The Great Depression Part 10 – A Christian Nation
Good day to each of you reading this column on the “great depression” that has affected our forefathers and its consequences.
Please turn with me to Deuteronomy 29: 2-6 (NIV) Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have not seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. During the forty years, that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did your sandals, on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.
If there was an analogy that I could form, it would be of the many men and women who came to this country. All so many people, more numerous than the stars in the sky or pieces of sand on the seashore in search of a land flowing with milk and honey.
Most of these people left with the clothes on their back, sandals on their feet and the hope of a new beginning filled with the blessings of God. As for the wave of immigrants, before the Great Depression, immigrants from other countries came to the U.S. in waves. In fact, historians recognize three major movements in the United States. These include the first period between 1815-1860, the second between 1860-1890, and the third one between 1890-1914. Immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Great Britain were significant in the first two movements while Mexican immigrants were significant in the end of the third movement. Courtesy of http://colfa.utsa.edu/users/jreynolds/Ybarra/part3.htm.
I wish to add that other (several Anglo-Saxon) countries were so instrumental in coming to America to follow their dream of emancipation and freedom of the liberties supplied including practicing their Christian beliefs.
I just came across the following website to use and for your review—Was America founded upon Christian Principles?
Proof That America Was Founded As A Christian Nation
America was founded on three documents: The Declaration of Independence; The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, and the Constitution. These documents give conclusive proof that America is a Christian nation. One does not need a law degree or a degree in history to grasp this truth. It is obvious to anyone who does not have an agenda. Let us review the documents and show this proof.
Declaration of Independence: Click to read
The Declaration has many references to God throughout the document. The most famous one is that men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Here are more references to God found in the document:
Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”
Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World”
With a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence”
The Declaration of Independence does not identify the God whom they are addressing. This could be left open to interpretation and opinion.
The Constitution: Click to read
The body of the Constitution makes no reference to God. The Constitution honors the Christian Sabbath. The President was given 10 days to sign a bill into law. The counting of the 10 days does not include the Sabbath. This is found in Article 1, Section 7, and Clause 2 which in part follows:
“If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law,”
When the Constitution was completed on September 17, 1787, it was signed by the delegates then to be ratified by the states. The delegates signed the Constitution in the “Year of our Lord.” This is a direct reference to Christianity. This is found in Article 7 which in part follows:
“Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, GO WASHINGTON–Presidt. and deputy from Virginia”
The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783: Click to read
The Paris Peace Treaty was the document which formally ended the Revolution and granted the United States independence from Great Britain. In a real sense, the United States formally became a nation on September 3, 1783.
When the United States became a nation, it was done in the “name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.” The preamble to this Treat states it is based upon the “Holy and undivided Trinity.” The concept of the holy Trinity is unique to Christianity. This statement means the United States was founded on the Christian faith. The complete Preamble follows:
“In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity”
The Treaty then ends just like the Constitution with a statement it is being signed in the “Year of our Lord.” The witnesses representing the United States were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and D. Hartley. The section in part follows:
“In witness whereof we the undersigned, their ministers plenipotentiary, have in their name and in virtue of our full powers, signed with our hands the present definitive treaty and caused the seals of our arms to be affixed thereto.Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three”
D. HARTLEY
JOHN ADAMS
B. FRANKLIN
JOHN JAY
When this concept is applied to the Declaration of Independence, it is clear the reference to “All men are created equal,” was about the holy Trinity. The people of the United States are endowed by their Creator, the holy Trinity, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The God of the Bible is whom the United States is based upon. The unalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness come from the Christian God and no one else. He is the Rock of our Republic.
Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
I am very sure there are those who would take exception to the above statement, and; again, this is your belief—I find many prominent leaders from the time when this country was formed through the annals of American History that America was founded upon Christian principles.
As one reads Deuteronomy 29:8-29, God describes to Moses the circumstances when making a covenant with God. This covenant with God, not to be taken lightly involved each individual at that time and for those who were not here today.
When reading verses 16-18, God is not making a threat but merely showing the Israelite people of how they lived previously and how they are to live today. This is the choice of receiving the blessings or the curses.
We then read in verses 19-21 that we cannot fool God by merely hearing the words of the oath and “going through the motions” so one could feel safe, yet going his own way. God looks upon the heart of man and knows all things and states the consequences of those who would try to hoodwink God.
Verses 22—27 show the effects of breaking the covenant with God for this effects your children who follow you in later generations. This great country America was rocked to its knees for close to 10 years and the effects of this “Great Depression” would last for generations to come and All the nations will ask; “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce burning anger?”
As for the answer, turn to verses 25-27—And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshipped other Gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in the book.
Draw your conclusions—Was America following strange Gods and did the Christian people break their promise by abandoning the covenant? Did the Bible not reveal that we each have a choice, the choice of the blessing or the curse?
Don’t lose hope—The Lord your God is a loving God and we are a stiff-necked people who, will learn what it takes to prosper after turning to the Lord.
This will be the next column—May you Bless God in all that you say and do.
Jeff
