We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident
The most memorable words of the Declaration of Independence roll off my tongue because I was privileged to learn them in the American school system: “We hold these truths to be self-evident …”
If you grew up like me, you learned “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” In those days it was easy to take for granted these founding ideals that justified new waves of freedom throughout the life of our nation—from the Revolution to the abolition of slavery, from women’s suffrage to the Civil Rights Movement.
But over the past 50 years, those rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have been increasingly threatened in the United States as we’ve rejected and marginalized God. Godless paths taken a generation ago, such as eradicating scripture and prayer from schools, celebrating sexual promiscuity, and aborting the unborn have led to widespread skepticism of a Creator who would command us to live otherwise.
Today we find ourselves fending off chaos and wickedness that would have been incomprehensible to us a generation ago. Even just 10 years ago, I could not have imagined a world in which Americans would so brazenly ignore the rule of law; welcome sexualized books and curriculum into schools; and counsel young people to surgically change their gender (just to name a few examples).
We’ve witnessed in one generation what Paul wrote in Romans 1:28: “just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind.” The depravity swirling around us today is rooted in our decision as a country to reject God and ultimately to reject the human rights He established for our flourishing.
Historical perspective
Our ancestors came to America with a very different mindset. They experienced suffering at the hands of government tyranny, based (ironically) upon religious distortion and oppression. Simultaneously, these European believers were growing in their understanding of Jesus Christ because of the Gutenberg press, the influence of Martin Luther, the widespread distribution of the Bible, and other events of Reformation history.
With the discovery of the New World, these believing colonists perceived an opportunity never before afforded their Christian ancestors. A journey to this new land not only offered them relief from persecution, but also a chance to share the gospel and establish a society for their children based upon true Biblical ideals. This golden opportunity made it worthwhile for them to face perilous journeys across the ocean only to jeopardize their lives further in the face of freezing temperatures, starvation, and native hostility on the American shoreline.
Various early documents explicitly state their intentions to share the gospel. In the Mayflower Compact of 1620, for example, we see that the mission to plant a colony was “undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith.”
The colonists who most carefully sought the Bible and the ways of Christ laid the remarkable foundation for a government established by the people, for the people. God blessed their early aspirations to obey scripture in how they reared their children, interacted with their neighbors, and governed their colonies. Their love for Christ set the course for America to become “one nation under God,” despite the ways they perpetuated sin and brokenness as fallen human beings.
Human rights, endowed by God
Our American ancestors persisted in seeking the wisdom of God and recognizing His authority. They looked to scripture for an understanding of human rights devised by God for the sake of human flourishing. And ultimately, the Founding Fathers came to understand fundamental human rights as bequeathed by God.
As I examine Genesis 1-2 in light of the Declaration, the creation story breathes life into the American framework: God gave us life as His image-bearers; liberty as creatures of free will; and the pursuit of happiness as His collaborators in cultivating the Earth. Grounded in scripture, faith, and prayer, our founders turned historical notions of government on their head and established revolutionary systems that would protect and empower people instead of dominating and oppressing them.
By the time Great Britain threatened them with tyranny, Americans were uniquely poised to resist, particularly following a period of spiritual revival in the mid-1700s, known as the Great Awakening. (I hear the recent movie by the same name is definitely worth seeing!) For more than 10 years, the colonists prioritized peaceful resistance and reconciliation to England while their beloved Mother Country persisted in tyranny even to the point of innocent bloodshed. After the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress petitioned King George III as their last hope of avoiding war, only to be ignored.
In 1776 Americans officially declared their independence, laying claim to the “unalienable rights” they believed to be “endowed by their Creator.” They actively sought God’s help to defend those rights in the Revolutionary War and to build a system of government that would protect those rights in perpetuity. (That “purpose of government” will be a topic of a future email.)
Hence, the American experiment.
Where we go from here
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of participating in “America Reads the Bible” at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., honoring the Lord with a public reading of the Bible in its entirety. With the whole counsel of God’s word fresh on my heart, I find it especially interesting to see parallels between this story of America and the first-century church in how God advanced the gospel. In the book of Acts, our glorious God took what Satan intended for evil and used it for good! The persecution of the early church dispersed Christians and spread the gospel throughout pagan lands, according to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.
As we resist wickedness in our own generation, we also pray for revival in America that will reestablish her course with Christ. But no matter what God has in store for us, our destiny in Jesus is eternal and our purpose is simple. According to Psalm 37:3, I encourage you to join me as we “Trust in the Lord and do good.”
In this series of articles called “America@250” about our nation’s history and founding principles, I want to share some of our sources (since iVoterGuide is devoted to providing sources for candidate research). Key sources for this email include:
The Mayflower Compact
A Reformation Timeline
The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton