Our children are being indoctrinated in values that battle against the values taught in the founding years of our nation. The government is usurping God’s authority and eliminating liberties and individual “inalienable” rights. Tyranny rises.
Read more: Education in the Early Days of AmericaIn our nation’s beginnings, the Founding Fathers came to these shores, escaping a tyrannical government and seeking freedom for individual rights and religion. They understood a nation would not last without recognizing and living out God’s moral laws. John Adams, the second U.S. President, said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence recognized God as Creator: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Laying the foundation for “a moral and religious people” and ensuring freedoms would last, American education was grounded in the Bible, the “most important book in the world.” Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence and first Supreme Court Justice said: “The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects….It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.”
Our nation rose to greatness, unrivaled in its success based on the principles of God’s universal bedrock benefits. Realizing the necessity of training children, The New-England Primer, much like a first-grade textbook, maintained three teaching elements, the “Rhyming Alphabet,” “Shorter Catechism,” and the Alphabet of Lessons for Youth.”
Samuel Adams in Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin in Pennsylvania, and Noah Webster in Connecticut were all trained in this Primer. They had it reprinted to ensure it would continue teaching all their and their children’s children. Students learned to read from this primary textbook into the 1930s.
The Primer taught the alphabet, phonics, and the assembling of letters, and syllables. Prominent in the first-grade text for two and a half centuries was the “The Rhyming Alphabet”: A—In Adam’s Fall, we sinned all, B—Heaven to find, the Bible mind, C—Christ crucified, for sinners died.
This alphabet continued for several centuries. A portion from the 1727 Primer and a 1905 copy of the same page shows the first letter of the Rhyming Alphabet, A—In Adam’s Fall, we sinned all” (The Founder’s Bible, p. 2034).
“The Alphabet of Lessons for Youth,” applied a Bible verse or story to each letter. Here are a few examples from The Founder’s Bible, p. 945:
A-A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. [Proverbs 10:1]
B-Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. [Proverbs 15:16]
C-Come unto Christ all ye that labor and are heavy laden and He will give you rest. [Matthew 11:28]
At the back of the Primer, the beginner’s reading book were questions like these:
What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
How does Christ execute the office of a king?
Many other routine “first-grade” questions were included, such as this one: “What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?”
Today, how many adults would like to answer that one? Isn’t it amazing that the youngest of elementary pupils studied and learned the answers to these questions?
For nearly four centuries, Americans believed that the fear of the Lord was the beginning of academic knowledge (The Founder’s Bible, p 925). With over 200 historical documents and extensive documentation, Barton relates through these articles, crucial verses from Scripture that anchor the Founder’s intention of guarding liberties and rights. An example: Proverbs 1:7,”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
President John Adams
The first federal law passed by Congress addressed education, declaring: “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
George Washington, speaking to three youths from the Delaware Indian tribe who came to be trained in American schools, said, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ” — that is “the fear of the Lord” (page 926).
Scripture clearly regards each person as equal before God with rights bestowed in finding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Scripture affirms every person was made “fearfully and wonderfully in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13-14) and is the recipient of God’s gracious laws of blessing and favor. God chose us “before the foundation of the world” to live in God’s freely-given rights and freedoms (Ephesians 1:4-5).
The Founder’s Bible, The Origin of the Dream of Freedom, by premier historian and constitutional expert David Barton, informs readers of our forgotten history and spiritual heritage. Barton’s extensive research and historical documents establish how America was founded on God’s truths that grant freedoms and individual “inalienable rights” to every person.
We are at a crossroads. Cultural thoughts contrary to God’s laws have taken root and are combative to our society at a fast pace. We desperately need to get back to teaching our children and grandchildren the foundation of our past freedoms as a nation “under God.” Are we too far gone, or is it possible to return to God’s truths that laid the groundwork for this greatest nation on earth?
God as Creator gives life and liberty. Every civilization in the past whose government ignored God’s laws, ended up fragmented, in chaos, and destroyed. Our fundamental rights and freedoms are intrinsically woven into moral virtues that have become battered and broken. The sanctity of marriage, protection of the unborn, the sexualization of our children, gender confusion, and sex trafficking concede we are shattered.
John Adams, our Second President, was correct, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
I attempt to share with you what I am learning through David Barton’s Founder’s Bible. His vast research and documented history will help us become knowledgeable citizens who stand for individual freedoms and liberties given by our Creator.
The Founder’s Bible is available at https://thefoundersbible.com/. A reprint of the 1777 Primer, is available at www.wallbuilders.com)
