Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Sunday, October 18, 2009 11:17:35 PM
These articles are for those who accept the historical record that America is exceptional compared to all other nations that have existed on the earth. We define exceptional as that which flows from a free people that desire self determination with the liberty to lawfully pursue their own prosperity under a state constrained by constitutional law that governs through the consent of its citizens. We will address this question:
Is American exceptionalism due to her people or the world view of her people?
To say that her exceptionalism lies in her people is to deny the universal truth that all men share the same nature and that nature is defined in the Scriptures as fallen, meaning that men are as dead to spiritual truth…
‘The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ [1 Corinthians 2:14].
Our definition of exceptional has more to say about the way men think and the way they govern themselves and less about their identity. But how do men change the way they think, and how do they come to a place where government is instituted for the people rather than people being subjects of the state? Our premise is that these things come from their world view; that is, their view of reality and how they are to live in that reality. The unique world view that made America great explains why exceptionalism is not a common thing.
Some say that Enlightenment thinking is the root of what makes America a great nation. This world view led to the French Revolution and justice by the guillotine and then to authoritarianism. It sowed the seeds of autonomous man which has come to fruition in the world view of modern man.
The natural man is opposed to the Law of God nor does he desire to please God. Because he is dead in sin he is blinded to truth and unable to see the glory of God revealed in Christ. But since he is a spiritual being made in the image of God, he is a natural born idolater through his own devices of false religion and vain philosophy. He will not bow before the self-revealed God who has instructed man in true religion because he is at enmity with his creator [Romans 8:7].
The Protestant Reformation led to the rediscovery of the truth that even though man is fallen he is also noble and has infinite worth. As an image bearer, God has given man a basis for truth in the Bible and has sent Messiah as the eternal truth incarnate.
Reformation thinking led to the American Revolution and the establishment of constitutionalism that puts fallen man and his civil government under the rule of law; a law that is consistent with the natural law, being evidence of God's image revealed in the conscience of man.
But God who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loves man does not leave man in his darkness and sin, but supernaturally intervenes in the affairs of men and nations…
‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…’ [Psalm 110:1-3].
‘And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed’ [Daniel 7:14].
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” [Matthew 28:18-20].
The Almighty raised up Luther to reform the church and Calvin to separate the shared authority of church and state and to establish their proper spheres of authority along with the family as ordained of God. He also raised up Edwards to reform the spiritual descendents of the Reformers. The reformation in New England is called the Great Awakening and its effects also ‘turned the world upside down’ as in the days of the apostles [Acts 17:6], because they shared a common world view...
That all authority is given to Christ for the good of the church and that history is the unfolding of the good Providence of God to insure His promises to the church that His people might be worshippers of God through Christ to the praise of the glory of His grace.
We will start our study with Edwards because he and the Great Awakening are the focal point in understanding American exceptionalism. We will see the origins of this world view before the time of Edwards and the results of his influence. America is exceptional because she is the first nation established on the doctrine of Christ.