Hope
you have a great Fourth of July! While most of us are busy enjoying
fireworks or a barbeque or something of that sort, it is important to pause a
moment afterwards, hopefully you take a moment to reflect and read a bit here,
and think a little bit about what exactly led up to the birth of one of the
most unique nations in history.
One
angle not talked about much regarding this topic is just how much the
Protestant Reformation is tied into the birth of America. The secular
"History Channel" recently did a program that declared: “without
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation there would be no America!” Pretty startling but true words from a
secular institution, words that we should take a look at and see the reality of
what happened:
At
the signing of the declaration of Independence, according to renowned historian
Sydney Alhstrom, 75% of the signers of that history-making and trailblazing
declaration were of Puritan background, the others were mostly Separatists and
Quakers.
All
of them: Puritans, Separatists, and Quakers, are products of the Protestant
Reformation. This points to the enormous impact and influence the
Protestant Reformation—a movement that Martin Luther unintentionally started
when he refused to bow down to men’s traditions, instead choosing to stand firm
on the Word of God alone—had upon the very formation of the American Nation.
The
roots can be traced back to the enormous influence of the Word of God. It was the Bible's very words of grace
and mercy in the books of Romans and Galatians that brought Luther into his
born-again experience. This in
turn led him to stand against the false teachings of penance and dead works for
forgiveness that were taught by the Catholic church which was wedded to the
state at that time.
Luther's
struggle with the condemnation he felt under the man-made system of rituals and
dead works in the Catholic system led him to throw off the yoke that had been
pushing his face down into the mud of condemnation for far to long. When he finally came into the
revelation of God’s grace he threw off that oppressive and tyrannical yoke of
medieval Catholicism.
A
great throng throughout Europe who had had enough as well began to do the
same. This revelation of grace
found in Scripture was so freeing and life-giving that Luther was thus willing
to stand up against the tyranny of his day and speak the truth and he inspired
others to do likewise. He became
more than willing to suffer the reproach of men and even face certain death and
martyrdom that came with doing so (he was pronounced as a heretic and the
church sought to have him put to death but the prince of his region abducted
and hid him in a castle to spare his life.)
In
the process of standing up he directly influenced many others to do the same
and to stand up for the truth, no matter what the cost, and a great Reformation
began to spread throughout Europe.
This
willingness to throw off the yoke of tyrannical oppression followed suit later
in the American colonies when they grew tired of the oppression and tyranny of
the English monarchy, who wouldn’t even allow them to print a Bible in their
own English language. The first
American English language Bible was printed in 1782 by the Congress of the
United States after independence had been established.
When
Luther took his stand there was a
ripple effect throughout Europe, including in Great Britain. People like Thomas Cramner (archbishop
of Canterbury) who were influenced by Luther began to turn back to the truth of
the word of Scripture. Though
Cramner was later martyred for his faith, the Reformation spread throughout
Great Britain and other like the Puritans adopted its principles. In Scotland reformer John Knox also had
come into the truth and he directly influenced the thinking of many early
American revolutionaries.
The
Reformation in Great Britain spread in many ways and groups like Puritans who
wanted to Purify the church were spawned.
The Puritans saw the need to have a life filled with the Spirit and felt
tradition bound forms of worship just didn’t cut it. They were pushed to the fringes of English society. In time it led to this Protestant
group coming to the New World seeking, amongst other things, freedom to worship
as they saw fit.
America
was discovered by an Italian who was underwritten by the Spanish, with many
others like the Dutch and French finding their way here long before the
English. However, it would
nevertheless be the English, and more specifically this unlikely group of
English Christians known as the Puritans, that would have such an important
influence on the formation of the emerging nation.
Though
not the first on the scene by any means, it was in fact this large movement of
English Puritans that began to come in more and more numbers and form colonies
that would have the biggest impact with their Christian ideals, and would
eventually have the greatest influence in the creation of a new independent
nation.
Early
Puritans were unique amongst Protestants in that they saw as essential the need
for the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart and not just mere Bible
knowledge for the head; they were thus known as some of the first
“Protestant-Mystics.”
They
came, willingly facing starvation, hardship, privation and even death. Why were
these English Puritans so ready to suffer in this primitive and undeveloped
land where other colonizers had given up and fled for their lives? According to
historian Alhstrom it was for a very specific and yet simple reason: They saw it as
their duty to the Great Commission to come and establish the Gospel in this new
land.
They saw it as a place they not only wanted to influence, but also where
they would have the freedom to worship as they saw fit without the bounds,
traditions, controls, and persecution of the Established Church.
The
moniker "Puritan" came from their desire not to be purer or holier
than others—popular misconception notwithstanding—but rather it developed from
their roots in the Reformation and their desire “to see the church purified
from papal pollution of false doctrines and teachings and be brought back to
New Testament foundations.”
Indeed
their allegiance to the Great Commission caused them to see the New World as
their mission field, and so they came and willingly suffered for the establishment
of the Gospel in this land.
America’s
foundations have so much of the Christian faith running through them, much more
than we have been told by the deceptive institutions of our day, like public
schools, whose favorite activity seems to be to rewrite and redact
history. Rewriting
history was one of the control tactics of the Communists, by the way, and
especially Stalin, who actually said: “If we rewrite history we can control the
people.” Scary to think this what
is going on in American public schools and universities in our day. Stalin’s values have become the status
quo as history is re-written in such a way as to expunge the reality of the
Christian impact and influence on the history of the American nation. Can anyone detect Satan’s hand in
all this revisionism?
The
awesome thing though is that when you just know a bit of what took place you
see that “The Kingdom of God”, and “God's Word of Truth”, has impacted the US’s
history far more for the good than we could ever imagine.
America
not only had those like the Puritans come here early on in direct response to
The Great Commission but it also had many revivals in its early days and
through its history that set the tone for the foundation of faith that was
laid. These revivals made a huge
mark on the early American frontier and set a tone of faith and belief in the
truth that shaped the landscape of the early American experience.
Revivals
like The Great Awakening and the Cane Ridge Revival shook and shaped things in
a massive way. Revivals have kept
sweeping on throughout different periods as well, bringing salvation and the
power of God to untold multitudes in the process. Revivalist Charles Finney experienced a conversion and
baptism in the Holy Spirit that led him to go throughout America and see great
revival fire spread all over.
We
owe a debt of gratitude to the great cloud of witnesses who went before us
suffering to establish God's truth and influencing history to do the same.
Have
a look at some of these video and audio programs we’ve done when you get a
chance, doesn’t all need to be done in one day. In the meantime when you see,
or have seen some fireworks, remember God’s fire made it all available.
