This past week, my husband and I watched the new movie “A Great Awakening,” showing the role this revival had on the American Revolution. Thanks to this viewing, I started reflecting on the theology of America.
“America cannot have a set theology!” you may be thinking. “It is a country, and as a country we do not have one set religion.” Let me explain.
Every political system, like every person, has a theology. Set on a system of beliefs, every political system must answer the question, “Who is the Deity?” Regardless of whether the answer is God, Self, Allah, or other gods, the question must be asked, for the answer will shape a society's government.
The theology of America is that we are all creations of God, who sacrificed Himself to save us from our sins. We do not deserve His salvation, nor can we earn or contribute to it. Instead, it is brought about by faith alone. This salvation by faith and the work of God gives us liberty both in Christ and in life.
“Faith is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God,” Martin Luther wrote in his commentary on Romans. “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times.”
That quote from Luther led to the preaching and conversion of John Wesley. Wesley influenced and led into ministry a preacher named George Whitefield. Whitefield preached in the Americas from 1738 to 1770. By the time of his death, around 80% of all Americans had heard him in person at least once. Whitefield’s message was simple: You cannot be saved by your works; you must be born again. In short, it was a message of liberty in Christ and equality under God.
Eric Metaxas wrote of Whitefield in his book, “Martin Luther,” saying:
What he preached was a kind of ecumenical Christianity that underscored the profoundly Lutheran idea that conscience and fealty to God preceded fealty to any church or government. It therefore followed that those who did violence to the teaching of Jesus must be disobeyed. This played a huge role in emboldening the American colonists to move to self-government.
As the movie accurately portrays, Whitefield was a great friend of Benjamin Franklin’s. It was because of Whitefield’s influence on this Deist founding father that Franklin stood up at the constitutional convention and proposed beginning each session with prayer. His reason? “I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs the affairs of men. … without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel….”
The faith statement I laid out for you is a unique set of beliefs not shared in all Christian circles. It is distinctly Protestant. It shouldn’t surprise any of us to know that America is a distinctly Protestant nation.
The only person quoted more than the Bible by the American founders was Montesquieu, a well-known political philosopher. Montesquieu believed that the best basis for all government is religion, particularly Christianity. Further, he believed that for a monarchy, the best basis was Catholicism. For a republic, Protestantism.
This makes sense because when people know that they are truly free from the weight of sin and guilt, they also know and understand liberty. When they feel they can reach God without any other mediator than Christ, they know equality. When they are not beholden to others as mediators between them and God, or to understand His words, they know self-government without a class system.
When a people are assured of their salvation and standing with God apart from works, they will fight and die for the cause of liberty. And that’s exactly what they did.
The founding fathers worked Protestant religion and virtue into every founding document, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and each state constitution. Most state constitutions highly favored Protestant citizens. All complaints and rights asserted were based on an understanding that rights were bestowed by God by virtue of being His Creation and that the government had a duty to respect and uphold those rights.
This theology echoes throughout our history. It was the base of the arguments behind the Civil War, the civil rights movement, involvement in foreign wars, and much more.
As I write this, I keep telling my husband I don’t have nearly enough space to do this subject justice. I could write a whole treatise. Maybe I will. But for now, I will just make this a series. So keep reading and I’ll expound more next time.
Laura Clark is a wife, mother, and community activist. She currently serves as the interim president of Alabama Center for Law and Liberty, a conservative nonprofit law firm that fights for limited government, free markets, and strong families in the courts. Anything written by Laura for this publication does not constitute legal advice.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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