-Caveat Lector-
THE PULPIT AND THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
http://www.gbt.org/wilkins/pulpit_and_the_war_for_independe.htm
Men do not fight against overwhelming odds for money (greed will only take
you so far). Anger and frustration melt away when the foe is seen as
virtually indomitable. Even fame and power have their limits when it comes
to their power to motivate men to do what to all the world seems
impossible. This being the case, what was it that motivated the patriots of
the 18th century to take on the most powerful military force in the world
of that day? This is a question that has not been asked frequently enough.
If you have the opportunity to ask one of our modern secular experts, you
normally get a blank stare.
What was it that moved farmers, merchants, artisans, shopkeepers, teachers,
and even pastors to take up arms (and sometimes farm implements) and engage
the mightiest army in the world on the field of battle? Perry Miller has
noted that the motivation did not come from the vain philosophies of the
day: "a 'pure rationalism' might have declared the independence of the
American people, but it could never have inspired them to fight for it." To
do what the men of this country did in 1775 we need far more than abstract
philosophical concepts. This kind of action is motivated only by faith in a
cause that is viewed as essential to life itself and which cannot fail.
Such a cause was declared to the people of this country by the colonial pulpit.
Historian J. Wingate Thornton, in his book, The Pulpit of the American
Revolution (1860), draws this conclusion, "To the pulpit, the Puritan
pulpit, we owe the moral force which won our independence." James Adams has
observed, "The political leaders may have declared independence, but the
minister turned the revolt into a holy war." (Yankee Doodle Went to Church,
p. 152) What were these men like?
The Pastors of the War of Independence. There are at least two things which
are notable about these men:
These were men who not only spoke well but lived well. Their lives mightily
confirmed their words. They often backed up their preaching with astounding
works. These were not men who called upon others to fight while hiding
themselves in safety. These men did not hesitate to put their own lives on
the line. During the battles of Lexington and Concord, Chelsea's minister,
Philips Payson, captured two British supply wagons single-handedly.
John Craighead raised a company of militia from his parish and himself led
them off to join Washington in New Jersey, where it was recorded that he
"fought and preached alternately." So numerous, in fact, were the fighting
pastors that the Tories referred to them as "the black regiment, " and
blamed them for much of the resurgent zeal of the Colonial troops."
(Marshall and Manuel, op. cit., p. 290)
One of the most colorful examples comes from the Lutheran pastor Peter
Muhlenberg. He was preaching on the text, "For everything there is a
season, and a time for every matter under heaven." (Eccl. 3:1). As he
reached the end of his sermon he said, "In the language of the Holy Writ,
there is a time for all things. There is a time to preach and a time to
fight . . . And now is the time to fight! . . . Roll the drums for
recruits!" That same afternoon, Peter Muhlenberg marched off at the head of
a regiment of three-hundred men. (Ibid., p. 291)
Muhlenberg's brother Frederick (who was also a minister) once criticized
him for actually taking up arms. Muhlenberg replied, "I am a clergyman, it
is true, but I am a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my
liberty is as dear to me as any man. Shall I then sit still, and enjoy
myself at home, when the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven
forbid it!" (Adams, op. cit., pp. 162- 163)
James Hall of North Carolina (Presbyterian minister who would later be the
pioneer missionary in the valley of the Mississippi) was selected as
leader, and accepted the command of a company formed mainly from his own
congregation. Such was his ability and reputation that he was offered the
commission of brigadier-general. Dr. Ashbel Green, who would later become a
leading figure and theologian in the Presbyterian Church (authoring one of
the few commentaries on the Westminster Assembly's Larger Catechism),
obtained the distinction of orderly sergeant in the militia of the
Revolutionary army.
Another example is James Caldwell pastor of the Presbyterian church of
Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Caldwell's church was a hothouse of patriotic
sentiment. The leading patriots of the colony were members of his church.
When the news arrived on July 15, 1776, that the leaders of the colonies
had declared Independence, the local militia celebrated the news with a
"barrel of grog," with Chaplain Caldwell giving the opening toast. Caldwell
always carried sidearms and boasted that no four men could take him alive.
Often before beginning his sermon, he would unbuckle a his holster and
place his pistols in front of him on the pulpit and then begin to preach!
(Adams, op. cit., p. 164) Historian J. T. Headley wrote that Caldwell
believed himself "engaged in . . . the cause of God and that cause he did
not consider would be advanced by yielding himself unresistingly into the
hands of a skulking Tory to be dragged to the scaffold." (Ibid.)
The British, vexed over his influence and outspoken patriotism, offered
large rewards for his capture. When Caldwell was gone from home on one of
his frequent forays with the colonial forces, the British forces under the
command of the Hessian mercenary, General Wilhelm von Knyphausen entered
the town to capture him and began to sack it. One of the redcoats jumped
the fence surrounding his house and fired through the front window, killing
his wife who was in the house with her nine children. The soldiers then set
the house on fire. Neighbors collected the children and dragged Mrs.
Caldwell's body out of the house but had to flee for their own safety.
Caldwell received the news in camp, secured a flag of truce and returned
back to his home only to find the village in ruins. He found his wife's
body outside the house and his terrified children at a neighbor's house
nearby. Caldwell buried his wife, placed his children under the care of one
of his neighbors and returned to the army in Springfield.
Two weeks later when the forces of Knyphausen returned, the colonial forces
engaged them with fierce tenacity. "At the height of the shooting, the
Patriots, taking cover behind a fence that was adjacent to [the
Presbyterian] church, ran out of the paper wadding needed for their
muskets. Caldwell [ran into the church house] gathered up all the copies of
Watts Psalms and Hymns he could carry, and rushed out to the crouching
riflemen. Tearing pages out of the hymnals, he passed them out shouting,
'Put Watts into 'em, boys! Give 'em Watts!" (Ibid., p. 291)
Of course we cannot overlook the influence of John Witherspoon. Witherspoon
was especially prominent in the independence movement. One crown official
in the colonies wrote back to England that, the labors of such clergymen as
John Witherspoon so influenced the shape of the conflict that it had become
"at the bottom, very much a religious War." (quoted in Mark Noll, op. cit.,
p. 65) Witherspoon's influence was truly enormous.
He was elected as a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress
and served for five years. He was the only minister to sign the Declaration
of Independence. During his period of service in Congress he served on over
120 committees.
It was his leadership and influence during his years at Princeton which had
even more impact on this nation:
"Witherspoon's labors as president of Princeton were perhaps as important
for the Patriot cause as his public office-holding and his public defense
of Whiggery. One historian of colonial Presbyterianism has written that the
British should have called Princeton 'Witherspoon's seminary of sedition'
in light of its Revolutionary influence on a generation of American
ministers an public servants. James Madison was the most well known of the
many prominent leaders of the early United States who learned statecraft as
well as theology from Witherspoon." (Mark Noll, Christians in the American
Revolution, pp. 65,66)
Nine of the fifty-five delegates at the Constitutional Convention were
former students of Witherspoon. His other students included a
Vice-President, ten cabinet officers, twenty-one senators, thirty-nine
congressmen, twelve governors, and numerous ministers, lawyers, judges, and
other public officials.
Witherspoon was especially prominent in the debate over the Declaration of
Independence. There was strenuous opposition to the formal declaration by
some of the most respected members of the Assembly. John Dickenson of
Pennsylvania was most prominent and outspoken in his opposition. Dickenson
felt that the Declaration would not help them in the struggle and might
possibly hurt them severely. It might serve to unite the various parties in
Britain against the colonial cause. Foreign powers might be reluctant to
support the colonial cause with such a Declaration made public. There ought
to be some agreement, argued Dickenson, on the nature of the confederacy
that will exist between the colonies before any such Declaration by made.
These were strong arguments in themselves but they carried peculiar weight
coming from Dickenson.
In this crucial moment, John Witherspoon arose to respond, "There is a tide
in the affairs of men, a nick of time. We perceive it now before us. To
hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon your
table, . . . should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this
house . . . For my own part, of property I have some, of reputation more.
That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this
contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descend into the
sepulchre, I would infinitely rather that they descend thither by the hand
of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my
country." (Breed, op. cit., p. 166)
These men did not fear other men. Their boldness is amazing. The boldness
and courage of American pastors is illustrated by Samuel Davies (called
"the Apostle of Virginia" and the pastor of Patrick Henry's boyhood). Once,
when Davies was President of Princeton College, he went to London to
solicit funds for the University:
"King George III was attracted by his reputation and went to hear him
preach. Greatly impressed by his eloquence, the King arose [during the
sermon] saying, 'This is a worthy cause presented by a worthy man . . .'
But Mr. Davies fixed his eyes on His Majesty and said: 'When the lion
roareth, the beasts of the forest tremble; when the Lord speaketh, let the
Kings of the earth keep silence.'"
Time would fail us to speak of pastors like Patrick Alison of Baltimore,
William Tennent in Charlestown, George Duffield in Philadelphia, John
Miller in Dover, James Waddell and John Blair Smith in Virginia, John
Carmichael in Lancaster, and Robert Davidson of the First Presbyterian
Church of Philadelphia. Or chaplains like Alexander McWhorter, chaplain of
Knox's brigade; James F. Armstrong, chaplain of the second brigade of the
Maryland forces; Adam Boyd, chaplain of the North Carolina brigade; and Dr.
John Rodgers, chaplain of Heath's brigade.
On the 19th of April, 1776, the people of Lexington had been awakened in
the middle of the night by the ringing of the bell of the Presbyterian
Church. That bell was pulled by the pastor, the Rev. Jonas Clark. His wife
was the cousin of John Hancock and the two men had spent many hours
discussing the great principles of liberty and freedom. Rev. Clark had not
withheld the fruit of his discussions and study from his people but had
instructed them carefully from the pulpit and in town meetings on what
God's Word required of men. On the morning of April 19, he roused them from
their sleep to put into action what they had been taught.
One hundred fifty men responded and took their place in the dim starlight
in front of the church waiting for the advancing British troops. Once John
Hancock and John Adams had asked Rev. Clark if his men would fight? "Yes,"
Clark replied, "not only would they fight, but die right there, under the
shadow of the house of God, and in the presence of their pastor." When the
British arrived the order was given to these men to throw down their arms
and disperse. They refused and the muskets fired. When the British
retreated, Pastor Clark walked up to the line and found seven men of his
congregation dead. His only response was, "From this day will be dated the
liberty of the world."
One realizes after seeing the character of these men why it is said that
the colonists treated them "with the kind of reverential regard that [they]
refused to give kings and Anglican bishops." (James L. Adams, Yankee Doodle
Went to Church, p. 30) The men whom God used to stir the fires of
independence were men of uncommon insight, foresight, courage and
uncompromising faithfulness.
-- They believed their obligation was to proclaim the whole counsel of God
and they sought diligently to do that.
-- They believed that Christ was the rightful King and ruler of this (and
all other) nations. His word was Law and so it was proclaimed.
-- Their preaching settled the country in the conviction that the Bible was
the sole rule of faith and life. It contained not only the law for the
individual but was also the great political textbook.
-- Their lives confirmed their words. Their instruction and their example
were mightily used of God to confirm men in the value of standing firmly
for the cause of God and truth.
It is in the light of the examples of these men that we begin to see one of
the chief causes for the pitiable weakness of the modern church. If the
watchmen refuse to sound a loud and certain note, who will prepare
themselves for the day of battle? We are in desperate need of faithful
"watchmen." Men who care more for the truth of God than for the opinions of
"experts." Men who desire the good of their flocks more than their own
ease. Men who have more zeal for God's glory than they do for their own.
Men who long to see God's name honored more than their reputations inflated.
This is the great need of the hour. We crave bold, courageous, sacrificial,
zealous, faithful men. We stand in desperate need of men who will be
shepherds, guardians, captains, leaders, and examples to the flock. Pray
the Lord of the harvest that He might again raise up such laborers who will
again go forth and build up His Church in the grace and knowledge of Christ!
-end article-
-------------
-tHE eXTREMIST
"We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient.
He reigns in heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His
Kingdom come."
-Samuel Adams, At the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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