Answer DB Allison<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When I first glanced at Mark David Hall\u2019s book, Did America Have a Christian Founding, I\u2019ll admit I was a bit apprehensive. I am a strong believer that history must be analyzed from the perspective of the time, and am easily frustrated when I see people try to ascribe our beliefs and customs today onto past cultures. If you look hard enough, you can find evidence to support almost any claim you want to make, but you run the risk of completely alienating evidence from its context. History must be understood from the point of view of those who lived it, not cherry picked by those who are living now and trying to justify their specific worldview. <\/p>\n
It was humbling, I\u2019ll admit, to read the opening of Hall\u2019s book, and realize that he shared the same feelings that I did in regards to history. \u201cA book like this may appear at first glance to be an exercise in Christian triumphalism,\u201d1 he admits, but \u201cit is important to have a proper appreciation of the nation\u2019s Christian colonial roots.\u201d2 Hall is not arguing that the founders were Orthodox, sincere, or even good Christians; he is arguing \u201cthat the founders were influenced<\/em> by Christian ideals.\u201d3 The argument has been made that many founders were not religious, or did not include religion in the framing of the country. This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. As Hall clearly demonstrates in his book, the fact that freedom<\/em> of religion was so important to the Founders supports their deep respect for religion and the morality derived from it. <\/p>\n Despite my initial hesitation, I would agree with Hall\u2019s assertion that the American founding is based on Christian ideas. I think stating that colonial America was a \u201cChristian Nation\u201d is incorrect, because the federal government never established a national religion. Rather, colonial America was a nation of (mostly) Christians. The reality is that most citizens of the early United States had a high rate of Biblical Literacy. \u201cVirtually all of [the founders] referred to [The Bible] regularly in their public and private speeches and writings. This reality is often overlooked because the founders assumed their audiences were familiar with God\u2019s Word and so did not include textual citations.\u201d4 Benjamin Franklin commented on this disconnect when he mentioned the lack of Biblical literacy he encountered on his travels to Europe.5 The knowledge of Christian practices was pervasive throughout early American society, and it would be foolish to assume it did not have an influence on the Founding Fathers. <\/p>\n The claims Hall makes throughout his books are all backed by evidence found in the letters, speeches, and writings of the founding fathers themselves, with very little input from secondary sources. This allows the reader to trust his conclusions, because they are so readily evidenced by his source material. After spending so many pages dedicated to proving that Christian ideals were ubiquitous in the Founding Era, perhaps the most interesting claim Hall makes is in regards to other religions. \u201cThe constitutional order the founders created,\u201d he writes, \u201chas benefited citizens of every faith\u2013as well as those who do not hold any faith at all.\u201d6 Once again, Hall asserts that even though the country was designed by<\/em> those at least influenced by Christian ideals, it was not a nation created for<\/em> Christians. It was a nation based on liberty that supported individual rights, and freedom of religion was paramount. <\/p>\n In his last chapter, Hall pivots the focus from what the Founding Fathers believed to what that means for us in our society today. While the religious differences in the colonial era were slight, today our society is much more diverse.7 Hall reminds us that \u201clike America\u2019s founders, we need to work together to figure out how the rights of all Americans can best be protected.\u201d8 We are allowed to bring our religious views into the public square, but by that logic we need to allow others to speak about their beliefs as well. Our nation derives its strength from the people, and from the healthy discussion different points of view generates\u2013at least it should. The Founding Fathers were not afraid of conflict; the numerous debates they had regarding the Declaration of Independence, the Articles, the Constitution, and the delegates of the Ratification Conventions all showcase the value of allowing multiple people to voice their opinions. <\/p>\n As Americans, we must honor the Constitution and promote and protect religious freedom for every citizen, regardless of if we agree with their faith or lack thereof. Hall takes this one step further, however, suggesting \u201cChristians must insist that the religious liberty of non-Christian citizens be respected.\u201d9 Christians are called to love everyone, and be respectful of differences. This does not mean one has to agree with and encourage something they are religiously opposed to, but rather that they show others human decency. I believe Hall accomplished what his stated purpose was. Through a plethora of primary evidence and clear analysis, he was able to demonstrate that Christian ideals and Biblical principles had a significant influence on the founding fathers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Answer DB Allison When I first glanced at Mark David Hall\u2019s book, Did America Have a Christian Founding, I\u2019ll admit I was a bit apprehensive. I am a strong believer that history must be analyzed from the perspective of the time, and am easily frustrated when I see people try to ascribe our beliefs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[188],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/7448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/7448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=7448"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=7448"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=7448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}