Our American Legacy, Part I

The purpose of my series "Our American Legacy" is because so many today in our culture have become ignorant of who we are as a nation and where we came from. Why are these things important to know and to remember?

The apostle Paul wrote, “For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid” (1 Corinthians 3:11,GNB).
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In his recent book, David Aikman, a former Time magazine Beijing bureau chief, begins the first chapter by quoting a scholar from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), one of China’s premier academic research institutes. This particular scholar was the evening guest lecturer speaking to a group of American tourists as they were concluding a long day of touring Beijing.

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the preeminence of the West all over the world,” he said. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid” (1 Corinthians 3:11,GNB).

If you would ask most people what do you know about America’s Christian heritage? Or if you would ask them to explain to you where our Christian heritage came from? Some might point you to George Washington and how he was a praying man. Some might mention that our founding fathers, those that signed the Constitution took time to pray and how some were known as deeply religious men. But really this is not the beginning of Christian heritage at all. These men were products of a Christian legacy that began 150 years before what they did made them famous.

America’s Christian heritage actually began in Europe in the middle part of the 1500’s which was comprised of five main Christian movements.

1) THE CATHOLIC FAITH – was the majority faith (Italy, Spain,
Austria, and Portugal)
2) LUTHERANISM – Germany, Norway, Sweden, Prussia
3) CALVINISM (REFORMED) – Switzerland, France, Poland, Scotland
4) ANGLICANISM – England (English Protestanism)
5) ANABAPTISTISM – Netherlands, Bavaria, Bohemia (opponents of infant baptism)

WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS THEN?
1) Doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” – scripture alone is the highest or supreme
authority.
2) Doctrine of “Sola Fide” – faith alone (without cooperating good works)
3) Doctrine of “Sola Gratia” – we are saved by “grace alone.”
4) Priesthood of all Believers – protestants said all Christians are called serve as priests to one another (pray and minister to one another)

...continued tomorrow. Go out and make it a great day in Christ today!

- Pastor Randy