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Check Out the Correct Responses Below.

1. The early settlements in America were established exclusively for secular reasons.

1. FALLACY. America was settled as a “church relocation project” by those who desired to “propagate the Christian religion” and find freedom of worship. The charter for Jamestown, the first English settlement, stated that the purpose of Jamestown involved “propagating of [the] Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness.” The Pilgrims, too, shared this goal. They sought a place where they could practice “self-government under Christ alone,” an unknown concept in that day. Likewise, the Puritans’ stated goal in coming to America was to “practice the positive part of church reformation and propagate the Gospel in America.” Learn more when you read Truth 1, “America Was Begun as a ‘Church Relocation Project.’” 

 2.    The Founding Fathers based our system of government on the ideas of Greek philosophers and the ideal of the Athenian democracy.

1. FALLACY. The model for America’s Constitution came primarily from the Connecticut Constitution, written by the Puritans to establish a civil government under law. Article 1 of this Constitution affirms, “The Scriptures do hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties which they are to perform to God and men.” The Puritan concept of law placed liberty under the guidance of the God of Scripture. Our Founders repeatedly asserted that this philosophy alone could protect the sovereign rights of the citizens from tyrannical governments. Learn more about the Founders’ views on the source of liberty and law by reading Truth 2, “The Founders Recognized God as the Source of Liberty and Law.”

 

3. It was books such as Common Sense, written by the deist Thomas Paine that fueled the patriotic fervor of the revolutionaries during the American Revolution.

1. FALLACY. Thomas Paine arrived in America only two years before the beginning of the American Revolution and wrote Common Sense in 1776. The ideas of liberty and freedom that fueled the American Revolution did not originate with deists, such as Paine. The preaching of America’s Presbyterian parsons, like Reverend John Witherspoon, prepared the way by bringing a spiritual revival, known as “the Great Awakening,” which swept the colonies between 1740 and 1770. Witherspoon, while serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress, urged the Congress to vote for independence. He voiced the views of many of the clergymen of his day when he said, “It is the man of piety and inward principle, that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier. God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable . . .” You can learn more about this often neglected aspect of the America Revolution when you read Truth 3, “Christian Zeal Fueled the American Revolution.”

 

4. Our American Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

1. FACT. These were the very words of President John Adams, our second president. Adams declared, “Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” For more insight into this truth, read Truth 4, “Our Constitution Was Made Only for a Moral and Religious People.”

 

5. Our republic rests upon one book, the Bible.

1. FACT. Although there are those who claim that the Founders drew all their ideas from the writings of Enlightenment thinkers, the book that is cited most often in the documents of the Founding era is the Bible. In 1982, Newsweek magazine published an article, “How the Bible Made America,” which concluded that “historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document.” Learn more about this by reading Truth 5, “Our Republic Rests Upon One Book, the Bible.”

 

6. There are very few references to God in any of the state constitutions.

1. FALLACY. In his sermon entitled, “Church and State,” Dr. D. James Kennedy noted, “Through all fifty state constitutions, without exception, there runs. . . [an] appeal and reference to God who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms.” America’s Founders believed that the Christian religion should receive encouragement from the states, and they, as well as the authors of the various state constitutions, openly encouraged religious convictions among their citizens. You’ll learn more about this when you read Truth 6, “Every State Constitution Acknowledges God.”

 

7. America’s schools were formed to advance the Christian Faith.

1. FACT. From the beginning, education in America was supported and sustained by Christians with the view that gaining a proper understanding of the Bible was the primary purpose of education. The colonists in New England imposed literacy requirements, so that children and apprentices would be able to read the Scriptures and understand the “main grounds and principles of the Christian Religion necessary to salvation.” Truth 7, “America’s Schools Were Formed to Advance the Christian Faith,” gives more information on the establishment of education in America.

 

8. Nations around the world have recognized and acknowledged that the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation.

1. FACT. Foreign observers of America, travelers, and diplomats have noted, from the founding of our republic to the present day, the distinctiveness of our nation’s Christian belief. Its citizenry has been described as a people who are a “God-loving, God-fearing, God-worshipping people.” The president of the 13th session of the United Nations General Assembly stated in 1958, “[T]he soul of America is at its best and highest, Christian.” For more insights from foreign observers concerning our nation’s Christian heritage, read Truth 8, “Foreign Nations Acknowledge Our Christian Roots and Heritage.”

 

9. One can see little evidence of our nation’s Christian heritage in our nation’s capital, nor is it publicly acknowledged by those in government office.

1. FALLACY. Acknowledgement of our nation’s Christian roots did not end with the founding generation. Our elected officials—both presidents and congresses—continue to recognize our reliance upon almighty God. Our nation’s motto, “In God We Trust,” was adopted by Congress during the Eisenhower administration, with the proclamation that “as long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail.” This is emblazoned on the walls of the Senate and House chambers, as well as on our national currency. Learn more about other ways that our Christian heritage is acknowledged by presidents and congresses and on the walls of our capital buildings by reading Truth 9, “Presidents, Congresses, and Our Capitol All Acknowledge God.”

 

10. Our courts have never called us a Christian nation, for to do so would be a violation of the Constitution.

1. FALLACY. In a landmark decision in 1892, the Supreme Court concluded, “We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity.” In 1931, in U.S. v. McIntosh, the Supreme Court referred to the 1892 decision and again stated, “We are a Christian people, according to one the equal right of religious freedom and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.” Read Truth 10, “The Courts Have Declared We Are a Christian Nation,” for more on the views of our courts concerning our nation’s Christian heritage.