60 Seconds – One Nation Under God

When the French historian Guizot asked James Russell Lowell how long the American Republic would last, Lowell is reported to have said, “It will last as long as the ideals of its founders remain dominant.” George Washington, father of our country, and the first president of the United States, advised, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” He prayed, “Direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit…Daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ.”

Thomas Jefferson has been accused of omitting all miraculous events of Christ from the Bible. But he explained that his intent was not that it be another Bible, but a primer for the Indians on the teachings of Christ (which is why he titled it The Life And Morals Of Jesus Of Nazareth). He had the “red letter” portions of the New Testament published to introduce the Indians to Christian morality. As President of the United States, he signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia tribe to provide, at government expense, Christian missionaries to the Indians. In fact, Thomas Jefferson boldly proclaimed, “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

Patrick Henry, an American Revolutionary leader said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Alexander Hamilton, a signer of the Constitution, testified, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy.”

These words are found in the Declaration of Independence, “For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Finally, the 16th President of United States, Abraham Lincoln, said, “It is our duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”