Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
America was settled by Pilgrims - Pilgrims who paid a tremendous price to follow their God out of England, to escape a tyrant King who claimed to rule by Divine Right. The price they paid to settle your nation was absolutely horrendous, but they did it for Christ and His Church.
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I think we need to fill in a few large gaps. The Pilgrims did not come to settle the nation and neither were they trying to escape a tyrant king. The first settlement of the British colonies was in Jamestown, VA in 1607 by a group of entrepreneurs who were given a charter from King James 1 and they named the settlement after the king. And this was the same King James that had commissioned the King James version of the Bible to be translated.
The second settlement was in 1620 in Plymouth, MA these settlers were part of a Protestant reformation movement in England called the Separatists They felt that the Church of England was not reforming fast enough and wanted to separate from it. But since it was the Church which received favored status by the state/country of England it had power to persecute Dissenters.
Later in 1630 a group of Puritans came over to Boston.
Once these Dissenters had power in MA they became the persecutors of those who dissented from them e.g. the Quakers several of whom they hung for their religious beliefs.
So let's be clear:
Christians were persecuting Christians in England so those being persecuted left and when given the opportunity in the new colony in turn persecuted Christians. The persecutees became the persecutors once they had the power to do so.
But none of this had anything to do with starting a nation. They considered themselves as loyal subjects to Britain and the Crown. It wasn't until
169 years later (from Jamestown being established) that independence was declared. During the 169 years England had over 10 kings. The king at the time of the Revolution was George III and their initial complaint was that
as British subjects they should have representation in the British Parliament - no taxation without representation. It was about economics. Nothing to do with religion.
About the divine right of kings: an argument could be made that this idea is soundly based in the NT where we are taught to obey kings. Even Jesus said "pay unto Caesar". (An argument made in Europe for 1500+ years.) And that the rebellion of the colonies was against the NT teaching and furthermore the founders replaced it with democracy which has its roots in pagan Greece.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
...they committed their children, their lives, and their testimony to the name of Jesus Christ. They ensured that every person in America received a Bible, and was educated about it. They committed themselves to prayer and fasting to seek His will...
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When did they do this? Here are the words from the Treaty of Tripoli written in 1796 and signed by John Adams when he was President:
"The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
Certainly the founders were informed by the Judeo-Christian tradition along with Greco-Roman and European Enlightenment. But the idea that they set up a Christian nation founded on the Christian religion is simply not true. If anything England at the time was a so called Christian nation.