1996 issue 9 - history study: fruits of independence part 2 - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1996 Issue 9 - History Study: Fruits of Independence Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/5

y

taken

seriously in matters of

philosophy ard religion.

Rvssell Kirk notes a

number

of dominant characteristics of

this

nation in the

18th

century:

1. Reverence for od and

the Scriptures. This

is

foundational to all

else.

The

fear of the Lord

is

the

beginning of wisdom. A

people

who fear God, will

walk

safely

and

securely.

The

two most influential books

in

this country Were, according to

Kirk, the King James Bible

andJohn Bunyan's The

Pilgrims

P r o g r e s ~ .

These

books, according to

Kirk,

~ , , - - ' - ' - -

~ - - ~ -- -

- ' - . - l

shaped

the style,

informed

the

The Fruits of

Independence (II)

This was in a real sense a

Christian nation. Not that all

the people or all the leaders

were Christians (they weren't)

and not because it perfectly .

conformed

to

the

Scriptures

at

every point (it didn't), but

because

the over-arching

vision was

one

inherited

rom

Christianity, the Christianity

of the Reformation, especially

as

it had

come to

them

through Oreat Britain. Alexis

de Tocqueville observed this

phenomena during his

visit

and travels throughout the

country. ''There

is

an

innumerable multitude of sects

in

the Vnited States. They are

all different

in

the worship

they

offer to

the creator, but

all

agree concerning

the dUnes-or

man

to

one

another.

Each

sect

worships Ood in its own

fashion, but all preach the

same

morality

in

the

name of

Ood. He went on to say that

surely some men did this

merely out

of habit rather

than

conviction for we cannot

know the hearts

of men,

but,

Nevertheless, America is still

the

place

where the Christian

religion has

kept

the greatest

power over men 's minds.

Though not always

as

orthodox

in every place as one

could wish, there was

in this

country a remarkable

agreement in theology and

basic

outlook.

Citizens viewed

the world through

Biblical

spectacles. Deism and

skepticism were nearly

unknown in this nation. The

prominent

deists

and

skeptics

{Franklin and Jefferson

among

them) were tolerated but

not

2 t THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon November,

1996

intellect,

affected the laws, and

decreed the morals of the

North American colonies.

(Kirk, Americas British

Culture, pp. 22 23)

2. Marital fidelity. De

Tocqueville

had noted,

Certainly

of

aU

countries

in

the

world America is the one in

which the

marriage tie is most

respected

and where the

highest and truest conception

of conjugal happiness has been

conceived. This

gave

a

stability

to

our society lacking

elsewhere. .When the

American returns

from

the

turmoil

of

politics

to

the

bosom

of

the

family,

he immediately

finds a perfect picture of order

and peace. There all his

pleasures

are

simple and

natural and his

joys

innocent

and quiet, and

as

the regularity

of life brings him happiness,


2/5

he easily

fonns the

habit

of grandparents proudly display

centralism and hinted at the

regulating his

opinions as

well

bumper

stickers

proclaiming

infringements

of basic,

as

his tastes.

that they

are

spending their

Ciod-given liberties.

3. High courage. These

children s inheritance

so

that

7.

Honesty and integrity.

were

a

remarkable people.

A

nothing will

be

l

eft

to them.

In any society you have

people

who had learned,

like

5. Household

scoundrels,

but

in

general,

David,

to trust Ciod in the independence personal

Americans had habits of

fair

midst of

danger, hardship, and

responsibility). These were a

dealings ingrained in them

suffering.

They

had

fought

the people

who

did

not expect

from

both

pulpit

and

Indians, the French, the

others

to take care of

them

nor

hearthstone.

Your

word and

Spaniards,

and,

most recently

would they

have

allowed such

good

name were the most

the British

and the Hessians. a thing as long

as

they had the

important. Nothing was more

And

Ciod

had delivered them

capability for

caring

for

despised than a swindler and

through it all.

These themselves.

Ciod expected

thief.

experiences had steeled within each

to use

his strength and

B

Respectfor law.

De

them a courage that was nigh

gifts to

provide for himself and

Tocqueville

noted that in the

unshakable.

Kirk

notes that

his

own. And

the

man who

this characteristic

was

so refused to do

that was worse

Vnited

Sates,

there

is

no

widespread that

no

one

was

than an

infidel.

The

numerous and perpetually

much

surprised that the irresponsible

welfare

mentality

turbulent

crowd

regarding the

colonies leading men would simply did not exist.

law as a natural enemy

to fear

venture their lives, their

6.

Practical intelligence

and

to

suspect.

Their

fortunes,

and their sacred

experience did

not

cause

them

honor in the

cause

of no

and

common sense.

They

not

to

over-react

as

many in our

taxation without

only learned how

to

do

day have)

and

despise

all

representation. Even

though

it

innumerable things

--

that was

authority and laws. Men

true

and

the resourcefulness of

understood the role

of

law and

meant

hanging

by

the

neck i

the average American was an

the necessity

of

it

for

a

they

failed.

amazement

to Europeans

--

but

well-ordered

society.

4. Willingness to sacrifice here

Kirk is referring to

the

Christianity produced both a

for

the future. Most

fact

that they understood the

fierce detennination

to

defend

Americans of this century

importance

of liberty and the

liberty

as

well

as a

deep respect

knew that

the

fruits

of all

their

dangers of

the abstract

ideas

of

for

godly

law and

order.

hard work, blood, toil

and

statist utopianism

. Many

of

tears

would not be enjoyed by

the people who settled this

This was the basis

for

their

them.

They

were

working

for

land had

seen first-hand

the

respect

for common

law which

future

generations -- their

dangers

of a government

had been

the

foundation

of

children,

grandchildren,

and

trying to control all areas of life

Englaild s judicial structure.

great-grandchildren.

They and thought. They had The

common

law

is

based

willingly

sacrificed

their known

persecution

and

from

a Christian

perspective)

present comforts in the

hope

injustice

and saw the

dangers

upon the fact

that there

are

that

future

generations might

of men

who thought they

principles of justice

ultimately

live

with

joy

and

gladness in

knew what was

best for

the

established by

Ciod

Himself

this

land. Quite a

different

rest

of

the people. There was

which overrule the laws

of

mentality than that

which

an ingrained aversion

to

men and under which all men

pervades

our own

day

where anything that smelled

of

are

subject regardless

of who

November,

996

THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon 2


3/5

they are. No king or overthrowing all the .

first,

second,

fifth, sixth,

and .

legislature can enact a law that foundations. Though most of eighth amendments. h ~ fi;st

supersedes or sets aside the the Framers were convinced and third derive

from

the . .

common law. Nor

is

there that a mere piecemeal revision glorious Petition of Right

.

anyneed for kings or of the ,Articles of . which King Charles I

legislatures to ratifycomtnon Confederation would not solve approved (Ibid p. 19): Arid

law. All laws of men must the country's needs, they

also

many more examples could 'be

not contradict or tontravene knew that the people would chosen.

To

paraphrase lohn

the cominon law. never agree

to

a total change Jay, the Constitution was ail

. t was this whith the ' in the basic philosophy of the effort to defend and preserVe

c o i o r t i ~ t s were claiming when Articles (Ibid.,

p.

3). Thus, the old liberties and notd .

they ciaimed ' the chartered the Constitution formed in document intended to map out

rights of Englishmen. h i ~ 1787 mainly was aneffort'to new. (Ibid., p.

2 ;l)

, . .

I

I

d d . h conserve the tradition 'received Th ,

.

.

was

express

y ai .own

int

e e new Constitution was

First Continental Congress .. from the fathers. not to be (whatever Madison,

Declaration and f t ~ ~ ~ i Hi\milton, and James

Resolves (October 1 4,

The

common law is based (from a Wilson may have,at

1774)

'Resolved, that times

e n v i s i o n ~ d )

a

Christian perspective) upon the fact

the respective colonies

hat there are principles of J'ustice

liCense

for;\lnlimited,

are entitled

to

the god-Iikeiluthority; b.ut a

common law

of

ultimately established by(jod minimalinstrullient

England, and more ' Himself which overrule the laws of which strictly limiteq

espeCially

to

the great

men and under which

aU

men are

the

~ ~ d e r a l g ~ v e r n m ~ n t

and inestimable subject regardless of

who

they are. its authoritY and

privilege of being tried action and c i i t ~ f U l l y

by their peers of the vicinage, It has been argued that as preserved the integrity of the


4/5

meeting or

not.

(Original founding

of

our country and

Intentions, x,

xj)

was the dominant vision of

This demonstrates that even those men who founded the

the most vehement centralists Republic. The Founding

would not be worthy of the

Fathers

were not devious men,

title today.

Bradford

contends but men reared in a rigorously

that the Constitution is Christian environment.

nomocratic rather than Many

of

them were serious

teleogical. That

is it

concerns Christians though not always

bringing government under

discerning

theologians. They

the law and so

regulating

and were

not

perfect men. Even

restraining it, rather than those who were

creating a government which unquestionably Christian, did

would have power to produce not always take the right

toward

centralism

. Madison

defended the Constitution

against the charges of the

anti-Federalists by saying that

the

powers in

the

general

government

are

those which

will be

exercised mostly in

time

of war,

and that they

by

and large relate only to

external objects and represent

no real change

from

the

Articles of Confederation

except

in

providing a

machinery for enforcing

tax

laws and a few other

regulations agreed upon

before the Convention in

Philadelphia.

a certain

kind

of society

or

position

on

things {just like

r----------------

you

and me), they

did

not

The on of r:od

..

.is the always think correctly on

That

this

was

in

fact the

view of the Constitution

on

the part of the majority of

Y

every issue

, they did not

..source

and guarantor

of:aU

always see things dearly--

true

liberty. The best

of

men

are

men at

-- -

best.

the framers

is

illustrated by an

event

which took

place late in

the proceedings of the

convention, On August 7,

1787, the Philadelphia

Convention was discussing the

draft

constitution

reported the

day before by the Committee

of Detail, and an

article

setting

the

time

and

place

for an

annual

session

of Congress

came up. qouverneur Morris,

an

arch

nationalist, moved to

strike the

clause,

objecting to

requiring a meeting every year

on the ground

that the

public

business

might not

require it.

Oliver Ellsworth, who

was

also

ardent in his nationalism,

said in rebuttal that the

Legislature

will not know

till

they are met whether the

public

interest required their

achieve any

specific

social ends

based on the

abstract

principles

of natural rights. (Ibid., p.

xi)

Fully twenty percent of

the

text concerns things the

government may not do

(Ibid., p.

xj).

The Constitution,

according to Bradford, is

primarily a structural and

procedural document,

specifYing who

is to

exercise

what powers and

how.

It is a

body of law, designed

to

govern, not the

people,

but

government itself; and it is

written in

language

intelligible

to

all, that

all

might know

whether

it

is being obeyed.

(Ibid., p.

xii)

This is a view of law

inherited from the

Reformation.

It was this

vision

that dominated the

There was

some

political

naivete

due to

their

failure to

take serious

the doctrine of

total

depravity. There was a

lack

of

discernment

theologically.

But

we must

remember that theological

preciSion is the fruit of

controversy. The late 18th

century

was

not

a

time

of

theological

controversy but

consensus.

Their

failures

have

borne evil fruit for this nation,

but it is

a little high-minded

to

condemn

these men for not

seeing what we have

seen

and

knowing what we now know

after 200 years of dealing with

theological hypocrites and

arrogant humanists. By and

large,

the nation was

pervasively Christian

in

its

outlook and in its actions

both

public and private).

November, 1996 THE COUNSEL

of Cbalcedon 23


5/5

The atheistic

revolutioJ:1aries

of

18th

century France

were

quite disappointed that they

received so

little support

from

this nation but

they

shouldn't

have been

surprised.

No

nation has ever had a

more

non-revolutionary

Revolution.

t has the unique distinction

among aU

the

revoluti()ns

of

history of ended up with

more

liberty than

it

began

with.

The credit for

this remarkable

fact cannot

be given

to

Rousseau, Voltaire

,

Thomas

Paine, or

even Thomas

Jefferson

-- it

must go to

the

Christian

faith

and

ultimately

to

the

Son of

qo

who

is

the

source

and

guarantor of aU true

liberty.

n

~ ~ ~

~ R ? ~ ; ~ l ; S ~ T H YE R

~ ~

t : ' ;

b l N ' u " B f f i

t ~ { I O N

l ~

~

~

\ \

T 1 Q SGillTT S

, ~ * 1 Q ~

~

S S

~ .

lLW J,k

l [ f i

.

~ \ I T m Y

c

' / " " j

~

LEITER

, s f - ~ ~ ~ c l f . :

Providing o ' i W . ~ f W

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THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon November, 1996

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1996 issue 9 - history study: fruits of independence part 2 - counsel of chalcedon

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