The answer is a resounding yes, for innumerable reasons, but I will focus on the most important one - that the United States of America is the only country, ever, (including ancient and modern-day Israel), to be founded on an idea, not an ethnicity. This idea is best summarized in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence where our Founders boldly proclaimed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’[2]
This single sentence is what makes America exceptional. It is what makes her beautiful. It is what makes her praiseworthy. But how did the idea become a reality? How did the rag-tag Continental Army led by General George Washington that was made up of colonial farmers and part-time patriot ‘minutemen’ defeat the British Empire which boasted the world’s mightiest military? Put simply, but powerfully - America was born by Providence.
What is ‘Providence’? Theologian R.C. Sproul teaches us:
The word providence is made up of a prefix and a root. The root comes from the Latin videre, from which we get the English word video. Julius Caesar famously said, “Veni, vidi, vici“—”I came, I saw, I conquered.” The vidi in that statement, “I saw,” comes from videre, which means “to see.” That is why we call television “video.” The Latin word provideo, from which we get our word providence, means “to see beforehand, a prior seeing, a foresight.” However, theologians make a distinction between the foreknowledge of God and the providence of God. Even though the word providence means the same thing etymologically as the word foreknowledge, the concept covers significantly more ground than the idea of foreknowledge. In fact, the closest thing to this Latin word in our language is the word provision.”[3]
Our founding fathers and mothers were very learned, highly literate leaders who understood what providence meant and accurately used it to describe the active interventions that the God of the Bible made on behalf of our emerging nation. They knew then, as we do now with 20-20 historical hindsight, that the God of Providence was providing a way for the United States of America to be born. The Lord was literally our provision.
A revisionist history agitator might contend that this is mere hyperbole or a misapplication of ‘Providence,’ a seemingly forgotten word. Their line of argument is disproven by two rebuttals.
First, it is disproven by the many descriptive phrases from the Declaration of Independence – to include ‘Creator,’ ‘Supreme Judge of the World,’ ‘Nature’s God,’ and ‘Divine Providence’[4] – which prove that clear cognition of and credit to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was firmly embedded in the 18th century’s social consciousness. Our entire founding generation, including even skeptical men like Ben Franklin, all understood that without God, there would be no United States of America.
Second, it is disproven by the countless writings of both the founders and historians.
In his private journals, George Washington gave credit to the ‘finger of Providence’ when it came to both the formation and successful ratification of the Constitution in 1787.[5]
John Adams said,
"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."[6]
Emma Willard, the historian and leading educator of women, stated,
"In observing the United States, there is much to convince us, that an Almighty, Overruling Providence, designed from the first to place here a great, united people."[7]
John Dickinson, one of the 39 signers of the Constitution, left nothing to doubt by writing, ‘Our cause…is nothing less, than to maintain the Liberty with which heav’n itself hath made us free.’[8] Thomas Jefferson’s pastor, the Reverend Charles Clay, summarized all of the above by stating, ‘the sacred cause of liberty [is] the cause of God.’[9]
“There are hundreds of thousands of quotes like the ones above in our National Archives and Libraries. The evidence is irrefutable that Divine Providence was present in the rise of our democratic republic that has now lasted for almost 250 years. This truth begs the question – ‘If our nation was birthed by God, then what does He require of us to keep His beloved country alive?’
Because you are reading ... this, then you are already doing the most important thing – praying! But we must also vote for politicians who will legislate from a Biblical worldview (anyone can say they are a Christian – check their voting record and/or stances on issues), find ways to be ‘salt and light’ in our local communities, and be completely resolved to have our families stand strong for Christ’s truth in every sphere of culture from our house to the White House.
Let’s recommit today to play our part in fulfilling God’s providential plans for America by repeating what the 56 signatories to the Declaration of Independence bravely proclaimed on the 4th of July 1776 - ‘with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.’[10]
The word providence is made up of a prefix and a root. The root comes from the Latin videre, from which we get the English word video. Julius Caesar famously said, “Veni, vidi, vici“—”I came, I saw, I conquered.” The vidi in that statement, “I saw,” comes from videre, which means “to see.” That is why we call television “video.” The Latin word provideo, from which we get our word providence, means “to see beforehand, a prior seeing, a foresight.” However, theologians make a distinction between the foreknowledge of God and the providence of God. Even though the word providence means the same thing etymologically as the word foreknowledge, the concept covers significantly more ground than the idea of foreknowledge. In fact, the closest thing to this Latin word in our language is the word provision.”[3]
Our founding fathers and mothers were very learned, highly literate leaders who understood what providence meant and accurately used it to describe the active interventions that the God of the Bible made on behalf of our emerging nation. They knew then, as we do now with 20-20 historical hindsight, that the God of Providence was providing a way for the United States of America to be born. The Lord was literally our provision.
A revisionist history agitator might contend that this is mere hyperbole or a misapplication of ‘Providence,’ a seemingly forgotten word. Their line of argument is disproven by two rebuttals.
First, it is disproven by the many descriptive phrases from the Declaration of Independence – to include ‘Creator,’ ‘Supreme Judge of the World,’ ‘Nature’s God,’ and ‘Divine Providence’[4] – which prove that clear cognition of and credit to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was firmly embedded in the 18th century’s social consciousness. Our entire founding generation, including even skeptical men like Ben Franklin, all understood that without God, there would be no United States of America.
Second, it is disproven by the countless writings of both the founders and historians.
In his private journals, George Washington gave credit to the ‘finger of Providence’ when it came to both the formation and successful ratification of the Constitution in 1787.[5]
John Adams said,
"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."[6]
Emma Willard, the historian and leading educator of women, stated,
"In observing the United States, there is much to convince us, that an Almighty, Overruling Providence, designed from the first to place here a great, united people."[7]
John Dickinson, one of the 39 signers of the Constitution, left nothing to doubt by writing, ‘Our cause…is nothing less, than to maintain the Liberty with which heav’n itself hath made us free.’[8] Thomas Jefferson’s pastor, the Reverend Charles Clay, summarized all of the above by stating, ‘the sacred cause of liberty [is] the cause of God.’[9]
“There are hundreds of thousands of quotes like the ones above in our National Archives and Libraries. The evidence is irrefutable that Divine Providence was present in the rise of our democratic republic that has now lasted for almost 250 years. This truth begs the question – ‘If our nation was birthed by God, then what does He require of us to keep His beloved country alive?’
Because you are reading ... this, then you are already doing the most important thing – praying! But we must also vote for politicians who will legislate from a Biblical worldview (anyone can say they are a Christian – check their voting record and/or stances on issues), find ways to be ‘salt and light’ in our local communities, and be completely resolved to have our families stand strong for Christ’s truth in every sphere of culture from our house to the White House.
Let’s recommit today to play our part in fulfilling God’s providential plans for America by repeating what the 56 signatories to the Declaration of Independence bravely proclaimed on the 4th of July 1776 - ‘with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.’[10]
Amen!!
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage.” Psalm 33:12 (ESV)
~ Major William Ostan, USA (Ret.)
