Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's word with every day on this Bible teaching program.

Speaker 3

On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

When our nation turns to secularism and away from God, we have no document that can keep order in our country.

Our forefathers designed this country, and they wrote the Constitution with the assumption that people would be guided by a belief in obedience to God.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. In recent decades, the American government has taken some drastic measures to ensure the separation of church and state. But while many have applauded these efforts, today's legislature is actually going against the wishes of our founding Fathers.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains why America is and always has been a Christian nation.

Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message. Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 3

Thanks, David. And welcome to this special July 3rd edition of Pathway to Victory. This coming weekend, when Americans celebrate our liberty by sending fireworks into the night sky, Pathway to Victory is celebrating a historic moment of our own. The $1 million salt and light Matching challenge that began in early June will finish Sunday night at midnight.

If you had good intentions to double the size of your generous gift, don't. Don't delay in getting in touch with us. The time to give is right now. And when we receive your generous gift, we'll make sure that it's matched and therefore doubled in impact.

That's not all. When your gift arrives, I'm going to say thank you by sending you an exclusive gift book from Pathway to Victory. It's called Shine the Light. In my new book, you'll see how small, faithful acts such as teaching, serving, and encouraging can restore Christian values in your family, your church, and your community.

While there's still time, please get in touch with us right away. Our nation is deeply divided right now, and nothing will draw us together other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our heritage as a Christian nation is truly hanging in the balance, and your gift before the deadline tomorrow will help us bring the light of Christ into the dark places of our country.

Now it's time to get started with today's important study. I've titled Today's Message, America is a Christian Nation.

Speaker 2

Listen long enough to organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union or the Freedom From Religion Foundation or any other left-wing group, and you will come to believe this history of America. You'll come to believe that America was founded by a wide diversity of people from many different faiths: some deists, some atheists, and a few Christians. But they were all united by one dream: they wanted to build a completely secular nation that was devoid of any religious, especially Christian, influence. Their goal was to build an unscalable wall around this country that would protect it from any religious influence seeping into public life. That version of American history belongs in the same category as the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. It is a complete myth, as we're going to discover today.

America was founded predominantly, not exclusively, but predominantly, by Christians who wanted to build this Christian nation on the foundation of God's will. Furthermore, these men believed that the future success of our country depended upon our fidelity to Christian beliefs. That's why we can say, though it's politically incorrect to do so, that America was founded as a Christian nation and our future success depends upon our country being faithful to those eternal truths of God's word.

Now, today, in the minutes that we have, I want to do three things. First of all, I want us to look at the historical evidence for the Christian founding of our country, and I think you're going to be surprised by what you hear. Secondly, I want us to look at our detour from that Christian foundation of our nation, what has happened in our country in the last 70 years. Finally, we're going to look at the consequences of renouncing our Christian foundation as a country.

First of all, let's look at the historical evidence. What is the evidence that this nation was founded as a Christian nation? Well, first of all, let's look at the spiritual beliefs of our founders. Were they neutral toward religion as we're told? No. The fact is, 52 of the 55 men who attended the Constitutional Convention were orthodox Christians. In fact, two of our founders, Elias Boudinot and John Jay, who happened to go on to be the first Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, went on to become the leaders of the American Bible Society. They wanted to distribute the Bible to as many people as possible, believing that the message of the Bible could transform lives and set the nation on a proper moral course.

Yes, it is true that two of our founders were deists: Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Yet even these deists did not ignore the spiritual foundation of our country. It is interesting that both of these men, Jefferson and Franklin, worked together to propose a national seal for the new United States of America. You know what that seal they proposed was? It was a drawing of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, following God as the pillar of cloud. That's what they wanted to be our national symbol.

Benjamin Franklin believed that the Continental Congress should seek God's blessing in an opening prayer every time they met. Franklin said, "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, they labor in vain that built it."

Some years ago, two professors from the University of Houston, Charles Lyneman and Donald Luntz, did a study to try to determine whom our Founding Fathers quoted the most. They figured that if they could determine whom our Founding Fathers quoted the most, they could better understand what they meant in these documents. They spent 10 years studying over 15,000 documents and found that the three men our Founding Fathers quoted the most were British philosopher John Locke, French philosopher Baron Montesquieu, and English judge Sir William Blackstone. However, our Founding Fathers cited the Bible four times more often than they quoted Montesquieu or Blackstone, and 12 times more than they quoted John Locke. More than a third of all the Founding Fathers' quotes came directly from the Bible, and another 60% came from those authors who had based their writings on the Bible. In fact, the Founding Fathers referenced the Bible more than all Enlightenment authors combined.

It's that historical fact that caused Ken Woodward, writing in Newsweek magazine in an article titled "How the Bible Made America," to come to this conclusion: "Now historians are discovering that the Bible, even perhaps more than the Constitution, is our founding document." That is Newsweek magazine. It's not Christianity Today; it's Newsweek magazine. Our founding document is the Bible. That is what the history says.

Consider what some of the things our Founding Fathers said. George Washington, our first president, in his first inaugural address, said it would be improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that almighty being. "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States." Or consider the words of our second president, John Adams: "The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that, as I then believed and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature."

President John Adams also said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Now that's an amazing concession. When our nation turns to secularism and away from God, we have no document that can keep order in our country. Our forefathers designed this country and wrote the Constitution with the assumption that people would be guided by a belief and obedience to God.

Consider the words of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the co-author of the Federalist Papers. John Jay said, "Providence"—that's how they referred to God—"has given our people the choice of their rulers. And it is the duty as well as the privilege of interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." Did you hear what this first Chief Justice said? Not only are we a Christian nation, but we have a duty to prefer and select Christians as the leaders in this Christian nation. Why, he would be hauled into court today and sued for saying such a thing. But that was the Founding Fathers. That's what they believed.

John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams and the sixth president of the United States, said, "Why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns this day?" That is July 4th. "Is it not that in the chain of human events the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity."

But this final quote by Adams, to me, is the most remarkable. Listen to what the sixth president of the United States said: "The highest, the transcendent glory of the American Revolution was this: that it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government and the precepts of Christianity. If it has never been considered in that light, it is because its compass has not been perceived."

You say, "What about what I've always heard about the separation of church and state? That was the foundation of our Constitution." I had a reporter ask me the very same question this week. "Pastor Jeffress, what about the constitutional separation of church and state?" I said, "There is no such thing." He said, "What do you mean there is no such thing? It's in the Constitution." I said, "It's nowhere in the Constitution. You find it for me. Point it out to me." Did you know 69% of Americans believe that phrase is found in the Constitution? The separation of church and state? It's not found anywhere.

Well, then where did that phrase come from? You have to look outside of a government document to find it mentioned. The first time that phrase was used was in a private letter between President Thomas Jefferson and a group of Baptists from Danbury, Connecticut, in 1801. Think about 1801. That would have been nine years after the ratification of the First Amendment. In 1801, most states still had state-sponsored churches, but they were sponsored by Christian denominations. In many states, the tax dollars you paid went to that state-sponsored denomination, whatever it was. In Connecticut, the state-sponsored denomination was the Congregational Church.

A group of Baptists were upset about that. They didn't want their tax dollars going to support the Congregational Church. They had to petition every year to redirect their tax dollars back to support their Baptist church. They got tired of that hassle and wrote a letter to newly elected President Thomas Jefferson, asking him to rectify the situation. So on January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote this letter back to those Danbury Baptists. In part, he said, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should"—and then he quotes the First Amendment—"make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between the church and state.

Now, the context of this letter is so obvious. He's quoting the First Amendment, and the First Amendment being quoted is in the context of one Christian denomination being elevated over another Christian denomination. It was creating a state church in which people were forced to worship or forced to give their money to. Thomas Jefferson said our forefathers did not want that. They had given that up in England. They wanted a country in which they were not forced to worship and were not forced to support. The context of this was the elevation of one Christian denomination over another Christian denomination. Never in their wildest imaginations did Thomas Jefferson or the Founding Fathers ever believe that that First Amendment would be perverted in such a way as to try to separate our country from its Christian heritage.

You say, "How do you know that, Pastor? How do you know that wasn't Thomas Jefferson's intent?" Well, look at his own actions as President. One year after he wrote this letter to the Danbury Baptists, he authorized and signed a bill to use tax revenue to support a priest going to minister to the Kaskaskia Indians. Just two days after Thomas Jefferson wrote that letter on January 1st to the Danbury Baptists, on January 3, 1802, he attended a worship service that was being held in the Capitol building—a worship service that he authorized. In fact, I've gone to the Capitol; I've seen his signature on the attendance roster. He was there on January 3, 1802.

It was Thomas Jefferson who believed in the separation of church and state who authorized the use of the Capitol for the founding of the First Christian Church in Washington, D.C., and that church met there for decades. Jefferson attended there. Obviously, he saw no conflict between his separation of church and state understanding and the use of government to propagate and promote the Christian faith. There was no contradiction there whatsoever. Never did the Founders believe that this amendment would be used to restrict religious freedom. This was to protect religious freedom. Never did the Founders believe the so-called establishment clause would be used to absolutely silence prayers at graduations or Ten Commandment displays in the courthouses or nativity displays in the town square. That was never the intent of the Founding Fathers.

You say, "Well, that kind of makes sense, but how do you know that for sure?" Not only listen to the writings and the words of our Founding Fathers, but look at the early court rulings. These court rulings not only show that the nation was founded on a Christian foundation, but in many cases, government was encouraged to support the Christian faith. For example, consider the case of Runkle versus Weinmiller in 1799. Now remember, 1799 is seven years after the ratification of the First Amendment and the no establishment of a religion clause. In 1799, the Supreme Court of Maryland said in its decision, "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion."

Now think about it. Seven years after the ratification of the First Amendment, this court says we have an established religion. It is the Christian religion. They understood exactly what the Founders had in mind. They understood that yes, this is a Christian nation, but no one denomination is to be elevated above another. Because look at the second phrase: yes, the Christian religion is the established religion, and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing and are equally entitled to protection and their religious liberty. Again, the First Amendment is about protecting religious expression, not about restricting religious expression.

The next case, Vidal versus Girard's Executors, 1844, was a complicated case, but here's the gist of it. A man died in Philadelphia, a very wealthy man, and in his will, he left his proceeds to the starting of a school. They used to call those colleges back then, a school for orphans. But he had one stipulation: no Christian minister could teach in his school that he was funding. The people of Pennsylvania were very upset about that. They said, "If there's no Christian minister, then that means Christianity can't be taught in our schools, and we don't want that." The Supreme Court actually ended up upholding this man's will. Why did they uphold it? Because they said, "The fact that you can't have a minister teach doesn't keep Christianity from being taught in the schools."

And this was what they said: "Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as a divine revelation in the college, its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained, and its glorious principles of morality inculcated?" Likewise, the court had something to say about those who would say, "Well, then you've got to treat all religions the same." They said, "It is unnecessary for us, however, to consider what the legal effect of such a device in Pennsylvania for the establishment of a school or college for the propagation of Judaism or deism or any other form of infidelity. Such a case is not to be presumed to exist in a Christian country."

Are you starting to get the drift of this? Our courts did not hesitate to say America is a Christian nation. It is interesting that the justice who delivered the majority report in that Vidal case was a man named Joseph Story. Joseph Story was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1811 by James Madison. Now, if you know your history, you know James Madison was considered to be the architect of the Constitution. He's the one who appointed Joseph Story to the Supreme Court. Later in his career, Joseph Story wrote an entire commentary on the American Constitution, and it's a commentary that has been used for decades in law schools around the country.

In his notes on the First Amendment, Joseph Story, appointed by James Madison, said the purpose of the Founders in the First Amendment was to put all Christian denominations on the same level to keep one Christian denomination from being elevated above the other. But our Founders never meant for Christianity to ever be subservient to other religions in the world.

Speaker 3

There's much more evidence I want to share with you on tomorrow's program. All of it proves that America was founded as a Christian nation. So make a point to join us again tomorrow, July 4th, to hear Pathway to Victory.

Well, I'm going to conclude today's program where I began, and that's by giving you due warning that time is running out to take advantage of the $1 million salt and light matching challenge. The deadline is Sunday, July 6th, at midnight for giving your special gift. Because of this enormous matching challenge, your generous gift will be doubled in size and impact. That means your gift of, say, $100 becomes $200. Your generous gift of $500 becomes $1,000. A $5,000 gift would be matched and therefore doubled to $10,000. You choose to give whatever amount God leads you to give. The deadline for receiving your gift is midnight on Sunday, July 6th.

So maybe you're wondering what's the actual impact of your gift. Well, first of all, it'll keep you and your family deeply rooted in God's Word so that nothing that's happening in our culture will shake you. These daily programs and all of our study tools will continue uninterrupted.

And second, your gift will introduce the bright light of Jesus Christ to those who are lost and hurting in our nation and around our world.

And then to say thanks for your investment in Pathway to Victory, I'm prepared to send you a refreshing new book for you and your family. My new book is titled Shine the Light. This book will help inspire you to express courageous acts of kindness so that others are drawn into the light of God's truth.

Thanks for joining forces with Pathway to Victory to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word. America was founded as a Christian nation, and because of friends like you, we're magnifying God's critical role in preserving our wonderful heritage.

Speaker 1

David thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of the brand new book by Dr. Jeffress, Shine the Light. You can give online at ptv.org or call 866-999-2965.

And when you give $100 or more, you'll also receive the complete collection of audio and video discs for this month's teaching series, Shine the Light. And because of our Salt and Light Matching Challenge, any gift you give will be doubled in impact, but the deadline for receiving your gift is Sunday at midnight, so it really is critically important that you respond right away.

One more time, our phone number is 866-999-2963 or go online to ptv.org. You could send your request by mail right to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins inviting you to join us back here tomorrow, July 4th, when we conclude our message called America Is a Christian Nation, right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here.

Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. And right now, your ministry gift will be matched and therefore doubled in impact thanks to the Salt and Light Matching Challenge. Take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact before the deadline on July 6th.

To give toward the matching challenge, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.