644 lines
25 KiB
HTML
644 lines
25 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="content-type">
|
|
<title>Calvin and Founding of America</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 192, 146);" alink="#000099" link="#000099" vlink="#990099">
|
|
<h1 class="Heading1">Did Calvin Found America? What Were The Religious Scruples of the Founding Fathers?</h1>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Introduction</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Those who believe that there is no free-will, such as Calvinists, have
|
|
never promoted that there are God-given liberties that no human
|
|
government can infringe. There are, however, many Calvinists who
|
|
fantasize that they should be given the lion's share credit for the
|
|
American Revolution. These claims are ridiculous. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
In 1776, true Calvinists could not support any kind of revolt from the
|
|
King of England's rule in the colonies. Calvin insisted that a
|
|
Christian owed unjust rulers a duty of obedience unless the ruler
|
|
sought to prevent the true worship of God. (Calvin's Institutes
|
|
4.20.30-1.)<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930317" class="footnote">
|
|
1</a>
|
|
Because in the colonies no such prohibition was present, true Calvinists could not support any kind of revolt. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
John Zubly (1724-1781) was a Calvinist preacher and delegate from
|
|
Georgia in the Continental Congress. Based upon Calvinist doctrine, he
|
|
resisted any kind of independence from Britain.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930334" class="footnote">
|
|
2</a>
|
|
This call was heeded by the majority of Calvinists. Despite the
|
|
presence in the Colonies of significant numbers in the Calvinist
|
|
denominations (e.g., Puritan, Presbyterian and Congregational), they
|
|
are virtually invisible among the signers of the Declaration of
|
|
Independence in 1776, the Constitution of 1789, and the First Congress.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930374" class="footnote">
|
|
3</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Calvinist Fantasies About A Calvinist-Driven American Revolution</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Despite the statistical evidence, Loraine Boettner in his <span style="font-style: italic;">Calvinism in History: Calvinism in America</span><a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930352" class="footnote">
|
|
4</a>
|
|
wishes to give the lion's share of responsibility for the American
|
|
Revolution to Calvinists. He, in fact, says it was a "Presbyterian"
|
|
revolution. However, this is a clearly exaggerated analysis. Most of the `proof' is based on
|
|
loose-statements by British enemies of the young colonies. They liked
|
|
to blame Calvinists precisely because of the sour-reputation of
|
|
Calvinists and their reputation as dissenters in England to the Crown.
|
|
By asserting the Revolutionists were Calvinists, the British
|
|
authorities could besmirch our Revolution with the bad taint of
|
|
Calvinism and make it also appear it was a sedition extension by
|
|
domestic opponents of the Crown in England. Boettern then relies upon
|
|
historians who then rely upon these weak second-hand claims to weave a
|
|
story that is wholly unrealistic. Yet, based on such sketchy evidence,
|
|
Boettner makes the following extraordinarily baseless claim: "History
|
|
is eloquent in declaring that American democracy was born of
|
|
Christianity and that that Christianity was Calvinism." Then, Boettner
|
|
quotes the most preposterous claim of all by Ranke, a scholar, who
|
|
said: "John Calvin was the virtual founder of America."<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930427" class="footnote">
|
|
5</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Reality: Calvinism Inspires Tyrannical Behavior</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
One of the most important lessons of the Servetus Affair, and the
|
|
aftermath at Geneva, is about the origin of tyrannical behavior. Those
|
|
who believe in there being no free will, whether Calvinists or
|
|
materialists, will have no reason to resist making themselves tyrants.
|
|
Because Calvinism denies free will exists in man at all, true
|
|
Calvinists can never imagine by tyrannical behavior that they are
|
|
infringing on any God-given inalienable right to freedom of conscience
|
|
or thought. This is precisely because without a belief in a free-will,
|
|
then how could Calvinists believe a right to free-expression exists? A
|
|
right to freedom of religion exists? (This explains Calvin's behavior,
|
|
and it explains Fisher Ames' doctrine in 1804 as well, as discussed
|
|
below.)</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
As a result, it should not surprise us to find that except for a very
|
|
small number, none of the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. were known
|
|
Calvinists.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
A website eager to find Calvinists among the Founding Fathers concedes there is scant evidence of their presence:</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
Despite the prevalence of Calvinism among Colonials, most Founding
|
|
Fathers were apparently not identified primarily by the label
|
|
`Calvinist.' Among all of the people who were signers of the
|
|
Declaration of Independence, signers of the U.S. Constitution, and
|
|
members of the very first U.S. Congress and Senate, there is only one
|
|
man whose religious affiliation is identified as `Calvinist:' Fisher
|
|
Ames.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=929974" class="footnote">
|
|
6</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
We have a lot to say about Fisher Ames in a short while.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930298" class="footnote">
|
|
7</a>
|
|
We will prove that as the lone open Calvinist in the early Congress,
|
|
Ames made it clear that he did not share in any of the American values
|
|
that shaped the United States Constitution. In 1804, Ames advocated
|
|
repealing almost every fundamental liberty of the young nation. He felt
|
|
it was an experiment that had run its course. The republic was
|
|
teetering upon collapse unless measures identical to those employed in
|
|
the Geneva Republic in Calvin's day were quickly put in place.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Statistical Studies of Founders' Faith</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
If one examines those who signed the original Constitution, and judge among those whose religious affiliations are known,<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=929993" class="footnote">
|
|
8</a>
|
|
only five were Presbyterian (Calvinist) and one was Congregationalist
|
|
(Calvinist in that era). There was only one Lutheran. The remaining 80%
|
|
all belonged to denominations that believed in free will, and hence the
|
|
sanctity of freedom of conscience. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
If we move past the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the first elected
|
|
congress, then the numbers improve to 48. This means 29% of the first
|
|
congress belonged to Calvinist denominations.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930030" class="footnote">
|
|
9</a>
|
|
Yet, this leaves a significant 71% belonging to Christian denominations which believed in free-will.</p>
|
|
|
|
<table>
|
|
|
|
<caption>
|
|
<h6 class="TableTitle">
|
|
Founding Fathers of Denominations Believing in Free Will</h6>
|
|
|
|
</caption>
|
|
<tbody>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<th rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellHeading">
|
|
Denomination</p>
|
|
|
|
</th>
|
|
|
|
<th rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellHeading">
|
|
Number</p>
|
|
|
|
</th>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Episcopalian</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
17</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Quaker</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
3</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Anglican</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
2</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Methodist</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
2</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Roman Catholic</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
1</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
<tr>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
Total</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
|
|
<p class="CellBody">
|
|
25/31 = 80%</p>
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
|
|
</tr>
|
|
|
|
</tbody>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
This is not intended to deprecate the many Presbyterians/Calvinists who
|
|
participated in valiant efforts as soldiers and even commanders in our
|
|
Revolutionary War. But this evidence proves the spiritual leadership
|
|
for the revolution came from Christians of a different stripe. Rather,
|
|
what is more fair to say is that the Calvinists in America who desired
|
|
to free the U.S. from Britain were numerous although a minority within
|
|
the Calvinist churches. They joined the American Revolution because
|
|
their motives aligned at significant points with other Christians. For
|
|
example, Calvinists had as much interest as anyone in preventing the
|
|
Anglican church becoming the official church in the colonies where
|
|
religious liberty reigned. Yet, Calvinists, unlike other Christians,
|
|
were dreaming of establishing localized Genevas where religion was
|
|
forced, mandatory, and rigorously enforced by the judiciary, e.g., as
|
|
witnessed at Salem under Winthrop beginning in 1629, etc.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930039" class="footnote">
|
|
10</a>
|
|
Thus, the Calvinists of America who supported the revolution did not
|
|
aspire to a freedom of religion for all citizens. They did not share
|
|
the spirit which animated the overwhelming majority of Christians who
|
|
were leading the American Revolution. These other Christians wanted
|
|
everyone to enjoy a freedom of religion even from an `enlightened' new
|
|
Geneva in America. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Consequently, the predominating Christian spirit in the Revolution came
|
|
from Christians who believed in human free will. They wanted freedom
|
|
from Calvinist church-and-state marriages as much as from any other
|
|
kind of marriage of church-and-state. </p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Proof From Madison Contrasted to Ames</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
The difference between Calvinist Christians and the type of Christian
|
|
leading the American Revolution is demonstrable by comparing the views
|
|
of the lone self-avowed Calvinist in the early Congress -- Fisher Ames
|
|
-- to the views of James Madison. As you may know, Madison was the
|
|
actual writer/drafter of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. He is
|
|
sometimes called the Father of the Constitution.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
First, we will start with Madison. He
|
|
became President in 1809. He was of the stripe of man who regarded the
|
|
Christian religion as having been debased when it ever had been
|
|
entwined with the civil arm to persecute heretics. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
In 1784, Madison wrote in his Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious
|
|
Assessments his rationale for rejecting laws intended to establish the
|
|
Christian religion over other religions. In this speech, he declaimed
|
|
against the church-state bond that persecuted heretics in ages past
|
|
which resulted in "spiritual tyranny":</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of
|
|
Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in
|
|
all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility
|
|
in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
"What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on
|
|
society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual
|
|
tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority;<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930061" class="footnote">
|
|
11</a>
|
|
on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of
|
|
political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the
|
|
liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty
|
|
may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just
|
|
government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not."<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930064" class="footnote">
|
|
12</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
"Such a government will he best supported by protecting every citizen in
|
|
the enjoyment of his religion with the same equal hand which protects
|
|
his person and his property, -- by neither invading the equal rights of
|
|
any sect, nor suffering any sect to invade those of another." </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
****</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Quote">
|
|
"Torrents of blood have spilled in the Old World in consequence of vain
|
|
attempts of the secular arm to extinguish religious discord by
|
|
prescribing all differences in religious opinion. Time has at length
|
|
revealed the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous
|
|
policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage the
|
|
disease.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930070" class="footnote">"
|
|
13</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
The original purpose of the Founding Fathers in the First Amendment is thus clear. Among other purposes, it was to guard
|
|
the state from ever engaging in a Calvinist-scheme of controlling the
|
|
religion of man by persecuting heresy using the civil arm of the state.
|
|
It is a lesson lost on some prominent Christian voices today like Pat
|
|
Robertson.<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930075" class="footnote">
|
|
14</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Instead, Madison wanted a religious liberty which was at total odds
|
|
with Calvinist doctrine. It was this spirit at total odds with
|
|
Calvinist doctrine which was the fundamental driving force of the
|
|
Revolution. The American Revolution was thus not principally made by
|
|
those who shared Calvin's values, as Boettner claimed. It was made
|
|
primarily by the followers of Christ who saw the crimes of Calvin and
|
|
the church over centuries, and never wanted those kind of injustices to
|
|
ever be repeated again on the face of this earth. They wanted religious
|
|
liberty for everyone.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
<h2 class="Heading2">
|
|
Ames' Calvinist Spirit At Odds With Madison's Constitution</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Fisher Ames, the lone self-professed Calvinist in Congress, in 1804 was
|
|
the first member of Congress who sought to undo the civil liberties
|
|
against religious establishment. He grounded this on Calvinist
|
|
doctrine. This demonstrates two spirits within Christian denominations
|
|
were at odds with each other. There was the Christian spirit of men
|
|
like Madison who wanted religious toleration of all. And then there was
|
|
the Calvinist spirit of men like Ames who lost patience very quickly
|
|
with the experiment, and suggested its repeal.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
This is set forth with subtlelty in Ames' 1804 The Dangers of American Liberty.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Ames began this piece, like Calvin would, by smearing the entire nation
|
|
he lived in as populated by libertines. Ames argued that the country
|
|
was suffering from a "licentiousness fatal to Liberty." As a result of
|
|
such decline, Ames claimed there has arisen an "hostility to our
|
|
religious institutions."<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930130" class="footnote">
|
|
15</a>
|
|
Then Ames says the cure is to reverse the course whereby our "religious
|
|
institutions" have been "abandoned by our laws." But religion, he said,
|
|
is the support of all governments. What should the government do now
|
|
that it can see that religion institutions are teetering? Ames said
|
|
with the government taking no proactive steps, the only basis to
|
|
religious institutions is mere habit. Ames says the only reason why
|
|
religious institutions have not yet collapsed was due to the
|
|
"tenasciousness of ...even a degenerate people" to their "habits."<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930134" class="footnote">
|
|
16</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Hence, in point one, Ames is arguing in a round-a-bout manner for the
|
|
state-establishment of religion, just as at Geneva. It is the only way
|
|
the laws no longer abandon the cause of religion, and the force of law
|
|
restore the languishing, almost dead state of religion (as Ames saw it).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Second, Ames will give us a further step to stop this decline. Speaking
|
|
just like Calvin, Ames says we must prefer in the appointment of judges
|
|
men who "profess the best moral and religious principles...." (Id. at
|
|
356.) In other words, legal acumen is not vital. Instead, because if
|
|
point one is established (i.e., state support for religious
|
|
institutions), now the judge himself must play a role in enforcing
|
|
morals and religious values. Hence, Ames says we need judges so trained
|
|
in religious and morals to end the "licentiousness" all about us. Thus,
|
|
Ames argued, just like Calvin would, that everyone around them is a
|
|
Libertines, and the only solution is to empower judges to enforce
|
|
morals and religion. To this end, the church would act as watchdogs of
|
|
religious and moral principles to feed fresh charges to the judges on a
|
|
regular basis. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Third, the paralell to Calvin's doctrine continues as Ames takes aim at
|
|
the press writers. Ames clearly expresses that such men deserve to die
|
|
for the words they utter. Rather than the Press serving as a tool to
|
|
fight tyrrany, Ames says the "press has been the base and venal
|
|
instrument of the very men whom it ought to gibbet [i.e., hang] to
|
|
universal abhorrhence." (Id., at 357.) Ames means the press writers
|
|
should be hanged for the things they say. Ames would bring back
|
|
Calvin's persecution of Servetus-like writers as an everyday occurence
|
|
had he the chance.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Fourth and finally, Ames would adopt Calvin's view on democracy. Calvin
|
|
said history proves that aristocracy and democracy is the best form of
|
|
government. (Institutes 4.8.)<a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.html.htm#pgfId=930471" class="footnote">
|
|
17</a>
|
|
What would Ames say about that?</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Ames said the right to vote improperly belongs now to immoral corrupt
|
|
hands who cannot fathom the information necessary to make any informed
|
|
decision. "It is in vain, it is indeed childish to say, that an
|
|
enlightened people will understand their own affairs." (Works of Fisher
|
|
Ames, supra, at 364.) "How are these millions of students to have
|
|
access to the means of information?" (Id., at 364.) </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Hence, Ames leaves us to imply only one solution: the right to vote
|
|
should be restricted so only an informed elite can vote and elect from
|
|
their own elite members, i.e., an aristocracy. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="BodyAfterHead">
|
|
Thus, Ames, as the lone open Calvinist in the early Congress, reminds
|
|
us what Calvinists truly believed back then. They shared no agenda in
|
|
common with the majority on issues of free-will, freedom of speech,
|
|
freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right of universal
|
|
suffrage. Ames shows us the heart of the Calvinists would have been,
|
|
had they been the leaders of the Revolution, to restore the tyrannical
|
|
regime at Geneva under Calvin. In fact, it can be truly said that no
|
|
principles of liberty in any government was more antithetical to
|
|
Calvinist political values than the original United States of America
|
|
and its Constitution.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<div class="footnotes">
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
1.</span> This flows logically from Calvin's belief that God is sovereign over evil, and directs it. (See <a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20Fathers.#13355" class="XRef">
|
|
</a>
|
|
et seq.) Thus, to seek to overthrow an unjust ruler is to contravene the sovereign will of God.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
2.</span> "John Joachim Zubly," Wikipedia.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
3.</span> See <a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.#19283" class="XRef">
|
|
See Statistical Studies of Founders' Faith</a>
|
|
et seq.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
4.</span> http://graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/full.asp?id=70%7C%7C868 (accesed 6/8/08)</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
5.</span> Quoted without citation in Egbert Watson Smith, The Creed of Presbyterians (Baker & Taylor Co., 1901) at 119.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
6.</span> "Famous Calvinists," http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_calvin.html (accessed 6/5/08).</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
7.</span> See <a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20FathersHTML.#18542" class="XRef">
|
|
See Ames' Calvinist Spirit At Odds With Madison's Constitution</a>
|
|
.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
8.</span> http://www.bizforum.org/FFR.htm (accessed 6/8/08).</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
9.</span> http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_calvin.html (accessed 6/8/08).</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
10.</span> "John Calvin's system was the archetype of Winthrop's. In youth,
|
|
Winthrop studied carefully the works of John Calvin." John A. Taylor,
|
|
British Monarchy, English Church Establishment, and Civil Liberty
|
|
(Greenwood Publishing, 1993) at 34.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
11.</span> It seems most likely that Madison here is specifically referring to Calvin's role in the Servetus Affair.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
12.</span> William Cabell Rives, History of the Life and Times of James Madison
|
|
(1859) at 637, top para. and bottom para. However, Calvinists persist
|
|
in seeing in Madison "echoes of Calvin." But the idea of
|
|
checks-and-balances because of human proclivity to evil is based on
|
|
history, and not a religious doctrine of human depravity. </p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
13.</span> William Cabell Rives, History of the Life and Times of James Madison (1859) at 638.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
14.</span> While I strongly admire the spiritual work of Pat Robertson, I find it
|
|
troubling he says the "separation of church and state" is a "lie of the
|
|
left," and Christians must "work together .... [to win] back control of
|
|
the institutions that have been taken from them over the past 70
|
|
years." (Pat Roberston, Pat Robertson Perspective (Fall 1991).) Since
|
|
70 years ago, there was no official religion in the USA, I therefore
|
|
doubt Pat means what this quote sounds like. But Pat is wrong
|
|
factually. Our founders did understand the First Amendment to create a
|
|
wall of separation. How that was originally meant and how it is often
|
|
defined has diverged, and therein lies the problem. See <a href="file:///C:/Servetus/Appendix%20on%20Founding%20Fathers.#18701" class="XRef">
|
|
</a>
|
|
and accompanying text.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
15.</span> Ames, "Fisher Ames 1758-1808: The Dangers of American Liberty," in
|
|
Charles S. Hyneman, American Political Writing During the Founding Era:
|
|
1760-1805 (1983) vol. 2; Works of Fisher Ames (Little Brown, 1854) at
|
|
345, 356.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
Ames is an excellent writer, filled with brilliant wit. When Fisher
|
|
Ames talks about the dangers of democracy, as distinct from a
|
|
republican form of government, he is excellent. Yet, he saw the USA as
|
|
overcome by "democratic licentiousness" (Id., at 348), and that some of
|
|
the experiment had to be reversed.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
16.</span> Works of Fisher Ames (Little Brown, 1854) at 356.</p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p class="Footnote">
|
|
<span class="footnoteNumber">
|
|
17.</span> However, Calvin said that Scripture supports that obedience should only
|
|
be given "one man" to "whose will all others are subjected."
|
|
(Institutes 4.7.) </p>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|