BIBLE NEWS: Book Examines the Bible's Influence on American Revolution

Our nation's history is deeply steeped in Biblical principles, but it still comes as a surprise to many modern scholars just how Biblically-literate the founders were.  In a new book, one author examines how the Founding Fathers - many of whom were not weekly churchgoers - studied the Bible and used it's principles in waging war during the Revolution.

“Part of this project involved combing through hundreds of sources throughout the American Revolutionary War era and before to determine exactly what the most popular biblical texts were,” Byrd said. “For example, the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt was huge for the American colonists. Many viewed King George as the ‘British pharaoh.’ In addition, some of the early patriots compared themselves to David in the first book of Samuel, where David successfully battled the Philistine giant named Goliath.”Also, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was one of the most important books written during that period. “Common Sense convinced so many people that they needed to cast off this king and declare their independence,” Byrd said. “It’s full of biblical references, yet Paine was neither a Christian nor a biblical scholar. Yet he knew that in order to convince the largest population possible, he must be knowledgeable about scripture.”

What about a scroll?

Book Recommendation: "Make Love, Make War"

Since I have bought WAY too many gadgets and books from Amazon.Com - and reviewed them - I am now part of the Amazon Vine program where they send you unreleased books and ask you to review them. One of the recent finds is Brian Doerksen's Make Love, Make War: NOW Is the Time to Worship. Those of you who pay attention to the copyright notices at the bottom of the song slides at church may recognize that Brian Doerksen has written many of the most popular worship choruses in the Church today. This little book is a combination devotional and tip book for new songwriters that walks through the biblical and life story behind many of his hits. Definitely worth a read, if you are interested in meditating on the greatness of God, or want to understand the mindset of the modern worship movement. It comes to stores in August.