Influence of the Bible on America, part 2

Rick Green

Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. This is the WallBuilders Show. We're taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective and specifically this week we're actually going to hit all three of those, but we're really going to talk about the influence of the Bible in America. We're actually in the middle of a presentation. It's going to be a four-day presentation. Today is day two and it's called the Influence of the Bible in America. You can get the entire program at our website if you go to wallbuilders.com today.

But let's jump right back in where we left off yesterday. By the way, I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach, serving here with David Barton, who's America's premier historian and the founder of WallBuilders, and Tim Barton, a national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. All three of us appreciate you listening, appreciate you studying and appreciate you sharing the program. Become a force multiplier and let other people learn these things. If we can get saturated in God's Word, if we can understand the importance of the Bible in America, not only in the past and the influence that it was in the past, but how important it is to return to it for our future, then we can restore this republic. Let's jump right back in where we left off yesterday, and if you missed yesterday, go to our website today at wallbuilders.com and you can get it in the archives. But let's pick up. Here we go. Influence of the Bible in America.

David Barton

Under the divine right of kings, that doctrine that had prevailed for centuries prior to the Geneva Bible. Whenever the king spoke, he was supposedly the mouthpiece of God, speaking directly to the people. Now, what king would not have liked that doctrine?

In fact, as Benjamin Franklin later pointed out, there is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could follow the example of Pharaoh Get first all the people's money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants forever.

Understandably, kings were not well disposed toward teachings that tended to reduce their power and because the Geneva Bible contained such ideas, the kings reacted against that Bible. They came out with their own official version of the Bible, authorized by the kings. Today we call it the King James Bible. This is an original copy of that early Bible and significantly, the King James Bible differs very little from the Geneva Bible in its text. After all, most English Bibles were taken from the Tyndale translation. What was different about this Bible was that it removed all the marginal commentaries and thus silenced the dissenting voice. The British eventually enacted a policy forbidding the printing of an English-language Bible in any English-speaking British colony. America. The British crown would tell English-speaking colonies which Bible to use, and that is if the king was a Catholic, then a Catholic Bible would be in favor. If the king was an Anglican, then an Anglican Bible would be in favor. But let's move beyond the pilgrims and go forward in time a few decades, to the year 1647.

By that time many more settlers had arrived in America. As settlements and towns began to spring up, particular needs became apparent to the settlers, one of which was education for their children. Addressing that need resulted in one of America's earliest public education laws. That early law was directly shaped by the experiences of those settlers. They were very familiar with civil atrocities. In fact, they were aware not only of the numerous civil atrocities that had occurred in Europe under the name of Christianity, such as the Inquisition and the tortures during the Crusades, but many of those settlers had personally experienced persecution simply for practicing their own faith.

Speaker 3: 3:37

They wanted to prevent such atrocities from occurring in America and they were convinced that the atrocities in Europe had been the result of widespread illiteracy in general and a lack of biblical knowledge in particular. That is because citizens had lacked that biblical knowledge. It had been possible for civil and religious leaders in Europe to wrongly teach the masses that the Bible required church and state leaders to be heavy-handed. And since the people were illiterate and could not read the scriptures themselves to learn otherwise, they allowed and even participated with their civil leaders in those atrocities. Having thus seen and even experienced the abuse of power that can be imposed on a biblically illiterate people, the American settlers were convinced that if the common people could read and learn the word of God for themselves, they would resist evil government. Therefore, in 1647, they passed that early public education law. That law is contained in this book, the Code of 1650. And what was the name of that first education law? It was appropriately titled the Old Deluder Satan Act.

That act declared

It being one chief project of that Old Deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the scriptures as in former times by keeping them in an unknown tongue so in these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues that so that at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers, and, to the end, that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors.

It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to fifty households, shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children or by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order, the prudentials of the town shall appoint, provided those that send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns. And it is further ordered that, when any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or households, they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university" able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university.

That law, having first set forth that the purpose of public education was to ensure the students had a thorough knowledge of the scriptures, then required that public schools be started in each community so that American students would not merely receive a sound academic education, but that they'd receive a sound academic education based upon God's Word. Who today, in light of the current rantings about separation of church and state and civil liberties, would have imagined that America's public schools were started because of the positive influence of the Bible and that they used curriculum based on the Bible? By the way, for the record, the phrase separation of church and state appears nowhere in the Constitution or the First Amendment or any other official governing document. In fact, not only does the First Amendment not contain that phrase. Instead, regarding religion, it simply states Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The framers of the First Amendment explained that the purpose of that amendment was simply to prevent the federal government from establishing a national denomination, from requiring that all Americans be Baptist or Catholics or Anglicans or Presbyterian or any other. They had no intent of stifling public religious expressions or influences.

The phrase separation of church and state first appears in a private letter written by America's third president, Thomas Jefferson. More than a decade after the First Amendment was finished and in place. Jefferson wrote his letter to a group of Baptists in Connecticut, assuring them that they need have no fear that the government would ever interfere with one of their public religious expressions or public religious activities because, as he said, the First Amendment had quote erected a wall of separation between church and state. Significantly, Jefferson had used the separation of church and state phrase, a phrase again not found in the Constitution or the First Amendment. He used that phrase to assure them that the government would not interfere with public religious expressions. Ironically, the courts have taken that simple eight-word phrase found in his private letter and have turned it on its head, using it first to halt public religious expressions exactly what Jefferson promised it would not do and then, second, using his separation phrase as a replacement for the actual language of the Constitution.

Today's upside-down separation church and state has become the battle cry of an aggressive movement seeking to secularize American society, its institutions and its traditions. However, returning to our timeline, let's look at 1690. Four decades after passing America's early education laws. Some civil officials were distressed to learn that there were still children in the colony who were illiterate. But why were they concerned about illiteracy? Notice the reason given in the 1690 Connecticut illiteracy law.

This legislature, observing that, notwithstanding our former orders made for the education of children, there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable of reading the holy word of God or the good laws of this state.

The legislature had been concerned about illiteracy, because if a child could not read, then he would not know the Word of God or the laws of the state. Therefore, if the legislature enacted a law that contradicted the Scriptures and if citizens were illiterate and uneducated about the role of civil government set forth in the Scriptures, they might not prevent the passage of that bad law. This was the 1690 illiteracy law. 1690 is also when the first American textbook was published. Up to that point, textbooks had been printed elsewhere and then brought to America. But here is the first American printed textbook, the New England Primer, published in Boston in 1690 by Benjamin Harris.

For two centuries following its publication and until the 20th century, the New England Primer became the textbook of American education for generations. It was a key text from which Americans learned to read. In fact, founding fathers such as Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Noel Webster even reprinted the Primer for use in their generation. The Primer started students off with phonics, proceeding through the ABCs and showing students how to join letters together and make syllables and how to join syllables together to make words.

Students soon came to an illustrated section called the rhyming alphabet. This alphabet begins with the letter A. It has an illustration of Adam and Eve at a tree and then has the rhyme in Adam's fall we sinned all. The letter B has an illustration of a man holding a Bible in his hand looking up to heaven with the rhyme heaven defined the Bible mind. C has an illustration of the star over Bethlehem, several shepherds and a cross on a hill, accompanied by the rhyme Christ crucified for sinners died. And on it continues throughout the alphabet.

Shortly after the rhyming alphabet came the alphabet of lessons for youth. This section was simply a list of the letters of the alphabet, with each letter accompanied by a Bible verse. For example A a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. B better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. C Come unto Christ all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and he will give you rest. And on it continued through the rest of the alphabet. At the back of the New England Primer were about 170 questions taught to America's elementary students. Among those questions were several on the Ten Commandments, including which is the Fifth Commandment.

What is required in the Fifth Commandment? What is forbidden in the Fifth Commandment? What is the reason annexed to the Fifth Commandment?

The section also included other questions, such as what offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?

How does Christ execute the office of a prophet? How does Christ execute the office of a priest? How does Christ execute the office of a king?

This first-grade beginner's book even included this first grade question.

What are the benefits which, in this life, do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification. Imagine this little book from 1690 became one of the most famous of all American textbooks, with its Bible lessons influencing American education into the 20th century. By the way, this book is still available today, its Bible lessons influencing American education into the 20th century. By the way, this book is still available today. We've reprinted it and it's excellent for use by all individuals, whether adults or children. And just in case you need it, just in case you don't have enough college degrees to answer these first-grade questions, the book fortunately contains the answers after each question.

Let's move forward to 1776, the year America announces independence from Great Britain through the Declaration of Independence. No nation has ever been as long under the same founding document as America has been under the Declaration of Independence. In fact, even though France had her revolution more than a decade after America did, she's now in her 15th government. Brazil has had seven since 1822. Poland's had seven since 1921. Afghanistan's had five since 1923. Russia's had four just since 1918, and this is a story that's similar for all other nations. This type of instability has characterized nations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central America, South America and the rest of the world except America. So where did our founders find the ideas that made the Declaration the most successful government document in the history of the world? They themselves answer that question. Their ideas came from theological writer and political philosopher, John Locke, For example. James Otis, the mentor of both Samuel Adams and John Hancock, declared that the authority of Mr Locke has been preferred to all others.

And signers of the Declaration, such as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush and many others, also sang the praises of John Locke and John Quincy Adams confirmed that.

The Declaration of Independence was founded upon one and the same theory of government, expounded in the writings of Locke.

Clearly John Locke had a powerful political influence on America and on the Declaration of Independence. So which one of Locke's writings had such a profound and extensive influence on the founder's philosophy and the Declaration of Independence? Well, it was this one, John Locke's Two Treatises of Government. In fact, signer of the Declaration, Richard Henry Lee, declared that the Declaration of Independence was quote copied from Locke's Treatise on Government, end quote. And what is particularly relevant to our conversation here regarding the relation between the Bible's influence and the success of America's governmental system is that, even though this book is less than 400 pages long, Locke refers to the Bible over 1,500 times in this work in order to show the proper operation of civil government. No wonder the Declaration has been such a successful document. It's just one more indication of the extensive influence of the Bible in America.

Rick Green

Alright folks got to interrupt you just for a second. We got just one break today, but we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're listening to the WallBuilder Show.

Tim Barton

Hey guys, it's Tim Barton and I want to let you know about an opportunity coming up for pastors and ministry leaders. We are doing our annual pastor's briefing in Washington DC and we do this every year. We do one in the spring, we do one in the fall. This spring it's April 16th and 17th. This fall it is September 10th and 11th. This is one of the most significant things we do to encourage and challenge pastors in this culture we live in. It's in Washington DC.

On Tuesday night we do an after-hours tour of the US Capitol where we introduce pastors and ministry leaders to the history of the nation. The following day we have congressmen come and they give a briefing on what they're doing and how God is challenging and motivating and using them. And, frankly, most pastors, most ministry leaders, they don't know the rich spiritual heritage of the nation or what God is still doing moving in the hearts and lives of leaders in this nation. I would encourage you if you're a pastor, ministry leader, you need to come to this. It's one of the best things we do at WallBuilders. To find out more, go to wallbuilders.com and look for the pastor's briefing.

Rick Green

Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. We're listening to the influence of the Bible in America. Today is day two and we're going to jump right back into the presentation for our second half of the program. Here we go.

David Barton

John Locke's Two Treatises of Government is still available today for most major booksellers. I highly recommend this work for modern readers. Let's move from 1776, the beginning of the American Revolution, to the period of 1781 to 1783, the end of the American Revolution. In 1781, Americans won the Battle of Yorktown, the final major battle of the American Revolution, resulting in the complete defeat and surrender of the British military commander, lord Cornwallis. With that victory, America was no longer just an independent nation in theory only, but now, in reality, she was completely free from British policies, including the British policy against printing a Bible in the English language. Therefore, in an event in 1781, which must surely shock those today who believe that American government has always been secular a plan was proposed and advanced in Congress to print America's first English language Bible. That Bible rolled off the presses in 1782, and of the 20,000 copies originally printed, today, just 26 copies remain. This is one of those 26 copies. It's now one of the rarest books in the world. It's called the Bible of the Revolution.

Yet when I say that America's first English-language Bible was printed in 1782, that date confuses some. Many think that John Eliot, the famous apostle to the Indians, printed America's first Bible in 1661. Indeed, he did print a Bible in 1661, more than a century before this Bible, but his Bible was printed in the Massachusetts Indian language, not in English. Under the British policy, we could print Bibles in many languages, including not only the Massachusetts Indian language but also Ojibwe, Cherokee, Shawnee, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian and most other languages just not in English, Russian and most other languages, just not in English. So this Bible was America's first English language Bible. The records in Congress surrounding this Bible describe it as, quote a neat addition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of our schools. End quote On September 12, 1782, the full Congress approved this Bible and it soon began rolling off the presses.

In fact, printed in the front of this Bible is a Congressional endorsement declaring in part Resolved that the United States in Congress assembled recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States.

Of the events surrounding the printing of America's first English language Bible.

One early historian observed who will call in question the assertion that America is a Bible nation? Who will charge the government with indifference to religion when the first Congress of the States assumed all the rights and performed all the duties of a Bible society long before such an institution had existence in the world?

Indeed, the American Congress first performed the action of a Bible Society 27 years before any Bible Society was formed in America. Most Americans today are shocked to learn that the Founding Fathers in Congress were responsible for America's first English language Bible. Within only a few months after that Bible was printed, it became obvious that Great Britain would sign a peace treaty, thus officially ending the American Revolution. Consequently, George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, sent his letter of resignation to Congress. However, Washington also needed to notify the state governors of his resignation. Now, recall that America was not yet a full nation with her own independent government. Rather, she had been 13 separate and independent colonies or states agreeing to work together in the Continental Congress for their common good against the British. So on June the 8th 1783, Washington issued a circular letter to the governors of all the states in which he told them of his resignation, and he then offered his prayer for each of them and for the country.

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you and the state over which you preside in his holy protection, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the divine author of our blessed religion. Without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.

Washington reminded American leaders that without an imitation of Christ whom he accurately described as quote the divine author of our blessed religion, that without an imitation of Christ, America could never hope to be a happy nation. Three months later, on September, the 8th 1783, the formal peace treaty with Great Britain was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. Like so many of the other official records of the American Revolution, that document also openly acknowledged God. In fact, the opening line of the peace treaty began with the invocation 

In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.

This is yet another indication of the influence of the Bible and of its teachings on America. It is also a reminder of just how much so many in American media and government today have forgotten, and it also reminds us all just how far we've strayed from America's original biblical roots. Let's move ahead to the year 1787, the year of the Constitutional Convention. With national independence now a reality, America's legislators turned their full attention toward permanently securing their newly gained liberty. To this end, delegates from each state were sent to Philadelphia in May of 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation now the Articles of Confederation, that was the document under which the national government had functioned during the American Revolution. However, it soon became evident to all the delegates that revising the Articles was insufficient. A new government pact was needed. While the delegates had not originally convened for that purpose, their work ultimately produced an entirely new document the US Constitution. That Philadelphia gathering is now called the Constitutional Convention. One of the longest speeches in the convention was delivered by its elder statesman, Benjamin Franklin, on June 28, 1787. That speech came after weeks of debates when the delegates were having difficulty reaching a consensus on virtually any issue, Addressing George Washington, President of the Convention, Franklin, declared.

Mr. President, in this situation of this assembly groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending providence in our favor. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend, or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance?

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, and I also believe that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.

Significantly. This so-called least religious founding father invoked from memory several scriptural passages to make his point, including James 1 and Genesis 11, and Psalms 127 and Matthew 10. Today, over two centuries later, Congress still has daily prayer, and the precedent for that daily prayer has a scriptural basis Another demonstration of the influence of the Bible on America.

Rick Green

Our folks out of time for today, that was day two of Influence of the Bible in America. Tomorrow we'll pick up right where we left off today. If you'd like to get the entire program, it's available at wallbuilders.com. That's also a place to get a lot of other great material, whether it's the books or the videos, the audios. Maybe you'd like to sign up and get a biblical citizenship class and start coaching that in your home or at your church. Perhaps you would like to send your pastor or some young people or teachers to some of our summer programs. All of that available there at the website wallbuilders.com. And then, as I always, ask you to become a force multiplier take this program, share it with your friends and family, Let other people get inspired as well to be good biblical citizens, and we can restore this republic. All right, we'll pick up where we left off when you join us again tomorrow. Thanks for listening to the WallBuilders Show.