Christians and Secularists



Posted: Thursday, October 20, 2011

by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian

Christians and secularists have a long history here in America. Consider the following examples of this relationship.

* Christians planted many of the early colonies. There were the Pilgrims, the Puritans, William Penn, the Moravians, Lord Baltimore and others who help lay the foundation of our nation. Secularists have long worked to obscure the role of those devoted followers of Jesus. They have succeeded in revising the history of our nation, ignoring the contributions of the Christians.

* Christians played a major role in the Continental Congress that drafted our constitution and launched our independent government. Only two or three of those involved made no profession of faith. Now secularists try to deny their involvement and claim that secularists gave us our liberty and freedom. (It seems they confuse our Revolution with that of France).

* Christians established many of the great universities of our nation. To name just a few of them, Harvard, Yale, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Princeton and William and Mary all had their beginning as the work of Christians to promote the cause of Christ in America. But true to form, secularists eventually gained control of these schools and now use them to wage unceasing warfare on the great fundamental truths of Christianity.

* Christians played a major role in the abolition of slavery both in England and America. They were deeply involved in efforts to end child-labor, prison reform and other social evils. With secularists dominating higher education and the text-book industry, the role Christians played in these moral crusades is either greatly downplayed or completely ignored.

* From the beginning of our nation, Christians have afforded freedom and the liberty to express their views to secularists. Now that secularists have gained great power and influence in our nation they do not hesitate to use their positions to place limitations on Christians and keep them from influencing public affairs.

* Christians laid the foundation for our system of public education. As early as the 1600s, New England Puritans and Congregationalist Christians developed schools for educating their children. Church buildings served as school houses. Ministers often served as teachers. But from the days of the noted secularist educator, John Dewey, c.a. 1880, public schools have been overtaken and now controlled by those holding secularist views.

* All branches of our government, in the beginning, were sympathetic to Christianity and viewed it as essential to the stability of our society. But secularists now dominate every level of government and use their influence and power to push Christians from of the mainstream of public life.

* The most audacious move of American secularists was their successful take over of most of the large, mainstream Protestant denominations. Victorious, they have striped them of most of their faith in God, Christ and the Bible. They have turned them from their sacred mission of leading lost souls to Christ, and transformed their churches into social service centers, underwriting and upholding secular causes.

It is fair to say that secularists have declared war against Evangelical Christianity and have been enormously successful. Unfortunately many of the Christians don’t realize the war is raging. Believers in biblical Churches have declined in numbers, strength and influence. For half a century they have been on the defensive and unable or unwilling to mount a successful counter offensive.

Paul exhorts us to fight the good fight of the faith if we expect to lay hold on eternal life (I Tim. 6:12). For far too long the call to battle has been ignored.
John Waddey is a native of Nashville, TN. He is in his 54th year as a minister of the Church of Christ. Presently he serves the West Bell Church of Christ in Sun City West, AZ. His ministerial work has taken him to 22 foreign nations. Writing has always been an important part of his work. He is the author of 54 volumes. He has served as the editor of the Star Bible magazine and the Christian Bible Teacher magazine. Currently, he writes a weekly newspaper column and edits a monthly journal called Christianity: Then & Now. He also maintains Bible teaching websites at www.firstcenturychristian.com. His latest book, "Testimony of the Twelve Minor Prophets" is now at the printers.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Christofer French
 213 days 9 hours ago.
74 fans.
Fascinating article. I have an Aunt who is very upper class and well schooled in her Episcopalian faith. However, she holds secular positions all over the place. If you ever confronted her that way, she would faint of apoplexy. The takeover has been attitudinal and arrogant and Eastern. If I did not know her so well, I would say that this kind of statement could not be true. But it is. When I think of how they have taken over her, I get it.
» left by John Waddey from Arizona 211 days 22 hours ago.
Hello Chris: I wish many others could see and understand the subtle way secularism has infiltrated and undermined faith in the heart of so many Americans. The weak links they have caused leaves the individual, the church and the nation in a weakened state. John
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