On Christianity and the Bible in America Daniel Webster Daniel Webster is considered one of the greatest orators in American history. He was a famous attorney, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and then the U.S. Senate. He served as Secretary of State for three Presidents. Webster was also a fervent Christian, as his statements below reveal: If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity. December 22, 1820, to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, Webster declared: Lastly, our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits . Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend this influence still more widely; in full conviction that this is the happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity. Daniel Webster, on June 17, 1843, at Bunker Hill Monument in Charleston, Massachusetts, spoke these stirring words about our forefathers' reverence for the Bible: The Bible came with them. And it is not to be doubted, that to free and universal reading of the Bible, in that age, men were much indebted for right views of civil liberty. The Bible is a book of faith, a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a book of religion, of special revelation from God; but it is also a book which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man. Thank God! I - I also -- am an American! Daniel Webster also made this statement regarding the importance of the Christian faith in preserving and prospering America: If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his work will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; If the power of the Gospel is not felt through out the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end. George Washington George Washington, the father of our nation was quiet about his Christian faith. But there can be no doubt his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ was deep and heartfelt. Here are some of his thoughts about what he felt made America Great : It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being. Religion is as necessary to reason, as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist without the other. A reasoning being would lose his reason in attempting to account for the great phenomena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to. George Washington kept a personal prayer book, written in his own handwriting, for each day of the week. Theses inserts give some insight into the depth of his Christian faith: "O most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving Father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins..Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in thy Holy Word; make me to know what is acceptable in Thy sight, and therein to delight, open the eyes of my understanding, and help me thoroughly to examine myself concerning my knowledge, faith and repentance, increase my faith, and direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life, Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land from the highest to the lowest, particularly those whom thou has appointed to rule us in church and state. Continue thy goodness in me this night. These weak petitions, I humbly implore Thee to hear, accept and answer for the sake of Thy Dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen" "Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.. I beseech Thee to defend me this night from all evil and do more for me than I can think or ask, for Jesus Christ's sake, in whose most Holy Name and Words, I continue to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name." On May 14, 1787, George Washington warned the delegates to the Constitutional Convention: If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the Hand of God!" On April 30, 1789 in his famous Inaugural Address to both Houses of Congress. He had just taken the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, with his hand upon a Bible opened to Deuteronomy, Chapter 28: An exert: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. "We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps finally, staked on the experiment.." October 3, 1989 from the City of New York, George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving: "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." Patrick Henry A famous Revolutionary leader and orator, Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty, or give me death" which became the battle cry of the American Revolution. He was a five-time Governor of Virginia. He once declared: 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. On another occasion he said, pointing to his Bible: The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed. This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed. On his deathbed, Patrick Henry said: "Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die.,..I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumphs have been complete." John Robinson A pastor of the Pilgrim Church in England and Holland spoke on the Mayflower on July 22, 1620, before their departure to America: "Someone or few must be appointed over the assembly for discussing and determining of all matters, so in this royal assembly, the church of Christ, though all be Kings, yet some most faithful and most able, are to be set over the rest wherein they are charged to minister according to the Testament of Christ." In a famous letter to the Mayflower Pilgrims he wrote: "Thus this holy army of saints is marshaled here on earth by these officers, under the conduct of their glorious Emperor, Christ. Thus it marches in this most heavenly order and gracious array, against all enemies, both bodily and ghostly; peaceable in itself, as Jerusalem, terrible too the enemy as an army with banners, triumphing over their tyranny with patience, their cruelty with meekness and over death itself with dying. Thus through the Blood of that spotless Lamb and that Word of their testimony, they are more than conquerors, bruising the head of the Serpent; yeah, through the power of His Word, they have power to cast down Satan like lightning; to tread upon serpents and scorpions, to cast down strongholds, and everything that exalted itself against God. The gates of Hell, and all the principalities of powers on earth, shall not prevail against it." (Taken from the Scriptures), Abraham Lincoln On September 5, 1864 Lincoln made the following remarks upon being presented with a Bible as a gift: "In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I return my most sincere thanks for the elegant copy of the great Book of God which you present." James Madison In Madison's personal Bible, his hand writtennotes appear in the margin of Chapter 19 of the Book of Acts: Believers who are in a state of Grace, have need of the Word of God for their edification and building up, therefore implies a possiblility of falling. Grace, it is a free gift of God. ******************************************************************* *******************************************************************
Some exerts taken from ONE NATION UNDER GOD, America's Christian Heritage from the Christian Defense Fund. |
