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History Unwrapped – November 2005

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The physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is regarded as the founder of modern physical science. His achievements in experimental investigation were as innovative as those in mathematical research. His four rules for scientific reasoning were revolutionary. No student goes through school without learning Newton’s three laws of motion known as “Newton’s Laws” (laws of inertia, action and reaction, and acceleration proportional to force) and his Universal Law of Gravitation. Newton contributed more to the development of science than any other individual in history. But his early years certainly did not indicate a young man of such intellect. Newton never knew his father, who died before he was born. After his mother remarried, Newton was sent to live with his grandmother where he was treated as an orphan. He showed little promise in his early academic work, but through encouragement from an uncle, prepared to enter university, where he developed an interest in mathematics and his genius began to emerge. Several scholars have indicated that Newton's writings about theology, especially Biblical prophecy and church history, are larger in number than his writings on mathematics and physics. Newton bound religion and science in many ways, believing that whatever knowledge of God was revealed in “the Book of Nature” was harmonious with what was revealed in the Bible.

The dust blew on the southern plains for eight years. It came in colors of a yellow-brown haze or rolling walls of black. People wore dust masks outside, and women hung wet sheets over windows in a futile attempt to keep the dirt from blowing into their homes. Farmers watched as their crops blew away. Poor agricultural practices followed by sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Prior to the drought, when there had been adequate rainfall, the land produced abundant crops. Farmers plowed up more land and planted wheat year after year to take advantage of the good prices for their product. Grasslands that should never have been plowed were used for more wheat planting. The wheat crop of 1931 was a bumper crop. Wheat was everywhere, even on the ground and roads. The oversupply forced the price down and many farmers lost everything. The dry spell continued and the land dried up. When the Plains winds whipped across the land, there was no ground cover to hold the soil in place. The skies would darken for days and the dust would drift like snow, often covering buildings. In addition to the drought and dirt storms, the decade saw other extremes including blizzards, tornadoes, and floods. But out of this tragic decade came good. The experience taught farmers new methods and techniques, and it brought a new era of soil conservation.

James John Corbett (1866-1933) was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Corbett had attended college and worked as a bank clerk and as an actor before turning to boxing.  Corbett earned the nickname “Gentleman Jim Corbett” from his dapper appearance. He wore his hair in a full-grown pompadour, dressed smartly, and used excellent grammar. He has been called the “Father of Modern Boxing” because of his scientific approach and innovations in technique. Corbett used speed and knowledge of an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses to develop a fight strategy. He was clever, agile, and “jack-rabbit” quick, using excellent footwork and slippery head and body movements. On September 7, 1892, in New Orleans, Corbett faced boxing legend John L. Sullivan, who was the last of the bare-knuckle champions. Sullivan had held the Heavyweight Championship title for ten years until he was knocked out in the 21st round by Gentleman Jim. Corbett was the first heavyweight boxer to win a championship under the Queensberry rules, which required a fight to consist of three-minute rounds and required fighters to wear leather boxing gloves. Corbett described the successful strategy against Sullivan in his book The Roar of the Crowd. Upon his retirement, Corbett returned to acting appearing on stage and in film.

Long before the rock band of the same name, Englishman Jethro Tull (1674 – 1741) gave up the study of law and began farming with his father. He despised farming and resented the reduction in profits caused by his laborers’ salaries. Seeds were sown by hand, and Tull noted the inefficiency of this method. He tried to show his laborers how to “drill” a hole for the seed at the correct depth. His frustration with the laborers’ lack of cooperation, lead Tull to transform agriculture by inventing the seed drill in 1708. The drill created a hole of specific depth, dropped in a seed, and covered it over, three rows at a time. The agricultural pioneer had invented a device that increased the rate of germination which in turn produced a greater crop yield. Tull’s drill also eliminated the need for so many laborers thus enabling him to keep more of the profits. He also invented a horse-drawn hoe for clearing weeds and made changes to the plough, which are still visible in modern versions. Tull had a major impact on the agricultural revolution, though it would be a number of years before he was appreciated. His influence can still be seen in today’s methods and machinery.

On Thursday, September 24, 1789, the First House of Representatives recommended the First Amendment to the states for ratification. Congressman Elias Boudinot proposed that Congress jointly request that President Washington proclaim a day of thanksgiving for “the many signal favors of Almighty god.” He “could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the blessings he had poured down upon them.” The colonists of another era were aware of the many instances of thanksgiving found in “holy writ.” Thanksgiving, as it was practiced by the colonists, was a religious celebration that shared the sentiments of their biblical forerunners, giving thanks to God for His faithful provision. “Twice en route the passengers [aboard the Arabella] participated in a fast, and once a ‘thanksgiving.’”

 One of the earliest recorded celebrations occurred a half century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. “A small colony of French Huguenots established a settlement near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. On June 30, 1564, their leader, René de Laudonnière, recorded that ‘We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us.’” May we do likewise this day as we gather together with our families and thank God for continuing to bless our nation.

One of New England’s great preachers, Isaac Backus (1724-1806), was influenced by the Great Awakening and the preaching of George Whitefield. Not long after revival broke out in New England, Backus was ordained as a Reformed Baptist preacher. In sixty years, he traveled over 70,000 miles across the American frontier sharing the gospel. Backus became involved in the tax controversy in Massachusetts. The state imposed an “ecclesiastical tax” upon all citizens to support the state church, the Congregational churches. Even those who did not attend these churches or opposed the beliefs of the churches were still required to pay the tax. If a person refused to pay the tax, their house, land, and possessions were confiscated. If there continued to be no compliance, the individual would be imprisoned. Pastor Backus and other pastors took a stand against this mandatory tax. They believed that the state government had no right to interfere in religious matters and appealed for an end to the tax but were not very successful. Pastor Backus died before the law was finally changed. Pastor Backus was an active and outspoken Patriot during the War for Independence. He preached to the troops and encouraged them to fight for freedom. He defended religious freedom in the other colonies and offered legal aid and advice to those who stood for true liberty. The religious freedoms we enjoy today were secured by great men of God like Isaac Backus.

Public school textbooks are fertile ground for the seeds of willful historical deception. A careful analysis of 60 elementary textbooks showed that none of them contained one word referring to any religious activity in contemporary American life. The texts were examined in terms of their references to religion, either directly or indirectly. One social studies book devotes 30 pages to the Pilgrims but never refers to religion as even a part of their lives. It teaches that Thanksgiving was the time when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians. There is no doubt that the Christian settlers were thankful for the Indian’s help, but the historical record shows that thanksgiving was ultimately made to God. In a booklet used in Seattle, Washington, children were told that “the Pilgrims were narrow-minded bigots who survived initially only with the Indians’ help, but turned on them when their help wasn’t needed anymore.”  Not only are the books filled with obvious biases but they also contain numerous historical inaccuracies. Supposedly Increase Mather preached a sermon in 1623 where he “gave special thanks to God for the plague of smallpox which had wiped out the majority of Wampanoag Indians.” It would have been impossible for Increase Mather to have preached such a sermon. He was not born until 1639! The rewriting of history is producing historical dunces who have no knowledge or understanding of our rich religious heritage.

Today, any elected official who makes the claim that the United States is a Christian nation is derided by a hostile press and mocked by the academic elite. In this highly charged atmosphere of political correctness, making such a claim is sure to bring gasps and outcries from those who would have us believe otherwise. In 1931, the United States Supreme Court noted that the United States is a Christian nation. In the darkest hours of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt boldly made the claim. He was attending a mid-Atlantic summit with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Roosevelt had described the United States as “the lasting concord between men and nations, founded on the principles of Christianity.” He asked the crewmen of an American warship to join him in a chorus of “Onward Christian Soldiers.” In 1947, while writing to Pope Pius XII, President Truman said, “This is a Christian nation.” Woodrow Wilson gave an address in Denver on May 7, 1911 titled “The Bible and Progress.” He said that “America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.” If these men dared utter such statements in today’s highly charged atmosphere of Political Correctness, they would be dragged into a savage debate.

Thomas Jefferson had been living in Paris where he was stationed as minister to France. During a tour of northern Italy in 1787, he drew plans for a macaroni or pasta machine. When Jefferson prepared these plans, macaroni was a very fashionable food in Paris. Jefferson returned home to Virginia and brought many European ideas to share with friends, including food that he served at his home at Monticello. But Jefferson didn’t have a macaroni machine. He wrote to his secretary who had stayed behind in Europe, requesting that he get one. The secretary traveled to Naples, Italy, where he found a “macaroni mold” which did not prove very durable. In later years, Jefferson served macaroni or spaghetti made by cutting rolled dough into strips, which were rolled by hand into noodles. Jefferson collected many French recipes such as blood sausages, pigs’ feet, and pigeon. One that has since become an American favorite was vanilla ice cream. Some of the colonists did not care for all these fancy European foods. Patrick Henry was one of them. He declared that the foods his father had eaten were good enough for him.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial was the dream of the superintendent of the State Historical Society, Doane Robinson. He believed that a massive mountain memorial carved from stone would put South Dakota on the map. Robinson was encouraged to seek a sculptor for the monumental task. Scuptor Gutzon Borglum was hard at work on a Confederate memorial on a granite cliff at Stone Mountain, Georgia. He was frustrated with inadequate funding and constant confrontations with the men who had hired him. Robinson’s proposal arrived at a most opportune time for the sculptor. The Stone Mountain board dismissed Borglum who then shifted his focus to the Black Hills.

The granite outcropping to be used for the monument was in a southeastern location, which would provide direct sunlight most of the day.  Among the most highly skilled workers were those using dynamite to blast rock from the mountain. Using techniques developed at Stone Mountain, and relying on a crew with skills acquired in mining, Borglum used dynamite in an innovative and unprecedented way to remove large amounts of rock. His “powdermen” could blast to within four inches of the finished surface and grade the contours of the lips, nose, cheeks, neck, and brow. Ninety percent of the 450,000 tons of granite removed from the mountain were taken out with dynamite. In the 6 ½ years of work, no deaths occurred and very few injuries. The monument has brought millions of onlookers to the Black Hills to view the chiseled faces of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln until, in the words of the sculptor “… the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away.”

John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, declared direct democracy to be “the meanest and worst of all forms of government. John Cotton, 17th-century Puritan minister in Massachusetts, wrote: “Democracy, I do not conceive that ever God did ordain as a fit government either for church or commonwealth. If the people be governors, who shall be the governed?” James Madison, 4th president of the United States and “father of the Constitution,” wrote that democracies are “spectacles of turbulence and contention.” Pure democracies “…have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” Contrary to what is taught in most schools, the United States is not a democracy. The Constitution itself “shall guarantee to every State in the Union a Republican form of government…” There is no mention of the word democracy in the Constitution. The founding fathers feared that the whims of the majority cut off from an ethical base would prevail if direct democracy were ever accepted as a legitimate form of government.

A most accurate definition of democracy was published in 1928 in a training manual developed by the U.S. War Department. It described a democracy as “a government of the masses.” Direct democracy, according to the manual, would result in “mobocracy.”  The “attitude toward property is communistic—negating property rights. Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate…without regard to consequences.” It is a most grievous error that many today cannot distinguish between the democratic process (the right and freedom of the people to participate directly in the political and social operations of a nation) and democracy as a system of government.

Theocracy and the democratic process are not mutually exclusive. In a theocracy, where the democratic process is retained, the people acknowledge that “God rules in the affairs of men” (Benjamin Franklin’s exhortation to the Constitutional Convention). Our founding fathers spoke in theocratic terms. Franklin expressed the theocratic/democratic ideal when he quoted Psalm 127:1 during the Convention; “Except the LORD build the house [theocracy], they labour in vain that build it [democratic process].” In the same speech, Franklin continued: “I firmly believe this and I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel…”

Abraham Lincoln expressed similar sentiments, when he appointed a “National Fast Day” on April 30, 1863: “[I]t is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon…” Lincoln understood the relationship between theocratic and democratic concepts. His message is the warp (theocracy) and woof (democratic process) of a blessed nation.

For years, Abner Doubleday was officially recognized as the creator of baseball and its rules in 1839 at Cooperstown, New York. His name has stuck with the public even though historians have disputed this honor. Later evidence pointed to the first real game being played in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1846. But in 2001, two newspaper articles were discovered that had been published in 1823 that showed an organized form of a game called “baseball” being played in Manhattan. Then on May 11, 2004, Pittsfield, Massachusetts city officials and historians released a document that shows baseball was played in Pittsfield in the late 1700s, long before Doubleday was drawing up the rules for the game.

November 11, 2005 – Japan’s Spiritual Regeneration

Japan was a changed nation after its surrender at the end of World War II, mostly because of the influence of the Christian West. Douglas MacArthur writes that “Japan underwent a spiritual recovery along with its economic and political changes. For centuries the Japanese people…have been students and idolators of the art of war and the warrior caste.” This mythology “permeated and controlled not only all branches of life—physical, mental and spiritual. It was interwoven not only into all government process, but into all phases of daily routine. It was not only the essence, but the warp and woof of Japanese existence.” Japan copied much that was good in American culture, and to a certain extent, American religious values were imposed on the Japanese people. MacArthur told “Christian ministers of the need for their work in Japan. ‘The more missionaries we can bring out here, and the more occupation troops we can send home, the better.’ The Pocket Testament League, at my request, distributed 10,000,000 Bibles translated into Japanese.” Gradually, a spiritual regeneration in Japan began to grow.

“There's Always Room for Jell-O." This is the campaign slogan of a simple gelatin dessert that became a success story through advertising and merchandising methods, new and different, never before employed.

In 1845, philanthropist and self-taught engineer Peter Cooper got a patent for a product which was set with gelatin. It never went over with the public.  Pearl B. Wait, a cough syrup manufacturer, bought the patent from Cooper and adapted the gelatin dessert into an entirely prepackaged form. His wife named the gelatin dessert "Jell-O." The company was unsuccessful, and Waite sold his formula to his neighbor Orator F. Woodward for $450. At first, Woodward fared no better than Wait. He even offered to sell the patent to his plant superintendent for $35. His superintendent refused. After a shaky start, Jell-O began to take off. Through aggressive advertising that included The Ladies Home Journal, the gelatin dessert soared to nearly one million dollars in sales in 1906. Jell-O was well on its way to becoming America’s most famous dessert.

Calling the Crusades an unprovoked attack against the Islamic world is a myth. Many attempt to paint the Crusaders as men who were nothing but greedy imperialists. We also are told that the Crusades were used to convert Muslims to Christianity, the Muslim leaders were more merciful than the Crusaders, and the Crusades were bloodier than the Islamic Jihads. There had been centuries of Muslim aggression prior to the Crusades. Christians had faced mounting persecution, even crucifixion. Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land were forced to pay tribute money. Violence against Christians in the Holy Land became routine. Christians and Jews in Jerusalem were forced to wear a stamped symbol on their hands. When Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade (the most successful of seven campaigns) in 1095, it was a defensive action long overdue. In the pope’s explanation for the Crusade, there is no mention of conversion or conquest. The action was in response to the attacks on Christians, destruction of their churches, and occupation of their lands. Not every motive or action by the Crusaders was pure but their ultimate goal was to free the Holy Land of Muslim terrorists.

It should not surprise anyone that Islamic Jihad continues to the present day. The Islamic Qur’an 48:29 explains the terrorists’ goal quite clearly: “Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another.”

One doesn’t have to search far to find evidence of Christianity’s role in the founding of our nation. Detractors of that role cannot deny the concrete evidence that abounds, especially in our nation’s capital. The words “In God We Trust” are inscribed in the House and Senate chambers. On the walls of the Capitol dome, the words “The New Testament according to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” appear. The figure of the crucified Christ is displayed in the Capitol Rotunda. The painting “The Baptism of Pocahontas at Jamestown” hangs in the Rotunda as well. The prayer room in the U.S. Capitol building features a stained glass window of George Washington kneeling in prayer and bears this prayer from Psalm 16:1: “Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.”

A relief of Moses hangs in the House Chamber. The Great Seal of the United States is inscribed with a Latin phrase which means “[God] has smiled on our undertaking.” Under the Seal is the phrase from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “This nation under God.” The Liberty Bell has Leviticus 25:10 prominently displayed in a band around its top: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto the inhabitants thereof.” The walls of the Library of Congress exhibit the verse from Micah 6:8: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth God require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.” The walls of the Washington Monument are lined with scripture verses. There is much more proof of our Christian foundation if one is willing to look. Isn’t it ironic that the very court, which opens each session with the crier exclaiming, “God save the United States and the Honorable Court,” declared on June 27, 2005, that displaying the framed Ten Commandments in a courthouse was unconstitutional!

The first order of business of the United States Congress in 1789 was to appoint chaplains. The Right Reverend Bishop Samuel Provost and reverend William Linn became publicly paid chaplains of the Senate and House respectively. Since then, both the Senate and the House have continued regularly to open their sessions with prayer. Nearly all of the fifty states make some provision in their meeting for opening prayers or devotions from guest chaplains. Few if any saw this as a violation of the First Amendment.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with his hand on a Bible. After taking the oath in Federal Hall, New York, he added, “I swear, so help me God”—words that were not part of the oath. Every president since Washington has invoked God’s name in this way. The inauguration was followed by “divine services” that were held in St. Paul’s Chapel, “performed by the Chaplain of Congress.” Prayers in Congress, the appointment of chaplains, and the call for days of prayer and thanksgiving do not stand alone in the historical record. After only a cursory study of the years leading up to and including the drafting of the Constitution and inauguration of the first president, it becomes obvious that Christianity played a foundational role in shaping our nation.

The character of “Pappy” O’Daniel, the governor of Mississippi, in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on a real life Fort Worth radio entertainer, Wilbert Lee O’Daniel, known as Pappy from the flour advertisement that opened his daily program: “Pass the biscuits, Pappy.” The film’s “Pappy” hosts the Flour Hour radio program just like the real “Pappy,” who used a band called the Hillbilly Boys similar to the film’s Soggy Bottom Boys. W. Lee O’Daniel owned the Hillbilly Flour company whose product he advertised on his show. O’Daniel had a large radio audience who faithfully listened to his broadcasts of hillbilly, religious, and historical programs. Fans urged Pappy, who had never voted, to run for governor of Texas in 1938; he agreed, and his platform was the Ten Commandments.

Many regarded O’Daniel’s candidacy as laughable, but he drew huge crowds as he traveled the state, and on election day, he received 51% of the vote. Pappy O’Daniel was re-elected for a second term as governor but left office a year later to run for the U.S. Senate. The hillbilly politician known as Pappy won, defeating a young, ambitious Lyndon B. Johnson.

At 6’2” and 332 pounds, William Howard Taft was the largest U.S. president. Taft struggled all of his life with a weight problem. He became stuck in the White House bathtub several times. There wasn’t a tub large enough for Taft’s huge frame, but the captain of the battleship North Carolina came up with a solution. When told of an approaching presidential visit, the quick-thinking officer had a special tub constructed. Satisfied with his soak at sea, Taft had the bathtub installed in the White House. It was 7 feet long and 41 inches wide and could accommodate four normal-size men.

Taft was the first president to have a car at the White House and had the stables converted into a 4-car garage. He was also the first president to throw out the first ball at the beginning of baseball season. After Arizona became a state in 1912, Taft became the first president of 48 states. During his administration, the U.S. parcel post system began, and Congress approved the 16th Amendment, providing for the levying of taxes. Taft was the only ex-president to serve on the Supreme Court as Chief Justice of the United States and the only president to swear-in subsequent presidents. Taft died just 33 days after retiring as Chief Justice and became the first president to be buried in the National cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Kneeling down on the hard wooden scaffold, Jane turned to Dr. Feckenham who stood by her. “Shall I say this Psalm?” she faltered. Overcome with emotion…he simply said, “Yea.” Jane then began to repeat Psalm 51 in English. Jane recited all nineteen verses and then rose to her feet. She called out in a clear voice, “Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Those were the last words of the young woman who was queen of England for nine days.

Jane had outstanding intellectual ability and learned Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and Italian and grasped scripture with an understanding far beyond her years. As a young teenager, Jane corresponded with Reformers in Europe such as Heinrich Bullinger. Lady Jane was the niece of Henry VIII and cousin of his son Edward VI, who was similar to Jane both intellectually and spiritually. The cousins were born in the same month of 1537 and had been taught by men who embraced the scriptures. Edward and Jane enjoyed each other’s company and shared an aptitude and love of music. Both young people would die when they were 16: Edward’s death resulted from ill health; Jane’s death came from the swift, sharp stroke of an executioner’s sword.  Her parents cared little for her and used her as a tool with which they could gain more power and prestige through a political marriage. Unfortunately, their scheming resulted in the death of their eldest daughter.  In a time when absolute truth has become a casualty of our post-modern lives, when political correctness tolerates everything except strong Christian convictions, the faith of Lady Jane Grey remains a powerful example to all of us.

It is a mystery as to why no one has ever done a full-length film of George Washington Carver. The story of this great scientist is extraordinary. He was born in 1864 in Missouri on the farm of an elderly white couple, Moses and Susan Carver. While yet an infant, George and his mother were kidnapped by Confederate night-raiders. Moses tried to locate George and his mother after the war, but he was only able to find George and traded a horse to get him back. After enduring resistance in securing an education in a segregated world, Carver entered Simpson College in Iowa. He studied piano and art since the college offered no science classes. He transferred to another college and earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in bacterial botany and agriculture. Carver became the first black faculty member of Iowa College.