The Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic
by Nicolas Minacapelli | August 31, 2010 | In God & Spirituality, Our Republic, Religion & Church | No Comments
I recently picked up The American Patriot’s Bible. Truly a must to add to your collection. The seven principles are at the foundation of who we are as a nation. The United States is exceptional with a relationship with God, where we, as Americans, acknowledge that our rights are unalienable. There is no other country on earth built on this framework. It’s up to us to protect and preserve, carrying on the torch of liberty and freedom for the next generation.
The American Patriot’s Bible intersects the teachings of the Bible with the history of the Unites States while applying it to today’s culture. Beautiful full-color insert pages spotlight America’s greatest thinkers, leaders, and events that present the rich heritage and future of our great nation. (The American Patriot’s Bible Website)
The Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic
WHEN OUR NATION’S FOUNDING FATHERS gave us documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and others, they had to lean upon a common understanding of law, government, social order, and morality. That understanding sprang from the common acceptance of what has come to be known as the Judeo-Christian Ethic, which is the system of the moral and social values that originates in the Old and New Testaments of the Word of God.
Whether each of the Founding Fathers was a Christian is not the issue. Their writings, their statements, and their votes evidence the fact that the majority of them embraced these great principles as the basis for a civilized nation.
The Scriptures emphatically teach the great importance of the respect and preservation of human life. In the Declaration of Independence our nation’s Founding Fathers wrote that everyone has “unalienable rights,” and that among these rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We Americans not only believe this for our land, but also we send our brave military men and women around the world to defend the rights of those who are threatened.
If people and nations do not grant ultimate respect and protection to both the born and the unborn, all other professed morals and values are meaningless. The dignity of human life is not just a principle of the Bible- it is the first principle of any civilized society.
“You shall not murder.” – Exodus 20:13
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 22:39
Our society has been based upon the belief that the biblical view of traditional marriage and family is the backbone of a healthy social order. Since the joining together of Adam and Eve, marriage has been recognized as a holy union between one man and one woman, and out of that union comes children- born into a home with a father and a mother to love them, nurture them, and teach them how to become healthy, productive, and responsible citizens.
The plan of God, nature, and common sense is a man and a woman producing children within the institution of marriage. When that plan is lost, “marriage” and “family” become meaningless, and a nation and its people will follow the road to ruin. World history has proven it over and again. Preserving the traditional family is vital to the future of any great nation.
“And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:23,24
Ingrained deep within the American spirit is the willingness and the desire to give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. This independent spirit has no desire to simply exist on handouts from government or to depend on the generosity of others. It is this same independent spirit that has allowed America to create the greatest and strongest economy in the history of the world.
Americans have had their challenges. The Great Depression of the 1930’s knocked us to our knees, but it did not beat us. Together, Americans helped one another and lifted our nation back to its economic might. The powers of the world look at our nation and ask where that spirit of honest labor came from and where this work ethic originated. It came from the men and women who lived before us. Those generations were raised to believe in this third principle of honest work, which is found throughout the Word of God.
“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” – 2nd Thessalonians 3:10
We see in Proverbs 1:7 that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” How can one understand the creation without first knowing its Creator? The answer is that one cannot.
Our Forefathers certainly understood this. For example, did you know that most of America’s oldest universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth were founded by Christian preachers or churches? Harvard University, founded in 1636, adopted “Rules and Precepts” which stated: “Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life.” Harvard’s original seal has upon it these words: “Truth for Christ and the Church.”
The early children’s textbook “The New England Primer” taught the ABC’s by having children memorize: “A- In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. B- Heaven to find, the Bible mind.” Today’s youth are tomorrow’s America. There is truth in the statement attributed to George Washington: “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle…. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4
A covenant is a decision involving two individuals or groups stating that they will keep a promise or fulfill an agreement between them. The Book of Genesis records the story of God making a covenant with Abraham. The basis of that covenant was that if Abraham would follow God, obeying His laws and commandments, God would bless Abraham with generations of children that would outnumber the stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:5). Abraham believed God, obeyed his Word, and God rewarded him with many descendants, a nation of people now know as Israel.
This principle of the Abrahamic covenant states that if a person or a nation obeys God, observing the moral truths found in the Bible, that person or nation will be blessed. If they disobey, they will bring punishment upon themselves. For most of our nation’s history, Americans have accepted the belief that good deeds produce good results and that people who were “God-fearing” in language and in lifestyle would be blessed by Him. That belief has been proven to be true time and again. The writer of Proverbs tells it plainly, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (14:34).
“Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” – Genesis 12:1-3
“Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” – Galatians 3:7
Simply put, this is the belief that a decent nation is made up of decent people. That nation, when faced with any trying or difficult situation, will do the decent, right, and honest thing. And for the most part, that has been the record of our national history. For example, Americans have given their lives in wars on foreign soil so that others might experience freedom. Americans have worked to feed the world’s poor, to clothe the naked, and to aid the hurting. Americans have opened their arms to many of the world’s oppressed and given them safe haven.
Engraved on a bronze plaque on the base of the Statue of Liberty are these words from the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” A world-renowned symbol of freedom, this statue stands to remind us all that America has indeed been, and continues to be today, a nation of common decency.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” -Matthew 22:39
Perhaps the greatest restraint against acts of evil towards others is the knowledge that every person and nation will one day give an account for their actions to Almighty God. Certainly the Bible tells us that we are responsible for our actions and we must be accountable for what we do or don’t do. It also teaches that there is a penalty for doing wrong and a blessing when we do that which is right, noble, and just.
The great American statesman Daniel Webster was once asked, “What is the most sobering thought that ever entered your mind?” He quickly responded, “My personal accountability to God.” Webster knew that he would one day stand before God in eternity and give an account for his actions. The same applies to every man, woman, and nation.
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” -Hebrews 9:27
