One objective routinely repeats throughout the course of all history: God’s goal. It is very important to understand what God has been trying to accomplish—and how He is accomplishing it—in order to prepare us for His coming. Matthew 24:44 verifies this by saying “For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming” (Recovery Version). Readiness involves a clear mind with no distractions. Confusion, as 1 Timothy 3:6 states, disables man from discerning what is of God and what is of Satan. If man can “stay calm, faithful, and unconfused…the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished” (Chambers). History, then, must be analyzed from the Biblical perspective. Throughout history, God has
…show more content…
In 1787 education consisted of, and required, religion, morality, and knowledge (Skousen 676). From the absolute beginning of the United States, however, God was working towards this goal: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776, evoked Americans’ attention because of the religious content. Although Thomas Paine admitted in his pamphlet The Age of Reason his atheistic worldview, he “had an intuitive grasp of religious appeals that would move his American audience to political action” (Heyrman). This indicates that even in 1776, religious education was important. God already had what He wanted, although Thomas Paine’s case indicates that it did not always accomplish His goal.
God also wants to become one with man, but this oneness depends entirely on man’s attitude toward God. Man must be in a position where he can grow in the Lord. This needs God’s word: “With what should a young man keep his way pure? / By guarding it according to Your word.” Without religious freedom this would be difficult. Man must also be open, however. Matthew 25:11 says that we will come to the Lord saying “Lord, lord, open to us!” Man must open to the Lord in order to ask Him to open to man. The Lord was trying to fulfill these …show more content…
Thomas Kidd, a professor of history at Baylor University, says that man’s actions result “from ideas—or lack thereof—about God” (246). From this definition, however, it becomes difficult to tell what Americans thought of God: although America prospered, was it because of positive perceptions of God, or negative ones? Trends in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries toward romanticism seem to show negative perceptions. “Romanticism…represented a reaction against the rationalistic deism of the eighteenth century and a return to mystic religion” (Sullivan 531). With the recent victory over Britain in the Revolutionary War, though, some colonists gave credit to God. It appears, then, that half of the population did not have positive perceptions of God while half did. But why would God make a new country if He did not get anything out of it? There must have been a more positive view towards
In 1787 education consisted of, and required, religion, morality, and knowledge (Skousen 676). From the absolute beginning of the United States, however, God was working towards this goal: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776, evoked Americans’ attention because of the religious content. Although Thomas Paine admitted in his pamphlet The Age of Reason his atheistic worldview, he “had an intuitive grasp of religious appeals that would move his American audience to political action” (Heyrman). This indicates that even in 1776, religious education was important. God already had what He wanted, although Thomas Paine’s case indicates that it did not always accomplish His goal.
God also wants to become one with man, but this oneness depends entirely on man’s attitude toward God. Man must be in a position where he can grow in the Lord. This needs God’s word: “With what should a young man keep his way pure? / By guarding it according to Your word.” Without religious freedom this would be difficult. Man must also be open, however. Matthew 25:11 says that we will come to the Lord saying “Lord, lord, open to us!” Man must open to the Lord in order to ask Him to open to man. The Lord was trying to fulfill these …show more content…
Thomas Kidd, a professor of history at Baylor University, says that man’s actions result “from ideas—or lack thereof—about God” (246). From this definition, however, it becomes difficult to tell what Americans thought of God: although America prospered, was it because of positive perceptions of God, or negative ones? Trends in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries toward romanticism seem to show negative perceptions. “Romanticism…represented a reaction against the rationalistic deism of the eighteenth century and a return to mystic religion” (Sullivan 531). With the recent victory over Britain in the Revolutionary War, though, some colonists gave credit to God. It appears, then, that half of the population did not have positive perceptions of God while half did. But why would God make a new country if He did not get anything out of it? There must have been a more positive view towards