Faith of Our Founding Fathers by Tim F. LaHaye (?)

I really wish more people would read about our nation's Christian heritage from books like these instead of believing the lies taught in our public schools and from reading comments after the articles on HuffPo.

Over sixty years ago an effort was begun to change American history as it is recorded in our history books. Today many of our schoolbooks have been revised and our history books have been rewritten to show that our nation does not owe a debt of gratitude to God or early Americans with firm Christian beliefs. In Faith of Our Founding Fathers, the author Tim LaHaye proves us otherwise. Most of the men that gathered in Philadelphia to write the Constitution were raised and believed in God and lived for Him. The overall thesis or message of the author is that the United States had the guiding hand of God over the founding of our nation.

The Continental Congress passed a law regarding new development to the west. The document clearly states that morality; education and religion should be taught within the new territories. Today our public school children learn about American history devoid of moral principles, values and religion.

Judeo-Christian religions encompass close to 94 percent of the population based on a Gallup poll. How can it be that less than seven percent of Americans control our public education? They also dominate most of our media outlets (newspapers, entertainment industry, television and radio) and represent more than half of our elected leaders at the local, state and federal level. Why are secular humanists so pervasive in the public forum?

When America was founded two dominate philosophies or worldviews existed in the western world. One view was secular and the other religious. Christians demonstrated their belief in God as Creator. Secularists include atheists, skeptics, rationalists and others of the Enlightenment and do not believe in God. This anti-God thinking was dominant throughout Southern Europe at the time.
There were two classes of people in most of the countries of Europe. The elite were predominantly secularist thinkers, usually educated and the ruling class. The masses were more religious and often uneducated. The undemocratic policies of the elite ruling class offered no elections, little freedom and slavery. There were seldom opportunities for commoners to participate in leadership.
The uneducated masses usually attended church to receive their philosophical instruction. John Calvin and Martin Luther founded schools and colleges with an emphasis on religion. They also provided translations of the Bible in the languages of the people in the countries affected by the Reformation.

These two different philosophies were in conflict on almost every issue of the day. The Christian spoke and lived by moral absolutes and believed in law based on Scripture. Whilst the life style of secularist advocated pleasure, freedom and liberty without any thought of God. The Christian has a responsibility to God and his fellow man. Secularism prefers unlimited freedom and people with this mindset became uncontrollable where the Reformation had the least effect. When this secular thinking brought on the French Revolution, France became a fifth rate power.

In his book, Tim LaHaye stated, “Revolt against all authority is the logical result of secularist thinking. That is why secular philosophers are usually so hostile toward God, Christianity and Scripture.”

The author is suggesting that America is on the verge of another revolution. And this time if Christians are unprepared, the experiences will be similar to the French Revolution. Our early American citizens and leaders had every reason to believe “that unrestrained democracy (would lead) to anarchy.” After the War for Independence, civil law had dissolved in many of the communities throughout the colonies. These conditions motivated the leaders and citizens to selected individuals who were committed to this newfound freedom and had religious strength and character.

What is even more remarkable for non-believers is that “In the Providence of God, only eight of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were among the fifty-five delegates; Jefferson, Tom Paine, and Richard Henry Lee, ‘three of the most forceful liberal deists, were conspicuous by their absence.’ ”

Puritan and Calvinistic philosophies influenced many of the delegates. They were interested in establishing a government inspired by Biblical sound doctrine or law. They were not interested in forming a secular nation, but rather “one nation under God.” The vast majority of Americans two hundred and twenty-five years ago were Christian. Religion was Christian, morality meant Judeo-Christian moral code, education made ample references to God and the Bible was used extensively. Schools and textbooks were God-centered. Many call our country a “Christian nation” because when our nation was founded it was based on a strong Christian consensus. The most obvious was in the field of law. Many of our early documents have strong Christian statements.

The citizens revered the Bible as the ultimate authority. Life depended on an understanding of the Bible and their passion became a desire for individual freedom. The first type of law is primary or fundamental. Fundamental law is also the “higher law” or the Laws of Nature. This higher law is revealed in God’s book, the Bible. Constitutional law is the second type. It provides the foundation for civil government and protects individual’s God-given rights. Constitutional law works in conjunction with the higher law. Finally, any law that contradicts the bible is illegitimate. That is why the colonists protested against King George.

The Founding Fathers understood that God is the definitive basis of all law. The most important statement in our Declaration is that we want to operate under the laws of God. John W. Whitehead put it this way. "The Declaration of Independence; therefore, is structured upon a Judeo-Christian base in two fundamental ways. First, it professes faith in a “Creator” who works in and governs the affairs of men in establishing absolute standards to which men are held accountable. Second, and even more fundamentally, since all Western nations of that era professed a belief in the Creator- there is the idea that man is a fallen creature and hence, cannot be his own lawgiver and judge. In the end it is God to whom the appeal must be made. In this sense, the law cannot be simply what a judge or fuehrer says it is. It is what God says it is.”

Some of the official documents used during our country’s early days prove this nation was built on strong Christian principles. Noah Webster’s dictionary and speller, the Northwest Ordinance and all fifty State Constitutions all appeal to God. Webster’s books were unlike texts seen today, for they openly presented Biblical admonitions, as well as principles of American government. In one of his early editions of the “blue-backed speller” appeared a Moral Catechism – rules upon which to base moral conduct. Webster stated unequivocally, “God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.”

The role of religion in the establishment of new territories was expressed in Article III of the Northwest Ordinance. It states, “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

Dr. D. James Kennedy, Presbyterian pastor and television preacher in a sermon noted that more than fifty years after the founding fathers had died our state leaders still had a reliance on God. “In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered something which some of you may not know; there is in all fifty, without exception, an appeal or a prayer to the Almighty God of this universe… Through all fifty state Constitutions, without exception, there runs this same appeal and reverence to God who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms”

If Americans want to remain free they must remember that men who loved God found her. In all my years on this earth, I have learned that usually people do things for one of three reasons. They are power, sex or money. Many of our politicians have tremendous power and influence and make good money. In the paper we read that several of these politicians believe they are above the law and seem to say they will do whatever they want – with no apparent consequences. Several step down when caught – but a few are very defiant. Could this have anything to do with the notion that some of our present leaders would like to change or amend our moral foundations, if the citizens will let them. I see the affects of a people that have abandoned their once strong moral foundation. Our streets are no longer safe at night or day, too many of our young people grow up to consume drugs and commit crimes against society. Families are torn apart and many children live in one parent homes or are moved from one foster home to another. Divorce is just as common among Christians as it is within the rest of society. Many adults and children doing whatever they want, whenever they want.

Noah Webster understood how important it was to train up a child correctly. He desired good principles and good habits of work for students. “Education, in a great measure, forms the moral characters of men, and morals are the basis of government. Education should therefore be the first care of a legislature… A good system of education should be the first article in the code of political regulations; for it is easier to introduce and establish an effectual system for preserving morals, than to correct by penal statutes the ill effects of a bad system.” Webster understood this all too well. Religion is not bad for its citizens, it help them stay focused and behaved.

The French scholar and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in 1831. So impressed by its people, de Tocqueville wrote an exhaustive, two-volume description of its citizens and our nation. “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society. …there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America; and there can be no greater proof of its identity and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.”

I long for a return to those days.

The title and introduction set high expectations that were not met. He does offer some strong context regarding the religious outlook of the founding fathers, but the connection between Christ and Constitution is a stretch. The strongest points are: demonstrating the evangelical outlook of several of the key players in our early government, demonstrating the prominence of God in early government and educational institutions, and delivering a thorough history of the genesis of our Constitution. The weakest areas: too much interjection of non-sequiter arguments (unwed teens, etc) and drawing on evidence that I found doubtful (suggesting without Columbus no one would had discovered the New World). Most valuable are his points around original intent and current application of free speech, church and state, and secular humanism. He does successfully show that the original founders would not have agreed with the drive to eliminate all elements of faith from government and education and he does show the course that brought us to our current state.

Interesting book!

you know, I expected this book to be really bad. im honestly surprised at how much worse it was than I expected.

A nation “founded” on a genocide of its native people and enslavement of another is not a “Christian nation.” a people who do not condemn and put to an immediate end that genocide and slavery is not a "Christian consensus." the “founding fathers” mentioned the word “God” in their documents for the morality effect. Notice the documents never say “Jesus” or any name or translation for Jesus. Only a vague, generic mention of some god.
this country was not founded on the values of the dark-skinned Nazarene, Yeshua.

It's wild to me that a book on the "founding" of America never once says the words "slavery," "genocide," or even "Native American." how lahaye continually danced around the largest and darkest events of U.S. history for 258 pages was simply astounding.

I could write forever about my grievances with this book, but I'll leave it here.