Secret of America's greatness found in her faith

July 4, 1776. With a few changes, the document fashioned by Thomas Jefferson laying out the case for a declaration of independence from English governance was ratified.

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

The document begins simply enough, but its roots extend way back to May 13, 1607, thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. On this date, three small English ships approached an island along the coast of what would later become the state of Virginia.

The 116' Susan Constant, commanded by Capt. Christopher Newport, carried 71 persons. The 88' Godspeed, commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, carried 52 persons. And the 66' Discovery, commanded by Capt. John Ratcliff, carried 21 persons. George Percy, one of the party on board, wrote that during the day they maneuvered the ships so close to shore that they were “moored to the trees in six fathom (of) water”. The next day, “we landed all our men, which were set to work about the fortification”. Thus began the first permanent English settlement in America. They named it Jamestown.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the recreated settlement and ships. I was struck by how small the vessels were that carried these hardy souls to the New World. I have often wondered what would dispose people to risk so much. The answer many of us have been taught over the years is that it was nothing less than a predatory adventure of a greedy English company which encouraged the settlers to come for gold, to get away from bad lives at home, and to subjugate the Indian tribes. The Charter of the Virginia Company of London which sponsored the settlement says otherwise. It promised that settlers could own land in the colony. It promised that they could create a council to help make their own laws. It said that the settlers would keep the same rights as any other Englishmen. And it said that they had a specific mission:

“By the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of the Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God ...”

King James of England gave the document his stamp of approval.

The dedication prayer of Pastor Robert Hunt, kneeling by a wooden cross placed in the sand on their arrival, said simply,
“May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this land, along with England, be Evangelist to the world.”

One hundred and sixty eight years later a new king of England had forgotten the promises made by King James in that Jamestown Charter. But the colonists had not. As they broke from their mother country, their Declaration of Independence not only spelled out the tyranny of the king, but also declared their faith in a God who gave them the foundation for law and liberty.

George Washington, in his farewell address, summed up the thinking of our Founding Fathers,

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports ... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion ... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”

In 1831 French jurist Alexander de Tocqueville visited the United States to assess for himself our form of government. Among the many things he wrote were these words for every generation to ponder:

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

The Rev. Mike Hesse is senior pastor of Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin.