Defending Faith and Family

America's Christian Heritage

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This podcast highlights several shared principles that united the Founders of what became the United States of America, including a commitment to religious liberty, a belief in human rights granted by the Creator, and a cautious approach to government power rooted in a conviction of human sinfulness. Furthermore, it explores how Reformed theology influenced the constitutional mechanisms intended to eventually abolish slavery while maintaining national unity. Prominent figures like John Adams, James Madison, and George Whitefield are essential to this "civil spirituality" that blended faith with revolutionary politics. Ultimately, the American Revolution and the creation of our national governmental structure was as much a religious movement as a political one, shaping the nation's core values of virtue and freedom rooted in the Scriptures.

 

America's Christian Heritage: A Study Guide on the Religious History of the American Revolution

This study guide synthesizes the historical analysis of Christianity's pivotal role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. It explores the theological underpinnings of American resistance and the spiritual framework that informed the Constitution and the eventual abolition of slavery.

The Convergence of Diverse Faiths

The American Revolution was powered by a coalition of Americans holding starkly opposed personal beliefs. This alliance primarily consisted of two groups:

  1. Evangelical Christians: Invigorated by the First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s), these believers emphasized personal conversion, the "new birth," and the spiritual equality of all people.
  2. Enlightenment Deists and Rationalists: Figures like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, though skeptical of traditional Christian dogmas such as the Trinity or the divinity of Jesus, believed in a Creator who guaranteed fundamental human rights.

    3. Despite their theological differences, these groups united around "civil spirituality"—a set of shared religious values that provided the moral and political ballast for a new nation.

    The Five Pillars of Revolutionary Spirituality

    The historical record identifies five salient religious ideas that connected varied Americans during the Revolutionary era:

    1. The Disestablishment of State Churches

    Evangelicals, led by Baptists like John Leland and Isaac Backus, sought to end state-supported religious establishments. They believed that state involvement corrupted the church. They found common cause with deists like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who advocated for "liberty of conscience" and the "free exercise of religion." This collaboration culminated in the Virginia Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786) and the First Amendment.

    2. Rights by Creation (Imago Dei)

    The belief that all humans are created in the image of God (imago Dei) served as the primary basis for political liberty. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence articulated that rights are not gifts from government but "endowments" from the Creator. This concept established a theological trajectory that eventually placed American slavery on a path to extinction.

    3. The Threat of Human Sinfulness

    Rooted in Reformed (Calvinist) anthropology, many founders believed in the "total depravity" of man. Because humans are prone to corruption, centralized power was viewed as inherently dangerous. This led to the creation of a government characterized by checks, balances, and divided powers. As James Madison famously argued in Federalist No. 51, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

    4. Republican Virtue and the "Christian Sparta"

    Revolutionaries believed that a republic could only survive if its citizens were virtuous. While classical republicanism looked to ancient Greece and Rome, Americans infused these ideals with Christian morality. Samuel Adams envisioned America as a "Christian Sparta," where the self-sacrifice of the ancient world was powered by the spiritual vitality of Protestantism.

    5. Divine Providence

    There was a widespread belief that God—often referred to as "Providence"—moved through nations and intervened in human affairs. Military victories, such as those at Louisbourg (1745), Trenton (1776), and Yorktown (1781), were interpreted as signs of divine favor. This "civil spirituality" framed the American cause as "the cause of Christ" or the fulfillment of Christian prophecy.

    Historical Precedents and the Great Awakening

    The spiritual foundation for the Revolution was laid decades before 1776.

    • The Failure of Early Communalism: In 1620, the Plymouth Colony initially attempted a form of communal labor. As recorded by Governor William Bradford, this system bred "laziness, theft, and famine" due to fallen human nature. In 1623, the colony shifted to private stewardship, which aligned with the "dominion mandate" of Genesis and resulted immediately in abundance.
    • The Great Awakening (1730s–1740s): Led by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, this movement was the "first American revolution." It challenged religious hierarchies and trained ordinary citizens to question corrupt authority. It emphasized that the "new birth" was the only spiritual credential that mattered, regardless of social status.
    • The "Presbyterian Rebellion": British authorities often labeled the American Revolution a "Presbyterian Rebellion" because of the heavy influence of Reformed theology. Approximately 70% of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention came from Calvinist traditions, and over half of the Revolutionary soldiers were Presbyterian.
      • Anti-Catholicism and the Road to War

      A primary driver of the Revolution was the fear that the British government would impose "popery" (Catholicism) and spiritual tyranny on the colonies.

      • The Bishop Controversy: New Englanders were apoplectic over rumors that the Church of England would send a resident bishop to America. The "Bishop’s Palace," a mansion built in Cambridge for missionary East Apthorp, became a symbol of potential "episcopal bondage."
      • The Quebec Act (1774): This act allowed French Canadians to practice Catholicism and extended Quebec’s borders to the Ohio River. Colonists viewed this as a "Dragon’s flood" of Antichristian power designed to encircle the Protestant colonies with hostile Catholic forces. This act was seen as more threatening than previous tax laws because it targeted religious liberty.
        • Religion on the Battlefield: The Role of Chaplains

        Military chaplains were essential to the Continental Army, serving as "moral and strategic" assets for General George Washington.

        • David Avery: An evangelical chaplain who witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill, Avery interpreted the war through a providential lens. He helped troops understand that even in defeat, God remained their "fortress." He crossed the Delaware with Washington and viewed the surprise victory at Trenton as divinely orchestrated.
        • Inculcating Virtue: Washington believed chaplains were necessary to restrain "vice and profanity" among the troops. He argued that the blessing of heaven was contingent upon the moral conduct of the "Christian soldier."
        • Israel Evans: A trusted chaplain who served through the entire war, Evans helped sanctify the Revolution by comparing Washington to a God-given leader whose patriot fire was an example for all.
          • Slavery and the Constitutional Mechanism for Extinction

          The founding era was marked by a profound tension between the ideal of equality and the reality of chattel slavery. While many founders owned slaves, the Reformed theological framework provided the tools for slavery’s eventual downfall.

          • The Imago Dei and Abolition: Reformed thinkers argued that race-based slavery was an abomination inconsistent with the Gospel. Preachers like Samuel Hopkins and Jonathan Edwards Jr. thundered against slavery from the pulpit, while figures like John Jay and Benjamin Franklin led early manumission societies.
          • The Constitutional "Time Bomb": The Constitution did not enshrine slavery forever. It included mechanisms for its phased extinction:
            • Article I, Section 9: Allowed Congress to ban the international slave trade after 1808.
            • Northwest Ordinance (1787): Banned slavery in new territories (Ohio, Indiana, etc.), ensuring that free states would eventually outnumber slave states.
            • Three-Fifths Compromise: While often criticized, this limited Southern political power; counting enslaved persons fully would have given slave states more House seats to entrench the institution.
            • Christian Leadership in Abolition: The abolitionist movement was largely led by Reformed Protestant Christians. From the "Beecher’s Bibles" provided by Henry Ward Beecher to the biblical resistance preached by Henry Highland Garnet, the moral urgency to end slavery was rooted in a biblical conscience.
              • Glossary of Key Terms
              • Antichrist: In the Revolutionary era, this term was frequently used by Protestants to refer to the Pope or the spirit of Catholic "tyranny" and "arbitrary power."
              • Civil Spirituality: A public-facing religious framework that conflates national political affairs with divine purposes, used to justify the war and stabilize the new nation.
              • Deism: A rationalist belief system that posits a Creator who does not intervene in the world but has endowed humanity with reason and natural rights.
              • Disestablishment: The process of separating church and state by removing legal and financial support for official state churches.
              • Imago Dei: The "Image of God"; the theological belief that all humans possess inherent dignity and equality because they were created by God.
              • Jeremiad: A cautionary sermon or lecture, named after the prophet Jeremiah, that attributes public troubles to the people’s sins and calls for repentance to secure divine deliverance.
              • Millennialism: The belief in a future "thousand-year reign" of Christ or a period of great earthly peace and prosperity (the Millennium) that would be ushered in by spiritual and political victories.
              • Popery: A derogatory term used by American Protestants to describe the rituals, hierarchy, and perceived political tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church.
              • Providence: A term for God’s purposeful intervention and guidance in the affairs of the world and the lives of individuals.
              • Reformed Theology: A branch of Protestantism (including Presbyterianism and Congregationalism) following the teachings of John Calvin, emphasizing God’s sovereignty and the depravity of human nature.
              • Separates: A radical evangelical group that broke away from established Congregationalist churches during the Great Awakening, seeking "purer" worship and religious liberty.
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