Happy 250th birthday to America!
The original Pilgrims who came were influenced by: the Reformation, seeking to worship freely, and spurred on by the Great Commission.
Puritan Preachers in England were emphasizing the Great Commission to take the Gospel out far and wide and they considered themselves a chosen people for that task according to Historian Sydney Ahlstrom.
Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette also points out how it was Martin Luther‘s teaching on the “Priesthood of all Believers” the ethic of seeing all as equals before God, that formed the roots of what would later become modern American democracy.
As they stepped ashore at Plymouth, the Pilgrims’ Compact written out on the Mayflower before they went ashore stated that they were taking on this endeavor “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith…”
According to the Plymouth Museum they were helped in their struggles in the new land by the Native People with whom they maintained good relations for over 80 years—even liberal NPR had a Native American expert on in the past who verified this fact.
These are the Christian roots of the Nation.
Check out these short videos shot on location in Plymouth, England, from where the Pilgrims set sail (above), and also from Plymouth, Massachusetts, shot on location where they came ashore on the Mayflower (below).
