Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Secular history usually admits a broader spectrum of opinion, and data. It admits religious opinion, as one of many. So if a religious opinion says "X causes Y" (i.e. God's covenant with Israel was transposed to the North American colonies/nation and caused subsequent blessings/prosperity) then secular history should treat that hypothesis as all others.
I see two related reasons why such a religious/spiritually-oriented hypothesis of history's events is ignored(excised) by the secular writers.
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I think it is generally accepted by both secular and Christian historians that the Judeo-Christian tradition had an influence on the Founders. This is no secret - it is an obvious fact. How could it be otherwise? But apparently some Christians are not satisfied with that and I think this thread is a case in point.
In one of my initial posts I stated what I consider to be common knowledge: "In actuality the nation was founded upon 3 strands of tradition: Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman and European Enlightenment." To my surprise I received quite a bit of flack for making this statement. In fact it was implied that I was being blinded by the god of this age who was tricking people into believing this sort of thing. Please note I did
not say:
"In actuality the nation was founded upon 2 strands of tradition: Greco-Roman and European Enlightenment."
Neither did I say: "In actuality the nation was not founded on the Judeo-Christian tradition."
So what's the problem? Do some Christians seriously think that ignoring the other influences on the Founders is a credible position to take? Franklin was friends with Voltaire while he was in Paris as our ambassador lobbying the French to finance the Revolution. They were buddies and palled around town together. He even asked Voltaire to bless his grandson. Jefferson was very sad that Voltaire had died by the time he got to Paris but made sure he had a bust done of him to put in his study back in VA. He had many of his books in his library and was well read in Voltaire. Their views on religious and political liberty were informed by Voltaire. Should Christians cover this up and pretend it didn't happen? We can't handle the fact that the Founders were influenced by three strands of tradition? Are we that insecure?