America is a Civil Religion of Deism, not a Christian nation

[lifepsyop]

I've always heard that America was a Christian nation, or at least highly sympathetic to Christianity, but any amount of study soon shows that idea to be false. America is Deist through and through, and its philosophical founding has always been deeply hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Deism can be difficult to define specifically but essentially it is a belief in an unknown god that is behind all of nature. This 'nature's God' is made reference to in the founding Declaration that "laws of nature and of nature's God" entitle the United States to independence." It is the watchmaker god that birthed the universe long ago and then stepped away, and men only discover this god through a process of 'enlightenment'.

Deism rejects divine revelation, i.e. the God of the Bible. Deists believe that God can only be found through the power of human reason and the careful examination of the natural world. While deists may respect and cherish holy books as a source of morality and wisdom, they fully reject the idea that we actually learn of the identity of the true God through these scriptures. (Contrast this with the fully revealed deity of Christ, commander of the winds and sea)

The Founders of the American nation were committed Deists. Whenever they talked about God, they meant the god of nature, the god of Deism. They were obsessed with the philosophies of the 'Enlightenment' and its basis in pagan Greek and Roman traditions.

(The official cosmology taught in American schools, even 'Christian' universities and Theological academies, is based on a form of neo-Epicurean Deism, the watchmaker god, the god of 'intelligent design', which initiated the physical universe with the physical conditions set to facilitate the eventual evolution of all life. These are ancient Greek beliefs, not the Biblical worldview.)

The American Revolution itself was a violent rebellion against the King of England. The organizers of the revolution claimed that they were "obeying" God by rebelling against "tyrants", which was totally opposed to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, that we are to obey our rulers and honor the king. Once again, the American revolutionaries were paying homage to the god of Deism, not the God of Israel.

America was founded on the ideals of human rights and human freedom. A belief that humans are inherently good and deserving of happiness. A belief that the best form of government was one based on the collective will of people. Instead of people living humbly and obeying their rulers, they were to embrace a spirit of Liberty, which encouraged them to pursue earthly happiness and worldly prosperity. (Contrast this humanist ideology with the Bible which teaches us that man is fallen and under God's judgment and wrath)

Our entire political system is designed around the assumption that people arrive at the truth of what is right and wrong, good and evil, only through human institutions. A humanistic "Supreme Court" dictates morality.

It is this idol of Liberty or Libertas, actual metal statues, that dot the skyline of our cities. It is the embodiment of the spirit of humanism. Humanity exalting itself by the light of its own reasoning. Humanity freed from old superstitions and religions by its own enlightenment.

America today, and the modern world generally speaking, practices a kind of Civil Religion, sometimes called 'Moral Therapeutic Deism'... which has an appearance of Godliness but is completely detached from the Gospel of Jesus.

Moralistic therapeutic deism - Wikipedia

...The authors' study found that many young people believe in several moral statutes not exclusive to any of the major world religions. It is not a new religion or theology as such, but identified as a set of commonly held spiritual beliefs. It is this combination of beliefs that they label moralistic therapeutic deism:

A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

Good people go to heaven when they die.


Basically, America is a pagan nation. All of its social, traditional, religious, academic, and philosophical structures are repackaged versions of what was happening in ancient Greek and Roman societies. This is reflected in all of the nation's monuments, artwork, and temple-like architecture as well. ("The Apotheosis of George Washington" is an interesting one)

Reading the apostles' letters... Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians, Peter, Jude... they are constantly warning about false teaching, human traditions, vain philosophies of the world, how Christians are called to spiritually separate themselves from it, completely. Have no love of the world, seek only the Kingdom of God. The apostles specifically warn that false teachers will come in the last days, leading the church away from the truth with these traditions of the world.

I look around at churches in America today and I see people bowing to both the cross of Christ and also bowing to the goddess Liberty. There is this deep, deep love of America, it's founding and philosophical traditions, that is spiritual to its core, and that spirit of Deism that is bound to America since its founding has permeated the churches and church life.

I see responses about how all of this doesn't really matter... but apparently it mattered a huge deal to the Apostles. Almost all of what they wrote about was how we need to stay free of all of this and cling only to the Cross. This present earth is only our wilderness, and we are waiting to inherit the true kingdom when Jesus returns.

 

[iluvatar5150]

The Founders of the American nation were committed Deists. Whenever they talked about God, they meant the god of nature, the god of Deism. They were obsessed with the philosophies of the 'Enlightenment' and its basis in pagan Greek and Roman traditions.

(The official cosmology taught in American schools, even 'Christian' universities and Theological academies, is based on a form of neo-Epicurean Deism, the watchmaker god, the god of 'intelligent design', which initiated the physical universe with the physical conditions set to facilitate the eventual evolution of all life. These are ancient Greek beliefs, not the Biblical worldview.)

The founders ran the gamut of religious beliefs, but otherwise yes, they were mostly talking about some Enlightenment era naturalism, not the God of the Bible.

 

[rturner76]

The new way was to acknowledge a higher power but not name it (In God We Trust). Freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Probably some of the most liberating concepts in our independence,

So it seems to me we are a "God-fearing" country with a secular government. God fearing being used as a general description like COmmunist nations are atheist but not everyone actually is the same as a God-fearing nation).

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

America went to much for individual liberty while the Gospel calls for agapic solidarity.

 

[d taylor]

-
​

Just take a look at the many pagan statues in and around Washington.

 

[lifepsyop]

-​

Just take a look at the many pagan statues in and around Washington.

(137) The Ancient Pagan Symbols of America - YouTube

Video Description:
In this brief video excerpt from Jerry Robinson's recent teaching on the rise of American democracy, you will be introduced to several pagan symbols and ideas that appear in Washington D.C. From the statue of the ancient pagan Roman goddess, Libertas, that sits in (and atop) the U.S. Capitol building to the Apotheosis of Washington, as seen when looking up at the Capitol dome from inside the Rotunda, Washington is replete with pagan -- not Christian -- symbols.

The Apotheosis of Washington depicts George Washington comfortably seated in the midst of heavenly glory in an exalted manner surrounded by figures from classical mythology "Apotheosis" is the glorification of a human to a divine level, like god. It's interesting that Christian Americans -- many of whom are opposed to religious imagery and icons -- are largely okay with this type of blasphemous imagery.

To understand the birth of American democracy, it is important to understand the ideals and philosophies that led to its creation. These ideas were rooted, not in the Old or New Testaments, but instead in the writings of ancient pagan Greek and Roman philosophers, thinkers, writers, statesmen, etc.

 

[Halbhh]

There has never been a truly Christian nation...

But your post especially reminds of Thomas Jefferson, who actually made a new version of the bible by cutting out all of the miracles from the text, called the "Jefferson Bible".

The ex-president bent over the book, using a razor and scissors to carefully cut out small squares of text. Soon, the book’s words would live in their own book, hand bound in red leather and ready to be read in private moments of contemplation. Each cut had a purpose, and each word was carefully considered. As he worked, Thomas Jefferson pasted his selections—each in a variety of ancient and modern languages that reflected his vast learning—into the book in neat columns.

Thomas Jefferson was known as an inventor and tinkerer. But this time he was tinkering with something held sacred by hundreds of millions of people: the Bible.

Using his clippings, the aging third president created a New Testament of his own—one that most Christians would hardly recognize. This Bible was focused only on Jesus, but none of his mystical works. It didn’t include major scenes like the resurrection or ascension to heaven, or miracles like turning water into wine or walking on water. Instead, Jefferson’s Bible focused on Jesus as a man of morals, a teacher whose truths were expressed without the help of miracles or the supernatural powers of God.
... (continues)
Why Thomas Jefferson Rewrote the Bible Without Jesus' Miracles and Resurrection

But, we should be aware as believers who fully believe in Christ and all His words and everything He did, that He said this world will never be truly free of evil until after He returns -- that the world would near the end descend even deeper into evils, persecuting real believers.

It will come, and no nation will save any of us.

There's no competition to Christ. He alone is the Savior. No nation can save us, but God will save us.

I've always heard that America was a Christian nation, or at least highly sympathetic to Christianity, but any amount of study soon shows that idea to be false. America is Deist through and through, and its philosophical founding has always been deeply hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Deism can be difficult to define specifically but essentially it is a belief in an unknown god that is behind all of nature. This 'nature's God' is made reference to in the founding Declaration that "laws of nature and of nature's God" entitle the United States to independence." It is the watchmaker god that birthed the universe long ago and then stepped away, and men only discover this god through a process of 'enlightenment'.

Deism rejects divine revelation, i.e. the God of the Bible. Deists believe that God can only be found through the power of human reason and the careful examination of the natural world. While deists may respect and cherish holy books as a source of morality and wisdom, they fully reject the idea that we actually learn of the identity of the true God through these scriptures. (Contrast this with the fully revealed deity of Christ, commander of the winds and sea)

The Founders of the American nation were committed Deists. Whenever they talked about God, they meant the god of nature, the god of Deism. They were obsessed with the philosophies of the 'Enlightenment' and its basis in pagan Greek and Roman traditions.

(The official cosmology taught in American schools, even 'Christian' universities and Theological academies, is based on a form of neo-Epicurean Deism, the watchmaker god, the god of 'intelligent design', which initiated the physical universe with the physical conditions set to facilitate the eventual evolution of all life. These are ancient Greek beliefs, not the Biblical worldview.)

The American Revolution itself was a violent rebellion against the King of England. The organizers of the revolution claimed that they were "obeying" God by rebelling against "tyrants", which was totally opposed to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, that we are to obey our rulers and honor the king. Once again, the American revolutionaries were paying homage to the god of Deism, not the God of Israel.

America was founded on the ideals of human rights and human freedom. A belief that humans are inherently good and deserving of happiness. A belief that the best form of government was one based on the collective will of people. Instead of people living humbly and obeying their rulers, they were to embrace a spirit of Liberty, which encouraged them to pursue earthly happiness and worldly prosperity. (Contrast this humanist ideology with the Bible which teaches us that man is fallen and under God's judgment and wrath)

Our entire political system is designed around the assumption that people arrive at the truth of what is right and wrong, good and evil, only through human institutions. A humanistic "Supreme Court" dictates morality.

It is this idol of Liberty or Libertas, actual metal statues, that dot the skyline of our cities. It is the embodiment of the spirit of humanism. Humanity exalting itself by the light of its own reasoning. Humanity freed from old superstitions and religions by its own enlightenment.

America today, and the modern world generally speaking, practices a kind of Civil Religion, sometimes called 'Moral Therapeutic Deism'... which has an appearance of Godliness but is completely detached from the Gospel of Jesus.

Moralistic therapeutic deism - Wikipedia

...The authors' study found that many young people believe in several moral statutes not exclusive to any of the major world religions. It is not a new religion or theology as such, but identified as a set of commonly held spiritual beliefs. It is this combination of beliefs that they label moralistic therapeutic deism:

A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

Good people go to heaven when they die.


Basically, America is a pagan nation. All of its social, traditional, religious, academic, and philosophical structures are repackaged versions of what was happening in ancient Greek and Roman societies. This is reflected in all of the nation's monuments, artwork, and temple-like architecture as well. ("The Apotheosis of George Washington" is an interesting one)

Reading the apostles' letters... Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians, Peter, Jude... they are constantly warning about false teaching, human traditions, vain philosophies of the world, how Christians are called to spiritually separate themselves from it, completely. Have no love of the world, seek only the Kingdom of God. The apostles specifically warn that false teachers will come in the last days, leading the church away from the truth with these traditions of the world.

I look around at churches in America today and I see people bowing to both the cross of Christ and also bowing to the goddess Liberty. There is this deep, deep love of America, it's founding and philosophical traditions, that is spiritual to its core, and that spirit of Deism that is bound to America since its founding has permeated the churches and church life.

I see responses about how all of this doesn't really matter... but apparently it mattered a huge deal to the Apostles. Almost all of what they wrote about was how we need to stay free of all of this and cling only to the Cross. This present earth is only our wilderness, and we are waiting to inherit the true kingdom when Jesus returns.

 

[d taylor]

-
​

And christians love to trust/believe their government, especially in areas of science concerning space and going to the moon etc...

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

-
​

And christians love to trust/believe their government, especially in areas of science concerning space and going to the moon etc...

Government has trusted and funded science. Science came first. But then sometimes an administration might not like the science because it conflicts with their political agenda.

 

[iluvatar5150]

-
​

And christians love to trust/believe their government, especially in areas of science concerning space and going to the moon etc...

lol wut?

Some of us Christians don't have to take that stuff on blind faith. Some of us work on, or know people who work on, those projects. My brother has been launching stuff into space for close to 2 decades. I've seen his desk in mission control; I've seen him on NASA TV. I've visited the facility where they test ISS modules. Most of that stuff is accessible to the public if they want to pay for the expensive tour. A few of our church members have worked on the James Webb project, the HQ of which is around the corner from my house. Another church member just left to start a PhD in space medicine.

Just because "government scientists" seem like a far off, shadowy group to you, doesn't mean they're far off to everybody.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

lol wut?

Some of us Christians don't have to take that stuff on blind faith. Some of us work on, or know people who work on, those projects. My brother has been launching stuff into space for close to 2 decades. I've seen his desk in mission control; I've seen him on NASA TV. I've visited the facility where they test ISS modules. Most of that stuff is accessible to the public if they want to pay for the expensive tour. A few of our church members have worked on the James Webb project, the HQ of which is around the corner from my house. Another church member just left to start a PhD in space medicine.

Just because "government scientists" seem like a far off, shadowy group to you, doesn't mean they're far off to everybody.

Amazing stuff.
Gallery

 

[lifepsyop]

There has never been a truly Christian nation...

But your post especially reminds of Thomas Jefferson, who actually made a new version of the bible by cutting out all of the miracles from the text, called the "Jefferson Bible".

The ex-president bent over the book, using a razor and scissors to carefully cut out small squares of text. Soon, the book’s words would live in their own book, hand bound in red leather and ready to be read in private moments of contemplation. Each cut had a purpose, and each word was carefully considered. As he worked, Thomas Jefferson pasted his selections—each in a variety of ancient and modern languages that reflected his vast learning—into the book in neat columns.

Thomas Jefferson was known as an inventor and tinkerer. But this time he was tinkering with something held sacred by hundreds of millions of people: the Bible.

Using his clippings, the aging third president created a New Testament of his own—one that most Christians would hardly recognize. This Bible was focused only on Jesus, but none of his mystical works. It didn’t include major scenes like the resurrection or ascension to heaven, or miracles like turning water into wine or walking on water. Instead, Jefferson’s Bible focused on Jesus as a man of morals, a teacher whose truths were expressed without the help of miracles or the supernatural powers of God.
... (continues)
Why Thomas Jefferson Rewrote the Bible Without Jesus' Miracles and Resurrection

And America has a temple-styled monument and statue of Jefferson. He promoted an antichrist rejection of Jesus as Lord and our nation venerates him as a saint of our deistic civil religion of Liberty.

But, we should be aware as believers who fully believe in Christ and all His words and everything He did, that He said this world will never be truly free of evil until after He returns -- that the world would near the end descend even deeper into evils, persecuting real believers.

It will come, and no nation will save any of us.

There's no competition to Christ. He alone is the Savior. No nation can save us, but God will save us.

It's fearful how much churches are mixed up in this... then again rebellion in the name of humanistic liberty is baked into the cake of modern republics, and so the church has basically hitched its wagon to the modern age and its continuing revolutionary spirit... sitting in the year 2022 it's remarkable to think where Liberty has taken us, and yet the church is still in love with the general branding of the American Founding Fathers and Declaration of Independence, violent rebellion, the pronounced Deism and veneration to nature's god... all of it. It is all sacred and venerated to much of the church.

"The Apotheosis of George Washington" (in the US Capitol Building)

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

and yet...

Christian Nationalism Explained: An Interview with Rutgers Professor Joseph Williams

 

[lifepsyop]

and yet...

Christian Nationalism Explained: An Interview with Rutgers Professor Joseph Williams

an unfortunate result of generations of disinformation that churches in America have been all too comfortable to go along with.

The United States was founded and formed around a deistic civil religion, more closely resembling Greco-Roman paganism, and it has always been hostile to Biblical Christianity which fully opposes the Enlightenment philosophy of the revolutionaries.

The church heard "one nation under god", and always just assumed it was the God of Israel, and didn't seem too eager to find out that they were wrong, and that the nation was actually formed based on a specific rejection of the God of Israel, or any divinity revealed by scripture. The "god" we are under was always 'nature's god' of Deism... that mysterious force behind all things, that can only be perceived through man's enlightened reasoning...

 

[RDKirk]

And America has a temple-styled monument and statue of Jefferson. He promoted an antichrist rejection of Jesus as Lord and our nation venerates him as a saint of our deistic civil religion of Liberty.

It's fearful how much churches are mixed up in this... then again rebellion in the name of humanistic liberty is baked into the cake of modern republics, and so the church has basically hitched its wagon to the modern age and its continuing revolutionary spirit... sitting in the year 2022 it's remarkable to think where Liberty has taken us, and yet the church is still in love with the general branding of the American Founding Fathers and Declaration of Independence, violent rebellion, the pronounced Deism and veneration to nature's god... all of it. It is all sacred and venerated to much of the church.

"The Apotheosis of George Washington" (in the US Capitol Building)

If the apostle Paul were given a US dollar bill to study, he would necessarily conclude that this country was a far-flung province of Rome. He'd see in the US dollar all the language and symbology that distinguished the Roman empire.

 

[lifepsyop]

If the apostle Paul were given a US dollar bill to study, he would necessarily conclude that this country was a far-flung province of Rome. He'd see in the US dollar all the language and symbology that distinguished the Roman empire.

Likewise, if Paul conversed with modern day philosophers and scientists, he would immediately recognize them as being of the same tradition as the Greek Epicureans and Stoics he dialogued with in Acts 17. What we view as the modern scientific age of post-Enlightenment, Paul would see as the natural ignorant state of the pagan/gentile nations who still blindly worship that "unknown god"...

I do imagine Paul would be horrified to see how comfortable and the churches had become in these modern pagan nations, unifying with its religious traditions and philosophies.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I'm currently reading,
"The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization,"
by Vishal Mangalwadi.

Vishal Mangalwadi, was born and grew up in India, and eventually became a Christian. He shows how the Bible Shaped the achievements in Western Europe and the United States. He begins
the book by observing his visit to Europe and seeing how nice life was there compared to India.
Was it colonialism that kept India behind, or the culture. Through the evidence he presents,
it was the Hindu/Muslim religious beliefs that were the cause. If anything, British colonialism,
improved life for the people of India than harmed them.

Vishal says that it is the belief in the Bible based principles of Judeo/Christianity, which made the improvements for our culture, not only in the West, but in India, and other colonialized nations as well.

I never realized this until Vishal Mangalwadi, showed how the first universities,
and hospitals were built by Christians in India, not Hindus nor Muslins. Caring for
the poor and downtrodden, comes from Christianity, not the caste system in Hinduism.
These institutions improved the standard of living for people in parts of India and were created by Bible believing Christian missionaries. In fact, he points out how Hinduisms caste system, were and are devastating for the poor and untouchables. In fact, untouchability is on the rebound in India today. He provides a story on how he and his wife, working with the poor in Northern India, witnessed a couple starve their baby daughter to death, because they believed it was her karma
to be left to starve. They provided for their two older sons, but not their baby girl.

Here in the United States, the principles the nation was founded on, came from
the Judeo/Christian beliefs which grew out of Europe and move to the colonies of America.

Although the West had its problems, they were nothing compared to what was in the country prior to colonization. Even Gandhi, if not for the sensibilities of Christians, he could never have gotten independence from England, through his use of non-violence. His major task was to get rid of untouchability. This is probably what got him killed.

What do people mean by America is a deist nation? What was the principles of deism that the country was founded on, and where did those principles come from? The answer of course is
that the principles were brought to America from the Bible believing Christians.

 

[RDKirk]

What do people mean by America is a deist nation? What was the principles of deism that the country was founded on, and where did those principles come from? The answer of course is
that the principles were brought to America from the Bible believing Christians.

It's certainly ignorant not to realize and disingenuous not to acknowledge that the European Age of Enlightenment era stood on the shoulders of Christ. But it's also necessary to acknowledge that those people, having at first seen far by standing on those shoulders, then chose to leap off, stand on their own short legs, and run away in a different direction.

America was founded by people who were running off in a different direction on their own short legs.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It's certainly ignorant not to realize and disingenuous not to acknowledge that the European Age of Enlightenment era stood on the shoulders of Christ. But it's also necessary to acknowledge that those people, having at first seen far by standing on those shoulders, then chose to leap off, stand on their own short legs, and run away in a different direction.

America was founded by people who were running off in a different direction on their own short legs.

Not exactly sure what you're saying, but the Enlightenment was focused on reason over dogma, which religious institutions sometimes forced on people. However, Judeo/Christian beliefs of themselves remained strong. The concept of individual freedom came from the Bible, especially after the translations of the Bible were made into the vernacular of German and English, first, then others.

John Adams was a Christian, as well as others who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were deists, but still followed the principles founded in
the Biblical believing Christians of Europe.

The laws of the Ten Commandments, like thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill,
were very much part of government in the West.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

The Founders of the American nation were committed Deists.

The founders of the American nation came over on the Mayflower, and they were certainly not deists.

Basically, America is a pagan nation. All of its social, traditional, religious, academic, and philosophical structures are repackaged versions of what was happening in ancient Greek and Roman societies. This is reflected in all of the nation's monuments, artwork, and temple-like architecture as well.

Ancient Greek and Roman societies that ultimately became Christian.