Go ahead, make my..
Yours truly has always been struck by the fact that John Adams (2nd president) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd president) both died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, on July 4, 1826, following which James Madison (4th president) died June 28, 1836, a few days shy of the 60th anniversary. James Monroe (5th president) died on July 4, 1831 (the 55th anniversary). Interestingly, James Monroe was with George Washington when he crossed the Delaware. All were Founding Fathers.
The Declaration of Independence was the foundation with actual bullet points for our US Constitution, which we need to read and read ad infinitum to know our Constitution and spread the information to those who’ve never read either. Also, Hillsdale College has free copies of the Constitution that will fit in your pocket.
Fact is, we’re a nation founded on God. Our birth certificate, the Declaration, concludes with a prayer and a confession of faith. Remember the fathers were signing their death warrant for treason if they lost. They were risking all — their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.
One founder was George Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister and professor at Princeton. Many of the other signers had been his students. And like Witherspoon, most of the founders were Calvinists, whether Presbyterian, Congregationalist, or Episcopalian.
Witherspoon saw to it that they closed the Declaration with a prayer — “appealing to” is a prayer — and a confession of faith — “in firm reliance” is a confession. They prayed to the Supreme Judge, who according to the 1646 Westminster Confession is: “The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.”
An eternally-God founded nation
And they invoked, they confessed, the protection of Divine Providence. Again they turned to the Westminster Confession which says of divine Providence: “God the great Creator of all things doth uphold; direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things; from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible fore-knowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will; to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”
Only Christians believe in the Holy Spirit as a person of the Godhead. And, while Christians are to honor the authorities and not rebel, they can cry out to God to raise up a Judge on their behalf like Moses.
And also note that contrary to the liberal’s labeling the founders as deists, their invocation of the Holy Spirit and divine Providence is the exact opposite of deism. Deism is a watchmaker god, who having created, then steps away to let the creation run on its own volition. God manifested in the Holy Spirit and Providence, is the God revealed in Christ who speaks to us, who protects us, who comes to live and die and rise with us, Emmanuel God forever with us.
The Founding Document is such a beautiful illustration of how and why the United States of America became the greatest country on Earth. Our Declaration of Independence has been the envy of some of the World’s leading philosophers and intellects born into countries ruled by Communists, Dictators, and Tyrants. One must continually pray that this document and our Constitution continue to remain the ultimate Law of this great nation.
We are a nation founded on God, and may He not turn his face away, but have his His hand remain continually upon us. Amen, and Amen. Forever and Ever. An eternally-God founded nation. THAT!
And on that note, time for today’s MAGA Pill – still our President Donald John Trump – MAGA! KAG!
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- Menagerie, Conservative Treehouse: Why we celebrate the Fourth of July
