AMERICA’S

REVIVAL

HERITAGE

How Christian Reformation and Spiritual Awakening Led to the Formation of the United States of America

Eddie L. Hyatt

Psalm 67:1-2

A Publication of

HYATT PRESS

2011

AMERICA’S REVIVAL HERITAGE

VOLUME 1

By Eddie L. Hyatt

© 2011 by Hyatt International Ministries, Incorporated

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Published by Hyatt Press

A Subsidiary of Hyatt Int’l Ministries, Incorporated

Mailing Address (2011)

9933 S. 108th East Avenue

Tulsa, OK  76133

Internet Addresses

Email:              dreddiehyatt@gmail.com

Web Site:         www.eddiehyatt.com

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations

are taken from the New Kings James Version of the Bible.

© 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1-888435-21-4

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .

1.         America: The Original Vision . . . . .  . . . .. . .

2.         The Waning of Faith and Vision . . . . . . . . . .

3.         The Vision Renewed as God Awakens His People

4.         The Marginalized of Society are Awakened

5.         George Whitefield & the Nationalizing of the Awakening

6.         A Nation Emerges from the Awakening . . . .

7.         You Hold the Key to America’s Future . . . .

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Other books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PREFACE

It was a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon as I got in my car and began a three-hour drive to Kingfisher, Oklahoma where I would be speaking the following day for friends in the church they pastor. As I pulled onto the highway my heart and mind, suddenly and unexpectedly, began to be flooded with hope that America could experience another Great Awakening.

I must confess that I had lost hope of America seeing another national revival. It seemed to me that “revival” had degenerated into the self-serving pursuit of sensational, religious phenomena, rather than a sincere seeking after God and His will and purpose. Revival, it seemed, had become a hyped, man-made religious event rather than a Divine invasion from heaven. I could identify with the words of R. A. Torrey who, almost a century ago, had written,

The most fundamental trouble with most of our present-day, so-called revivals is that they are man-made and not God sent. They are worked up (I almost said faked up) by man’s cunningly devised machinery—not prayed down.[1]

But as I drove along the highway that day, my hope for America was renewed. My heart was filled with fresh faith and hope for another Great Awakening that would revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our land.

Over the next months as I prayerfully wrote and rewrote and did further reading and research, I began to see something I had not seen before. I saw that there was a direct bearing of the First Great Awakening on the founding of the United States of America. Without the First Great Awakening there would have been no United States of America as we have known it.

I could also see that God had preserved this nation through national spiritual awakenings coming at crucial times in our history. The Second Great Awakening (1800-1840), for example, saved America from the negative influences of Deism and the French Revolution and tamed the bawdy western frontier. The Great Prayer Awakening of 1857-58 carried the nation through its most difficult time to date, the Civil War. I could also clearly see that without another Great Awakening, the America we have known will cease to exist.

I pray that that God will use this book to ignite a fresh fire of bold faith in your heart and once again awaken our Land.

Eddie Hyatt

www.eddiehyatt.com

Chapter 1

America: The Original Vision

Having undertaken for the glory of God, and the Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; [we] Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the ends aforesaid. - The Mayflower Compact

Religious awakenings have been a part of the American experience from the nation’s inception. It would almost seem that Spiritual awakening is in our national DNA. This should not be surprising since many of the first pilgrims to this land were Christian revivalists and reformists. Dissatisfied with the state of Christianity in their own country, they came to America hoping to forge a more vital and Biblical form of Christianity.

The Pilgrims, for example, who landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, were separatist Puritans who were seeking, not only a reform of the old churches of Europe, but the formation of a new church and social order based on the New Testament. In contrast to the cold, formalized orthodoxy of the state churches of Europe, they took the New Testament as their guide and preached a personal, living faith that could be both known in the head and experienced in the heart.

Puritans Seek Reformation in England

Puritanism originally arose as a reform movement within the Church of England by those who felt that the English Church had retained too much of the old Roman Catholic order and was in further need of reform. The English reformation had begun in the 1530s largely for personal and political reasons. Henry the VIII had requested an annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Argon because she had failed to bear him a male heir to his throne. Henry’s plan was to obtain an annulment and marry Anne Boleyn. When the pope and the Roman Catholic Church refused his request, he severed ties with Rome and made the English monarch (himself) the head of the English church. He was then able to move forward with his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Because Henry had little interest in doctrinal and ecclesial reform, the Church of England differed little from the medieval Roman Catholic Church. But when Henry died in 1547 and was succeeded by the youthful Edward VI, the work of reform was greatly accelerated for Edward was favorable to the Protestant cause. Edward, however, died in 1553 and was succeeded by his sister, Mary of Tudor, who was committed to the Roman Catholic Church. Under her reign 288 Protestants were burned at the stake for their Protestant convictions and many fled the country and lived in exile (Protestants also persecuted Catholics when they held the reins of power). When Mary died in 1558, she was succeeded by her sister, Elizabeth I, who was more favorable to the Protestant cause and the work of reformation was renewed in the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church.

Puritanism then arose around 1560 during the reign of Elizabeth as a sort of avant-garde, leading the way in the English Reformation. Their goal was to see the Church of England purged of all non-Biblical forms of worship and doctrine and renewed according to Scripture. The movement eventually separated in two directions: (1) with those who held out hope that the Church of England could be reformed and continued to work from within the church; and (2) with those who decided that the state church was too corrupt and resistant to be reformed and so formed “Separatist” congregations, which they sought to order after the New Testament.[2]

Separatist Puritans

The Separatists insisted that there was only one head of the Church, and it wasn’t the English monarch. Since the Church of England was the “official” church of the nation, the Separatist congregations were considered illegal and a threat to the peace and stability of the nation. They, therefore, came under severe persecution from both civil and ecclesiastical officials.

When Elizabeth died she left no heir to the throne and so James VI of the Stuart family in Scotland was crowned James I of England in 1603. James I (who authorized the King James translation) was not friendly to the Puritan cause. He was a staunch advocate of the Divine Right of Kings, a belief system in which the monarch was seen as God’s representative in the earth with absolute power over his/her subjects. James, therefore, saw the Puritan challenge to many of the doctrines and practices of the state controlled church as an affront to his own authority and he ordered, “Conform yourselves or I will harry you out of the land.”[3] One writer has said,

The Separatists were hounded, bullied, forced to pay assessments to the Church of England, clapped into prison on trumped-up charges, and driven underground. They met in private homes, to which they came at staggered intervals and by different routes, because they were constantly being spied upon.[4]

One of the earliest Separatist congregations was formed in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire County in 1606 with John Robinson as its pastor. In their precarious and dangerous situation, they all signed a covenant in which they committed themselves to be faithful to God and to one another no matter what persecution they might endure. Severe persecution did come and the Separatists were given the option, by King James I, of going to prison or leaving the country. As a result, the entire congregation migrated to Holland in 1608.

In Holland, however, they were treated as second-class citizens and permitted only to engage in menial labor and were paid wages on which they could barely subsist. They generally bore these difficulties with courage and cheerfulness but they quickly aged and a number were “taken away by death.”[5] What was even more difficult to bear was that their children were being led astray by undesirable influences in the Dutch culture. Many decided it would be better to suffer in the prisons of England than risk the next generation falling away from the gospel by remaining in Holland. So, after twelve years, they returned to England and from there made plans to find the space they needed to worship and live out the Christianity they believed was according to Scripture.

The Puritans find a New Home in America

Securing the sponsorship of English merchants in the Virginia Company, a part of the congregation boarded the Mayflower and set sail from England on September 6, 1620. The remaining members of the congregation intended to join them later. There were 102 passengers on board and 25-30 crew members. Intending to settle in the northern part of Virginia, they were blown off course and landed on Cape Cod, arriving in early November.

The Puritans emphasized the importance of “covenant” and taught that God worked with individuals, churches, and nations through covenants. Knowing that their survival in the New World would require a binding commitment to God and one another, they drew up a new covenant or “compact” that was signed by all the male passengers on board. It read in part,

In the name of God, Amen! Having undertaken for the glory of God, and the Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; [we] Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the ends aforesaid.

After signing the Mayflower Compact, the passengers disembarked and stepped on the sands of Cape Cod near present day Provincetown. William Bradford (1590-1657), who later became governor of the colony, described their actions upon stepping ashore in the New World.

Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof. They had begun their long journey by kneeling on the dock at Delftshaven (England) to ask God’s blessing; they ended it on the sands of Cape Cod, kneeling to thank Him for that blessing.[6]

Being without proper housing and food, it proved to be a brutal first winter in the New World. Almost one-half of the congregation died of scurvy and other diseases brought on by the long, arduous voyage and the austere conditions of their new surroundings. With the spring thaw, however, came two English speaking Indians whom the Pilgrims believed were providentially sent by God.

The Indians, particularly one named Squanto, instructed the Pilgrims in farming, hunting and fishing. This was life-saving for in England they had been craftsmen and townspeople and without these new skills they would not have survived in the wilderness of New England. But survive they did and through hard work and God’s providential assistance, they would go on to flourish and help lay the foundations for the emergence of a great new nation.

The Puritan Vision for a Christian Commonwealth

During the ensuing years, a few more Separatists migrated to Plymouth but their numbers remained small until a new round of persecution was launched against all Puritans by Charles I beginning around 1628. As a result, twenty-thousand Puritans migrated to New England between 1630 and 1640 and this resulted in new towns springing up throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Although the new immigrants were not all Separatists, virtually all shared the vision of a complete reformation of Christendom and they worked hard to create a church and Christian society based on their understanding of the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Their vision was a state in which godly pastors exerted their influence, not only in the church, but in the public and civic realm as well. Church attendance was open to all but only those who could testify of a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ could be members. Only church members could vote in civic elections and civic leaders were expected to be Christians who would consult with pastors concerning political and civic issues.

What the Puritans implemented in America was not a theocracy, but neither was there any thought of a separation between church and state. They believed that God had created society as a unified whole to reflect His glory. Church and state, the individual and the public were all related spheres and all were to function under the Lordship of Christ whose government was to be administered through pastors and godly civic leaders.

From Church Covenant to Constitution

From the very beginning the Puritan immigrants to America drew up written statements that defined the purpose of their communities and the basis on which they would function. These covenants, or compacts, were modeled after the church covenants that had been part of the Separatist churches in England. These statements always gave recognition to God and prioritized the gospel of Jesus Christ as the reason for their existence. For example, the 1739 founding document of Connecticut entitled “The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut,” states;

We, the inhabitants and residents of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people there ought to be an orderly and decent government established according to God . . . we do for ourselves and our successors enter into combination and confederation together, to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we now profess.”[7]

These covenants meant that those who became a part of these communities were agreeing to be ruled, not by a monarch, but by laws to which they all agreed. There is no question that these early covenants were precursors to the written statements that became the founding documents of the United States of America. As Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner say, “The early New England constitutions were covenants. These covenants clearly foreshadowed the United States Constitution.”[8]

The Puritan Vision to be that “City on a Hill”

Although persecuted in England, these Puritans came to America, not merely to escape the un-pleasantries of their homeland, but to pursue the reformation of Christianity which they believed could be carried out more expeditiously in the New World. They believed that in the wilderness of New England they would demonstrate what could happen if a body of Christians were allowed to live their lives wholly to God. Their vision was to become that “shining light” and “city on a hill” of which Jesus had spoken in Matthew 5:14.

Mark Noll, Professor of Church History at Wheaton College, says the Puritan mission to America was “both to restore the purity of early Christianity and to be a “city on the hill” for those who remained in Europe”[9] Harvard professor, Perry Miller, described their mission as;

An organized task force of Christians, executing a flank attack on the corruptions of Christendom. These Puritans did not flee to America; they went in order to work out the complete reformation which was not yet accomplished in England and Europe, but which they believed would quickly be accomplished back there if only the saints had a working model to guide them.[10]

The Puritan Emphasis on Education

Among those early Puritan immigrants to America, at least 100 had received theological training at Cambridge University, which was a center of Puritan reform. At least 30 had received theological training at Oxford. It is, therefore, no surprise that early on there was a desire for an educational system that would prepare pastors for the churches and perpetuate the Puritan vision of Christian reform.

As a result, Harvard College, now Harvard University, was formed in 1636 to train ministers and pastors for the Puritan churches. Harvard was thoroughly Christian and all students were to understand their education in the following terms;

The main end of life and study is to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all knowledge and learning.[11]

In 1701 Puritans in Connecticut opened Yale College, now Yale University, to give the youth a “liberal and religious education so that leaders for the churches should not be lacking.”[12] In fact, all the early colleges in America were founded to train ministers and to propagate the rediscovered Christian message of the reformers. And these are the colleges in which the founders of this nation received their training.

Lower levels of education were also important. In 1642 the Massachusetts legislature threatened town leaders with fines if they did not see that all children were “trained to read and understand the principles of religion.” Five years later, a law was passed requiring that each town of at least fifty households to appoint a teacher for training the youth. Professor Mark Noll points out that this attention to learning “made New England one of the world’s most literate places by the end of the century.”[13] Until after the Civil War most educational programs in the United States, from grade schools through universities, were modeled on patterns established by those first Puritan settlers.[14]

Other Religious Groups in Colonial America

Although the record of the Puritans of New England has dominated the perceptions of America’s history, other groups came to America with similar visions of Christian freedom and expansion. The earlier settlement in Jamestown, Virginia (1607), although established with motives of financial profit, was thoroughly Christian in its outlook. This is borne out by the fact that one of the first acts of the settlers upon their arrival in the New World was to hold a communion service and give thanks to God. When the new governor, Lord De La Warr, arrived in 1610, his first action was to organize a worship service and issue a Biblical call for sacrifice and industry. As part of Virginia’s incorporation, the Church of England was made the colony’s established church.[15]

Other groups also came to America seeking freedom to express their renewed and reformed faith. The Dutch Reformed settled New York and New Jersey. Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland settled in the same area and in Maryland. Baptists, one of the most persecuted groups in Europe, migrated to Rhode Island but also settled in various locations throughout the colonies. Reform minded Catholics, committed to religious tolerance, settled in Maryland. The Quakers settled Pennsylvania and it became a haven for religious dissenters, for Quakers, along with the Baptists, were early champions of freedom of conscience and of the idea that the state should be neutral in its role toward religion.

The Quakers & Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania flourished with almost no government from the time it was founded by William Penn in 1681 until 1756 when the Quakers relinquished control, or non-control, of the colony. Quakerism had arisen as a radical revival/reform movement in England around 1650. They took church reform a step beyond the Separatist Puritans and rejected all forms of government and outward ordinances for their churches. In place of outward forms and regulations, the Quakers emphasized the inward work of the Holy Spirit in each believer, which they called the “inner light,” and the New Testament admonition to “brotherly love.”

Penn, who was a devout Christian and Quaker, applied the Quaker principle of government--or non-government--to Pennsylvania, which he had received from Charles II as payment for a debt owed to his father. He drew up plans for the colony and hinted at how he envisioned it functioning when he planned and named its major city, “Philadelphia.” Philadelphia is derived from two words from the Greek New Testament; phileo meaning “love,” and adelphos, meaning “brother,” i.e., “city of brotherly love.”

Minimal regulation, minimal taxation, and complete religious liberty for all characterized Pennsylvania. When the British official, John Blackwell, came to Philadelphia in 1688 he had difficulty in locating the offices of the government. When he did locate them they were empty for the government council only met briefly once or twice per year, as the need arose. To the surprise of many, the colony and the city of Philadelphia flourished with the population increasing 24 fold, while in New York the population only doubled during the same period.

The Quakers finally relinquished control of the colony after several bloody Indian raids on distant settlements in the colony. Being pacifists, the Quakers were unwilling to take action to defend the settlers. Under pressure from their own number and well-known citizens of Philadelphia, such as Benjamin Franklin, they finally gave up control of the colony in 1756.

Nonetheless, the radical Pennsylvania experiment of religious and individual freedom had shown what can happen when a self-governed people are given the freedom to pursue their dreams under God. In his excellent book, Faith & Freedom, Benjamin Hart says,

It would have been very difficult to explain exactly what it was Americans were fighting for if the Quakers had not in fact implemented William Penn’s political philosophy: especially, that government has no right to use force against individuals to serve the purposes of the community. There would have been no experience of such a society to point to without Pennsylvania. Quaker rule provided the needed historical precedent. They were adverse to using force to an extreme. But it was the radical nature of the Quaker conception of government that led to the new political theory that would emerge between 1776 and 1787.[16]

The Quaker experiment reminds us that the freedoms enshrined in the American Constitution and Bill of Rights will only work when they are applied to a people who are self-governed by Christian principles of morality. Otherwise, freedom becomes anarchy and a means for the pursuit of selfish and ungodly ends. This is what John Adams was referring to when he said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.” [17]

America’s Christian Origins are Undeniable

As can be seen, America was not settled by mild-mannered Christians who were tepid in their faith and reserved in their witness of that faith. These early immigrants were totally committed to Christ and were willing to make any sacrifice to advance the freedom that they believed was the God-given right of every human being. Hart expressed it well when he said,

It was Protestants of the most radical stripe, most zealous in their religious convictions (those whom the America Civil Liberties Union would like to see outlawed from the public discourse) who were in fact the greatest proponents of religious liberty as codified in America’s governing charter 200 years later.[18]

In spite of religious squabbles that at times erupted among the different groups and the non-Christian behavior of some, there is no question that America’s origins were rooted in a passion to recover and live out the Christianity of the New Testament. Speaking in 1820 at the 200-year anniversary celebration of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the noted U.S. senator, Daniel Webster, said,

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 the full conviction, that that is the happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild peaceful spirit of Christianity.[19]

God has no Grandchildren

A wise man once said, “God has no grandchildren.” In other words, there is no automatic or formal passing of genuine faith from one generation to the next. Each generation must know and experience God for themselves. This truth is clearly seen in the Puritan experience as the first generation passed from the scene and the children and grandchildren of those first “pilgrims” began to establish themselves in the society which their parents had carved for them in the New England wilderness.

Chapter 2

The Waning of Faith and Vision

The golden showers have been restrained; the influences of the Spirit suspended; the consequence has been that the gospel has not had any eminent success. Conversions have been rare and dubious; few sons and daughters have been born to God. – William Cooper

In spite of the hardships encountered in carving out a new life in the New World, first generation immigrants to America were normally warm and vibrant in their faith and passionate in their vision for a revival of New Testament Christianity. Their children and grand-children, however, while retaining many of the outward forms of worship and doctrine, tended to lose the vitality and vision of their parents and grand-parents. As former generations passed from the scene, the original passion for Christian reform and renewal passed with them and succeeding generations were left with a form of godliness but lacking the power thereof (II Tim. 3:5).

Earthly Concerns Replace Spiritual Priorities

This was nowhere more obvious than in New England where, by the 1650s, the original Puritan vision for the complete reformation of Christendom had obviously waned, being replaced by more earthly concerns. The faith and disciplined work ethic of the first generation Puritans had produced prosperity; but by the time third generation Puritans were coming on the scene, prosperity had become a goal to be pursued rather than a bi-product of a Biblical faith and vision. As the well-known Puritan pastor, Cotton Mather, put it, “Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother.”[20]

The preoccupation with acquiring earthly goods and affluence was also a factor in deteriorating relation-ships with the native population. Whereas the first generation of Puritans was committed to reaching the native population with the Gospel and sought to build genuine friendship,[21] the lust for land by succeeding generations trumped their evangelistic zeal and led to a number of disingenuous treaties with different Indian tribes. Already suspicious of the new immigrants and their new religion, this further alienated many of the tribes and resulted in a number of bloody conflicts, which resulted in a further drain of spiritual life and vitality.

Half-Way Christians

The loss of spiritual life and vitality among the Puritans was also reflected in the “half-way covenant,” which was implemented by 2nd and 3rd generation Puritans in 1662 in hope of impeding the alarming loss of church members. This “half-way covenant” offered partial membership to those who could not testify of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and it allowed these “nominal” Christians to have their children baptized without claiming full church membership. Many of the churches had thus deteriorated into formal religious institutions with no power to bring needed change.

Seven years later, in 1679, a group of ministers met in Massachusetts and at the conclusion of their gathering issued a statement declaring that, “God hath a controversy with His New England people.” Those attending this “Reforming Synod” formulated this statement because of the increase in ungodliness and spiritual indifference they observed on every hand.

The Loss of Brotherly Love

Weaknesses in the Puritan experiment also began to appear as outsiders, such as Quakers and Baptists who held different theological views, came into their region. Feeling that their way of life was being threatened and undermined by these outsiders, the Puritans responded with harshness.

On the one hand, their response is understandable for they and their parents had sacrificed much and worked very hard to carve out a life in the New England wilderness. Should they now allow outsiders to undermine what they had established with doctrines and practices with which they did not agree? Nonetheless, their response was less than Christian and those Quakers and Baptists who insisted on spreading their teachings in their midst were banned from their communities, some were imprisoned, and some were even hanged.

Their harsh response reflected not only the loss of spiritual life, but the inherent weakness of a society in which the civil government and a particular church are merged together and use their cooperative power to coerce others in matters of faith. In New England it was the Congregational Church, the church of the Puritans, which was merged, or aligned, with their system of government.

In the end, the Puritan treatment of outsiders would confirm the Quaker/Baptist ideals of the civil government not taking sides with any church, but being diligent to protect the free expression of faith by all sects and denominations. This would all play into the formulation, just over one-hundred years later, of the First Amendment to the Constitution in which the founders would state, “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion, nor hindering the free exercise thereof.”

Nonetheless, at the time, these encounters with outsiders had the effect of further dampening the spiritual vision and passion for reform and led to a hardening of their outward forms of church and civil authority. The very institutions of church and civil government that earlier Puritans had put in place to preserve their vision of Christian reform, became the instruments by which later generations crushed dissent and squelched new expressions of revival and reform.

The Witchcraft Trials

When people live as formal Christians, believing in the doctrines of the Bible but lacking the power of a personal relationship with God, they are unable to deal with attacks from the unseen world of Satan and demons. This was the case with the Puritans in the 1690s when rumors began to spread of the practice of witchcraft in their midst. When unexplained accidents then began to occur and cases of “demon possession” began to appear, they did not have the spiritual wisdom and power to deal with the situation. Although there were isolated cases of deliverance through prayer and fasting,[22] for the most part, the people reacted in fear and relied on the civil authorities to deal with the situation. And so began the darkest period of Puritan history, the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692-93 in which over 150 people were arrested and 20 eventually found guilty and 19 hanged for practicing witchcraft.

These proceedings have been seized upon by Puritan haters and used to paint the Puritans with a broad brush in hopes of destroying their reputation and undermining their positive influence in the founding of this nation. Mark Noll, however, has pointed out that, compared with what was happening in Europe at the time, the actions of the Puritans were quite guarded, for hundreds of supposed witches were executed in Europe during this same period at the behest of both Catholics and Protestants.[23]

Others have pointed out that witchcraft was actually being practiced and when tragic, unexplained accidents began to occur, New Englanders responded in fear by going after those they believed to be responsible and bringing them to trial.[24] In his excellent book, Justice at Salem: Reexamining the Witchcraft Trials, William H. Cooke, an attorney, while not exonerating the Puritans, has shown the importance of judging their actions from within the context of their own world view rather than from the context of a secularized, 21st century worldview.

It was eventually the protest of Puritan pastors such as Increase Mather that brought an end to the proceedings. Later, one of the judges at the trials, Samuel Sewall, made a public statement lamenting his actions lest some innocent person had been condemned. He asked for God’s forgiveness for himself and for all New England.[25] Nonetheless, a dark cloud of uncertainty and disillusionment was cast over all New England.

Prayers for a Divine Awakening

By the end of the century, the Puritan vision of being a “shining light” and a “city on a hill” for the churches of Europe seemed very dim indeed. Not only were many of the existing churches spiritually dead, but many areas, because of rapid population growth, were without churches or pastors. Sabbath breaking, profanity, gambling, and lewdness were on the rise.

As a new century dawned, many ministers and laypeople alike were deeply concerned about the immorality and spiritual indifference that seemed to pervade the land and the churches. One pastor described it as a “dead and barren time” and went on to say,

The golden showers have been restrained; the influences of the Spirit suspended; the consequence has been that the gospel has not had any eminent success. Conversions have been rare and dubious; few sons and daughters have been born to God; and the hearts of Christians not so quickened, warmed, and refreshed under the ordinances, as they have been.[26]

The spiritual condition of the populace was so bleak that calls for special times of prayer and fasting began to be issued throughout the colonies by both pastors and government officials. William Cooper, a pastor from New England, recalled that before the Awakening it was “a constant petition in our public prayers, from Sabbath to Sabbath, that God would pour out His Spirit upon us and revive his work in the midst of the years.” He also stated that most of the churches had “set apart days, wherein to seek the Lord by prayer and fasting.” In addition to these times of fasting and prayer set by the churches, there were “annual fast days appointed by the government.”[27]

Would God be faithful to answer the prayers of His people? Would He honor the faith and sacrifice of their forefathers and foremothers? Would He demonstrate that He had a plan for this land?

Chapter 3

The Vision Renewed as

God Awakens His People

The work of God, as it was carried on, and the number of true saints multiplied, soon made a glorious alteration in the town: so that in the spring and summer following, anno 1735, the town seemed to be full of the presence of God.  – Jonathan Edwards

By 1726 it was obvious that the prayers of the people were beginning to be answered when revival erupted among the Dutch Reformed of New Jersey. It began as the result of a young Dutch Reformed pastor, Theodore Frelinghuysen, visiting his flock in their homes and boldly pointing out in person and from the pulpit their un-Christian behavior and their spiritual apathy. He preached about the reality of sin and the grace of the Gospel and called upon his people to take their faith seriously.

In the beginning some were offended and separated from him, but eventually his preaching bore fruit as a powerful revival began to spread among the churches he pastored. In later years when George Whitefield visited that area he acknowledged the work of Frelinghuysen and said of him, "He is a worthy soldier of Jesus Christ, and was the beginner of the great work which I trust the Lord is carrying on in these parts."[28]

Gilbert Tennent

One of those impacted by Frelinghuysen was Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764), a young Presbyterian pastor in the town of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Gilbert had been born in County Armagh, Ireland in 1703. At the age of fourteen he immigrated with his parents and three brothers to America, settling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where his father, William, took the pastorate of the Neshaminy Presbyterian Church. It was here that Gilbert and his brothers received the training that would prepare them as some of the most prominent preachers of the Great Awakening.

Gilbert’s father, William, had been trained at the University of Edinburgh and was a Biblical scholar, well versed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He was also a man of piety who emphasized the importance of a vital faith that is both known in the head and experienced in the heart. One of his first acts after getting settled in his new home was to erect a log building approximately twenty feet long and twenty feet wide where he began classes with thirteen students, including Gilbert and his three brothers. Years later when George Whitefield visited the area and preached to approximately three-thousand in the “meeting-house yard,” he described the Log College as being like the “old school of the prophets.” Many historians consider the Log College to be the forerunner of Princeton University.[29]

After graduating from the Log College, Gilbert was licensed to preach by the Presbyterian Church and settled into a pastorate in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Shortly after assuming this pastorate, Gilbert became deathly ill and wondered if his life might be over. Feeling that he had accomplished so little in his service to God, Gilbert promised God that if He would allow him just six more months, he would, “Stand upon the stage of the world, as it were, and plead more faithfully for his cause, and take more earnest pains for the salvation of souls.”[30]

Gilbert experienced a transformation of his health and began to preach with a new urgency. He began to boldly point out the hypocrisy and the shallowness of faith among those in his congregation, and insisted on a true conversion experience that is rooted solely in faith in Jesus Christ. Gilbert’s new sense of urgency and the boldness with which he confronted sin and hypocrisy led some to refer to him as a “Son of Thunder.” Although he encountered some opposition, a deep concern for their spiritual state gripped his congregation and the revival began to impact his community.

It was during this time that Gilbert met Theodore Frelinghuysen and saw the revival that was taking place in his Dutch Reformed congregations. They were able to encourage each other and revival began to spread throughout the middle colonies. When George Whitefield visited the area in 1739, he said of Gilbert, “He and his associates are now the burning and shining lights of this part of America.”[31]

With the Awakening spreading to various communities, Gilbert began to travel to other communities boldly proclaiming the importance of a “new birth” through faith in Jesus Christ. Everywhere he went multitudes were awakened to the fact that they could not trust in the religion of their parents, church membership, or their own good works, but must put their faith completely in Christ. Gilbert also challenged the clergy with a scathing message entitled “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry,” in which he compared many colonial church leaders with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, pious and proud in their own righteousness but opposing the genuine work of God in their midst.

On one of his preaching tours through Philadelphia, George Whitefield met the Tennents and recognized their significant contribution to the Awakening. He asked Gilbert to take a preaching tour and “water the seed” in all the places where he had preached the Word. Gilbert agreed and everywhere he travelled he saw an amazing response to his message. One writer has said, “Preaching almost every day for three months, Tennent witnessed a “shaking among the dry bones.” [32]

Gilbert followed Whitefield to Boston about three months after Whitfield had departed in September of 1740. He spent about three months there and the results were astounding. One eyewitness wrote,

The December following Mr. G. Tennent arrived whose preaching was followed by still greater effects. . . . On Monday March 2, 1741, Mr. Tennent preached his farewell sermon to an extremely crowded and deeply affected audience. “And now was a time such as we never knew. Mr. Cooper was wont to say, that more came to him in one week in deep concern about their souls, than in the whole twenty-four years of his previous ministry.”[33]

Jonathan Edwards & Revival in New England

As revival was spreading throughout the middle colonies, it also began to break forth in New England among the descendants of the Puritans. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts had been concerned by what he described as “the general deadness throughout the land,” and had set himself to seek God for a “revival of religion.”[34]

Edwards was a child prodigy who entered Yale College at the age of 13 and graduated four years later as class valedictorian at the age of 17. He was a diligent student of Scripture, and became versed in the ancient languages and thoroughly prepared himself for the service of the Lord. He became the pastor of the church in Northampton in 1729 and there continued his discipline of diligently studying for 13 hours each day. As he now also prayed fervently for a “revival of religion,” he began to see his prayers answered in a remarkable and unusual manner.

During the spring and summer of 1735, an awesome sense of the Divine presence seemed to invade the entire community of Northampton. Edwards reported that, “the town seemed to be full of the presence of God.” In every part of town, the Spirit of God was powerfully at work until “there was scarcely a single person in the town, old or young, left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world.”2

Without any sort of planned evangelistic outreach “souls did as it were come by flocks to Jesus Christ.”3 Instead of resorting to the tavern, people now crowded Edwards’ home clamoring to hear the message of Christ and His salvation. His home, Edwards said, “was thronged far more than ever the tavern had been wont to be.” In fact, the Spirit of God worked so powerfully that “the tavern was soon left empty.”[35] “A loose, careless person could scarcely be found,” said Edwards, “And if there was anyone that seemed to remain senseless or unconcerned it would be spoken of as a strange thing.”[36]

Without any special church growth emphases or human attempts to increase the attendance, the church in Northampton suddenly filled with those seeking salvation and with those experiencing the fruit of already being born again. Edwards wrote,

Our public assemblies were then beautiful: the congregation was alive in God’s service, everyone intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth; the assembly were in general from time to time in tears while the word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbours.4

People from other communities often scoffed when they heard of the events in Northampton. Many, however, found their skepticism dissipating when they visited Northampton and experienced the overwhelming sense of God’s presence. Edwards said,

Strangers were generally surprised to find things so much beyond what they had heard, and were wont to tell others that the state of the town could not be conceived by those who had not seen it.”[37]

As converts returned home, they carried the spirit of revival with them, and the Awakening spread. The Awakening also spontaneously sprang up in other communities apart from any contact with Northampton. In Hatfield, the whole town was at once “seized” with a concern about the things of God and salvation through Jesus Christ. It also appeared in Sunderland and soon “overspread the town.” A Rev. Bull of Westfield informed Edwards that there had been a transformation of his town and that “more had been done in one week than in seven years before.”[38]

It was during this time that Edwards preached his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at a church in Enfield, Connecticut. The justice of God and the reality of eternal punishment became so real to the congregation that some clutched the backs of pews while others wrapped their arms around the pillars to keep, as it were, from falling into hell and being consumed by its eternal flames. Edwards’ voice was drowned out by the prayers and cries for mercy that spontaneously sprang forth from the congregation. “He made hell real enough to be found in the atlas,” said Edwards’ biographer, Ola Winslow.5

The response could not be attributed to Edward’s preaching style, for he was neither loud nor flamboyant in his presentation. A very logical and studious personality, he wrote out all his sermons in a manuscript. He then stood behind the podium and, without moving or making any physical gestures, read his sermon in a monotone voice. Being nearsighted, he held the manuscript so close to his face that the congregation could not see his face. His example reminds us how we too often wrongly associate the power of the Holy Spirit with the noise, glitz, and glitter of Christian entertainment.

Preaching on the terrors of hell did not monopolize Edward’s messages. He, instead, majored on messages that extolled the majesty of God and the excellences of Christ. He was, in fact, a very sensitive individual who could be melted to tears while contemplating the love and mercy of God.  According to one report, before presenting his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he had spent eighteen hours in prayer pleading with God to, “Give me New England or let me die.”[39] When George Whitefield preached in the Northampton church he noted in his Journal that, “The good Mr. Edwards wept throughout the sermon.”[40]

The well-known English pastor, theologian, and hymn writer, Isaac Watts, read Edward’s account of how the Awakening had transformed New England and was greatly inspired. He wrote,

We are taught by this happy event how easy it will be for our blessed Lord to make a full accomplishment of all His predictions concerning His kingdom, and to spread His dominion from sea to sea, through all the nations of the earth. We see how easy it is for Him with one turn of His hand, with one word of His mouth, to awaken whole countries of stupid and sleeping sinners, and kindle divine life in their souls.[41]

Chapter 4

The Marginalized of Society are Awakened

The power of God seemed to descend upon the assembly 'like a mighty raging wind,' and with an astonishing energy bore down all before it. . . . They were almost universally praying and crying for mercy in every part of the house, and many out of doors; and numbers could neither go nor stand. Their concern was so great, each one for himself, that none seemed to take any notice of those about them, but each prayed freely for himself. I thought this had a near resemblance to the day of God's power, mentioned in Josh. 10: 14; for I must say I never saw any day like it. – David Brainerd, describing the Awakening among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey

The preachers of the Great Awakening saw everyone, regardless of race or gender, under the power and penalty of sin with only one remedy, faith in Jesus Christ. Social standing, the possession or absence of wealth, whether you were male or female, and whether you were slave or free were all irrelevant when it came to forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Moved by this theological understanding and stirred by the power of the Awakening, many began to reach across cultural divides to share the Good News with those who had been relegated to the margins of colonial American society. As a result, women, blacks and Native Americans all shared in the power of the Awakening.

The Awakening Impacts Women

One writer has pointed out that, although critics of the Awakening took umbrage at the emotional excesses they believed they observed, they were even more incensed when “some white women and African Americans shed their subordinate social status long enough to exhort religious gatherings.”[42]

Sarah (Pierpont) Edwards would be a case in point. When the Awakening came to Northampton she was powerfully affected so that at times she was unable to stand and at other times so conscious of the joyful presence of the Holy Spirit, “I could scarcely refrain from leaping with transports of joy.”[43]

This sort of dynamic experience of the Spirit’s presence moved her to act outside her traditional roles of wife and mother and exhort others concerning the things of God. She not only discussed Biblical and theological themes with her husband and visiting ministers, but at times exhorted others out of the overflow of her own experience. For example, she tells of hearing a visiting minister lament that God’s children should be cold and lifeless in their faith. She said,

I felt such a sense of the deep ingratitude manifested by the children of God, in such coldness and deadness, that my strength was immediately taken away, and I sunk down on the spot. Those who were near raised me, and placed me in a chair; and, from the fullness of my heart, I expressed to them, in a very earnest manner, the deep sense I had of the wonderful grace of Christ towards me, of the assurance I had of his having saved me from hell, of my happiness running parallel with eternity, of the duty of giving up all to God, and of the peace and joy inspired by an entire dependence on his mercy and grace.[44]

Moved, perhaps in part, by his wife’s experiences, Jonathan Edwards (considered by many to be the greatest theologian/philosopher America has produced) developed views on gender that were obviously ahead of his time. His commentary on Eve being the “the mother of all living” has been construed by some scholars as an indication that he held “proto-feminist” views, and one writer has described him as being “genuinely committed to the promotion of gender equality.” The Edwards apparently reared their daughters with a sense of equality for one biographer, in describing the character of their daughter, Esther, said, “She was used to being taken seriously as the spiritual and intellectual equal of men.”[45]

These currents of equality are always present in movements of spiritual renewal where more value is placed on the Spirit’s presence and power for teaching and ministry than on more traditional criteria, such as one’s gender. This sort of gender equality that is rooted in the Spirit was at full bloom among the Quakers and to a lesser extent among the Baptists of colonial America. But traditional Puritan culture and theology that was dominant at the time, especially in New England, confined women primarily to roles of motherhood and homemaker, and freedom could only go so far as the tradition and culture would allow. [46]

Nonetheless, the way was opened for women to play some very prominent roles in the American Revolution.[47] In addition, ripples of equality were set loose that would grow into a spiritual tsunami in the Second Great Awakening of the next century, out of which would emerge the suffrage movement and the great fight for both gender and racial equality.[48]

The Awakening Impacts Native Americans

Relationships with the native population had been strained by the lust for land on the part of 2nd and 3rd generation Puritans and because many native chiefs and medicine men saw the new settlers and their new religion as threats to their own power and influence. These tensions had led to some very brutal conflicts in the latter part of the 1600s, which served to further widen the chasm between the two peoples.

Nonetheless, moved by the power of the Awakening and its central theme that all people are separated from God by sin and in need of salvation through Christ, a number of ardent souls began to reach out to the Indians in kindness and at great personal sacrifice. As a result, a powerful work of the Holy Spirit was begun among the native population.

A case in point is David Brainerd (1718-1747) who worked with the Mohicans, Stockbridge, and Susquehanna of Massachusetts and the Delaware of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Although his brief missionary career was cut short by the onset of tuberculosis and his untimely death at the age of 29, Brainerd’s missionary passion and dedication became an example for many after his Journal was published by Jonathan Edwards shortly after his death in Edwards’ home.

Giving himself completely to his task, Brainerd studied the native language so that he could share portions of the Gospel and the Psalms in their own language. In the wilderness where he was often alone and without necessary sustenance, he gave himself to fervent prayer for the natives and often set aside entire days for prayer and fasting. His Journal entry for April 19, 1742 reads,

I set apart this day for fasting and prayer to God for his grace; especially to prepare me for the work of the ministry; to give me divine aid and direction in my preparations for that great work; and in his own time to send me into his harvest. In the forenoon I felt the power of intercession for precious, immortal souls; for the advancement of the kingdom of my dear Lord and Savior in the world . . . God enabled me so to agonize in prayer that I was quite wet with sweat, though in the shade and the cool wind. My soul was drawn out very much for the world; I grasped for multitudes of souls.[49]

It was while ministering to the Delaware at a place called Crossweeksung, New Jersey that Brainerd began to see his prayers answered in a remarkable way. In his Journal dated August 8, 1745, he wrote,

The power of God seemed to descend upon the assembly 'like a mighty raging wind,' and with an astonishing energy bore down all before it. I stood amazed at the influence which seized the audience almost universally; and could compare it to nothing more aptly than the irresistible force of a mighty torrent, or swelling deluge, that with its insupportable weight and pressure bears down and sweeps before it whatever is in its way. The most stubborn hearts were now obliged to bow. A principal man among the Indians . . . was now brought under solemn concern for his soul, and wept bitterly. They were almost universally praying and crying for mercy in every part of the house, and many out of doors; and numbers could neither go nor stand. Their concern was so great, each one for himself, that none seemed to take any notice of those about them, but each prayed freely for himself. I thought this had a near resemblance to the day of God's power, mentioned in Josh. 10: 14; for I must say I never saw any day like it, in all respects: it was a day wherein I am persuaded the Lord did much to destroy the kingdom of darkness among this people. [50]

A thriving Christian church and community emerged among the Delaware with Brainerd raising money to guarantee that their land was secured and would never be taken. He wrote of his beloved Indian congregation,

I know of no assembly of Christians, where there seems to be so much of the presence of God, where brotherly love so much prevails, and where I should take so much delight in the public worship of God in general, as in my own congregation.[51]

Although he died two years later of tuberculosis, others carried on Brainerd’s work, including his brother John. Jonathan Edwards, in whose home Brainerd passed away, was so impressed with Brainerd’s life and work that he published his Journal which to this day continues to inspire many to an unreserved commitment to God and His service. John Wesley was so impressed by reading Brainerd’s Journal that he had it distributed to all his Methodist societies and instructed his preachers to, “Read carefully over the life of David Brainerd.” Edwards himself later became a missionary to the Housatonic Indians in the area of Stockbridge, MA.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, the British were able to persuade many Indian tribes to join their side of the conflict through promises of land guarantees and claims of military superiority and certain victory over the colonists. Nonetheless, a substantial number of Native Americans joined the colonists against the British. Interestingly, many were from the very areas where Brainerd, Edwards, and others had seen the most success, such as Stockbridge in western Massachusetts and from throughout New England. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras, tribes in the middle colonies and part of the Iroquois nation, also sided with the Americans, owing in large measure to the efforts of their Presbyterian missionary, Samuel Kirkland.[52] These and other Native Americans volunteered as minutemen even before the outbreak of the fighting, joined Washington's army at the siege of Boston, and served in New York, New Jersey, and other areas of conflict.

The Awakening Impacts African-Americans

Because of the understanding that all people are under the power of sin and in need of Christ, a number of evangelists of the Awakening targeted blacks, both slave and free, in their preaching. Their message of a personal “new birth” experience with God resonated with the black populace, which also found many areas of Scripture with which they could identify, such as Israel’s time of slavery in Egypt and God’s mighty deliverance of them. The records indicate that there was indeed a Great Awakening among the black populace at this time.

Gilbert Tennent, for example, was delighted that during a preaching tour in Massachusetts, “multitudes were awakened, and several received great consolation, especially among the young people, children, and ‘Negroes.’”[53] Jonathan Edwards, in his account of the Awakening in his hometown of Northampton, mentions “several negroes” who appeared to have been truly born again.[54]

After preaching his farewell message in Philadelphia and retiring to his lodging, George Whitefield reported that, “Near 50 Negroes came to give me thanks for what God had done for their souls.” Whitefield considered this an answer to prayer, saying, “I have been much drawn in prayer for them, and have seen them wrought upon by the word preached.” [55]

Whitefield’s impact among the black populace of colonial America is indicated by the moving tribute that a black woman, Phillis Wheatley, who later became America’s first published black poet, wrote in his honor at the time of his death. Her words express the strains of equality that were heard in the Gospel he preached. It reads in part;

Thou didst in strains of eloquence refined

Inflame the heart and captivate the mind

The greatest gift that ev’n God can give,

He freely offered to the num’rous throng

Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you,

Impartial Saviour is his title due.

Further south, Samuel Davies, a colleague of Gilbert Tennent, gave special attention to blacks, including slaves, during his time of ministry in Virginia. Davies not only preached to blacks but invited them to share in regular church observances including the Lord’s Supper. In 1757 he wrote,

What little success I have lately had, has been chiefly among the extremes of Gentlemen and Negroes. Indeed, God has been remarkably working among the latter. I have baptized 150 adults; and at the last sacramental solemnity, I had the pleasure of seeing the table graced with 60 black faces.[56]

This Awakening among the black populace resulted in the emergence of black congregations, among both the slave and the free. It also opened the way for blacks to later serve in the Revolutionary War. David Barton has documented that numbers of blacks were given honorable discharges and pensions, and some honored with complete military funerals for their service in the War.[57]

The Awakening also released currents of anti-slavery sentiments because, as Hart has noted, “Among the most ardent opponents of slavery were ministers, particularly the Puritan and revivalist preachers.”[58] The opposition to slavery was so strong in the North that when separation with Great Britain came in 1776, several states, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York immediately took steps to abolish slavery (something they could not do under George III). Although there was more resistance in the South, the anti-slavery sentiments set loose by the Awakening flowered into the abolition movement of the next century which, as Dr. Timothy Smith has shown, had its roots in American revivalism, starting with the First Great Awakening.[59]

Chapter 5

George Whitefield & the

Nationalizing of the Awakening

The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. – Benjamin Franklin

George Whitefield (1714–1770) was uniquely prepared for his role as the firebrand of the Awakening that would bring all the individual flames of revival together into one blazing inferno of Divine Awakening. He was a graduate of Oxford University and an ordained minister with the Church of England. At Oxford he had come under the tutelage of John and Charles Wesley and had experienced a dramatic conversion that forever changed his life. His gifted preaching ability drew great crowds and quickly launched him into leadership, along with the Wesleys, of the Methodist revival in England. Having eyes that were crossed, his critics poked fun at him calling him Dr. Squintum.

Sensing a Divine call to America, he departed England in August of 1739 with a burden for the colonists and a prayer that they would not live as thirteen scattered colonies, but as “one nation under God.”[60] As he travelled up and down the eastern seaboard, shop-keepers closed their doors, farmers left their plows, and workers threw down their tools to hurry to the place where he was to preach. Crowds of 8-10 thousand were common. At a time when the population of Boston was estimated at 25,000, Whitefield preached to an estimated crowd of 30,000 on the Boston Common. Through his incessant travels he became the best known and most recognized figure in colonial America.

Entire Communities Are Transformed

Whitefield became a friend of Benjamin Franklin and stayed in his home on at least one of his visits to America. Franklin’s testimony of the power of the revival is particularly significant since he did not profess to be a Christian. In his Autobiography, he tells of the incredible change that came over his hometown of Philadelphia when Whitefield came there on his first of seven visits to America. He writes,

In 1739 there arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitfield who made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our churches, but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refused him their pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.[61]

Franklin admits that he was skeptical of reports of Whitefield’s preaching being heard by crowds of 25,000 and more. While listening to Whitefield preach from the top of the Philadelphia courthouse steps to a huge throng, Franklin, having an enquiring and scientific mind, retired backward to see how far Whitefield’s voice would reach. He then did some calculations and decided that Whitefield’s voice, which he described as “loud and clear,” could be heard by crowds of 30,000 and more.[62]

The Awakening Touches All Sects & Denominations

Although ordained with the Church of England, there was not a denominational bone in Whitefield’s body. In one of his sermons, preached to several thousand gathered in the open air, Whitefield mimicked a conversation with Father Abraham who was looking over the banister of heaven at the gathered multitude representing many sects and denominations. Whitefield cried out, “Father Abraham, are there any Anglicans in heaven?” The answer came back, “No, there are no Anglicans in heaven.” “Father Abraham, are there any Methodists in heaven?” “No, there are no Methodists in heaven.” Are there any Presbyterians in heaven?” “No, there are no Presbyterians here either.” “What about Baptists or Quakers?”  “No, there are none of those here either.” “Father Abraham,” cried Whitefield, what kind of people are in heaven?” The answer came back, “There are only Christians in heaven; only those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb.” Whitefield then cried out, “Oh, is that the case? Then God help me, God help us all, to forget having names and to become Christians in deed and in truth!”[63]

Everywhere he went the Holy Spirit was poured out in great power. On one occasion after preaching to a huge throng gathered outdoors, Whitfield surveyed the crowd and noted the amazing response.

Look where I would, most were drowned in tears. Some were struck pale as death, others wringing their hands, others lying on the ground, others sinking into the arms of their friends and most lifting up their eyes to heaven and crying out to God.7

In Delaware there was such an outpouring of God’s Spirit and grace that Whitefield himself was overcome along with many of his audience. He wrote,

Never did I see a more glorious sight. Oh what tears were shed and poured forth after the Lord Jesus. Some fainted; and when they had got a little strength, they would hear and faint again. Others cried out in a manner as if they were in the sharpest agonies of death. After I had finished my last discourse, I was so pierced, as it were, and overpowered with a sense of God’s love, that some thought, I believe, I was about to give up the ghost. How sweetly did I lie at the feet of Jesus.[64]

Staying on Message

Although such outward manifestations were common in Whitefield’s meetings, he neither encouraged nor discouraged them. He was aware that in special times of Awakening, when the Holy Spirit is manifest in remarkable and unusual ways, there will be genuine but unusual responses from many. Nonetheless, as early as 1739, he had cautioned John Wesley to not over-emphasize these outward manifestations lest people become preoccupied with them and be led away from the truths of God’s word. He wrote,

I think it is tempting God to require such signs. That there is something of God in it, I doubt not. But the devil, I believe, does interpose. I think it will encourage the French Prophets, take people away from the written word, and make them depend on visions, convulsions, etc., more than on the promises and precepts of the gospel.[65]

A person who had been deeply dealt with by God, Whitefield had grown up in Gloucester, England in an inn operated by his mother. Being from a poor family, he did not have the means to attend college. He, therefore, entered Oxford University as a “servitor,” the lowest rank of students at Oxford. In return for free tuition, he was assigned as a servant to a number of higher ranked students. His duties included waking them in the morning, polishing their shoes, carrying their books and even assisting with required written assignments. It was at Oxford that he met John and Charles Wesley and became a part of the Holy Club at Oxford, out which came the Methodist revival.[66]

At Oxford he became aware of the corruption in his own nature and spent many days and weeks wrestling in prayer and study before coming to a place of inner peace after trusting himself completely to Jesus Christ. He then experienced a voracious hunger for God’s word and wrote,

My mind now being more open and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books and praying over, if possible, every line and word.”[67]

He was ordained to the ministry at the age of 21 by Dr. Benson, the bishop of Gloucester. He later recalled that when hands were laid upon him at that time, "My heart was melted down, and I offered up my whole spirit, soul and body, to the service of God's sanctuary.”[68]

Although a native of England, Whitefield became best known for his ministry in America’s First Great Awakening. He loved America and made seven visits to this land. A tireless worker, he travelled incessantly from Georgia to Maine preaching primarily in the open air and raising money for his beloved orphanage, Bethesda, which he had founded in Georgia. He died during his final visit to America at the age of 58, probably of congestive heart failure brought on by fatigue.

Whitfield Burns Out for God

Worn from his constant labors, Whitefield had for some time been hampered by chest pains and difficulty in breathing. Seemingly moved by a sense of urgency he, nonetheless, kept up his unrelenting pace. In 1770, during his seventh and final visit to America, he preached in Boston and, in spite of pain and weariness, traveled on to Exeter in New Hampshire.

Appearing worn and haggard, someone said to him, “Sir, you are more fit to go to bed, than to preach.” “True,” gasped Whitefield, and then glancing heavenward he prayed aloud, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it. If I have not finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the fields, and seal Thy truth, and come home and die.”[69]

Whitefield then stood and began to speak to the large crowd that had gathered in the open field. His voice, however, could barely be heard and his words were rambling as if he was having trouble focusing his mind. He stopped and stood silent. Minutes passed. Then he said, “I will wait for the gracious assistance of God. For He will, I am certain, assist me once more to speak in His name.”[70]

Suddenly, according to those standing by, Whitefield seemed to be rekindled by an inner fire. His voice grew strong and clear and he preached for an hour, leading one observer to later comment, “He had such a sense of the incomparable excellences of Christ that he could never say enough of Him.” He preached on for another hour and then cried out, “I go! I go to rest prepared. My body fails, my spirit expands. How willingly I would ever live to preach Christ! But I die to be with Him.”[71]

That night he retired at a friend’s home but had a fitful, unsettled sleep. In the early morning, with a crushing pain in his chest, he pulled himself out of bed and made his way to a nearby window. George Whitefield then died as the first rays of the morning sun burst over the horizon.

The Significance of Whitfield’s Contribution

Whitfield’s contribution to the First Great Awakening was enormous. More than any other person he, by his incessant travels, helped make the Awakening a national event. It was the first time the scattered colonists of various denominational and theological persuasions had participated together in a single event. Denominational walls were broken down and, for the first time, they began to see themselves as a single people with one Divine destiny—“one nation under God,” as Whitfield had prayed.

The preaching of Whitefield and other revivalists of the Great Awakening also helped democratize the inhabitants of the colonies by putting everyone on the same level (guilty sinners before God) with only one solution for the sin problem (faith in Jesus Christ). They also bridged the gap between clergy and laypeople by insisting that it was the responsibility of all to know God in a real and personal way and by encouraging their followers to carry out ordinances and activities that had been traditionally reserved for an ordained clergy.

The preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, Frelinghuysen, the Tennents, and others thus paved the way for nationhood. This is why Harvard professor, William Perry, said, “The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a result of the evangelical preaching of the evangelists of the Great Awakening.”[72]

Chapter 6

A Nation Emerges from the Awakening

The highest glory of the American Revolution is this; it connected, in one dissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.

– John Quincy Adams

The First Great Awakening changed the moral climate of colonial America. Entire communities were transformed. Profanity, lewdness and drunkenness almost completely disappeared, especially in some areas. Reports in New England alone show thirty-thousand to forty-thousand converts and 150 new churches. In addition, the revival spawned extensive missionary work and other humanitarian enterprises. Colleges such as Princeton, Columbia and Hampden-Sydney were established to equip ministers for the new congregations. Kings College, now known as Columbia University opened in 1754 with an advertisement in New York papers declaring,

The chief thing in this college is to teach and engage children to know God in Jesus Christ and to love Him and serve Him in all sobriety, godliness, and richness of life with a perfect heart and willing mind.”[73]

America’s Founders Impacted

by the Great Awakening

There is no question that most, if not all, the founding fathers were impacted by the Great Awakening. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a central figure at the Continental Congress, attributed the development of his thinking and ideals to the preachers of the Great Awakening. [74] Amos and Gardiner say;

The majority of people who founded the United States of America either experienced, or were children of those who experienced, the religious awakening of the 1740s. [75]

This meant that their Christianity, for the most part, was not a dry, formal, orthodoxy based on church membership, but a vital faith that was both known in the head and experienced in the heart. Indeed, prayers, Bible readings, and expressions of faith in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ permeate their writings. A recent ten-year project to discover where the founding fathers got their ideas for America’s founding documents, found that by far the single most cited authority in their writings was the Bible.[76]

This vibrant Christian milieu can only be attributed to the Great Awakening. Indeed, John Adams, one of the most prominent of the founding fathers and the country’s 2nd president, declared that it was “the awakening and revival of American principles and feelings that led to our independence.”[77]

A cursory examination of the writings, speeches, and actions of the founding fathers is enough to establish their commitment to Christian principles, and that they had no thought of establishing a secular nation that would seek to marginalize expressions of faith in the public square. The First Amendment, instead of restricting religious freedom, leveled the playing field by giving all sects and denominations freedom to operate without government interference. This, of course, was the very opposite of the nations of Europe with their state sanctioned churches that oppressed religious dissent and diversity.

A cursory look at their own testimonies is enough to establish that the founding fathers were not a collection of atheists, agnostics, and Deists as some modern historians have depicted them in their revisionist versions of American History. As Patrick Henry 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.”[78]

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is often considered one of the least religious of the founding fathers. In his early years he did entertain Deistic views about God and the Bible. However, his religious sentiments and views changed through the years attributable, no doubt, to his exposure to the Awakening and his friendship with George Whitefield.

Franklin attended the meetings of Whitefield and commented on the impact his preaching had on his hometown of Philadelphia.[79] He also did business with Whitefield in the printing of Whitefield’s Journals and he even contributed financially to Whitfield’s ministry. In his Autobiography Franklin refers to Whitefield as “a perfectly honest man” and describes their friendship as being “sincere on both sides, which lasted till his death.”[80]  Whitefield stayed in Franklin’s home while visiting Philadelphia and it is obvious that, in spite of their differences, their friendship ran deep.

In his Autobiography, Franklin acknowledges that Whitefield often prayed for his conversion and admits that Whitefield did not live to see his prayers answered. There is evidence, nonetheless, that Franklin did come to know the Savior that Whitefield so often spoke to him about.

Franklin became an avid reader of the Bible and often attended church, depending on who was preaching. In a letter to his daughter he spoke to her about “the necessity and duty of attending church.”[81] After a voyage to England in 1757, during which the ship almost crashed at midnight into a small rocky island in the Atlantic, Franklin wrote a letter to his wife in which he said;

The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately, and with hearts full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we had received. If I were a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should, on this occasion, vow to build a chapel to some saint; but as I am not, if I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light house.[82]

On June 28, 1787, seventeen years after Whitefield’s death, the Constitutional Convention was about to be suspended because of unresolved dissension. It was a very critical moment. It was at this time that Franklin, now 81 years of age, rose to his feet. He addressed the Convention president, George Washington, with these words.

How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.[83]

Franklin’s words (which were not the words of a Deist) were heeded. One writer has said that, “An atmosphere of reconciliation seemed to descend over the convention hall.”[84] Petty grievances and local interests were laid aside and the delegates went on to complete their task of formulating the American Constitution and Bill of Rights. I think Whitefield must have smiled and all heaven with him.

George Washington

George Washington (1732-1799) took the oath of office with his hand placed on a Bible. This was no mere political formal-ity, for he was convinced that, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”[85] This act, which has become a tradition for succeeding presidents, signified his recognition of the Bible as the authoritative source of guidance and inspiration for his administration.

After his inaugural address, which was filled with references to God and the Bible, Washington and the Congress proceeded to St. Paul’s chapel to participate in a worship service.[86] He also once publicly prayed, “Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.”[87]

A prayer journal has been discovered that Washington kept when he was in his twenties. He called it Daily Sacrifice.  The very first entry reads in part,

Let my heart, therefore, gracious God, be so affected with the glory and majesty of Thine honor that I may not do my own works, but wait on Thee, and discharge those duties which Thou requirest of me.[88]

The following Monday morning, his recorded prayer reads,

Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit . . . daily frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ.[89]

That Washington was devout in his faith was confirmed by Isaac Potts a Quaker who lived near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania when the Continental Army, led by Washington, was wintering there under much duress in 1774-75. Potts was a Quaker and a pacifist who opposed the war until he had a life changing experiencing while riding through the woods one day during, perhaps, the bleakest period of the war. He said,

I heard a plaintive sound as, of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling and went quietly into the with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis, and the cause of the country, of humanity and of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home and told my wife I saw a sight and heard today what I never saw or heard before, and just related to her what I had seen and heard and observed. We never thought a man could be a soldier and a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington.[90]

In his Farewell Address of 1796, Washington reminded his hearers of the characteristics that would make the newly formed nation successful. He said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”[91]

Did Washington want to exclude Christian influence from the political or public arena? Hardly!

John Adams

John Adams (1735-1826), one of the founding fathers and the 2nd president of the United States, gave a moving account of the First Continental Congress that was convened in September of 1774. The Congress was opened with an extended time of prayer and with the reading of four chapters from the Bible. When Psalm 35 was read, many of those present were moved to tears and to spontaneous expressions of prayer. Verses 9 and 23 were particularly significant, which read, My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation. . . . Awake and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord!

Adams described the moving scene in a letter to his wife Abigail. He wrote,

Who can realize the emotions with which they turned imploringly to heaven for divine interposition and aid. It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience.  It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read that day.”[92]

Nearly four decades after the American Revolution, Adams declared,

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were . . . the general principles of Christianity. Now I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.[93]

Did Adams and the First Congress want to exclude the influence of Christians and the Bible from the Congress? The answer is that they obviously did not.

James Madison

James Madison (1751-1836) is best known as the chief architect of the Constitution and the fourth president of the United States. He was a devout Christian and was trained in the College of New Jersey, formerly the Log College, which was a center of religious activity during the Great Awakening. He was there mentored by the president, Jonathan Witherspoon, a Presbyterian reformer, who once said, “Cursed is all education that is contrary to Christ.” [94]

In 1946 a body of Madison’s writings from later in life, and which he never made public, was discovered in which he questions government proclamations of prayer and chaplains in the military. This “Detached Memoranda,” as it has been called, has been seized upon by secularists who seek to use it to prove that Madison was against faith being expressed in the public and political arenas. This is a tenuous argument indeed, for the many public writings of Madison are very clear concerning his commitment to Christ and his advocacy for a free and open society, especially for people of faith.

That Madison was a devout follower of Jesus is obvious from his many public and private writings. For example, in a letter to his friend, William Bradford, Madison exhorted him to make sure of his own salvation, saying;

A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.”[95]

He also expressed to this same friend his desire that public officials would openly testify of their faith in Christ, and encouraged him to do so. He wrote;

I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments  . . . becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give your evidence in this way.[96]

As president, Madison signed a federal bill in 1812 that provided economic aid for a Bible society in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible. And throughout his presidency (1809-1816) Madison issued several proclamations for national days of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving.[97]

This should not be surprising for much of Madison’s education occurred in overt Christian settings. At age 16 he began a two-year course of study with Reverend Thomas Martin to prepare himself for college. He then enrolled in the College of New Jersey, formerly the Log College, which had been an important training ground for preachers of the Great Awakening.

Only a few years before Madison enrolled in the college, Samuel Davies received a letter, dated April 16, 1757, from Samuel Finley, a trustee of the college, who wrote,

Our glorious Redeemer has poured out His Holy Spirit upon the students at our College. The whole house was a Bochim (place of weeping). Mr. William Tennant, who was on the spot, says that there never was, he believes, more genuine sorrow for sin and longing after Jesus.[98]

As a Virginian, Madison was expected to attend the College at William and Mary, but instead chose to attend the College of New Jersey, probably because of its strong Christian stance and the reputation of its president, Jonathan Witherspoon, who had been trained at Cambridge University in England. Witherspoon became an adviser and teacher to many of the founding fathers, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Madison became his most famous student.

After his graduation, Madison continued at the College of New Jersey for another year where he translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English.[99]

Madison’s worldview was thus shaped by associates and institutions with roots firmly in the Great Awakening. This is why Dr. D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe have said, “Madison’s political worldview was one shaped by the Bible more than any other source.”[100]

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), along with Franklin, is often pointed to as one of the non-Christian founders of this nation, the champion of the separation of church and state, and an advocate for keeping religion out of government. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Jefferson was a life-long member of the Anglican Church and worked tirelessly for religious freedom as governor of Virginia and later as the third president of the United States. As governor and as president, he used his position and influence to advance Christian causes.

Although Jefferson, in the latter part of his life, expressed personal doubts about the Trinity and the deity of Christ, the impact of Christianity and the Great Awakening on his thinking is obvious. Jefferson was educated in Christian schools and regularly attended church all his life. As the governor of Virginia he worked closely with the Baptists to change the laws of Virginia that made the Church of England the official church and by which the Baptists and other Christian groups were persecuted and marginalized.

In spite of the doubts he expressed in later life (probably because of the tragic loss of his wife, his mother, and a friend), he was thoroughly Christian in his thinking and held to a Christian world-view. He never considered himself a Deist, but said, “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”[101] His actions clearly demonstrate that he welcomed Christian influence in the public and political arenas and saw no problem with the government advancing Christian causes.

For example, as president, Jefferson sat on the front row of church services that were held each Sunday in the chambers of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. He wasn’t pleased with the music so he ordered the Marine band to come to church on Sundays and provide music for the singing of psalms and hymns—a band that was paid out of the federal treasury. How is that for the separation of church and state!

As president, Jefferson negotiated a federal treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that included a stipulation that federal funds be made available to pay for Christian missionaries to work with the Indians and for the building of a Christian church in which the Indians could worship.[102]

In fact, the mythical “Jefferson Bible” was an effort on Jefferson’s part to bring together the ethical teachings of Jesus into a single book for evangelizing and instructing the American Indians. He never called it a “Bible” and there is no question that it was a project motivated by his high regard for the teachings of Jesus of which he said, “Of all the systems of morality that have come under  my observations, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”[103]

His high regard for Jesus Christ is also shown by the fact that he closed presidential documents with the appellation, “In the year of our Lord Christ.” He was convinced that human rights are derived, not from the state, but from God and he expressed his concern lest the American populace ever forget this truth. He said,

God who gave us life, gave us liberty. 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 a gift from 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 and that His justice cannot sleep forever.[104]

As founder of the University of Virginia, Jefferson invited the churches of all sects and denominations to establish schools of instruction adjacent to or within the precincts of the university. “The students of the University will be free,” he said, “And expected to attend religious worship at the establishment of their respective sects, in the morning, and in time to meet their school at the University at its stated hour.”[105]

Jefferson, of course, is the one who used the phrase “wall of separation,” not in the Constitution, but in a letter to a group of Baptists assuring them that the First Amendment provided a “wall of separation” that would protect them from government intrusion. Modern secularists have turned Jefferson’s expression on its head by reinterpreting it to mean a “wall of separation” to keep expressions of faith out of the government. Jefferson would turn over in his grave at such a distortion of his words.

The Truth about the Wall of Separation

It was in a letter, dated Jan. 1, 1802, to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut that Jefferson referred to a “wall of separation” between the church and state. The Baptists were concerned about their status in the new nation and how they would be treated. They had reason for concern for throughout Europe the Baptists had been an outlawed religious sect, severely persecuted by the state and the state sanctioned churches, both Catholic and Protestant.

They had also suffered persecution in colonial America, particularly in Virginia at the hands of the Anglican Church which had been the official, established church of Virginia. These Baptists probably wrote to Jefferson because they saw in him an ally and friend who, as governor of Virginia, had come to their aid when they were marginalized and persecuted by the state of Virginia and its “official” church.

Jefferson quoted the First Amendment, enacted Dec. 15, 1792, that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," and assured this Baptist association that this meant that in America there would be “a wall of separation” that would protect them and any other religious group from the intrusion of the state.

Jefferson’s own actions as president demonstrate that he did not see the First Amendment requiring the government to be “neutral” in religious matters, as we so often hear today. Indeed, presidents from George Washington to Andrew Jackson involved the federal government in the printing of Bibles, in supporting missionaries to the Indians, in times of prayer, and even in the building of church buildings.

It is clear that the founders had no problem with Christian influence in government, or in the government advancing Christian causes. In formulating the First Amendment they were merely saying that Congress would not favor or establish any particular sect or denomination but that all would be free to operate on an even playing field without government interference.

This was the common understanding of the First Amendment for the first 150 years of the nation’s existence. In History of the United States published in 1816, David Ramsey declared that the founders of this nation, “Wisely judged learning and religion to be the firmest pillars of the church and commonwealth.” The modern idea that one’s faith is personal and private and not to be expressed in the public or political arena is obviously something new and novel, and unknown among the founders.

Was Jefferson attempting to exclude Christian influence from the public and political arenas with his “wall of separation?” Absolutely not! Like Washington, Adams, Franklin and others, he did not want an official state church (like in Europe) monitoring the religious beliefs and activities of its citizenry.

John Jay

John Jay (1745-1829) was the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. He also served as president of the Continental Congress from 1778-79. He was appointed the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington in 1789 and served in that position until 1795 when he resigned to serve as governor of New York. Jay served as governor of New York from 1795-1801 and became the state's leading opponent of slavery. His first two attempts to pass laws for the emancipation of all slaves in New York failed but his third attempt succeeded in 1799. Jay was a devout Christian and declared,

Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. . . . Blessed be His holy name.

John Marshall

John Marshall (1755-1835) succeeded John Jay as the 2nd Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and many consider him to be the greatest chief justice the court has known. He served in this capacity for thirty-four years and during this time heard cases and offered groundbreaking opinions that continue to guide the Supreme Court and the United States government today.

In one of his writings, Marshall clearly states what every founder assumed—that the founding documents and institutions on which the nation was formed presuppose a commitment to Christian principles and values. He wrote,

No person, I believe, questions the importance of religion in the happiness of man even during his existence in this world. . . . The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and religion are identified. It would be strange, indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not refer to it, and exhibit relations with it.[106]

That Marshall saw no problem with expressions of faith in government is demonstrated by the fact that he ordered the Supreme Court facilities be made available to yet another church for their Sunday gatherings. So each Sunday the singing of Christian hymns and the preaching of God’s word could be heard ringing through the chambers of both the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court.

Did John Jay or John Marshall envision Christian expressions being excluded from the public square? Obviously not!

The Biblical Basis of the

Separation of the Powers of Government

Highlighting the Christianity of the founders is not to suggest that they were “saints.” They, themselves, would be among the first to admit their flaws and imperfections. It was, in fact, their Biblical under-standing of the flawed condition of human nature that led them to divide the powers of government between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.

Whereas modern liberalism claim that human nature is essentially good and people only need a change of environment and circumstances to improve and perfect their behavior, the founders held no such utopian view of the human condition. In fact, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, both signers of the Constitution, pointed to Jeremiah 17:9 as an underlying principle for the separation of powers provided for in that document.[107] This Biblical passage reads, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

The founders held the traditional Christian belief that humanity had been created a noble creature in the image and likeness of God but that this image had become marred as a result of the Fall and sin (Genesis 1-3). Salvation through Jesus Christ restores this image but this restoration is a process that is not completed in this world. Humanity—even Christian humanity--in this flawed condition cannot be trusted with unlimited power. They would agree with the adage of Lord Acton that, “Power corrupts: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The founders’ view in this regard was profoundly influenced by the radical form of Protestant Christianity that was dominant in early America. The Puritans, Baptists, Quakers and others religious groups had all  suffered under, and rejected, the hierarchical religious systems of Europe in which bishops—supported by the king or emperor—exercised an oppressive, overriding authority. In place of such authoritarian systems of church government, the Puritans formed Congregational churches in which authority was dispersed among the members of the congregation. The Quakers formed congregations in which the goal was a consensus of the Spirit with every member’s input being important. The Great Awakening, with its emphasis on the sinfulness of humanity and the equality of all believers, revitalized this mistrust of human authority, and this mistrust was reflected in the actions of the founders.

It was this belief in the Biblical account of the Fall and the resulting flawed condition of human nature that led the founders to divide the powers of government between two legislative branches, an executive branch, and a judicial branch. This, they believed, would provide checks and balances and restrict the ability of any individual or group of individuals from obtaining and wielding absolute power.

American Tolerance Rooted in Biblical Christianity

Who can deny that America has been a very open and tolerant nation in that it has opened its arms to people of many different races, cultures, and religious beliefs? But make no mistake! This tolerance is rooted in the radical Christianity of its founders who looked to Jesus as their example and the New Testament as their guide.

It was groups, such as the Baptists and Quakers, who were the most radical and insistent in their ideals of individual freedom and tolerance. In Europe they had rejected the use of coercion and force in matters of faith and championed freedom of conscience. They brought these ideals to America where they became a part of the national psyche and were enshrined in the founding documents.

The Great Awakening revived and enhanced these ideals and burned them into the consciousness of the populace. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, differences were dissolved and a remarkable unity among the churches emerged that was centered in faith in Christ. At the same time, an amazing tolerance and friendliness toward other religions was manifest. For example, Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, in describing a parade in Philadelphia, said,

The rabbi of the Jews locked in the arms of two ministers of the Gospel was a most delightful sight. There could not have been a more happy emblem.[108]

During Whitfield’s ministry in Philadelphia, city leaders decided to erect a large building to accommodate the crowds. According to Benjamin Franklin, both the building and the land were vested in trustees, expressly for the use of “any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something to the people of Philadelphia.” Perhaps using hyperbole, Franklin went on to say,

Even if the Mufti of Constantinople (Istanbul) were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.[109]

The founders’ tolerance toward people of other faiths and religions was based, not only on the words of Jesus and the spirit of the New Testament, but on their belief in the truthfulness of Christianity. They believed that, if given a level playing field, the truth of Christianity would prevail. Thomas Jefferson declared,

Truth can stand by itself. . . . If there be but one right religion and Christianity that one, we should wish to see the nine hundred and ninety-nine wandering sects gathered into the fold of truth. But against such a majority we cannot effect this by force. Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments. To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged; and how can we wish others to indulge it while we refuse it ourselves.[110]

Compare this attitude to nations such as Iran and Saudi Arabia where Islam holds sway and other religions are suppressed. Apparently, the proponents of Islam do not have confidence that Islam would fare well on a level playing field with other religions, particularly Christianity. Jesus spoke of the power of truth when he said, And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

More Evidence

That America was founded as a Christian nation on Christian principles was generally understood for the first 150 years of its existence. In giving an account of his 1831 visit to America and his study of its institutions, the French sociologist, Alexis de Tocqueville, exclaimed, "The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck me on arrival in the United States." He observed that the means of improving the government were the same means employed in conversion and the advancement of the Christian faith. He concluded that in America, “From the beginning, politics and religion contracted an alliance which has never been dissolved.”[111]

In 1854, following an extensive one year investigation into America’s history, the U.S. Congress declared,

At the time of the adoption of the constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one [denomination]. In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity. . . . That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.[112]

In 1892 the U.S. Supreme Court completed a 10-year investigation in which thousands of historical documents were investigated concerning the historical roots of the nation. After citing more than sixty historical precedents, the Court concluded,

There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation . . . this is a Christian nation.[113]

A Critical Moment in Time

As can be clearly seen, the United Stated of America emerged from the First Great Awakening and did become that “shining light” and “city on a hill.” Succeeding awakenings, such as the Second Great Awakening (1800-1840) and the Great Prayer Awakening of 1857-58, have sustained her at crucial times in her history. Many would agree that the nation is today at the most critical moment in her history and only another Divine awakening will save her from moral degeneration, economic disaster, social chaos, and political suicide.

Chapter 7

You Hold the Key to America’s Future

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it made salty again. It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled by men. – Jesus

It is obvious from the foregoing information that modern attempts by groups such as the ACLU to remove any Christian influence from the public arena are driven by an anti-Christian bias and have no basis in the history of this nation. The same is true of their twisted interpretation of the First Amendment that they use to try a and force the removal of Christian symbols from the public square and to intimidate Christians from publicly sharing their faith.

Their distorted interpretation of Jefferson’s “wall of separation” has even been used to threaten students with arrest and incarceration who talk about “Jesus” in their valedictorian addresses at graduation or use His name in prayer. One Texas judge decreed that traditional prayers offered at Santa Fe High School events must not contain the word “Jesus” and warned that anyone who violated his order, “Is going to wish that he or she had died as a child when this Court gets through with them”[114]

This sort of anti-Christian activism was unknown before the 20th century and is fueled by the on-going efforts of a small but radical minority. Emboldened by major victories in the 1960s with Supreme Court decisions outlawing prayer and Bible reading in public schools, these radical secularists now seek to remove any vestige of Christian influence from the public square. And a major part of their strategy is to rewrite and reinterpret America’s past and disseminate it through a government run education system that cannot teach America’s Christian roots for that would be promoting religion and would violate their “wall of separation” that they have concocted.[115]

Many are saying that America is in decline and are asking what can be done. The founders of this nation were in agreement that only an informed, virtuous, and religious populace would sustain the sort of government they were creating. We may recall John Adam’s statement, mentioned earlier, that, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people; it is wholly inadequate for any other,”[116] and Washington’s admonition that, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”[117]

In other words, a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, can only be sustained by a people who are continually revitalized in their faith and commitment to moral principles. This means that a nation that was birthed out of Spiritual awakening can only be sustained by a populace that is continually awakened and revitalized in its faith. Spiritual wakening, therefore, is not an option. We will either have revival or revolution; Spiritual awakening or societal chaos.

The Future of America Lies on Our Shoulders

Both history and Scripture would inform us that the future of America rests squarely on the shoulders of the professing Christians of this nation. This is borne out by the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13 where He compares his followers with salt and warns that if the salt loses it saltiness, i.e., that quality of tartness and pungency that gives it its value, then it becomes useless. He said,

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it made salty again. It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled by men.

In the ancient world, salt was a valuable commodity and was even used in some instances as a medium of exchange, like money. This is where we get the expression of a person being “worth his salt.” Salt was valuable because it had many positive qualities that made it desirable. First of all, salt is a preservative. Salted meat would last for long periods of time even in warm weather and before refrigeration this was a very valuable quality. Secondly, salt provided flavor that would make food acceptable that might otherwise be rejected. Thirdly, it was valuable for medicinal purposes, for treating wounds and even as a laxative. But salt that had lost its pungency and tartness, i.e., saltiness, was no longer of any value and would be thrown out.

Have We Lost Our Saltiness?

The question we must ask ourselves is, “Have we as American Christians lost our “saltiness?” Have we lost that absolute devotion to God that makes us instruments through which He can impact our culture?  Does our very presence, because of our commitment to eternal values and godly principles, restrain the evil around us and bring hope and healing to the hopeless and hurting?

Or has our Christianity become one of comfort and convenience? Have we compromised with the world so that we follow Christian principles only to the point where we are personally inconvenienced by them? Have we become Christians in name only? Have we lost our saltiness?

The evangelical sociologist, George Barna, thinks so. He compared the thinking and actions of American believers with non-believers in such areas as the kind of movies they watch, how they spend their time, whether they help those in need, whether they take drugs for depression, and whether they have been divorced. His research showed that there is little discernible difference between the lifestyles of believers and non-believers in America today. “We think and behave no differently from anyone else," he exclaimed![118]

There are indicators all around us that we have lost our saltiness. I recall the pastor of an evangelical church in Tulsa, Oklahoma recounting how he asked the members of his congregation to sign a petition to be presented to the local cable company stating that they would cancel their cable subscription if the company followed through with its plans to add the Playboy channel. He said that he received such a volume of protests and opposition from his “Spirit filled” congregation that he dropped the petition drive. It wasn’t that they were for the Playboy channel, they were not willing to be inconvenienced by not having CNN, ESPN, and, perhaps, HBO. Their personal comfort and convenience was, for them, more important than an issue of public morality. They had obviously lost their “saltiness.”

The sin of Sodom, according to Ezekiel 16:49-50, was this same sin of making personal comfort and convenience her number one priority. She lived a self-indulgent life in which everything took second place to her personal comfort and enjoyment. She was the center of her world. God through Ezekiel reminded His people of this and warned them that they were making the same mistake. He said,

Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abominations before Me; therefore I took them away.

Is America not headed down this same path today? I tremble when I see how an ungodly culture expressed through music, movies, and sitcoms is impacting our generation and seeping into the Church. A pastor on staff of one of the largest evangelical/charismatic churches in the nation told me that one of the biggest challenges they face is couples who have accepted Christ living together unmarried and thinking it is OK. This, of course, is just one example among many of how the church is being impacted by the surrounding culture--a self-indulgent culture in which personal comfort and enjoyment is the standard by which everything else is judged.

We Must Regain Our Saltiness

Charles G. Finney, sometimes called the prince of revivalists, emphasized the importance of Christians living as if they believe the Bible is true, i.e., of being salty. He insisted that the most powerful preaching will have no effect on a society where the church has compromised with the world by making comfort and convenience its number one priority. He exhorted one congregation,

Do you suppose I have such a vain imagination of my own ability as to think I can promote a revival by my preaching, merely, while you live as you do? Do you know that so far as your influence goes many of you are right in the way of revival? It is evident that the standard of Christian living must be raised, or the world will never be converted.[119]

Finney was talking to Christians whom he believed had lost their saltiness, and instead of being a force for God and good, their very lives had become a hindrance to much needed revival. He once said, “If the Church were to live one week as if they believed the Bible, sinners would melt down before them.”[120]

America’s founders lived as if they believed the Bible. Those first Pilgrims sacrificed everything, including their very lives, for their vision of Christian reform. Each of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence knew that their actions would be perceived as an act of treason against the British Crown and that their lives would be at risk. The Declaration thus ended with this stated commitment, "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Of those fifty-six who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons, or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were, at one time or another, the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word.[121]

His Priorities Must Become Our Priorities

If we are to see this nation preserved, we as American Christians must regain our “saltiness.” This means that we must move from a Christianity of comfort and convenience to a Christianity of commitment and character. This will require a shift from a faith that is centered in “me” and my desires to a faith that is centered in Christ and His kingdom, will, and purpose.

We must regain our saltiness and we can do this by realizing that God does not exist for us, but that we exist for Him. He is the center of the universe and He must become the center of our lives. This means His priorities must become our priorities. His concerns must become our concerns. This is what it means to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). This is what it means to be a “salty” Christian and impact or “season” the surrounding culture.

Armed with Biblical and historical truth, we must begin to prayerfully challenge those who would destroy the Christian foundations on which this republic was founded. But this does not mean that we merely oppose what is wrong. We are not defensive reactionaries. As Christians, we are to be initiators, taking positive action, proclaiming by word and deed what is right and good. In other words, it is not enough to curse the darkness. We must let our light shine as Jesus exhorted in Matthew 5:16, Let your light so shine before men (people), that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Solution for America is a Spiritual One

Finally, we must realize that the ultimate solution for America is not a political one. The answer for America does not lie with the next election. It is not a mere change of politicians in Washington D.C. that is needed, but a change of hearts all across the nation. It is not a turning to a particular political party that will save America, but a turning to God in humility and faith.

The promise of a national healing, i.e., awakening, in II Chronicles 7:14 is conditioned on the response of the people of God to the need or crisis. Whether or not America survives its current crisis and experiences a national healing rests squarely on our shoulders. God did not say, “if the Republicans,” or “if the Democrats,” or “if the Congress,” or “if the Supreme Court.” But He did say,

If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (II Chronicles 7:14).

Will you join me in asking God to send another Great Awakening to this land?

END NOTES

[1] R. A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1924), 228.

[2] Although illegal and severely persecuted, these separatist and nonconformist congregations began to gain prominence by the mid 1600s. The Act of Toleration of 1687 brought some relief but they continued to be despised and treated with disdain by the government and much of society. John Wesley’s grandfather on his mother’s side, Dr. Samuel Annesley (1620-1696), was a separatist minister who was known as the “St. Paul of the nonconformists.”

[3] Benjamin Hart, Faith & Freedom: The Christian Roots of American Liberty (Dallas: Lewis and Stanley, 1988), 69.

[4] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1977), 108.

[5] See Benjamin Hart, 71.

[6] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 120.

[7] Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, Never Before in History: America’s Inspired Birth (Dallas: Haughton, 1998), 44.

[8] Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, 43.

[9] Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United Sates and Canada (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 47.

[10] Perry Miller, An Errand into the Wilderness (Cambridge, MA: The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1984), 11.

[11] Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, 76.

[12] Earle E. Cairns, Christianity through the Centuries (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 366.

[13] Mark A. Noll, 44.

[14] Mark A. Noll, 40.

[15] Mark A. Noll, 37.

[16] Benjamin Hart, 205.

[17] http://www.straight-talk.net/socas/s-summary.shtml.

[18] Benjamin Hart, 64.

[19] Marshall Foster and Mary-Elaine Swanson, The American Covenant, The Untold Story (USA: The Mayflower Institute, 1983), 158-59.

[20] Peter Marshall  and David Manuel, 216.

[21] Although lacking in sensitivity for the unique ways and culture of the native population, the first generation of Puritans reached out in kindness and sincerity and saw a number of conversions among the native population. A prime example is John Eliot (1604-1690) who translated the entire Bible into the native Massachuset language and it became the first Bible printed in America. His work spawned the establishment in 1649 of the first missionary society, the Company for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent in North America. These efforts at conversion, however, were often interpreted by the chiefs and medicine men as threats to their power and they looked upon the Puritans as intruders both geographically and spiritually.

[22] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 237.

[23] Mark A. Noll, 51.

[24] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 235-39.

[25] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 238-39.

[26] Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Edwards on Revival (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 77.

[27] Jonathan Edwards, 77.

[28] http://www.prdienstberger.com/nation/Chap2fga.htm.

[29] Earle E. Cairns, 366.

[30] David O. Beale, "The Log College," Faith of Our Fathers: Scenes from American Church History, Mark Sidwell, ed. (Greenville, SC: BJU Press, 1991), 40-43.

[31] George Whitefield, George Whitefield’s Journals (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1960), 347.

[32] David O. Beale, “The Log College,” 40-43.

[33] Verna M. Hall, The Christian History of the American Revolution (San Francisco: The Foundation for Christian Education, 1976), 123.

[34] David S. Lovejoy, Religious Enthusiasm and the Great Awakening (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1969), 5.

[35] Jonathan Edwards, 24.

[36] Jonathan Edwards, 19.

[37] Jonathan Edwards, 15.

[38] Jonathan Edwards, 16.

[39] Change the Word School of Prayer (Studio City, CA: World Literature Crusade, 1976), D-38.

[40] George Whitefield, 477.

[41] Jonathan Edwards, 3.

[42]  Christine Leigh Heyrman, “The First Great Awakening,” http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/grawaken.htm

[43] Sarah Pierpont Edwards, http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma05/peltier/conversion/pierpont2.html.

[44] Serno Dwight, vol. 1 of The Works of President Edwards: With a Memoir of His life (New York: G & C & C Carvill, 1836), 171-186; http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma05/peltier/conversion/pierpont2.html

[45] “The Women in Jonathan Edwards’ Life,” http://cogitavi.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/the-women-in-jonathan-edwards-life/.

[46] For a thorough discussion of this phenomena among women, see Susan Hyatt, In the Spirit We’re Equal (Dallas: Hyatt Press, 1998).

[47] David Barton, “Glen Beck,” The Fox News Channel, May 27, 2011.

[48] See Timothy Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth Century America, who shows that modern civil rights movements have their roots in American revivalism.

[49] Diary of David Brainerd, http://www.eternallifeministries.org/brainerd.htm, April 19, 1742.

[50] Richard A. Hasler, Journey with David Brainerd (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 80-81

[51] Richard A. Hasler,  92.

[52] Collin G. Calloway, “American Indians and the American Revolution,” http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/american_indians.html.

[53] Mark A.Noll, 106.

[54] Jonathan Edwards, 20.

[55] http://www.chitorch.org/index.php/chm/seventeenth-century/slave-religion/2/

[56] Mark A.Noll, 106-07.

[57] David Barton, “Glen Beck,” The Fox News Channel, May 27, 2011.

[58] Benjamin Hart, 330.

[59] See Timothy Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth Century America (New York City: Harper & Rowe, 1965).

[60] http://www.washingtonubf.org/

Resources/Leaders/GeorgeWhitefield.html.

[61] Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New York City: Airmont Publishing, 1965), 100.

[62] Benjamin Franklin, 103

[63] Peter Marshall  and David Manuel, 248.

[64] George Whitefield, 425.

[65] George Whitefield, 60.

[66] The Methodist revival was a movement that began within the Church of England. It was instigated by John and Charles Wesley (and some would say George Whitefield) who were all ordained Anglican ministers. They all remained “officially” within the Anglican Church, but their desire for genuine spiritual renewal and their diligent study of the New Testament opened them to other communities of faith. After John Wesley’s death in 1791, the leaders of the Methodist revival met together and formed themselves into a church--the Methodist Church.

[67] George Whitefield, 60.

[68] http://www.lsministries.org/articles/george-whitefield-2.html.

[69] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 252.

[70] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 253.

[71] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 253.

[72] Eddie Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2002), 112.

[73] “Christian History of the Ivy League Universities,” http://jeremybardwell.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/christian-history-of-the-ivy-league-universities/.

[74] Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, 56.

[75] Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, 56.

[76] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilders, 2003, 17.

[77] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 8.

[78] Bill Bright and John N. Damoose, “Faith of our Fathers,” Pentecostal Evangel, no. 4442 (June 27, 1999), 9-11.

[79] Benjamin Franklin, 100.

[80] Benjamin Franklin, 102.

[81] Benjamin Franklin, 79.

[82] Benjamin Franlkin, 159.

[83] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 343.

[84] Benjamin Hart, 325.

[85] Bill Bright and John Damoose, “Faith of Our Fathers,” 9.

[86] David Barton, “James Madison and Religion in Public,” http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=105.

[87] Bill Bright and John Damoose, “Faith of Our Fathers,” 9.

[88] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 284.

[89] Peter Marshall and David Manuel, 285.

[90] Arnold Friberg, “The Prayer at Valley Forge,” http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/prayer-at-valley-forge.html.

[91] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 31.

[92] Bill Bright and John Damoose, “Faith of Our Fathers,” 11.

[93] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 18.

[94] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What if the Bible Had Never Been Written (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 89.

[95] David Barton, “James Madison and Religion in Public,” http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=105.

[96] David Barton, “James Madison and Religion in Public,” http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=105.

[97] David Barton, “James Madison and Religion in Public,” http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=105.

[98] Charles G. Finney, Revival Lectures (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, n.n.), 531-32

[99] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, 89.

[100] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, 89.

[101] David Barton, Original Intent (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 2000), 144.

[102] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 24.

[103] Thomas Jefferson to William Camby, 18 Sept. 1813, Writings, XIII: 377; cited in D. James Kennedy, What if America Were a Christian Nation Again (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 46.

[104] Bill Bright and John Damoose, “Faith of Our Fathers,” 9-10.

[105] Benjamin Hart, 351.

[106] Robert Faulkner, The Jurisprudence  of John Marshall (Westprot, CT: Greenwood Press, 1968), 139. Quoted by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, 99.

[107] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 17.

[108] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 21.

[109] Benjamin Franklin, 101.

[110] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 20.

[111] Mark A.Noll, 394.

[112] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 21.

[113] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 22.

[114] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 32-33.

[115] This attempt to rewrite America’s history by removing evidences of its Christian past has been documented by Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of America’s History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House, 1991).

[116] http://www.straight-talk.net/socas/s-summary.shtml.

[117] David Barton, The Role of Pastors & Christians in Civil Government, 30.

[118] George Barna, The Second Coming of the Church (Nashville: Word Publ., 1998), 7.

[119] Charles G. Finney, Revival Lectures (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), 171.

[120] Finney, Revival Lectures, 168.

[121] Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., “Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor,” http://www.jaredstory.com/limbaugh.html.

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