One Nation Under God

So glad to be back in action. I love exchanging ideas/thoughts and was a little sad when you wanted to throw in the towel.

There is no doubt in my mind that our founding fathers for the most part were godly men. They feared God (respected and revered HIM) and looked to Him for guidance and direction. This is not to say they were perfect or extremely faithful Christians but if you spend time reading our early history you will find God mentioned repeatedly in their words and documents. Sadly, hardly any of this factual history is taught today, whereas 75 years ago it was common public school material. Just a few examples-----

On December 4, 1800, just a few weeks after moving into the Capitol, Congress decided that the Capitol would also serve as a church building. This fact is not only recorded in Annals of Congress but also confirmed in the journals of various representatives and senators serving at the time. John Quincey Adams wrote in Oct. 1803 "Religious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury". Congress sanctioned using government buildings as houses of worship!!

Samuel Adams said after signing the Declaration of Independence "We have this day restored the Sovereign, to Whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting sun, may His Kingdom come." The Declaration of Independence is not only our forefathers declaring independence from earthly power and authority but declaring their dependence upon God Almighty.

George Washington in his Inaugural Address said "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."

Let me say again that while our forefathers were great men who did great things, they were also just men, who were fallible and imperfect. Some of their actions or lack of actions brought about some dark traditions. George Duffield, Patriot Preacher, said (prophesied) in one of his sermons which greatly inspired John Adams in May of 1776 "Whilst sun and moon endure, America shall remain a city of refuge for the whole earth, until she herself shall play the tyrant, forget her destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God".

As far as Jefferson's comment on the trinity is concerned, it truly is a mystery. I have tried to explain to my kids and Dan many times how it works--Father, Son, Holy Spirit...3 separate identities yet one. Earthly wisdom will never be able to explain this mystery adequately. Apart from God it is impossible to grasp. I think these verses from 1John 4&5 are a good start..."No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.......For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one".

Believer in Truth

Useful Vaugness

According to the NY Times, the pope recently had a Q&A with believers.  I find it interesting when a person exercises true intellectual curiosity with their question, the believer's response is always vague and often obtuse.  And this is viewed as "part of the believers struggle" to answer these questions.  I think it represents a near-desperate attempt to maintain a facade around a silly idea. 


Asked by an Italian man, “What is Jesus doing in the time between His death and resurrection?” the pope answered: “This descent of Jesus’ soul should not be imagined as a geographical or a spatial trip, from one continent to another. It is the soul’s journey.”


i.e., I don't know.

A Founding Father

So odd to hear today's religious right claim the founding fathers were deeply faithful Christians.


"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus." - Thomas Jefferson


Imagine Jefferson (or any politician) saying this today.