Edward R Barels webminister@webminister.com
at http://webminister.com

Being a student of history, many observations have been made over my lifetime. For example, I was taught 1) that the founding fathers were religious, 2) that the nation was founded upon Christian principles, 3) the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution preserved and protected the worship of God as an individual choice, and 4) that we live in a Christian nation.

American History textbooks present a history of the founding of the United States that sounds very patriotic, freeing the people of the new nation to its own political and social independence and freedom to worship God as desired. Men such as Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson were outstanding leaders leading the infant nation to independence and future greatness. However, I later found out this was not true.

First, history teaches that in January 1776 Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense that fanned the flames for the breakaway to independence from England and the establishment of the United States as a nation. Within three months, more than 100,000 copies were in circulation. Until Common Sense appeared the squabble had been mainly with the English Parliament, but Paine directly attacked allegiance to the monarchy, the last frayed connection to England. Paine said "Americans should consult their own interests, abandon King George III, and declare their independence." A real revolutionary pamphlet.

However religiously, Thomas Paine also wrote The Age of Reason in 1794. In this book, Pain attackes the clergy, denies revelation, denies supernatural intervention, denies miracles, and denies the prophets and their ability to prophesy. He further denies the virgin birth, the resurrection, and salvation. Paine stated the Bible was full of half-truths and mistakes. That science and God;s natural laws were what governed man.

Thomas Paine's views on religion came from the English Deists and the French philosophes. Briefly stated, God created the heavens and the earth, established natural laws upon which a perfect cosmos/earth operate, and that God does not interfere in the day to day operation of his creation. God worked six days and since then He has rested. For example, God was the clockmaker, who made the perfect clock, wound it up, and since then has watch it run without His intervention. For Paine, there were no miracles, no virgin birth, no resurrection, and no need for prayer. This limited God to a revelation of Himself by scientific laws and mathematical formulas, which man must discover.

Second, history teaches Benjamin Franklin, a publisher, writer of Poor Richard's Almanac, publisher of The New England Courant, a weekly newspaper, extablisher of the first post office, inventor of the lightening rod, ambassador to France (the most powerful country in Europe at that time), establisher of public libraries, and lecturer and member of many newly formed intellectual societies for the promotion and the advancement of knowledge. In the 1720"s Franklin moved from Boston to Philadelphia and devoted himself to the pursuit of useful scientific knowledge, ideas that would increase the happiness of his fellow Americans.

Religiously, Franklin never denied the existence of God. Instead, he pushed God aside, making room for the free exercise of human reason. Franklin energetically promoted the spread of reason. He organized groups that discussed the latest European literature, philosophy, and science. He established clubs for the mutual improvement of man with "useful knowledge." The members of these societies communicated with Americans living in other colonies, providing them not only with new information, but also with models for their own clubs and association. Such efforts broadened the intellectual horizons fo many colonists, at the expense of religious ideals and belief in God.

Third, history teaches that Thomas Jefferson masterminded the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson borrowed from the political views of John Locke's contract theory of government. In Jefferson's words, governments derived "their just Powers from the consent of the people," who were entitled to "alter or abolish" fovernments which denied their "unalienable rights" to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Jefferson also borrowed from the English deists, especially Viscount Bolingboke, with reference to "the laws of Nature and Nature's God." These Declaration of Independence phrases are straight out of deist teaching -- a God who set the world in motion and lets it operate by itself as viewed by the scientific revolution.

"Nature's God" is a total restriction of God. A God that is not involved in the life of man or in this country. Even the phrase "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" is a deistic definition. How about the phrase "with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence" or as God wills it to all individuals, without any reference to faith or the intervention of God in a believer's life.

Theologically, Jefferson, who became the third president of the United States, wrote his own translation of the New Testament, known as The Jefferson Bible . The Jefferson Bible is much shorter than the New Testament we use. He omitted miracles, prophesy, the Virgin Birth, and the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. Jefferson did not mention the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord or the salvation for manking. There is no mention of Heaven or Hell. The only thing really left was a human Jesus and His sayings, what some today would call the Historical Jesus. Jefferson, who knew Benjamin Franklin, was relying on human philosophy and scientific reasoning to guide his life, not a personal intervening God.

Jefferson offered to sell his library to Congress to replace that which had been destroyed by fire during the War of 1812 with England. Congressman Cyrus King of Massachuetts was offended and from the floor of the House, exclaimed:

It might be inferred, from the character of the man who collected it, and France, where the collection was made, that the library contained irreligious and immoral books, works of the French philosophers, who caused and influenced the volcano of the French Revolution. The bill would put $23,999 into Jefferson's pocket for about 6,000 books, good, bad, and indifferent, old, new, and worthless, in languages which many cannot read and most ought not.

When studying American History from a religious prospective, one comes to a conclusion after reading The Jefferson Bible, The Age of Reason, and the religious impact of the Declaration of Independence, that America was not a Christian country, as we were led to believe. Fortunately, the religious aspects of American History is not totally devoid of bright spots.

A personal God, intervening in man's life can be seen in a massive religious revival. The Second Great Awakening with Timothy Dwight, Nathaniel Taylor, Lyman Beecher, Charles G. Finney, Barton W. Stone, and Thomas Campbell attempted to restore God to a people rapidly becoming a nation. The westward expansion west of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains carried this revival along the frontier of mid-America over a forty year period. Near the beginning of this Great Awakening in 1801, a crowd estimated at nearly fifty thousand gathered at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, for gospel meetings. One contemporary observer states:

The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. I counted seven ministers all preaching at one . . . . Some of the people were singing, others paraying, some crying for mercy . . . while others were shouting.

HOWEVER, THE REAL PROBLEM FOR US TODAY IS the Supreme Court's interpretation of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; . . .

Instead, The Supreme Court today, following the views of Thomas Jefferson, have established a wall os separation between government and religion. As the federal and state governments have become more involved in the everyday life of the American individual, less room exists for the free worship of God and religion in the paradoxical, government dominated, free society. Yes, a government dominated free society.

The federal government's position on American education teaches "values clarification", not "Christian values." The schools teach social and secular or traditional cencepts and history, not a God centered life and world, or religious concepts and history. As a result, THIS HAS GREATLY AFFECTED THE WAY WE AND OUR CHILDREN ARE EDUCATED.

Paul C. Vitz in 1985 wrote Equity in Vaules Education: Do the Values Education Aspect of Public School Curricula Deal Fairly with Diverse Belief Systems? The following are some of the conclusions reached.

1. In the Treatment of Religion in Social Studies Textbooks -- Grades 1 - 4: Not one of the 40 books in this study had one word of text that referred to any religious activity representative of contemporary American life. No reference to any present day American who prayed, or participated in worship or in any other way represented active religious life.

2. In Religion in the Introduction to American History Textbooks: Social Studies for Grade 5: Except for coverage of religion in colonial America and the early Southwest Missions, little coverage of religion was resented in American History. The last 100 years was almost devoid of any reference to religion.

3. In Religion in World History or World Culture Textbooks -- Grade 6: A serious neglect of the importance of ancient Jewish history, a neglect of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, an occasional strong emphasis on Islam, little if any treatment of the first 1000 years of Christianity, neglect of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Byzantine Empire, little or no coverage of the Protestant Reformation, and a neglect of Christianity in the last 200 years.

4. Family values in Social Studies Textbooks -- Grades 1 -- 4: Includes pictures of families. The notion that marriage is the origin and foundation of the family was never presented in any of these books. Words like, "marriage, wedding, husband, wife, homemaker, housewife" did not occur or occured only once. Just too many broken or unwed families exist to present such a controversial topic.

5. In United States History Textbooks -- Grade 11 -12: Very little reference to major religious events in the last 100 years. Not one reference to prominent protestant preachers as Billy Graham, Norman Vincent Peale, Oral Roberts, or Jerry Falwell.

   We could go on, but the wall of separation by government over schools and colleges, the denial of student prayer, the confiscation of Bibles and religious books from students, and even the denial of reading and giving book reports on religious books. The Rutherford Institute has intervened in a number of these cases for the students' rights. Instead of freedom of religion, many teachers not knowing where the wall of separation exists, have denied all religious activities and religious freedom.

   THIS SECULARIZATION OF EDUCATION, THROUGH A GOVERNMENTAL WALL OF SEPARATION, HAS AFFECTED YOUR AND MY EDUCATION AND THE WAY WE THINK AND WORSHIP. Our education, philosophy, and religion has been secularized along the lines of humanistic thinking and training, which does not inclue a loving God and a God centered life. This can even be seen in religious colleges, universities, and Christian seminaries.

   In 1970, Robert L. Alden ("Study of the Prophets Since World War II" in J. Barton Payne,ed. New Perspectives on the Old Testament (Waco: Word Books, Publisher, 1970) pp 131 - 145.), in reviewing the study of the Old Testament prophets since World War II, concluded:

   There has been no giving of ground on the part of those whose basic presupposition is that the Bible is solely a human production and is therefore not necessarily true, accurate, or without error. Hence, despite archaeological advances and refinements of many uncertainties, the majority of those who produce books about the Bible do not believe it to be the infallible Word of God. Some of the tenets of negative Biblical criticism have been altered but not denied.

   Many seminary professors have secularized the Bible, Bible study, and interpretations of the Bible. This is a theology without a personal God. This is a study of the Bible as literature. This is a study of the Historical Jesus without miracles. This is the absence of Biblical inspiration. This is the study of God without knowing and trusting Him. This even leads to preaching about God, instead of sharing Him. This is learning to praise God without praising God.

   THIS MUST BE CHANGED. God is. God wrote the Bible. God inspired men to write it down. God intervenes in the lives of mankind. God intervenes in our lives. God must be studied by studying a living God. God is the beginning to studying the Bible, not the result. Without a God approach, the Biblical student studies literature. With a God approach, the Biblical student studies the inspiried writings of God as the moving force, the raison d'ete, as the French call it, the reason for being -- the application of meaning for life. God and Life should not be separated by man, because God-life is inseparable. There is no wall of separation. Religion must be God-life, or it is not the Christian religion.

   Talk to God. Pray to God. Sing praises to God. Talk to God in small groups, where everyone participates. Pray to God in small groups, where everyone prays.

   A number of articles have appeared in the Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser's Saturday religion section these last three months, the This Week Section, and journals. These articles state that people in hospitals, who pray to God, are more likely to recover from surgery than those who do not pray. People who pray to God have shorter hospital stays than those who do not pray. People who pray to God have less infections than those who do not pray.

   Everyone of these articles approach the solution from a psychological viewpoint. The one who prayed to God believes that God would help them. The writers of these articles state that maybe a good counsellor could achieve similar results. Science can not explain it. No adequate testing proceures or statistical analyses are available to quantify the results. How does one measure prayer intensity? Medical journals can only give lip service to it's success. Yes, prayer works!

   One of these days, the writers of these articles will realize that they are less than half right. With their view, prayer for someone else would not help. The writers never answer the question of how a believer can pray and how prayer can help someone else.

   Those who pray have their prayers answered by a living God who intercedes in their lives. Prayer works, and God is the healer. If the authors of these articles believed and prayed, they would have known the answer to the question. God does intercede and God does answer prayer.

   In conclusion many have received or are seeking degrees in religious studies. In most cases, our religious lives with different degrees of intensity, started with religious education from a loving mother or caring father. Our parents did not leave this to the secular schools and secular colleges. However, some parents abdicated this responsibility to the Sunday School, worship service, and the eldership of the local church. Many churches place this education in an inferior position to the morning worship service or other ministries of the church, in spite of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18 - 20. This "go and teach" applies to ourselves, our families, our friends, our church, and mankind. The awesome message to proclaim a living God, and inspired Bible is a required duty for mothers, fathers, teachers, church workers, and even those Rabbis of Christianity -- those with college and university religious degrees. God-life is religion and as religion encompasses the greatest two commandments -- our love of God and our love for mankind. A loving, caring, intervening God gave us His inspired Word -- the Bible -- to follow and proclaim.

   Edward R. Barels
   webminister@webminister.com