As Americans began rebuilding their lives in the wake of World War II, a movement to tear out the Christian foundations of America had begun; only this time, the attack was not from the axis powers, but academic professors. While families were still sorting through living without their soldier who didn’t come home, and workers were transitioning factories back to building Buicks instead of bombers, post-war scholars had already begun their long march to uproot America’s Christian founding and cast aspersion on the faith of its Founders. Wielding critical theory — Marxism’s cold calculus of class, postmodernism’s disdain for eternal truths, deconstruction’s tearing at meaning’s fabric — they recast the formation of the U.S. as a tale of greed and power. By 1980, it was not novel when Howard Zinn’s history painted the Founders as elitists and their faith a hollow mask.
Within the past twenty years, this movement has only accelerated. The ferocity of critical theory — with all its legions — to ensure all history is viewed exclusively through the lens of the oppressed versus oppressor has all but loosed the Christian moorings that steadied the nation’s course. These ideas, and others, cut at the very roots of our shared story, claiming the Founders’ vision was mere hypocrisy. So much so that it is perfectly common to question whether the founding of this country was, in fact, an objective good. There was hypocrisy at the start, so burn the whole thing down, as the argument goes. Even within the Church, there is a whole program tied to so-called progressive Christianity that wants nothing to do with such simple-minded, dare I say—backward—notions like patriotism, flag-waving, love of country, or Fourth of July celebrations. But as we approach another Independence Day, allow me to offer an alternative view to counter this cultural zeitgeist.
To celebrate the Fourth as a Christian is to sing of God’s goodness, to see His providence in this nation’s birth, flawed—yes, but radiant with hope. It is perfectly right to understand and acknowledge the sin of those men who risked their lives in forming this Republic. But it is also perfectly right to understand that the Founders sowed a vision rooted deep in Christian soil. They built America not as a fleeting figure with wobbly legs, but as a sturdy Christian nation, its framework hewn from the timber of biblical truth.
The Declaration of Independence, bold in its defiance, proclaims that “all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” This was no idle phrase but a confession of faith in a God who orders the world. John Adams wrote, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.” George Washington, in his Farewell Address, declared religion and morality “indispensable supports” for political prosperity, warning that no nation thrives without virtue rooted in faith. The Constitution assumes a people shaped by Christian ethics, as its First Amendment guards religious liberty—a liberty born of the belief that, as Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Early laws reflected this, as did schools like Harvard, founded to train ministers in God’s word. The Founders, imperfect and sinful in bearing slavery’s stain, even still, leaned on Christian ideals to craft a nation where freedom and responsibility could flourish under divine providence.
The gospel bids us rejoice in what is true and noble, as Philippians 4:8 urges: “whatever is right, whatever is pure… think about such things.” The Founders’ countless appeals to their Creator, divine providence, and Christian ideals bind the cords of this nation together with divine purpose. Though they faltered, their aim was a land where Psalm 119:45 could breathe: “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” To honor this day is to give thanks for a nation shaped by faith, not to deny its sins but to trust, as Nehemiah 9:36 confesses, that God has given us this land to, “eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof” despite our failings. The gospel itself harmonizes with gratitude for a Christian nation, its founding ideals a shadow of God’s kingdom, calling us to live rightly under His gaze. Even while our culture has largely turned its back on divine truth and our Creator, Christians rightly stand eager to rejoice in this land of God’s blessings and gift of freedoms.
This Fourth, my first since retiring after twenty-eight years in uniform, I stand outside the ranks, my oath to the Constitution — a vow heavy with gratitude for this nation’s greatness — still alive in me. Each Independence Day, I took pride in this democratic experiment, marveling at the first fathers’ courage to defy a king and build a nation on Christ’s principles. I did so, and will again, with Christ as Lord — Lord over the universe and Lord over this country — knowing His providence guided their hands. The risk they took and the faith they held, binds me still to this land’s deep roots, and I celebrate, giving thanks for a nation born under God’s watchful eye.
