Since the ratification of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States has made an about-turn as it pertains to the values reflected in the writings of Thomas Jefferson. Anyone examining the Declaration of Independence is immediately impacted by the new nation’s utter dependence upon God, His providence, and its Judeo-Christian worldview.

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”

The Founding Fathers’ decision to disassociate the colonies from Britain was based upon their understanding of “the laws of nature and nature’s God.” (The phrase, “the laws of nature and nature’s God” is derived from Scripture. Psalm 19 and Romans 1:19-23, show how God uses nature to teach humanity of His ways). It was underpinned by the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

Hence, the view of Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers was that all civil authority is derivative in nature, and as God’s representatives, they can either lose or gain the right to lead the people based on conformity to His laws. (In other words, civil leaders gain their legitimacy to lead-based on how adequately they represent God’s laws in their principles and policies.) 

One of the last things mentioned in this Declaration were these words, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”  This is evidence that Thomas Jefferson and the other signers were not deistic. (Many claim that Jefferson, and most of the Founding Fathers were not Christian but believed in deism. Deism is a religion that believed God created the world, but after creation, God was not personally involved with the affairs of men. God was like a person who creates a watch, winds it up, and leaves it alone. They did not believe God answered prayer, intervened in human affairs, did miracles, or died on a cross and rose from the dead.)

Of course, any practicing deist would never appeal to God as the Supreme Judge of the world since it violates their most basic tenet that God as Creator has nothing to do with the world He made. Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are not competing documents. The Declaration of Independence is the foundation for the values and birth of the nation and serves as the cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution. Hence, there was no need for the Founding Fathers to mention God in this latter document because God and His laws are already assumed as its foundation. All of that was to say that the United States built its view of life, liberty, and justice upon biblical values. They unambiguously declared that the burgeoning nation was dependent upon God for its existence, sustenance and prosperity.

Our New Declaration of independence From God

Over the past century, our nation gradually strayed from our biblical roots and dependence upon God as its anchor and sustainer. It seems that the greatest value many have in this nation is the value of autonomy (independence).

While past generations (during World War II and beyond) celebrated the biblical virtues of self-sacrifice and service for humanity, in my estimation, the present generation values, above all, the right to self-expression and self-will. This is irrespective of how these values negatively impact society at large and on the stability it provides for future generations. How far have we fallen as a nation from the immortal words of President Kennedy, who said in the 1960s, “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country”?

One decade after President Kennedy, we began to change the laws to reflect the values of human independence from God. Such moves away from God are reflected in the following:  the “right to choose. This is the so-called right of a mother to terminate the life of her unborn in the womb. It includes partial-birth abortion, (the infant is partially born and then terminated; “no-fault divorce.”  This made divorce so much easier and contributed to the rapid decline of two-parent households; alternate forms of family and marriage; gender identification (outside the bounds of one’s natural birth); and soon to come, trans-humanism. This will be seen in instances in which a robot, equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), will be considered a humanoid. Many will contend that this is no different from a person born human because their AI gives them a form of self-consciousness and self-awareness. This, of course, will give way to humans marrying robots. Robots, along with their children, will be counted as part of their family. This will undoubtedly further confuse the next generation, which will future erode the biblical concept of biological families.

America is now at the crossroads for survival. We are already a divided nation along political and ideological lines, replete with violent rhetoric and uncivil discord. Its survival will not ultimately depend upon which political party triumphs, but upon which god wins: either the god of self-expression and autonomy, or a return to a dependence upon the biblical God who claims the earth for Himself and who laughs at all rulers, nations, and people who attempt to rebel against Him (Psalm 2, Psalm 24).

May the United States be not just known as a nation which officially adopted a Declaration of Independence, but as a nation whose dependence is upon the Creator God.

Purchase Joseph Mattera’s latest book, “The Jesus Principles”, available now on Amazon here.

Isaiah 61 and the Pre-Modern Era? 

Western History

The history of western society has been divided into three eras in the past 2000 years: the pre-modern era, the modern era, and the postmodern era.

The Pre-Modern Era

This era was characterized by a belief that the unseen supernatural world governs men’s affairs as well as creation. The embrace of demons, angels, gods, and the supernatural God of the Bible, who personally ruled over everything, was the norm. Some call this “cosmic personalism.” 

The Modern Era

Around the 17th century, the modern era saw people like Isaac Newton who proved that natural laws governed the universe. He was able to show a distinction between divine revelation (the Bible) and natural revelation (science). Also, the writings of Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century were a synthesis between Aristotelian thought and theology. Aquinas taught that humankind can understand some truth, with their mind, apart from divine revelation.

This Newtonian revolution in science eventuated in society moving away from theism to Deism. Deists believed that after God created the universe, He was no longer involved in the affairs of humankind. He was like a watchmaker who wound up a watch and allowed it to function without intervention. 

By the 19th century, Deism eventually led to naturalistic atheism. Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of the Species and the Most Favored Races, gave scientists a construct to use as a basis for postulating a materialistic, non-supernatural universe.

This era lifted human reason as the final arbiter of truth. 

The Postmodern Era

With the failure of the modern era to bring about a societal utopia, especially after the two world wars in the 20th century, people started doubting whether there was such a thing as absolute truth. They instead embraced moral relativism and subjectivism. This eventually led to the deconstruction of all moral absolutes, including language and literature.

Consequently, postmodernism is a general and wide-ranging term applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, and literary criticism. Postmodernism is essentially a reaction to the assumed certainty of objective reality and empirical science.

The movement was launched in the 1970s when a group of poststructuralists in France developed a radical critique of modern philosophy. Its origins were traced to Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger. These became known as postmodern theorists, notably Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jean Baudrillard. 

Postmodern thought postulates that reality is shaped by social, historical, and cultural contexts rather than by Universal axioms and religious truth. 

An Isaiah 61 moment for the Church 

Postmodernism was a reaction against stale modernity.  It only believed those things that could be proven empirically in a scientific lab. We know that we cannot prove what love is in a laboratory, even though it is the most powerful motivating force in the world. This is why there has been a revival of spirituality, witchcraft, and a longing for the gods of Greek and Roman mythology. We see these things being espoused by popular Marvel comic superheroes.

Although I disagree with the tenets of postmodernity, I also believe it has opened up a door for people to dialogue regarding the supernatural view of scripture.

Furthermore, until the last few decades, it is likely that most theologians in the West since the enlightenment were anti-supernaturalists and had a very narrow Bible and Worldview. Their theology was captivated by enlightenment philosophy whose presuppositions were based on human reason, (even if they weren’t aware of it). 

Of course, this is unlike the worldview of those living in Africa, Latin America, and Asia who always had a supernatural worldview. As soon as people in these regions were brought to faith, they brought their supernatural worldview into the Church. This impacted their theology. As a result, Christianity has spread rapidly in these continents in the 20th century.

However, I believe with the advent of Pentecostalism in the early 20th century, we started going back to a pre-modern world that espoused a thin line between heaven and earth, between the spiritual and natural world. Many evangelical cessationists today are now questioning this dogma because of the rapid growth of Pentecostal Christianity in the global south. 

As it relates to the Church, I believe the Holy Spirit is now focusing on Isaiah 61:1-4. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon the Church to preach the gospel with power resulting in supernatural healing of broken hearts, deliverance, and physical manifestations of healing. (Please note how Jesus applied this passage to himself in Luke 4:14-19.) 

This passage also shows that the supernatural restorative power of God is a prerequisite before the restoration of communities (Isaiah 61:1-4). We have learned in history that only transformed people can transform culture.

Thus, true renewal in cities will never come by mere activism and politics. We need the power of the Holy Spirit for qualitative, systemic change. A thorough examination of Acts also shows us that the Church was able to bless communities and spread the word of the Lord with a demonstration of supernatural power that accompanied the preaching of the gospel (which also proved that Jesus Christ rose from the dead). If Jesus and the apostles demonstrated the reality of the gospel with healings, signs, wonders, and supernatural works, how much more does the contemporary Church need this same power to proclaim the good news!

I hope that there will be a significant evangelistic assignment on the Church once again. We saw a similar demonstration during “the voice of healing” movement in the 1950s. We witnessed various Evangelists and Apostolic leaders rise with extraordinary faith to bring healing, deliverance, and salvation to masses of people.

As I end this, please take a moment and read Isaiah 61:1-4 and Acts 1:8-9. I urge you to stand in faith together, that the anointing of the evangelist will come upon the corporate Church like never before. 

Come Lord and revive your Church once again! Amen! 

Purchase Joseph Mattera’s latest book, “The Jesus Principles”, available now on Amazon here.