Some people call it the American Revolution. Others call it the War for Independence. I call it by it’s proper name: The Presbyterian Rebellion.
The problem with the label “American Revolution” is that it all too easily confuses what happened in America in 1776 with what happened in France in 1789. The French Revolution proceeded on entirely different principles. It was atheistic and egalitarian. It was anarchic — so not surprisingly, it resulted in tyranny rather than the ordered liberty of America’s founders. It was deeply anti-Christian. America’s break with Britain, by contrast, proceeded along covenantal principles. The French people and the American people both had legitimate grievances, but the way those grievances were dealt with was completely different. The French Revolution was an attempt to completely break with Christendom. For example, the French Revolution sought to replace the 7 day week with a 10 day week so people would lose track of Sundays. The modern left, or modern progressivism, has its roots in the French Revolution. Americans, by contrast, sought to form a nation that would continue the traditions of Protestant Christendom in the new world. (Obviously, America eventually got hijacked by the same principles that drove the French Revolution, but that happened much later.)
Our war 250 years ago was a war for independence, but it was fought by people with a deeply Calvinistic theology. The case that the colonists made against King George for his covenant-breaking was rooted in Calvin’s covenantal teaching on the civil government. The men who drove the cause forward were men who had been shaped by Calvin’s theology. When Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, the majority of Washington’s generals were Presbyterian ruling elders. At least 50% of the Continental Army was Presbyterian, and most of those who were not Presbyterian were in other denominations that were Calvinistic. Presbyterian pastors who typically wore black Genevan gowns when preaching and became known as the “black-robed regiment” because they made the case for independence in their sermons. The first resolutions calling for independence came from Presbyterians — specifically Presbyterians in Mecklenburg, North Carolina and the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia. Loraine Boettener explains the role of Presbyterians in the American cause:
“With this background we shall not be surprised to find that the Presbyterians took a very prominent part in American Revolution. Our own historian Bancroft says: “The Revolution of 1776, so far as it was affected by religion, was a Presbyterian measure. It was the natural outgrowth of the principles which the Presbyterianism of the Old World planted in her sons, the English Puritans, the Scotch Covenanters, the French Huguenots, the Dutch Calvinists, and the Presbyterians of Ulster.” So intense, universal, and aggressive were the Presbyterians in their zeal for liberty that the war was spoken of in England as “The Presbyterian Rebellion.” An ardent colonial supporter of King George III wrote home: “I fix all the blame for these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians. They have been the chief and principal instruments in all these flaming measures. They always do and ever will act against government from that restless and turbulent anti-monarchial spirit which has always distinguished them everywhere.” When the news of “these extraordinary proceedings” reached England, Prime Minister Horace Walpole said in Parliament, “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.””
In Doug Kelly’s excellent book “The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World,” he describes it this way:
“The gibe of some in the British Parliament that the American revolution was “a Presbyterian Rebellion” did not miss the mark. We may include in “Presbyterian” other Calvinists such as New England Congregationalists, many of the Baptists, and others. The long-standing New England tradition of “election day sermons” continued to play a major part in shaping public opinion toward rebellion toward England on grounds of transcendent law. Presbyterian preaching by Samuel Davies and others had a similar effect in preparing the climate of religious public opinion for resistance to royal or parliamentary tyranny in the name of divine law, expressed in legal covenants. Davies directly inspired Patrick Henry, a young Anglican, whose Presbyterian mother frequently took him to hear Davies.”
If George Washington is the father of America, the Great Awakening preacher George Whitefield may be considered the grandfather of America, and John Calvin the great-grandfather of America.
So this Saturday, July 4th, I wish you a happy Presbyterian Rebellion Day! Enjoy the day, shoot off some fireworks, and give God thanks for this great nation of ours and the the sacrifices of the men who formed it.
But even as we celebrate Independence Day, we should pray for our nation. America’s founding fathers believed liberty and virtue were deeply connected, and both depended upon Christian faith. Today, the religion that created our nation is barely tolerated in the public life of the nation. Our virtue has waned and so our liberties are threatened. Pray would God would restore our land to the faith that created this nation. Pray God would raise up pastors and civil leaders like those who lived at the time of our founding. Pray God would restore marriage and family life. Pray that justice and wisdom would prevail in government. Pray the hearts of the American people would be turned to the Lord.
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