Is America a Christian Nation?

America has been blessed far above other nations in modern recorded history. There is a reason for that fact which can be found in its trust in the true and living God. It is an undisputable fact that America was founded by men who had respect for the Creator God. They gave God as their authority to declare their independence from Britain by this statement in the Declaration of Independence "When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them," They further declared "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" These statements in the Declaration of Independence and the resultant civil laws of the individual states that clearly mirrored the teachings of holy Scriptures leave no doubt that Christian principles were used in founding the new American government. However the freedom's we have enjoyed for over 200 years was not the result of our founders wanting the new government to be a Christian one by law but in some cases in spite of that.

Well are we a Christian Nation or are we not? I believe the answer to that as it relates to the form of government we have been blessed with is No! Because of the wisdom and faithfulness of some of our Baptist forefathers, and most importantly the providence of almighty God we was founded a free nation and formed into a republic representative government where the people enjoyed unprecedented freedoms and had responsibilities to select and hold accountable their representatives for the laws they enacted. Although our founding was greatly influenced by Christian principles the American people have individual freedom of religion and cannot be forced to support a state religion or any other religious organization by force of law. In that sense we are not a Christian nation but we have been a nation of free people who has supported Christian principles. We have failed to teach this generation the facts about our founding principles and of the great blessings of having a government whose laws were influenced by Christian principles but whose citizens had freedom of conscience to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their hearts. I fear we have allowed the anti-Christianity crowd to use the expression 'Separation of Church and State' to blatantly lie about our founders intent.

Some of our founding fathers did want laws which sponsored the Christian faith and in effect would have made us a Christian Nation by law. Our Baptist forefathers, appropriately, opposed these laws and were active in petitioning the founding fathers to grant liberty of conscience in manners of religion. In the diary of Elder Isaac Backus is recorded his account of an historical meeting concerning some of our founders that wanted Christianity by law: "In the evening there met at Carpenter's Hall, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine esquire, delegates from the Massachusetts to the Congress, when James Kinzie [Kinsey] of New Jersey, Stephen Hopkins and saml. Ward of Rhode Island, Joseph Galloway, Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania esquires, and other members of the Congress were present, as also were Mr. Rhodes mayor of the city, the three forenamed Quakers, and our Elders Manning, Gano, Jones, Edwards, Roberts, etc. The conference was opened by Mr. Manning, who made a short speech and then read the memorial of our grievences which we had drawn up. In answer to which Mr. John Adams made a long speech, and Mr. Samuel [Adams} another, both of whom said, "There is indeed an ecclesiastical establishment in our province but a very slender one, hardly to be called an establishment." And they exerted all their art for near an hour in trying to represent that we had no cause to complain of encroachments upon our religious liberties at all."

Shortly after the declaration of independence in 1776 a feeling of optimism prevailed among some of the Baptists. In Elder Isaac Backus diary it is recorded "The association's [warren] circular letter, which was written and signed by Backus, declares that, the principles of liberty and government being then under such close scrutiny, `there appears the greatest encouragement of obtaining full and universal LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE that ever has since the first rise of the man of sin` The Baptist are urged to work toward that end." (See page 966 volume II of Elder Isaac Backus's diary)

Even after the meetings in 1774 and the optimism expressed by Elder Backus in 1776 the struggle for religious liberty was not yet won. The Baptist and others seem to be losing because in February 1778 Elder Backus records in his diary the following. "Thursday Feb. 19. [1778] Mr. Joseph Haines of Haverhill and Capt. John Bodwel of Methuen came here with a request from our committee at Boston, and I set off with them, and travelled to Capt. Curtis's; and next day into Boston, and our committee met, and concluded, that since a majority of our assembly have voted to adopt their old ecclesiastical laws into our new constitution of government, it was best for us to draw up a protest against the same, and try how many subscribers thereto we can get in our whole State?"

With the adoption of the first amendment it became clear that our founding fathers choose to deny the government the authority to make laws concerning the establishment of religion leaving the exercise and establishment of religious societies up to the conscience of the individual. This outcome was greatly influenced by our Baptist forefathers among who Elder John Leland and Elder Isaac Backus are prominent. The State and local governments esteemed Christianity by tailoring many of our laws after the Ten Commandments. Up until the 1960's the federal government respected the authority of states to make these laws and the courts made rulings accordingly. Our founder's clearly did not promote the idea of separation of government from God by denying the acknowledgment of God in the public square but the intended separation was to keep the government out of the church. To guard against undue involvement of Churches in government, they were also opposed to incorporation of large influential Churches. Most importantly our Baptist forefathers recognized that a Church that binds the laws of Christ with civil law is no longer a true Church of Christ.

America has been a shining light to the world because the majority of its people trusted in almighty God and practiced good moral Godly (Christian) principles. More particularly, the blessings of this nation can be attributed to the faithfulness of the true militant Church of the Lord which until recent years has stood firm upon the Rock of Ages. As we become more diverse in other religions and forsake scriptural principles we will not long stand neither will we be blessed of God as we have been in the past. "The Lord is with you, while ye be with him and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." (II Chronicles 15:2) It is questionable whether the majority of this nation's people could truly still be called a Christian people. The rapid moral decay of this nation's people and the lack of desire to seek first the Kingdom of God is evidence of our deplorable state. Most so called Christian churches have become entertainment centers rather than simple houses of worship. With their money based ministries they are no different than the money changers that Christ drove out of the temple. (John 2:14-16) My prayer is that there are still a sufficient number of people in this nation that esteem the precepts of God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost above all others and are praying to Him to heal our land -- which is our only Hope. Elder Claude McKee

 

Related Links:
Read the entire diary entry for October 14, 1774 at this link:
www.essentialbaptistprinciples.org/misc_files/backus_diary_oct14_1774.htm

See related church incorporation article at link:
www.essentialbaptistprinciples.org/ebp_published_articles/church_incorporation_and_religiousliberty_cmckee.htm