pastoral
counsel and biblical sermons, sometimes even serving as governors.
Clergymen associated with the Virginia Trading Company beginning as
early as 1604 in Europe and arriving in Jamestown in 1606 included
Richard Burke, William Mease, Robert Hunt, William Wickham, Alexander
Whitaker and others. The very first governing house held was the Virginia
House of Burgesses, its members elected as representatives by the
people. It met in the choir loft of the Jamestown church and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Bucke. Bishop Galloway later observed:
"[T]he first movement toward democracy in America was inaugurated
in the house of God and with the blessing of the minister of God."
Then in 1620, when the Pilgrims
landed in Massachusetts to establish their colony, their pastor John
Robinson, charged them to elect civil leaders who would not only seek
the “common good” but who would also eliminate any special privileges
and status between future office holders and the citizens. Immediately
the Pilgrims agreed, organizing a representative government with annual
elections. By 1636, they had also enacted America's very first
citizens’ Bill of Rights.
Ten years later in 1630, the
Puritans arrived, founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, again with
ministers as their leaders. They followed the lead of those groups
coming in 1606 and 1620 and also established a representative government
with annual elections. By 1641 they likewise established a Bill of
Rights, written by pastor Nathaniel Ward, called the “Body of
Liberties”.
In 1636, the Rhode Island Colony was established Rev. Roger Williams
with arepresentative form of government. Its founding charter declared
that “[t]he sovereign, original, and foundation of civil power lies in the people.” During
that same year Connecticut was founded under the leadership of Rev.
Thomas Hooker along with three other pastors, John Davenport, Samuel
Stone, and Theophilus Eaton. In a Sermon in 1638 from Deut 1:13 and
Exod 18:21, Thomas Hooker identified the three biblical principles that
were the foundation for the governing plan used in Connecticut:
1. [T]he choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by God’s own allowance.
2. The privilege of election . . . belongs to the people . . .
3. The people who have power to appoint officers and magistrates
also have the power to set the bounds and limitations of that power and
the place.
So, by the early part of the 18th Century, the way had already been
paved for those of whom I have already written -- William Tennent and
his sons, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and others. Fueled by
the fresh teachings of their predecessors, these men subsequently helped
inculcate into the hearts of those earliest colonists principles of
virtue and righteousness so necessary for a free and honorable society.
It is not difficult, then, to see how necessary the courage and boldness
of people like Jonathan Mayhew, Samuel Davies, Samuel Langdon, Jonas
Clark, Peter Muhlenberg, and so many others were in order to have the
theological knowledge and spiritual courage to spur our Founding Fathers
on to establish a nation with such a noble and rich heritage of which
no other nation in history apart from Israel can match.
If one is intellectually honest and historically knowledgeable, he or
she cannot deny that the blood of freedom and patriotism found in our
history flowed through the veins of thousands of pastors, evangelists,
and theologians who helped shape the moral and political thinking of
those who risked everything to declare independence from a corrupt state
Church and a despotic monarch.
With this long and rich background of biblical conviction and scholarly discourse, let's take . . .
ONE FINAL LOOK:
In 1770 when the British
opened fire on their own
citizens in the famous
"Boston Massacre,"
ministers again stepped
to the forefront, boldly
denouncing that abuse of
power. In spite of
strong voices from
people like John
Hancock, Sam Adams, John
Adams, Ben Franklin, and
others, it was actually the
voices of "the Black
Robe Regiment" that
caught the attention of
the British monarchy.
By now businessmen like
Ben Franklin had heard
these brave watchmen
so extensively that they began
publishing their sermons
in their newspapers,
journals, and magazines.
Along with the numerous men of "The Black Robe Regiment"
about which I have already written, there were literally thousands of
others. Here are some that I would urge you to consider researching
their lives. You'll be glad you did.
After the
British fought
the Americans
at Lexington
and Concord,
they
encountered
increasing
American
resistance
along the way
back to
Boston. A
significant
number of
those patriots
who waited for
the British
troops along
the road were
local pastors,
such as Rev.
Phillips
Payson (The
Chaplains and
Clergy of the
Revolution,
by J. T.
Headley, 1864,
p 60) and Rev.
Benjamin
Balch, (The
New England
Clergy and the
American
Revolution,
Alice M.
Baldwin, 1928,
p 163).
Both men had
heard of the
attack, and
arming
themselves
personally,
then rallied
their
congregations
to fight the
returning
British.
Pastors from
other areas
also came to
respond, such
as Rev.
David Avery in
Vermont who
quickly
gathered
twenty men and
headed toward
Boston,
recruiting
other troops
on the way
(Headly, p
289-292).
Then there was
Rev.
Stephen Farrar
of New
Hampshire.
Born in Massachusetts in 1738, he came to faith in Christ early in life
and began preaching as early as 1758 in the Congregational Church of
Ipswich, NH. A graduate of Harvard, he was known for extensive study,
deep conviction, and persuasive preaching. As one genealogical article
indicated, "He read his sermons with few gestures and in a relaxed
manner, although he often wept quietly under the impact of the truths
which he was delivering. His voice was strong and smooth, and his
trilled 'r' was much admired."
When Boston came under attack in 1775, Farrar recruited and
commanded
ninety-seven
of his own
parishioners
to the scene
(The History
of New
Ipswitch, New
Hampshire,
Charles Henry
Chandler, pp
74-76). They
were the last military unit to come home. Upon his return from
fighting, the town immediately sent him to the Provincial Congress with
instructions, among others, to see that "the Officers of the Army be
men that have appeared True friends to the Country...that no suspected
person be intrusted in any public office".
I actually stumbled onto an interesting fact about him just this
morning. Apparently under his pastorate there was a significant
spiritual awakening that few know about. According to a very early
record in the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Massachusetts. New Ipswich, Columbian Centine. Jul 1809 the revival
broke out through something "Parson Farrar" said. It reported . . .
"In 1786 New Ipswich attracted attention by having a revival of
the sort which had been rarely seen in New England for a generation. The
Parson set it off when he said, 'I have now been more than twenty years
in my ministry here, and know not that I have done any good,' and wept
freely. At a Fast service held in January, 1786, his emotion spread to
the congregation: This meeting was attended by unwonted numbers , not
only of the church, but of others.
"Upon this assembly the Spirit came down in Pentecostal power. All
were subdued. After the meeting was closed, the people did not disperse
for nearly an hour, but staid, anxious to converse on the subject of
their own personal religion ....Through the Winter. ...the excitement
was very great... ..So anxious were people to attend meetings that the
sick were carried and laid on beds.
"Mr. Farrar attended these meetings as far as possible, and preached
without notes--preached in tears, literally, and his auditors sobbing
around him. in some cases, where private dwellings could not accommodate
the many who attended, he would resort to the barn; and with his
auditors around him on the floor, and above him on the scaffold,
dispense to them the word of life."
Following a visit in 1809 to visit his Harvard
Classmate and former President John Adams, he became ill. The
FindAGrave.com website featured an article on Farrar's death in which it
said, . . .
"On June 23rd, he walked into his home just before noon and said to his wife, 'I feel as I never felt before,'
and instantly fell to the floor. He was for a short time insensible,
but soon so far recovered as to be able to rise and stand; when he
remarked, 'How good is ease after pain. This may be death, but if it is,
there is nothing terrible in it.' These were his last words. A second
stroke rendered him insensible, and in about half an hour after the
first attack, he ceased to breathe."
A few weeks following the Boston attack by the British, American
ministers
again joined
the battle
with their men
at Bunker
Hill. For example, Rev.
David
Grosvenor learned
that fighting
had started,
so he walked
from his
pulpit and
through the church door with
his rifle in
hand, and
immediately
went to Bunker
Hill (An
Address
Delivered
Before the
Inhabitants of
Grafton, April
29, 1835). Rev.
Jonathan
French did
the same thing
(Historical
Sketches of
Andover...,
Sarah Loring
Bailey, pp
453-454), and
Rev. Joseph
Willard recruited
two full
companies and
led them to
the battle (An
Address
Delivered to
the First
Parish,
Beverly,Oct 2,
1867).
It seemed that
everywhere the
Revolution
deteriorated
into military
battles,
pastors showed
up, as when Rev.
Thomas Reed marched
to the defense
of
Philadelphia
against
British
General Howe
(Headly, p
68), and Rev.
John Steele led
American
forces in
attaching the
British
(Headly, p
69). Then you
had Rev.
Isaac Lewis
who helped
lead the
resistance to
the British
landing at
Norwalk,
Connecticut
(Headly p 72),
Rev. James
Latta, when
many of his
parishioners
were drafted,
joined with
them as a
common soldier
(Headly, p
72); and Rev.
William Graham
joined the
military as a
rifleman in
order to
encourage
others in his
parish to do
the same,
fighting at
Rockfish Gap
(p 69).
Furthermore,
there was Rev.
Dr. Cooper who
was captain of
a military
company, Rev.
John Blair
Smith who
was president
of
Hampten-Sidney
College, was
captain of a
company that
fought at the
Battle of
Cowpens, Rev.
James Hall who
commanded a
company that
fought against
Cornwallis,
and Rev.
John Craighead
who "fought
and preached
alternately".
One of my favorite members of "The Black Robe Regiment" was Baptist Pastor Isaac Backus
from Connecticut. Influenced by the Great Awakening and the preaching
of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, Backus came to faith in
Christ in 1741, began to preach in 1746, and was ordained in 1748. His
primary contribution to the establishment of the nation was his adamant
fight against a state Church, not only on a national basis, but also
within each state.
Considered a leading orator of the "pulpit of the American Revolution."
Backus published a sermon in 1773 that articulated his desire for
religious liberty and a separation of church and state called An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, Against the Oppressions of the Present Day. Published in book form, Backus stated: "Now
who can hear Christ declare, that his kingdom is not of this world and
yet believe that this blending of church and state together can be
pleasing to him?"
In 1778, he authored a historically important work entitled Government and Liberty Described and Ecclesiastical Tyranny Exposed
of which a copy is held by the John Carter Brown Library at Brown.
Backus was one of several people who established a school of higher
education later to be known as Brown University.
Many of these men, like
Timothy Dwight,
were not
only preachers, but also
the presidents of some
of the land's most
prestigious
universities. Dwight was
a Congregational pastor from Connecticut who was so influential in the
pulpit that he became the eighth president of Yale University. Up until
a few short months ago, I had a very old collection of books containing
Dwight's sermons. Another
In 1898 Bishop
Charles
Galloway
rightly
observed of
such leaders.
He wrote, . . .
"Mighty
men they were,
of iron nerve
and strong
hand and
unblanched
cheek and
heart of
flame. God
needed not
reeds shaken
by the wind,
not men
clothed in
soft raiment
[Matthew
11:7-8] but
heroes of
hardihood and
lofty courage
to be the
voice of a new
kingdom crying
in this
Western
wilderness.
And such were
the sons of
the mighty who
responded to
the Divine
call." (Christianity
and the
American
Commonwealth,
Charles
Galloway,
1898,d p 77).
Moira Crooks
wrote in her
2013 blog, Patriots
In The Pulpit,
. . .
"As one
reads the
colonial
history of the
United States,
one must be
struck with
the
observation
that the
American
people, on the
whole, seemed
to appreciate
the courage
and
independence
of their
preachers.
Even America’s
early
political
leaders shared
in this
appreciation."
Another signer of
the Declaration
who was a minister
was Robert Treat
Paine, a chaplain
in the War for
Independence who
later became the
attorney general
of Massachusetts
and a justice on
the state supreme
court. And signer
William Williams
was a licensed
Baptist minister
who filled various
pulpits, and
also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Lyman Hall
was an ordained
Congregationalist
minister who later
became governor of
Georgia.
There were also
several ministers
among the signers
of the
Constitution. They
included the Rev.
Abraham Baldwin,
who was a chaplain
in the War for
Independence and
taught divinity at
Yale. He founded
the University of
Georgia as a
school to train
Gospel ministers.
He also served in
the first US House
of Representatives
(where he helped
frame the Bill of
Rights) and then
the US Senate.
And
Hugh Williamson
was a licensed
preacher of the
Presbyterian
Church who
likewise served in
the first US
Congress, where
he, too, helped
frame the Bill of
Rights. We cannot forget Roger
Sherman (the only
Founding Father to
sign all four
founding
documents (the
Articles of
Association, 1774;
the Declaration of
Independence,
1776; the Articles
of Confederation,
1781; and the US
Constitution,
1787) and he also
helped frame the
Bill of Rights),
who was a noted lay
theologian,
penning multiple
pieces on
theological
issues.
And there were
numerous ministers
in the first
federal Congress
that framed the
Bill of Rights. In
addition to those
just mentioned
were the Revs.
Frederick A. C.
Muhlenberg (brother to Peter Muhlenberg), Abiel
Foster who represented New Hampshire in the Continental Congress and the U.S. Congress, Benjamin
Contee, and
Paine Wingate. In
fact, Muhlenberg was
elected the first
Speaker of the
United States
House of
Representatives,
where he became
one of only two
individuals to
sign the Bill of
Rights.
Still other Black Robed Patriots
spoke powerfully from the
pulpit on numerous political
and social issues ---- William
Smith on "The
Crisis of American Affairs", John
Joachim Zubly on
"The Law of Liberty", John
Hurt on "The Love
of Our Country", Nathanial
Whitaker on
"Antidote Against Toryism", Samuel
Stillman on "The
Duty of Magistrates",
Time
and time again brave members of the clergy took to the battlefields to
fight with gun and sword, and to
the pulpits
preaching
forcefully
against the
oppressive
actions of the
British
government
toward its
loyal subjects
in America.
Such sermons
were preached
not just
before local
congregations,
but also in
larger
community
gatherings or
governmental
assemblies.
Most State
assemblies
opened their
sessions not
only with a
formal prayer
by a minister,
but also by a
a sermon that
helped set the
tone for the
session, and at the sme time informed
the
legislators
what the
people of
their
jurisdictions
were concerned
about. This
practice began
at least as
early as 1633
when the
governor and
council of the
Massachusetts
Bay Colony
began to
appoint one of
the clergy to
preach on the
day of
elections.
I think I
mentioned this in an earlier letter, but again here is just a small
representation
of how the
sermons of
colonial
preachers
pointedly
addressed
social and
political
issues:
Civil
Magistrates
Must Be Just,
Ruling in the
Fear of God
(1747),
preached by Charles
Chauncey
Unlimited
Submission and
Non-Resistance
to the Higher
Powers (1750),
preached by
Jonathan
Mayhew
Religion
and
Patriotism,
the
Constituents
of a Good
Soldier
(1755),
preached by
Samuel Davies
The Advice
of Joab to the
Host of Israel
Going Forth to
War (1759),
preached by
Thaddeus
Maccarty
Good News
from a Far
Country
(sermon on the
repeal of the
Stamp Act)
(1766),
preached by
Charles
Chauncey
An Oration
upon the
Beauties of
Liberty
(1773),
preached by
John Allen
Scriptural
Instructions
to Civil
Rulers (1774),
preached by
Samuel
Sherwood
Jesus
Christ the
True King
(1778),
preached by
Peter Powers
(The political
cry “No
King but King
Jesus!”
came from this
sermon.)
Baptist ministers Isaac
Backus and John Leland were
lobbyists for religious
freedom in the 1780s,
working with George
Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, and James
Madison. They became
significant influences in
helping provide the
religious freedom
protections of the First
Amendment in the Bill of
Rights. And the Rev.
Manassas Cutler was an
author of the Northwest
Ordinance (written in 1787),
under which thirty-two
territories eventually
became states in the United
States. Forty-four
clergymen were elected as
delegates to ratify the US
Constitution.
There are
many more pastors and
evangelists that I could also mention, making clear that the
number of clergy who held
public office or directly
influenced public policy in
the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries was
large. In fact, the clergy
is the largest single occupation represented in the events related to
America's independence -- far more than educators, politicians, and
lawyers.
A WORD ABOUT THE ELECTION
SERMONS:
While many pastors actually went to battle
during the Revolution,
and even commanded groups of "Minutemen"
volunteers from their own congregations and
communities, an even greater number engaged in
the struggle for freedom by preaching
pertinent sermons from their pulpits and in
state legislative halls. Pastors in those
days knew the dangers of losing personal
freedoms and risked their reputations and
safety by courageously speaking to issues
facing the colonists. Now many generations
removed from those events, we not only have difficulty identifying with
such conditions, but we often don't see those same conditions present in
our culture today.
Historians have
classified these sermons as "Election
Sermons". Tragically today, most pastors are
either unaware of their legal rights,
intimidated by parishoners, or ignorant of the
facts of what is happening in our nation.
I can understand the pressure to "avoid
political issues" in the pulpit, for I was
also one of those mistaken pastors for many
years. However, it is clearly possible -- and
needful -- to preach about such matters
without "naming names" or pointing out a
particular party. You have only to look at
examples by Paul and Peter to see how
realistic it is to deal with moral and social
issues. After all, every moral and social
issue we face today has spiritual roots to
it. Yet, in our day, Jesus Himself would have
been fired from the pulpit if He had preached
or taught that about which He spoke in the
Sermon on the Mount or in His teachings during
those many visits to the Temple grounds.
America's pastors today are tragically
misinformed and feel far too threatened.
Barbara Brown Zikmund is editor of The
Living Heritage of the United Church of
Christ. In a September, 2004 blog on
the United Church of Christ website, she
wrote, . . .
"Unlike sermons in the Church of
England, which were supposed to 'please and
inspire,' New England Congregationalists
inherited a rational tradition and argued
that a good sermon was to 'inform and
convince.'
She continued, . . .
"In colonial New
England, the words of the preacher carried
great influence. Not only did pastors in
each town preach every Sunday, but in
keeping with the Calvinist belief that all
human activity falls under the jurisdiction
of God's Word, sermons were preached at
significant public events—anniversaries,
thanksgiving days, fast days and election
days.
"Election Day sermons followed a
typical pattern. First, they asserted that
civil government is founded on an agreement
between God and citizens to establish
political systems that promote the common
good. Scripture states that government is
necessary, but no system is perfect.
Therefore, voters and rulers were told that
they must do what is needed for their
'peculiar circumstances.'
"Second, the
people were encouraged to promise to follow
those they had elected, and rulers were to
promise to act for the good of all. As long
as rulers acted "in their proper character,"
subjects were to obey. On the other hand, if
rulers acted contrary to the terms of the
agreement, people were 'duty bound' to
resist."
Author Moira Crooks, whom I have quoted before, said of the Black Robe
Regiment, . . .
"Their Sunday sermons —
more than Patrick Henry’s oratory, Samuel
Adams’ and James Warren’s “Committees of
Correspondence,” or Thomas Paine’s “Summer
Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots” — inspired,
educated, and motivated the colonists to
resist the tyranny of the British Crown, and
fight for their freedom and independence. .
. . 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. . . . This was the spirit of
1776; this was the preaching that built a
free and independent nation; this is what
Colonial America had that, by and large,
America does not have today. In the thinking
and preaching of the Black Regiment, freedom
and independence were precious gifts of God,
not to be trampled underfoot by men; human
authority was limited and subject to proper
divine parameters; and the mind of man was
never to be enslaved by any master, save
Christ Himself."
ELECTION
SERMONS' INTENT:
Virtually every writer I
have read on the role of
the clergy at this
period of time have
indicated that the
singular driving force
that ultimately led to
the American Revolution
was the bold and
courageous preaching of
these men from many
different denominational
backgrounds who chose to
no longer remain silent,
but to address the
egregious offenses
against humanity meted
out by England.
According to Earl
Taylor, Jr. in an
article entitled
"Election Day Sermons in
the Founding Era" found
on the National Center
For Constitutional
Studies website, most
election sermons were
designed to accomplish
one or more of seven
things:
1. Voters must
choose those who are
Virtuous and Moral, as
illustrated in Charles
Chauncey's 1747 sermon
on Civil Magistrates.
2. Legislators
(magistrates) must be
reminded of God's
standard of governing
and His laws as
pertaining to civil
conduct and justice.
3. If voters chose
people based on the
persuasions of politics
rather than on the moral
and intellectual quality
of the candidates, then
God will withdraw from
the people, just as He
did in Old Testament
days.
4. In their search
for leaders, voters must
search the "Natural
Aristocracy" and not
professional politicians
for proven virtue and
talents.
5. Voters should
heed the counsel Moses
gave to the 12 tribes of
Israel in choosing their
leaders (Deut 4:5-8).
6. Voters should
find those who will
carry true religious
convictions evident in
their private lives into
their public lives.
7. Voters must be
aware of the hidden
danger of prosperity.
FINALLY:
As we conclude this lengthy series, it is important to note that no one occupation was so
highly revered during
colonial days as was the
clergy. Their influence
was everywhere . . .
from the parish to the
school classroom to the
marketplace to the halls
of government. Nobody
carried more persuasive
influence than did the
preachers . . . not even
the merchants. While
the merchants could move
products, the clergy
could move the hearts
and minds of the
citizens as to what to
do and how to live.
England could decide the
next step of oppression,
but it was the clergy
who could motivate the
people how to respond.
Finally, let's review our journey we have taken these past thirteen letters.
1. We began by trying to discover the origin of two primary forms of
government that have existed for some 4,000 or more years. One was a
man-centered secularistic form that has its roots in the worlds of
polytheism and atheism -- the belief in many gods who have no personal
interaction with humanity and thus the belief that there is really no
such person as god. The other, coming from the same Sumerian culture as
the first, was a religious-centered form that believes in One True God,
therefore necessitating some kind of moral righteousness in order to
function properly.
2. While we can assume that both of these systems originated in the
human world in the Garden of Eden where were planted two special trees
-- the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life -- we
initially saw their societal and cultural emergence in the Mesopotamian
Valley. The first was seen in Genesis chapter 11 and a man named
Nimrod who seems to have introduced the first view of what we call
Socialism today in the construction of the city of Babylon and its
tower.
The second was seen in Genesis chapter 12 when God called a man named
Abram to come out from that culture and begin a new form of society
built around worshiping and serving the God of all creation. This
system was to view God as the center of all of life, and was to follow
Him, trust Him, love Him, and obey Him. Doing so would assure safety,
health, peace, and success.
3. Those systems continued in separate but sometimes intersecting
pathways such as in the land of Canaan which God gave to Abram and his
descendants, in Egypt under the Pharaoh's, and in Rome. God brought
Abram's descendants out of their bondage in Egypt under Moses and there
put in print His laws by which a society was to live. Egypt, Rome, and
other places continued operating under the first system.
4. Then God invaded Rome with the message of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, turning the empire on its ear. By the mid First Century that
message had penetrated throughout all of Europe and by 38 AD the message
of Christ had reached northern Britannia. Over the next 200 years the
values and teachings of Christ led kings to become Christians and write
law codes over the next ten centuries that ultimately served as primary
resources to the formation of "The Great Charter", the Magna Carta in
1215 AD.
5. From the Magna Carta, those earlier law codes of Christianized
Europe, and the writings of people like John Locke, Baron von
Montesquieu, and William Blackstone, and the preaching of patriot
pastors like those we have just examined, our founding fathers chose the
Judeo-Christian system of governance over that of the godless view of
secular humanism as their model.
So, when you or I take lightly the journey traveled by hundreds of
thousands over vast centuries, and when we treat our form of government
too casually -- or with criticism and contempt -- perhaps it's time to
do a little history review. When we treat our national heritage lightly
or with abuse, we fall into the very chasm of which Benjamin Franklin
stated when the woman asked him what kind of government we had, to which
he replied, . . .
"A Republic, madame, -- IF you can keep it."
It's now time to cry out to God that He not allow us to lose it all, a
catastrophe of which we are so very close to experiencing. Without a
doubt, righteousness indeed does exalt and lift up a nation to
spiritual, moral, and ethical heights, but it is equally true that sin
is a destructive demise to any nation. (Prov 14:34) It is now long past
time to heed what God told Solomon:
"Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, 'I
have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house
of sacrifice.
"'If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command
the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and
seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
"'Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer
offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house
that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be
there perpetually.
"'As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked,
even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My
statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne as I
covenanted with your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to
be ruler in Israel.'
"'But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments
which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship
them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and
this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My
sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples'."
(II Chron 712-20)
It all begins with humbling ourselves -- something often too difficult to do even for Christ's followers.
Oh, the tragedy!
In His Bond,
By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal
Copyright September, 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
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