Apologetics Class 5-28-2017

We had a good message in the apologetics class today.  Again, as last week, this was not the traditional apologetics class per se, but none the less, I still think it was relevant to apologetics.  In case you wanted to see the video again (or for the 1^st time if you weren’t able to make it), here is the video on YouTube (6 part playlist):

America’s Godly Heritage – David Barton:

Below, I’ve pasted in the notes (with fill-in blanks) and attached the notes with answers.

Today was our last session before we break for the summer, it’s been a pleasure facilitating this class all these weeks.  I hope you’ve found this beneficial for your personal faith and that it has enabled you to have more boldness in sharing your faith with others.

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America’s Godly Heritage (Christian Nation??) – David Barton (~1992)

1. Most of the 55 founders of America were e____________ Christians
2. Recounting of incident where George Washington was shot at numerous times, but not killed
3. The New England P___________ – used in schools for 200 years in early America to teach children to read.  The letters of the alphabet are memorized along with facts from the Bible.
4. Did the founders want separation of church and state?
   1. John Quincy A_________ speech July 4^th 1837
   2. John J____________ – 1^st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
   3. George Washington’s f____________ a_____________
5. America is the world’s longest ongoing constitutional republic, 200+ years under the same document and under the same form of government.
6. Where did the founders find the ideas that produced such longevity?  Who did they quote?
   8. Baron Charles de Montesquieu (8.3%)
   9. Sir William Blackstone (7.9%)
   10. John Locke (2.9%)
   11. The Bible (34%)
7. Charles Finney – preacher, 2^nd great awakening.  Came to C_________ by reading Blackstone’s commentaries, because Blackstone quoted the B__________ so much in his writings.
8. Concepts that our founders derived from the Bible or biblical principles:
   1. 3 branches of government: I_________ 33:22
   2. Separation of Powers: J____________ 17:9
   3. Tax Exemption for Churches: E__________ 7:24
9. Case: Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States (1892) – “…This is a Christian nation…” – cited 87 p____________ to support its conclusions that we are a Christian nation.
10. Vidal v. Girard (1844) – encouraged reading the New Testament to teach morality in s_________
11. Case: People v. Ruggles (1811) Attack Jesus Christ = Attack on Christianity = Attack on A_______
12. The 1^st amendment never intended to separate C______________ principles from government.
13. Here is the 1^st amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
14. “Separation of c________ and s______” appears in NO founding document.  The purpose of this was to prevent the federal establishment of a certain denomination, like they had in England.
15. It’s source is from a letter from Thomas Jefferson as a response (Jan. 1^st 1802) to the D________________ Baptists letter on Nov. 7^th 1801
16. “The great vital and conservative element in our system [the thing that holds our system together] is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the G________________ of Jesus Christ” – House Judiciary Report (May 1854)
17. Jefferson’s letter had actually been used in the late 1800’s to ensure that Christian principles could r___________ a part of the government.
18. Case: Everson v. Board of Education (1947) – “The First Amendment has erected ‘a wall of separation between church and state.’  That wall must be kept high and impregnable.”  They selected only ___ words from Jefferson’s letter, taking it completely out of context!
19. June 25^th 1962 – Engel v. Vitale – First time, separated Christian principles from education – removed prayer from schools.  Redefined word “c_______”.  No precedents cited (1^st time ever).
20. Bible study course – New Testament – for Dallas high schools (1946) – 71 years ago!
21. Case: Abington v. Schempp & Murray v. Curlett (June 17, 1963) – stopped use of B____ in school
22. 10 Commandments hanging on wall in school (Stone v. Graham case – 1980).  However, founders would’ve supported this, so cannot be un____________________.
23. 1963, court reported only 3% of the nation did not believe in religion or God.
24. Prayer which was declared unconstitutional in 1962 covered 4 areas.  Prior to 1962, the court had always ruled consistent with biblical principles in these 4 areas:
    1. “upon us” (students)
    2. “our parents” (families)
    3. “our teachers” (schools)
    4. “our country” (the nation)
25. S________________:
    1. Birth rates for unwed teen girls up 553% since 1963
    2. Sexually Transmitted Diseases up 226% since 1963
    3. Pre-marital sexual activity up 365% since 1963
26. F________________:
    1. Divorce Rates up 117% since 1963 (U.S. #1 in world in divorce at time of video)
    2. Single parent families up 140% since 1963
    3. Unmarried couples living together (cohabitation) up 536% since 1963
27. T_______________:
    1. The SAT Test – decline in student achievement since 1963
    2. 1962, 1,000 Christian schools – by 1984, 32,000 Christian schools in U.S.
    3. SAT scores are nearly 80 points higher for private school students
    4. National Merit Semi-Finalists (the “cream of the crop”).  Private religious schools, although 12.4% of population is producing 39.2% of the “cream of the crop”
28. C______________:
    1. Violent Crimes surpassed population growth by 794% since 1962
    2. Thomas Jefferson – “The precepts of philosophy laid hold of actions only… [but Jesus] pushed His scrutinies into the heart of man, erected His tribunal in the region of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountainhead.” (see Matthew 5)
    3. John Adams “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our constitution was made only for a moral and a religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
    4. World’s leader in: Violent Crime, Divorce, Teen Pregnancies, Abortions, Drugs, Illiteracy
29. State government constitutions established by founders were explicitly Christian (e.g. Delaware)
30. Accountability to God – I_______ (afterlife) vs. N_______ (calamities). Referred to 1 Kings 16-22
31. Ben F______ speech June 28^th 1787 – reminded delegates we needed God to be our friend/ally.
32. J_______ “His justice cannot sleep forever”, L_______ “this nation should be on the Lord’s side”
33. Can a nation be blessed apart from God’s principles?  No.  When we started to “get out” of public life, we handed the nation over to un__________ principles. This is not biblical.
34. 1961 & 1985 court cases ruled that “Secular H___________” is a viable 1^st Amendment religion.
35. We only hear about separation of church and state re. attempts to invoke Christian principles

Here is a link to AmericasGodlyHeritageNotes answers.