It comes up all the time. People claim that this country was not founded on Christianity. That is hogwash.
Pilgrims Came to Escape
The pilgrims, as you will recall, were, Christians fleeing Europe in order to escape religious persecution, and they literally began their stay in their new land with the words, “In the name of God, Amen.”
The pilgrims were followed to New England by the Puritans, who created bible-based commonwealths. Those commonwealths practiced the same sort of representative government as their church covenants. Those governmental covenants and compacts numbered more than 100, and were the foundation for our Constitution.
Puritans wanted Church Reform
New Haven (Connecticut) and Massachusetts were founded by Puritans who wanted to reform the Church of England, who later became known as Congregationalists. Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island based on the principle of freedom of conscience. Pennsylvania was established by William Penn as a Quaker colony. Maryland was a haven for Catholics from Protestant England.
Schools Started by Christians
All but two of the first 108 universities founded in America were Christian. This includes the first, Harvard, where the student handbook listed this as Rule #1: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
Government Purchases Bibles
In 1777. Continental Congress voted to spend $300,000 to purchase bibles which were to be distributed throughout the 13 colonies! And in 1782, the United States Congress declared, “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.”
Final Thought
America was indeed founded by bible-believing Christians and based on Christian principles. When they founded this country, the Founding Fathers envisioned a government that would promote and encourage Christianity.
Don’t let anyone tell you differently!
NOTE: We will continue this in a series about some of the founding fathers and their words and viewpoints as they relate to Christianity.
Nov. 22nd – John Adams
Nov. 26th- Sam Adams
Dec. 3- Alexander Hamilton
Dec. 6- John Hancock
Dec. 7th- John Jay
Dec. 10th- Patrick Henry
Dec. 13th- Thomas Jefferson
Dec. 14th- James Madison
Dec. 17th- George Mason
Dec. 20th- George Washington
Dec. 21st- Noah Webster
Dec. 24th- John Marshall