"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
(2_Chr_7:14_KJV)
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Abraham Lincoln:
"Whereas, the Senate of the United States devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority
and just Government of Almighty
God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has,
by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day
for national prayer and humiliation:
And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their
dependence upon the overruling power of God, to
confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured
hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy
and pardon, 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:
And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are
subjected to punishments and
chastisements in this world may we not justly fear that the awful calamity
of civil war, which now desolates the land may
be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the
needful end of our national reformation as a
whole people; We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven.
We have been preserved these many
years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But
we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched
and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined,, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were
produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for
clemency and forgiveness...
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly
in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the
united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with
blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins
and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former
happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed. By the
President: Abraham Lincoln."
Abraham Lincoln, March 30, 1863
Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day,
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"It is extremely important to our nation , in a political as well as religious view , that all possible authority and influence should
be given to the scriptures , for these furnish the best principles of civil liberty , and the most effectual support of republican
government. The principles of all genuine liberty , and of wise laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible and
sustained by it's authority.The man therefore who weakens or destroys the divine authority of that book may be accessory to
all the public disorders which society is doomed to suffer...."
(Noah Webster -
Foundational Quotes)
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George Washington:
President George Washington wrote; "I am sure that never was a people, who had
more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United
States: and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so
often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that
God who is alone able to protect them."
George Washington, ---
---
"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired
to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official
act my fervent
supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe,
who presides in the councils
of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect,
that His benediction
may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the
United States a Government
instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument
employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.
In
tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good,
I assure myself
that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow citizens
at large
less than either.
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which
conducts the affairs of men more than those 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; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the
system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many
distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by
which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along
with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These
reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to
be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence
of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.
...I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction
which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly
established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union
between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an
honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since
we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected
on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained;
and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model
of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment
entrusted to the hands of the American people."
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"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath
chosen for his own inheritance."
(Psa 33:12 KJV)
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Thomas Jefferson:
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the
liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have
removed their only firm basis, a conviciton in the minds
of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?
That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God
is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."
Thomas Jefferson, 1781
"Proposed Seal for the United States
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed Benjamin
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
"to bring in a device for a seal for the United
States of America." Franklin's proposal
adapted the biblical story of the parting of the
Red Sea. Jefferson first recommended the
"Children
of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a
Cloud by Day, and a Pillar of Fire by night. . . ." [Exodus 12:21]
He then embraced Franklin's proposal and rewrote it.
Jefferson's revision of Franklin's proposal was presented
by the committee to Congress on August 20.
(
View) Although
not accepted these drafts reveal the religious temper
of the Revolutionary period. Franklin and Jefferson were
among the most theologically liberal of the Founders,
yet they used biblical imagery for this important task."
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"Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee:
Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
{20} And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way
wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. {21} Moreover thou shalt
provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating
covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of
hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."
(Exo_18:19-21)
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Theodore Roosevelt:
"No prosperity and no glory can save a nation that is rotten at heart." -
Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul,
Sept. 2, 1901
"There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral
responsbility." - Abeilene, Kansas, May 2, 1903
(Some Theodore
Roosevelt Quotations)
"The true Christian is the true
citizen, lofty of purpose, resolute in endeavor, ready for a hero’s deeds, but never looking down
on his task because it is cast in the day of small things; scornful of baseness, awake to his own
duties as well as to his rights, following the higher law with reverence and in this world doing all
that in his power lies, so that when death comes he may feel that mankind is in some degree better
because he lived."
(Christian Heritage Month)
"It is highly desirable that a leader
of opinion in a democracy should be able to state his views clearly and convincingly.
But all that the oratory can do of value to the community is to enable the man thus
to explain himself; if it enables the orator to persuade his hearers to put false
values on things, it merely makes him a power for mischief. Some excellent public
servants have not the gift at all, and must rely upon their deeds to speak for them;
and unless the oratory does represent genuine conviction based on good common sense
and able to be translated into efficient performance, then the better the oratory the
greater the damage to the public it deceives. Indeed, it is a sign of marked
political weakness in any commonwealth if the people tend to be carried away by mere
oratory, if they tend to value words in and for themselves, as divorced from the
deeds for which they are supposed to stand. The phrase-maker, the phrase-monger, the
ready talker, however great his power, whose speech does not make for courage,
sobriety, and right understanding, is simply a noxious element in the body politic,
and it speaks ill for the public if he has influence over them. To admire the gift of
oratory without regard to the moral quality behind the gift is to do wrong to the
republic.
Of course all that I say of the orator applies with even greater force to the
orator's latter-day and more influential brother, the journalist. The power of the
journalist is great, but he is entitled neither to respect nor admiration because of
that power unless it is used aright. He can do, and he often does, great good. He can
do, and he often does, infinite mischief. All journalists, all writers, for the very
reason that they appreciate the vast possibilities of their profession, should bear
testimony against those who deeply discredit it. Offences against taste and morals,
which are bad enough in a private citizen, are infinitely worse if made into
instruments for debauching the community through a newspaper. Mendacity, slander,
sensationalism, inanity, vapid triviality, all are potent factors for the debauchery
of the public mind and conscience. The excuse advanced for vicious writing, that the
public demands it and that the demand must be supplied, can no more be admitted than
if it were advanced by the purveyors of food who sell poisonous adulterations."
Theodore Roosevelt
University of Paris, Sorbonne, April 23, 1910
"The Man in the Arena"
(Citizenship in a Republic)
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"The Bible must be considered as the great source of all the truth by which men are to be guided in government as well as in all
social transactions...."
"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to
form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws...."
(Noah Webster -
Foundational Quotes)
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Benjamin Franklin:
"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger,
we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir,
were heard, and they were graciously answered.
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a
superintending Providence in our
favour. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on
the means of establishing our future
national felicity.
And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need
His assistance? I have
lived for a long time, 81 years; and the longer I live the more convincing proofs
I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs
of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it
probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We
have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that
"Except the Lord build the house,
they labour in vain that build it."
[Psalm 127:1] I firmly
believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid
we shall proceed in this political building no better than the
builders of Babel: we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests;
our prospects will be confounded; and we ourselves
shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages.
And what is worse, mankind
may hereafter, from this unfortunate
instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance,
war, or conquest. I therefore beg leave
to move that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing
on our deliberations, be held in this
assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the
clergy of this city be requested to officiate
in that service."
Benjamin Franklin:
Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787
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"The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His
Apostles....
This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our
free constitutions of government."
"All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice , crime , ambition ,
injustice , oppression , slavery , and war , proceed
from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible...."
(Noah Webster -
Foundational Quotes)
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Alexis de Tocqueville:
"There is no country in the whole world, in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the
souls of men than in America: and there can be no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human
nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the
earth." -- Alexis de Tocqueville,
Democracy in America,
Vol_1, p._294."
"The August 23, 1831 issue of the New York Spectator carried the following story about a
witness who was
denied the right to present his testimony because he was an atheist: 'The Court of Common Pleas of Chester
County (New York) a few days since rejected a witness who declared his disbelief in the existence of God. The
presiding judge remarked, that he had not before been aware that there was a man living who did not believe in
the existence of God; that this belief constituted the sanction of all testimony in a court of justice; and that he
knew of no cause in a Christian country where a witness had been permitted to testify without such
belief.' -- Cited in Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960), vol. 2, p.306."
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Moses:
"Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God,
to walk in his ways, and to fear him. {7} For the LORD thy God bringeth
thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths
that spring out of valleys and hills; {8} A land of wheat, and barley, and
vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; {9} A land
wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it;
a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
{10} When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for
the good land which he hath given thee. {11} Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God,
in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day: {12} Lest when thou hast eaten and art full,
and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
{13} And when thy herds and
thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that
thou hast is multiplied; {14} Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget
the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage;
{15} Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,
wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water;
who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; {16} Who fed thee in the
wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee,
and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
{17} And thou say
in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
{18} But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power
to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers,
as it is this day.
{19} And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other
gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye
shall surely perish."
(Deu_8:6-19)
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"It can not 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!"
-- Patrick Henry, Famous
Quotes
After the War, he wrote on the back of his copy of the Virginia Resolves a summary
of the events that lead to the
Revolution, ending with this admonition:
“This brought on the war, which finally separated the two countries and
gave independence to ours. Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse,
will depend on the use our people make
of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed upon us.
If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they
are of a contrary character, they will be miserable.
Righteousness alone can exalt a nation. Reader! Whoever thou
art, remember this, and in thy sphere of practice virtue thyself,
and encourage it in others.”
Champion of Liberty
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Bible History:
"The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:
"Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire
Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants
the prophets." {14} But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers,
who did not trust in the LORD their God.
{15} They rejected his decrees and the covenant
he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless
idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the
LORD had ordered them, 'Do not do as they do,' and they did the things the LORD had
forbidden them to do.
{16} They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and
made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They
bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. {17} They sacrificed
their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold
themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
{18} So the
LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe
of Judah was left, {19} and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God.
They followed the practices Israel had introduced. {20} Therefore the LORD rejected
all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers,
until he thrust them from his presence."
(2_Ki_17:13-20)
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