Christian New England

Christian New England

     While researching the Christian worldview of the Founding Fathers, one must not throw back on to people in the past things and thoughts from the present. When one thinks of New England in today's time, one does not associate a strong Christian worldview, normally New England today is thought of as a secular area. Going through the 25 volumes of Letters of the Delegates 1774-1789 and 34 volumes of Journals of Continental Congress, the evidence from the primary sources showed me that the nation's strong Christian worldview came from New England. My preconceived idea was that the South would have the stronger Christian worldview. As you read the body of my quotes of Christian worldview from each state, I believe you will see that the Southern signers of the Declaration had a weaker view of Christianity. For many of the signers from the South, it took quite a bit of searching to find one general quotation about a Christian worldview. However, for New England, one does not have to dig hard; the evidence is strongly there. Again, please look at the signers from each state of New England; their Christian worldview glows (New Jersey glows as well with Rev. John Witherspoon and company).

      With many of the New England states, it is a strong unanimous vote for the Christian worldview. In Massachusetts, there are John and Samuel Adams. Look at their Christian worldview quotes on my site as well as their anti-slavery stances. John Hancock, son and grandson of a minister strongly proclaimed days of prayer asking for God's direction. Robert Treat Paine served as a chaplain in the French and Indian War. Elbridge Gerry also had a strong Christian worldview To get insights from the New England mindset of that time, look at the words of the song, "Let Tyrants Break Their Iron Rods." Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav'ry clank her galling chains, We fear them not, we trust in God, New England's God forever reigns. Please take note of the last line of the first verse: "New England's God forever reigns." It was New England and not the South that served as the starting engine for the American Revolution.

     Let us also look to the views of the mother country, England. General James Grant led British troops against American soldiers at Brooklyn, New York. In his September 2, 1776 letter to Harvey said the following: " You will be glad, & gentlemen in Office will not be displeased that we have had the Field Day I talked of in my last Letter- if a good Bleeding can bring those Bible faced Yankees to their senses. The Fever of Independency should soon abate." New England's God, Bible faced Yankees, and the body of Christian worldview quotes from the signers of the Declaration of Independence from New England establish the fact that New England had the strong Christian worldview.

     Conversely, the South at that time had a weak Christian worldview. They followed the established Anglican religion. The reader will note that Thomas Jefferson is not noted for having a strong Christian worldview. This author would class him as having the weakest Christian worldview (if that) of the whole bunch. When many argue that the Christian worldview should not be allowed to have a voice in discussions about government because the Christian worldview allowed slavery back at the Founding, they lay the fault at the wrong party. It was the weak established Anglican Christian worldview of the Southern States (like Jefferson, Rutledge and Middleton and others)at that time that supported slavery. New England with its Christian worldview opposed slavery. Jefferson's Bible that took miracles out of the Bible left readers with a Jefferson Jesus. Jesus to Jefferson was a great moral teacher. Jefferson rejected the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus. Jefferson rejected the miracles of Jesus, all his healings, the raising of the dead, the feeding of the multitudes. Who was the leader for the Democrat party? Is it not called the party of Jefferson and Jackson?Which party supported slavery from the beginning? Was it the Democrat-Republican party/Democrat party? What party made it difficult at every turn to stop slavery? Even though the Founders outlawed slavery from the Constitution in 1787 (by saying that 18 years will allow slave owners to have time to get out of slavery), what party kept pushing at every turn to keep slavery going? It was the party of Jefferson. If one looks at the party of Jefferson from 1820 to 1860, one can see the party platforms saying slavery was fine.

     It was the party of Lincoln who championed the idea of the Founders that all men are created equal. Please do not muddy the waters and say that Jefferson's diluted form of religion that he used when needed was kosher with the Old and New Testaments. His watered down approach to the Bible and God allowed him and his followers to view African Americans as less than people. All citizens of the United States regardless of skin color need to return to what God has revealed in the Old and New Testaments.

     Concerning the three fifths vote, the New England delegation did not want to give the South the full vote because after all the votes were tabulated, the South would have overall more votes that they could use to keep slavery lawful.  New England wanted to eliminate slavery by 1805.  In order to stay alive as a nation (with other nations attempting to conquer us), the compromise was done to keep the nation afloat.