The Jewish roots of Christianity

Home » Zola TV » Video Archives » ZLM Video

Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

This program is not available for playing in your browser (see below for alternatives).

Play video (28:30)

Note: You can control playback speed from the gear menu in the player above.

Episode: “The Application of Faith”
Narratives about men and women of faith pervade the Holy Scriptures. The overwhelming majority Founding Fathers believed in the God of Israel in the Bible. Their deeds and writings testify to how they put their faith into action.
Series: “Faith of our Fathers”
The Old Testament provides many examples of individuals whose faithful lives contributed to the building up of national Israel. Their actions inspired a future generation of dedicated people to begin carving out a modern yet Godly nation in the New World. In this series, Dr. Jeffrey Seif focuses on these people of faith. In addition, Christian historian David Barton presents original source documents, chronicling many of America’s Founding Fathers’ beliefs and efforts to anchor this nation to the moorings of belief in the God of Israel.

Caption transcript for Faith of our Fathers: “The Application of Faith” (8/8)

  • 00:00 ♪♪♪
  • 00:03 David Hart: Welcome to "Our Jewish Roots."
  • 00:06 ♪♪♪
  • 00:09 David Hart: The Word of God has given us examples of faith
  • 00:12 that have shaken virtually every aspect of the believer's life
  • 00:15 to date.
  • 00:17 Where would we be without the examples of Noah,
  • 00:20 Abraham and Isaac, David, and ultimately,
  • 00:25 that of Yeshua Jesus.
  • 00:28 Faith is woven into the fabric of America as well.
  • 00:31 From the pilgrims to John Adams, to Patrick Henry
  • 00:35 and George Washington, God's providential hand
  • 00:39 remained highly esteemed and honored above all.
  • 00:44 Faith unshakable.
  • 00:46 Faith unstoppable.
  • 00:48 "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 00:54 David Hart: We are so glad you joined us today.
  • 00:55 I'm David Hart.
  • 00:56 Kirsten Hart: I'm Kirsten Hart.
  • 00:58 Dr. Jeffrey Seif: Jeffrey Seif.
  • 00:59 Glad to be here, but it is so sad to say goodbye.
  • 01:03 We're ending at great series, yes?
  • 01:05 David Hart: It's been a great history lesson,
  • 01:06 this whole series.
  • 01:08 It's been really incredible.
  • 01:09 Jeffrey: We had an expert in David Barton, and certainly,
  • 01:11 the Bible's full of history.
  • 01:13 Kirsten: We had an expert in you,
  • 01:14 bring to light so much history.
  • 01:17 A lot of foundation going on this whole series,
  • 01:21 of our country and also of our faith.
  • 01:23 Jeffrey: You're kind.
  • 01:24 David Hart: Dr. Seif wraps up our whole series
  • 01:25 and how it applies to our lives.
  • 01:27 Let's go there now.
  • 01:29 ♪♪♪
  • 01:39 ♪♪♪
  • 01:44 Jeffrey: Though we refer to the Bible as a book,
  • 01:49 truth be known, the Bible is really a collection of books.
  • 01:54 And some of those books themselves
  • 01:56 are collections of collections.
  • 01:59 For that matter, it might not even be right to call it a book,
  • 02:03 because truth be known, it all came down in scrolls.
  • 02:08 And it's for that reason, we can presume to speak
  • 02:12 of the faith of our fathers.
  • 02:14 I say that mindful of an expression,
  • 02:17 an old one that goes, "The long arm of the pen
  • 02:21 reaches beyond the grave."
  • 02:23 And the reason why we know what previous generations
  • 02:27 thought and felt is because they wrote it down.
  • 02:31 Whether the founding fathers of our civilization,
  • 02:36 whether we're looking at their literature,
  • 02:39 or their declarations, constitutions,
  • 02:41 they give a window into their collective soul and faith.
  • 02:46 And biblical vision is ubiquitous.
  • 02:49 That is to say, it's everywhere.
  • 02:52 Because they wrote, we can look into what our culture's founders
  • 02:57 thought and felt.
  • 02:59 And because biblical writers wrote,
  • 03:02 we can take a look into their world and see something
  • 03:07 about the faith of our fathers, a faith that didn't just inspire
  • 03:12 them, it's a faith that inspired us or you wouldn't be watching
  • 03:17 this program right now.
  • 03:19 And it's not just a faith that inspires us today,
  • 03:23 but biblical faith and vision inspired these who went
  • 03:29 before us in our culture and forged out this world
  • 03:34 that we live in today.
  • 03:37 Yesterday, there was a man who was at the end of his day,
  • 03:41 much as right now we're at the end of our series,
  • 03:43 "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 03:46 If you haven't seen it all, go back and check it out.
  • 03:49 It's worthy of having a look at because we looked
  • 03:52 at principal moments in American history and discussed them,
  • 03:57 we looked at principal moments in biblical history
  • 04:01 and noted how they correlate.
  • 04:03 It's only good for history, it's good for your story
  • 04:07 and my story as well.
  • 04:09 History actually comes from his and story.
  • 04:12 So much of it is God's story at work in the world today.
  • 04:16 Well, this author today was about to run his course.
  • 04:20 His name was Paul.
  • 04:22 And he was given the writing in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy.
  • 04:27 He gives voice to the fact that he's just about ready to go.
  • 04:31 In verse 6, he's poured out; he's looking
  • 04:34 at deaths in verse 7.
  • 04:35 He says, "He fought the fight.
  • 04:37 He finished the race."
  • 04:39 You know, a lot of people get off the course before
  • 04:41 they finish, unfortunately.
  • 04:42 And he says, "Henceforth, there is a crown
  • 04:45 that's laid up for me."
  • 04:47 Well he's thinking of a laurel wreath,
  • 04:49 which is what they gave victors in athletic competitions,
  • 04:52 but there's a crown as well by the principal of faith that is
  • 04:56 the Lord himself, and we looked at it in our previous program.
  • 05:01 This author gives voice to the fact that he knows
  • 05:03 there's a reward.
  • 05:05 Now what's on his mind?
  • 05:07 Something I want to enlighten upon.
  • 05:08 He says in verse 9 to those, he says,
  • 05:11 "Do all you can," he's writing to Timothy,
  • 05:14 "do all you can to come to me quickly."
  • 05:19 He mentions, I said those, he mentions individuals
  • 05:22 that have left him, but this one is faithful to him.
  • 05:26 He says, "Come to me."
  • 05:27 But not only that, in verse 13 specifically, he says,
  • 05:31 "And when you come," he says bring the cloak
  • 05:36 which I left, along with the scrolls."
  • 05:41 And then he says, "Especially the parchments."
  • 05:46 Oh, I think it's interesting when Paul writes this document,
  • 05:50 he doesn't know that he's writing biblical literature.
  • 05:53 He only knows that he's writing Timothy.
  • 05:56 But he's interested in the stories
  • 05:58 that were written down in a bygone era.
  • 06:01 Stories of faith at work in the Word and world
  • 06:05 that we considered in this series.
  • 06:08 Going back to the beginning with Abraham,
  • 06:10 the father of faith, who believed God
  • 06:13 and it was accounted to him as righteousness,
  • 06:16 who took a step into a new world much as our fathers did
  • 06:20 in this culture.
  • 06:22 We looked at Noah.
  • 06:24 The world was about to come to an end,
  • 06:25 but he followed God and the forged out a new existence
  • 06:27 for humanity.
  • 06:29 Much as European civilization, in so any ways crumbled
  • 06:32 philosophically, with revolution and upheaval,
  • 06:36 individuals came to this new world to build a better world.
  • 06:40 Just as Noah got in a boat and came out on a shore,
  • 06:43 so they came here as well.
  • 06:45 We looked at that story and others.
  • 06:48 Goodness, there's barely time to talk about it all.
  • 06:50 I can think of Moses who found himself in a less than desirable
  • 06:56 circumstance and then he is called upon by the Lord,
  • 07:01 and he surrenders to it and brings about a great redemption.
  • 07:05 People who are hard pressed against the turbulence
  • 07:09 of trying times were set free and they made their way
  • 07:12 to a new world with a new constitution, a new economy.
  • 07:16 In so many ways, that story inspired the founders
  • 07:19 of our culture in America, which is one of the reasons
  • 07:22 by the way, that it's interesting.
  • 07:24 When you look at the story of early America, the schools,
  • 07:27 Harvard, there was a premium placed on learning Hebrew.
  • 07:32 They were interested in that.
  • 07:34 Not only were they interested in it philosophically,
  • 07:36 they wanted to get a worldview of the biblical world.
  • 07:40 They were interested in the Hebrew roots
  • 07:42 of the Hebrew Bible.
  • 07:44 And you know, Hebrew was put to the top of the list
  • 07:48 of what to study, interestingly, in this new Christian world.
  • 07:52 It's fascinating as well if you look at the institutions that
  • 07:55 emerged out of this world because of the influence
  • 07:58 of Old Testament literature, we see our own legal system,
  • 08:03 the buildings, you know, the ark, the architecture,
  • 08:07 so much depicts Old Testament stories.
  • 08:10 Well, Old Testament instruction.
  • 08:12 We've considered so much of that in the series.
  • 08:15 You know there are people today that are revisionist.
  • 08:18 They want to reinvent what this culture was all about.
  • 08:21 They want to make it into their own image just like in Bible
  • 08:23 days people wanted to create a new God in their own image.
  • 08:26 And you know, the Word in the Word is don't make
  • 08:29 graven images.
  • 08:31 Don't depict Lord in a way that's not who he is.
  • 08:35 And there's so much of revisioning going on in history
  • 08:38 today when people are recreating in their own image,
  • 08:41 their own secular interests.
  • 08:43 But oh goodness, in this series, we went back to it all,
  • 08:47 and we found how it is so much rooted in biblical literature.
  • 08:50 I get it personally.
  • 08:52 I know why Paul says, "Listen, bring the scrolls,
  • 08:56 bring the parchments, you know, because he's at the end.
  • 08:58 He's looking at the Lord, but there's something within him
  • 09:01 that just alights upon biblical literature and loves it.
  • 09:05 I bet you that it's with you too, you know why?
  • 09:08 Because Paul, me, you, we love the story that teaches us
  • 09:14 about the "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 09:18 ♪♪♪
  • 09:28 ♪♪♪
  • 09:38 David Hart: Our resource this week, the series,
  • 09:40 "Faith of Our Fathers" on DVD.
  • 09:42 These eight programs reveal how the creation of
  • 09:45 Israel in the Old Testament, inspired a future generation
  • 09:47 to carve out a modern, yet godly nation in the New World.
  • 09:52 This series features Bible teaching by Dr. Jeffrey Seif,
  • 09:55 interviews with Christian historian David Barton,
  • 09:58 plus dramatic reenactments of colonial times.
  • 10:01 Contact us for your own copy of "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 10:08 David Hart: Join us right now for additional content
  • 10:10 that is only available on our social media sites,
  • 10:13 Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
  • 10:15 Visit our website levitt.com for the current and past programs.
  • 10:20 The television schedule, tour information and our free
  • 10:23 monthly newsletter, which is full of insightful articles
  • 10:27 and news commentary, view it online,
  • 10:29 or we can ship it directly to your mailbox every month.
  • 10:32 Also, on our website is the online store.
  • 10:35 There you can order this week's resource,
  • 10:38 or you can always give us a call at 1-800-WONDERS.
  • 10:43 Your donations to "Our Jewish Roots" help us to support
  • 10:45 these organizations as they bless Israel.
  • 10:49 Please remember we depend on tax-deductible donations
  • 10:52 from viewers like you.
  • 10:55 David Hart: We are honored to bring you weekly dramas,
  • 10:58 on-location teaching and even Zola music.
  • 11:03 We could not do any of this without your financial support.
  • 11:06 And once again, we just want to say thank you so much.
  • 11:08 Kirsten: We're a television program but we are also
  • 11:11 a tour company that's under the whole ministry umbrella.
  • 11:15 We go two times a year.
  • 11:17 If the doors are open, we will be there,
  • 11:20 the doors to travel.
  • 11:22 And please, get in touch with our ministry,
  • 11:24 Zola Tours on our website.
  • 11:26 Feel free to call, talk to Sandra in our tour office.
  • 11:29 She will make all your reservations and plans easy,
  • 11:33 breezy, wonderful.
  • 11:35 Jeffrey: And life is a journey whether you go to Israel or not.
  • 11:39 And the psalmist in chapter 119:105,
  • 11:43 speaks about the "Word being a lamp to shed light on our path."
  • 11:49 We want to help you make it to Israel.
  • 11:51 We want to help you to make it to biblical literature.
  • 11:53 We want to help you make it through life.
  • 11:56 And we believe that biblical value,
  • 11:58 virtue and vision is essential for all of the above.
  • 12:04 In today's drama, Betsy Ross learns from her pastor friend
  • 12:08 how biblical vision was so intrinsic
  • 12:12 with the founding of our nation.
  • 12:14 David Barton helps us to see that,
  • 12:16 and I trust you're going to appreciate the value of it
  • 12:19 as we continue, and as we wrap our series on the,
  • 12:23 "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 12:24 ♪♪♪
  • 12:27 male: Good day, Betsy.
  • 12:29 Betsy Ross: Good day, sir.
  • 12:30 I'm finally putting the finishing stitches on this.
  • 12:33 The last star.
  • 12:37 male: You have certainly been diligent.
  • 12:39 Betsy: I must say my efforts have been facilitated
  • 12:42 by your kind visits.
  • 12:44 It's most comforting to know that the fate of this nation,
  • 12:48 our fate, is in the hands of godly men.
  • 12:54 male: It is all because of this book, Betsy.
  • 12:57 A holy book with a message herein that has brought men
  • 13:00 of valor to fall on their knees in humble adoration.
  • 13:06 Betsy: I was reminded of a Scripture
  • 13:09 from the Book of Leviticus when I visited the statehouse
  • 13:11 recently and read the inscription upon the bell.
  • 13:15 "Proclaim liberty, it said, "throughout all the land
  • 13:19 and to all the inhabitants thereof."
  • 13:22 male: Yes. May that bell ever ring.
  • 13:25 Both the Old and the New Testament
  • 13:27 have proclaimed liberty for countless generations.
  • 13:31 Betsy: I remember reading from the Bible daily as a child.
  • 13:35 male: These men have said it well, Betsy.
  • 13:41 Patrick Henry, "The Bible is worth more than all other books
  • 13:46 which have ever been printed."
  • 13:48 And Thomas Jefferson, "I have always said and always will say
  • 13:53 that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make us
  • 13:56 better citizens."
  • 13:59 Betsy: I believe, sir, it was Mr. William Penn,
  • 14:02 the founder of Pennsylvania who spoke in similar fashion.
  • 14:05 male: Yes.
  • 14:08 In fact, it's right here, "I do declare to the whole world
  • 14:12 that we believe the Scriptures to contain a declaration
  • 14:16 of the mind and will of God.
  • 14:19 Being given forth by the Holy Ghost that they ought also to be
  • 14:23 read, believed and fulfilled in our day."
  • 14:29 Betsy: I pray that I've contributed in some small way
  • 14:32 to that fulfillment.
  • 14:39 It is finished, sir.
  • 14:42 My work is done.
  • 14:45 male: Excellent work, Betsy.
  • 14:48 I am certain Mr. Washington and the Continental Congress
  • 14:50 will be pleased.
  • 14:52 Well impressed.
  • 14:54 Betsy: Thank you, sir.
  • 14:55 ♪♪♪
  • 15:00 male: "And dear Father in heaven,
  • 15:03 may the fate of this nation, sustain us of the days to come
  • 15:07 as our leaders show reverence to you and your holy work.
  • 15:11 This we pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
  • 15:18 Amen."
  • 15:20 Betsy: Amen.
  • 15:22 ♪♪♪
  • 15:32 ♪ Oh, beautiful for spacious skies ♪
  • 15:39 ♪ For amber waves of grain ♪
  • 15:46 ♪ For purple mountain majesties ♪
  • 15:54 ♪ above the fruited plain ♪
  • 16:01 ♪ America ♪
  • 16:04 ♪ America ♪
  • 16:08 ♪ God shed his grace on thee ♪
  • 16:15 ♪ And crown thy good with brotherhood ♪
  • 16:22 ♪ from sea to shining sea ♪
  • 16:33 ♪ America ♪
  • 16:36 ♪ America ♪
  • 16:40 ♪ God shed his grace on thee ♪♪
  • 16:54 Jeffrey: If you're watching this series for the first time,
  • 16:56 I hope you'll go back and get the rest.
  • 16:58 Not so you can hear more of me, but I want you to hear
  • 17:01 more of our guest.
  • 17:02 David, it is such a thrill to be with you today.
  • 17:05 David Barton: Thanks Jeff. Appreciate it.
  • 17:06 Jeffrey: And for those of you that don't know,
  • 17:08 or you see a website address on the screen,
  • 17:10 you'll want to visit and find out what David Barton
  • 17:13 is all about.
  • 17:14 You'll see he's got a lot of books.
  • 17:16 I feel a little embarrassed here.
  • 17:17 I just have one, but it's a good one.
  • 17:18 It's the Bible, and he has those too.
  • 17:20 David is a real scholar and he's dug deep
  • 17:22 into the history of America.
  • 17:24 A lot of primary sources.
  • 17:26 And for those of you that want to learn about the lost
  • 17:29 Judeo-Christian origins of the United States of America,
  • 17:33 this is the decisive authority.
  • 17:35 He has a museum and he's brought some of it here.
  • 17:37 David, I'm glad you're with us today to look at the,
  • 17:39 "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 17:41 David Barton: It's good to be back, bro,
  • 17:42 and it's a fun topic to look at.
  • 17:43 So much to see.
  • 17:45 Jeffrey: I can tell so much. Look what you've brought.
  • 17:46 Goodness.
  • 17:48 David Barton: Well, we've seen over the past
  • 17:49 several episodes, something of the faith
  • 17:51 of the individual founding fathers.
  • 17:52 So a good way to end is just look at the faith
  • 17:54 of all these guys.
  • 17:55 You take these 56 signers of the deck right here.
  • 17:58 Among them, 29 of them graduated and had degrees from schools
  • 18:03 that were starting to train ministers.
  • 18:05 They went to the same minister training.
  • 18:06 Not all became ministers like the Reverend Witherspoon here.
  • 18:09 Several of them did.
  • 18:11 A lot of them were involved in Christian ministry.
  • 18:12 But even Reverend Witherspoon, he has more than a dozen volumes
  • 18:16 of the gospel sermons and this is from 1768.
  • 18:19 This is one of his many volumes.
  • 18:21 This is the first family Bible ever done in America.
  • 18:24 This was done in 1791.
  • 18:26 Jeffrey: That is the real deal.
  • 18:28 David Barton: That's the real deal.
  • 18:29 That's the real deal.
  • 18:30 Jeffrey: Now, your museum, you house--this is--
  • 18:32 these aren't replicas.
  • 18:33 This is the real stuff.
  • 18:34 David Barton: No, these are all genuine actual originals.
  • 18:36 And so, this is the Bible that Reverend Witherspoon helped do
  • 18:38 for New Jersey in 1791.
  • 18:41 As you move over to someone like this man,
  • 18:44 Francis Hopkinson, George Washington made him
  • 18:46 a federal judge, but he was also a church music director
  • 18:49 and a choir leader.
  • 18:51 And this is a work that he did in 1767.
  • 18:54 This is the first purely American hymnbook,
  • 18:57 and it's the first book in America to have musical notation
  • 19:00 with the Psalms.
  • 19:02 Now, what he did was he took the Psalms of David
  • 19:04 and set them all to music.
  • 19:05 So 150 Psalms set to music, which to me is fairly amazing
  • 19:09 when I think of Psalm 119, the longest song in the Bible.
  • 19:12 The musical notation here for Psalm 119 is 32 pages long.
  • 19:17 Jeffrey: And this is a judge?
  • 19:19 David Barton: This is a federal judge.
  • 19:20 Jeffrey: We separated church and state.
  • 19:21 I guess he never got the memo.
  • 19:23 David Barton: Yeah, the founders didn't get that memo.
  • 19:25 They did separate church and state so that we would not have
  • 19:27 a nationally established denomination like
  • 19:29 the Anglican or the Lutheran, but not to exclude God.
  • 19:30 Jeffrey: That's what it was all about.
  • 19:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right.
  • 19:33 David Barton: This right here,
  • 19:34 this man is John Dickinson.
  • 19:35 He went on to sign the Constitution.
  • 19:37 This is his Bible, his personal Bible,
  • 19:39 his signature on the inside of the Bible.
  • 19:41 Jeffrey: His personal Bible.
  • 19:43 David Barton: His personal Bible.
  • 19:44 We have a number of the personal Bibles of these guys.
  • 19:46 We have the personal Bible from Francis Hopkinson as well.
  • 19:48 The Bible that they used.
  • 19:50 This Bible is the largest Bible printed in America at that time.
  • 19:54 Jeffrey: I'm not surprised.
  • 19:55 David Barton: Yeah.
  • 19:57 Take back to church with you on Sunday.
  • 19:58 Carried that in.
  • 19:59 1798 and about three dozen founding fathers help fund
  • 20:02 the production of this Bible.
  • 20:04 Nine signers of the declaration, I think it was 13 signers
  • 20:07 of the Constitution, that helped produce that Bible.
  • 20:10 As you go to someone, let me take this stock right here,
  • 20:14 this goes with Benjamin Rush.
  • 20:16 Benjamin Rush is right here.
  • 20:18 John Adams said that Benjamin Rush was one of the three
  • 20:21 most noble founding fathers.
  • 20:23 According to John Adams, you had Ben Franklin,
  • 20:25 you had George Washington over there,
  • 20:27 and you had Benjamin Rush.
  • 20:29 Now, we don't know anything about the guy today.
  • 20:30 He started five universities, three of them still go today.
  • 20:33 He's the most famous doctor in American history.
  • 20:36 He also is called the father of public schools
  • 20:39 under the Constitution, and that's because of this work
  • 20:43 that he did right here.
  • 20:44 This is what really kind of set up America with our schools.
  • 20:47 And said, "Now, that we're a nation,
  • 20:49 what our schools need to do."
  • 20:50 And a piece that he has in here from 1791,
  • 20:53 was actually reprinted a number of times.
  • 20:55 It's called "The Defense of the Use of the Bible."
  • 20:57 It's a schoolbook.
  • 20:59 He goes through and gives a dozen reasons
  • 21:00 we'll never take the Bible out of public schools in America.
  • 21:02 Jeffrey: Yes, he never got the memo.
  • 21:04 David Barton: Yeah, didn't get the memo.
  • 21:05 Jeffrey: We got to get the Bible out of public schools.
  • 21:07 David Barton: Didn't get the memo.
  • 21:08 And this why in 1844, the US Supreme Court had
  • 21:10 a unanimous ruling that said, "If you're going to be
  • 21:12 a government-operated school in America,
  • 21:14 you will teach the Bible."
  • 21:15 I mean that was just the way it was.
  • 21:17 So we have that from him.
  • 21:18 We also, this is something he did.
  • 21:20 He started the first Bible society in America.
  • 21:23 That's the constitution for the first Bible.
  • 21:25 This is how he started the Benjamin Rush--by the way,
  • 21:27 he also started the Sunday school movement in America.
  • 21:30 And this is the first mass-produced Bible ever done
  • 21:33 in America, and it's done by Benjamin Rush.
  • 21:35 So again, strong Christian credentials here.
  • 21:38 Jeffrey: I mean not just a believer, an advocate.
  • 21:41 David Barton: An advocate.
  • 21:42 Jeffrey: All these guys.
  • 21:43 David Barton: This is called the Thompson Bible.
  • 21:45 It's the first translation of the Greek Septuagint in English.
  • 21:49 It took him about 20 years to do it.
  • 21:51 That's Charles Thompson right there.
  • 21:53 And so, this is the original Thompson Bible.
  • 21:55 As I go to other guys here, I'll pick of this.
  • 21:59 This is a proclamation by the President of the United States,
  • 22:02 John Adams.
  • 22:04 And it's a proclamation for a time of humiliation,
  • 22:07 fasting and prayer.
  • 22:09 So, John Adams, as president --
  • 22:11 Jeffrey: Tell me that's the original or a copy?
  • 22:12 David Barton: Original. We have copy and original.
  • 22:14 We have the original.
  • 22:16 Sometimes, I carry copy, but we own the original.
  • 22:18 Jeffrey: You own the original.
  • 22:20 David Barton: We own the original of John Adams.
  • 22:22 With this, I can go to another signer of the declaration,
  • 22:25 Oliver Wilcock.
  • 22:27 Jeffrey: I bet you get shot to pieces by liberals--
  • 22:31 David Barton: Oh, they claim that we make up our history
  • 22:33 'cause they disagree with this.
  • 22:34 So, yeah.
  • 22:35 Jeffrey: You wrote the documents, right?
  • 22:37 David Barton: I make up their handwriting.
  • 22:39 You know, it's crazy.
  • 22:40 This is Sandhill Honey's, and both of these guys
  • 22:42 were signers of the declaration.
  • 22:44 Again, they appointed here times of prayer.
  • 22:48 Sometimes fasting and prayer; and sometimes thanksgiving
  • 22:51 and prayer.
  • 22:52 This is the first printing of the first ever
  • 22:55 federal Thanksgiving.
  • 22:57 This is issued by President George Washington,
  • 23:00 and this is our first--on the day that we finished the Bill
  • 23:04 of Rights, they said hey we need to thank God for Bill of Rights.
  • 23:07 Jeffrey: That's an original?
  • 23:09 David Barton: That's an original.
  • 23:10 Jeffrey: You know, I bet you didn't bring 'em all either.
  • 23:11 Your museum is stock full of this stuff, huh?
  • 23:13 David Barton: What's interesting is about the time you get
  • 23:16 to 1815, they had been 1400 government-issued calls
  • 23:21 to prayer in America.
  • 23:23 So that's by the government. And we own about 900 of those.
  • 23:27 This one. I'll pull out another one here.
  • 23:30 Jeffrey: So you're open 9 to 5.
  • 23:32 I mean people can get to you and--
  • 23:33 David Barton: We open 9 to 5, and we have a lot of programs
  • 23:35 actually shot in the museums.
  • 23:37 So we have tours all the time. People will call ahead.
  • 23:39 Jeffrey: And people can go online,
  • 23:41 and they can get pictures.
  • 23:42 They can get tours that way.
  • 23:43 David Barton: We digitize all the stuff.
  • 23:45 This is one I really like from John Hancock.
  • 23:46 Right here.
  • 23:48 It's one of 22 times he called the state of Massachusetts
  • 23:52 a prayer.
  • 23:53 Jeffrey: This is the John Hancock as in signer?
  • 23:55 David Barton: This is John Hancock.
  • 23:56 This is John Hancock right there.
  • 23:58 This is the original John Hancock.
  • 23:59 And in this, it's a day of public fasting,
  • 24:02 humiliation and prayer.
  • 24:04 And what would John Hancock have to the state of Massachusetts
  • 24:07 fasting and praying for?
  • 24:08 And he says, "We need to pray that anyone that doesn't know
  • 24:11 Jesus will come to know Jesus."
  • 24:12 Jeffrey: You're kidding me.
  • 24:13 David Barton: That's a governor.
  • 24:15 A founding father governor.
  • 24:16 Jeffrey: He never got the separation of church
  • 24:18 and state memo.
  • 24:19 David Barton: None of these guys did.
  • 24:20 And that's why--
  • 24:22 Jeffrey: I wish this wasn't coming to an end.
  • 24:23 David Barton: It is so crazy.
  • 24:24 But you get a tone of the religious faith
  • 24:26 of the founding father.
  • 24:27 Not every one of them a Christian,
  • 24:28 but the overwhelming majority were.
  • 24:30 And many of them profess Christianity,
  • 24:32 didn't always act like it.
  • 24:33 They weren't perfect people, but my goodness,
  • 24:35 what a great group of guys.
  • 24:37 Jeffrey: You know and what a great guy.
  • 24:39 I wish that I could spend more time with David Barton.
  • 24:43 Thank you so much.
  • 24:44 David Barton: My pleasure.
  • 24:45 Jeffrey: You know I can spend more time with David Barton,
  • 24:47 if you will.
  • 24:48 I'm going to practice what I preach.
  • 24:50 I'm going to go to that website.
  • 24:52 I think there's a lot to learn and I'm so glad there are men
  • 24:55 like him to dig into the foundations of our faith.
  • 24:58 And this ministry, we're all about the Jewish views
  • 25:01 of the good news.
  • 25:03 We're going to go back to the Jewish roots.
  • 25:04 He goes back to the Christian roots.
  • 25:06 Let's all do it together.
  • 25:07 You have that website you saw, go to it.
  • 25:10 Learn more about the "Faith of Our Fathers."
  • 25:13 ♪♪♪
  • 25:15 David Hart: Many of you who know us,
  • 25:17 know that we have two children, Tyler and Ryan.
  • 25:19 And back in the day, Kirsten homeschooled our boys,
  • 25:23 we were just thinking the other day that this would've been
  • 25:25 a great resource for your history lessons at home.
  • 25:28 Kirsten: Fantastic American history,
  • 25:31 eight different sessions that you can teach your kids,
  • 25:34 plus it's Bible history, so you get a two-for-one
  • 25:38 because of you.
  • 25:39 You've wrapped it altogether, but a great resource
  • 25:42 for many teachers.
  • 25:43 Jeffrey: Well, you're kind.
  • 25:44 As David Barton brings out that biblical literature was so much
  • 25:48 part of the curriculum, not just of early education but
  • 25:51 of the documents that formed of our very foundation.
  • 25:55 David Hart: Not everybody gets that part of history.
  • 25:57 Jeffrey: No, people forget that,
  • 25:59 and that's part of the beauty of America.
  • 26:01 And people that made songs about America tapped into the beauty
  • 26:05 of America, the biblical virtue associated with it,
  • 26:07 the America the beautiful.
  • 26:09 Oh goodness.
  • 26:10 Fifty years later, Irving Berlin,
  • 26:13 "God bless America".
  • 26:14 A Jew by the way. What do you think of that?
  • 26:17 A Jewish guy.
  • 26:18 He also did Dreaming of a White Christmas.
  • 26:20 There were Jewish people who participated
  • 26:21 in the American experiment.
  • 26:23 We not only like to look at the Christian roots of it all,
  • 26:26 but the Judeo-Christian roots and you help us to do that.
  • 26:29 Thanks.
  • 26:31 Kirsten: The faith of many different fathers.
  • 26:33 Our son served in the army and he's a father now.
  • 26:37 And he had faith to go battle for the freedoms of this country
  • 26:40 as many as he studied traditional series.
  • 26:43 Jeffrey: Yes.
  • 26:45 Kirsten: A lot of faith, a lot of strength.
  • 26:46 Jeffrey: Appreciate him.
  • 26:48 David Hart: It's been such a great series.
  • 26:49 Thank you for your teaching, for your leadership.
  • 26:51 It's been a great series.
  • 26:52 Jeffrey: You're kind to say.
  • 26:54 And thank you for helping us bring it all to you.
  • 26:55 If you didn't share, we wouldn't have anything to share.
  • 26:58 David Hart: We end this program today.
  • 27:00 Jeffrey: Sha'alu shalom yerushalayim.
  • 27:03 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
  • 27:06 ♪♪♪
  • 27:10 ♪ Oh, beautiful for spacious skies ♪
  • 27:16 ♪ For amber waves of grain ♪
  • 27:23 ♪ For purple mountain majesties ♪
  • 27:31 ♪ above the fruited plain ♪
  • 27:38 ♪ America ♪
  • 27:41 ♪ America ♪
  • 27:45 ♪ God shed his grace on thee ♪
  • 27:52 ♪ And crown thy good with brotherhood ♪
  • 27:59 ♪ from sea to shining sea ♪
  • 28:11 ♪ America ♪
  • 28:14 ♪ America ♪
  • 28:17 ♪ God shed his grace on thee ♪♪

Episodes in this series

  1. What is Faith
  2. Faith by Trial
  3. Faith in the Unseen
  4. Faith to Build a Nation Upon
  5. Faith in Our Leaders
  6. The Cost of Faith
  7. The Actions of the Faithful
  8. The Application of Faith

Links from this show

Guest organizations and links