The Christian evangelical revival that occurred in America in the 1700s, known as the “Great Awakening,” helped to support and spread foundational ideas from the Bible in society. One important principle that Revivalists affirmed was the Judeo-Christian Law of Love.
Revivalists found the Law of Love in the two “Great Commandments” of the Bible—the commands in which people are called to love God and others. Great Awakening theologian Jonathan Edwards, in his 1746 Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, cited these commandments from the New Testament in Matthew 22:37-40 where Jesus tells the Pharisees, “‘‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’’” The second law is often referred to as the “golden rule,” of treating others as one wishes to be treated. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus says, “‘Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them.’” These two great commandments are originally found in the Old Testament (in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18).
In light of the Law of Love, Revivalists embraced religious affection and actions that express Christian love in worshipping God and serving others. Godly affection is desirable, Edwards thought, since true faith produces affections of the soul, and man’s affections are “the spring of men’s actions.” Edwards thus supported church practices of singing, praising, and prayer because he saw that they can affect the heart. In addition, Revivalists believed that love is expressed not only by affection but by action. “Love is an active principle,” Edwards declared in his 1738 sermon Charity and Its Fruits. “Reason teaches that a man’s actions are the most proper test and evidence of his love.”
Interestingly, a more rational acknowledgement of the Law of Love came from Enlightenment-era philosopher John Locke who was influential to founding-era Americans. In 1689, Locke had published an important treatise on civil governance—his Second Treatise of Civil Government—widely read by early Americans. In this treatise, Locke cited English Anglican theologian Richard Hooker’s 1593 work on church governance, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, to present a reasoned version of the golden rule. From the standpoint of Hooker, mutual love and respect among people in society is supported by the equal nature that all men share. Since all human beings have the same nature, people have a duty to love and respect one another. Locke writes in Second Treatise:
During the Awakening, Edwards and the Revivalists in America taught the Bible’s Law of Love as the foundation of godliness and virtue. Any religious or moral philosophy, Edwards believed, that lacks regard for God and others as its basis of virtue is flawed.
This Judeo-Christian principle of love would be upheld not only in American religion but later in the founding documents of the United States in their regard for the unalienable and equal rights of all people, Rule of Law, Due Process, and just civil governance.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
—–
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty – Consent of the Governed
2. The Religious Landscape of the Thirteen Colonies in the Early 1700s
3. Great Awakening Emerges in Early America – Impacting Religion, Society, Politics
4. Jonathan Edwards: Theologian of the Great Awakening
5. George Whitefield: Evangelist of the Great Awakening
6. Great Awakening Principle: The Dignity of the Human Being
7. Great Awakening Principle: All Men Equal Before God
8. Great Awakening Principle: “Born Again” Personal Spiritual Conversion
9. Great Awakening Principle: The Judeo-Christian Law of Love
10. Great Awakening Principle: The Unalienable Right to Freedom of Belief
11. Great Awakening Principle: Happiness
12. Great Awakening Principle: Purpose for Just Civil Government
13. Great Awakening Effects on American Religion: A New Church Landscape
14. Great Awakening Effects on Society: Education, Missions, Humanitarianism, Women, Gospel
15. Great Awakening Effects on American Unity, Democracy, Freedom, & Revolution
—–
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 5, Part 1, Activity 5: Jonathan Edwards Teaches Conscience, Morality, Individual Religious Conversion, Happiness, p. 179, 350. MS-HS.
Jonathan Edwards Teaches Conscience, Morality, Individual Religious Conversion, Happiness…
Purpose/Objective: Students learn about Great Awakening theologian Jonathan Edwards and his well-known teachings and writings on Christian belief, life, and doctrine regarding conscience, morality, religious conversion, and happiness which played an important role in educating colonists during the Great Awakening.
Suggested Readings:
1) Chapter 5 of Miracle of America reference/text. Students read sections Introduction, 5.1, 5.2, 5.6-5.10.
2) Related blogs/videos (see above).
Close Reading Activity:
Students break into groups to analyze passages from Edwards that pertain to this section (see attached handout). Each group will share with the class a summary of the passage, an analysis of its philosophical and religious concepts, and an evaluation of how these ideas played out in society during the Great Awakening. The teacher can assess students’ grasp of Edwards’ message and its effects on the revival movement and society as a whole. See the “Jonathan Edwards Excerpts: Close Reading Activity” handout in the “Supporting Resources” section of the course guide, p. 350.
—–
To download this whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the “resources” page on americanheritage.org. To order the printed binder format of the course guide with all the units, go to the AHEF bookstore.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1899
When the Pilgrims arrived in America in 1620, they initially intended to sail to the colony of Virginia. However, they found themselves north of their destination and outside of England’s colonial jurisdiction and charter. In response, they together signed the Mayflower Compact to serve as a charter for founding their new colony of Plymouth.
The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact was quite unique and revolutionary. Most charters at the time were between a king and his inferior subjects. But the Pilgrims’ pact was among equals who recognized God as their High Authority to sanction their agreement. They saw God as their king. The Pilgrims and Puritans derived this idea from the Bible, often citing Isaiah 33:22 which says that “God is our Judge, Lawgiver, and King.” As such, the Pilgrims’ compact was a strikingly new, democratic initiative that enacted the principle of self-government among equals. It created a civil self-government to govern their new colony by the people. At that time, self-governments did not exist anywhere else in the world.
The Mayflower Compact states, …
The Mayflower Compact was the Pilgrims’ first self-governing act in America. It initiated the principle and value of self-government that would endure and later become a key founding principle of the United States of America.
From AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
Source for more information:
Kamrath, Angela E. The Miracle of America: The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief. Second Edition. Houston, TX: American Heritage Education Foundation, 2014, 2015. Third edition (2020) is available!
Related articles/videos:
1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty
2. Who were the Pilgrims? Why did they come to America?
3. Why the Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
4. The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact as a Covenant
5: The Pilgrims and Private Property: What the Pilgrims Might Have Thought About Communism and Socialism
6. The History of Thanksgiving Day in America
7. Three P’s That Led to Freedom in the West: Printing Press, Protestant Reformation, & Pilgrims
—–
Middle & High School Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 2, Part 2, Activity 3: Principles of the Mayflower Compact, pp. 80, 331-334. MS-HS.
Principles of the Mayflower Compact…
To download these and other readings and units, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the member resources page on americanheritage.org.
—–
To receive blog updates, we invite you to subscribe to the Founding Blog on this page.
This blog is provided by the American Heritage Education Foundation (AHEF). AHEF is a non-profit organization dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America’s founding philosophy, principles, documents, and history. AHEF’s work is made possible by the donations of private individuals and organizations. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to AHEF to support our mission. Thank you!
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
Why the Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
In their voyage to America, the Pilgrims compared themselves to the Israelites in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Israelites, also known as Hebrews or Jews, were God’s chosen people. In the book of Exodus, they escaped from bondage in Egypt with God’s help, wandered in the desert wilderness, renewed their covenant with God at Mount Sinai, and claimed the Promised Land of Canaan.
Like the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, the Pilgrims had left what they saw as an oppressive, degraded situation in Europe, in which they could not worship freely, in order to create a new life in America. They were God’s people, and America was their Promised Land. What is more, the Pilgrims, like the Israelites in the wilderness, endured severe trials during their first year at Plymouth Colony in America. They lacked food, clothing, supplies, and shelter. They also faced a harsh winter and poor farming conditions. As such, the Pilgrim`s suffered from starvation, sickness, and death. Only half of them survived the first year.
In his journal, The History of Plymouth Settlement, Pilgrim leader William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth Colony, compares the Pilgrim’s voyage to and early experience in America with the Israelites’ migration from Egypt to Canaan:
Our fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean and were ready to perish in the wilderness, but they cried to the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity…. Yes, let them who have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He has delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered forth into the desert-wilderness, out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men.
Thankfully, the Pilgrims learned how to plant crops from friendly Native Americans, and they planted many crops in the spring. They also trusted in and had faith in God for His provision, which gave them spiritual and moral fortitude. The following autumn, they reaped a plentiful harvest. They thus survived and freely prospered in their new colony in America.
The Pilgrims thus found many similarities with the Israelites in Exodus with regard to their own Pilgrim experiences in migration to and settlement in America. Trusting in God for direction and provision, the Pilgrims, like the Israelites, experienced oppression, migration, trials, and, ultimately, freedom and blessing in their new land.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
Source for more information:
Kamrath, Angela E. The Miracle of America: The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief. Second Edition. Houston, TX: American Heritage Education Foundation, 2015.
Related articles/videos:
1. Who were the Pilgrims? Why did they come to America?
2. The Mayflower Compact: The Pilgrims’ First Self-Governing Act in America
3. The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact as a Covenant
4: The Pilgrims and Private Property: What the Pilgrims Might Have Thought About Communism and Socialism
5. The History of Thanksgiving Day in America
6. Three P’s That Led to Freedom in the West: Printing Press, Protestant Reformation, & Pilgrims
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 2, Part 1, Activity 7: Comparison Between Pilgrims and Israelites in Migration, pp. 69, 322. MS-HS. (This activity continues in Unit 3, Part 1, on Puritans.)
Comparison Between Pilgrims and Israelites in Migration…
To download the unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the member resources page on americanheritage.org.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Pilgrims were Christians, Separatist Puritans, who came to America for Religious Freedom
The Reformation of the 1500s had given rise to a devout group of Christians in England in the 1600s who called for reform and purification of the Church of England. Though the Church of England, which had been under the Roman Catholic Church for centuries, implemented some moderate reforms and became Protestant during the Reformation, some English Protestants did not believe its reforms went far enough. The “Puritans,” as they were called, wanted to purify the church from within. They wanted to expel from the church what they saw as heresy and corruption in the church’s doctrine and worship practices. One remnant of this group believed the church was too corrupt to be restored, and they separated from it altogether. These “Separatists,” as they were called, refused to conform to the existing church. The Separatists’ movement was outlawed, so they met secretly in a home in Scrooby, England. To escape persecution, they moved to Leyden, Holland. Disillusioned by hardship and the secular society of Holland, they ultimately set sail for America. They would become known as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims’ migration across the Atlantic on the Mayflower vessel in 1620 would prove to be an historic move.
The Pilgrims’ primary reason for coming to America was religious freedom. They wanted freedom to believe and worship without harassment or persecution. They sought freedom in America to set up their own church and community as they believed and chose. As early French historian Alexis de Tocqueville observes in his well-known 1835 Democracy in America, the Pilgrims sought some “unfrequented part of the world, where they could live according to their own opinions, and worship God in freedom….” The Pilgrims also hoped, in the process, to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Like other Christians, the Pilgrims and Puritans were monotheistic, believing in one God—the God of the Bible. They identified God as Creator (Genesis 1 and 2, Isaiah 42:5), Provider (Genesis 22, 1 Corinthians 5:7), and Supreme Ruler or Judge of the world (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, Psalm 97:1). They recognized God’s supreme authority or “sovereignty” in the world. God’s sovereignty means that all human and earthly spheres—including church, civil government, family, and individual—are under God’s rule and are accountable to God. God is the highest authority on earth among equal men.
The Pilgrims’ and Puritans’ Bible-based view of God’s sovereignty affected their political as well as religious views. It affected their organization of church and civil government. It also set an important precedent for the direction of the Puritan colonies in New England and, ultimately, for the founding of the new nation.
Contributed by AHEF and Angela E. Kamrath.
Source for more information:
Kamrath, Angela E. The Miracle of America: The Influence of the Bible on the Founding History and Principles of the United States of America for a People of Every Belief. Second Edition. Houston, TX: American Heritage Education Foundation, 2015.
Related blogs/videos:
1. Why the Pilgrims Identified with the Israelites
2. The Mayflower Compact: The Pilgrims’ First Self-Governing Act in America
3. The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact as a Covenant
4: The Pilgrims and Private Property: What the Pilgrims Might Have Thought About Communism and Socialism
5. The History of Thanksgiving Day in America
6. Three P’s That Led to Freedom in the West: Printing Press, Protestant Reformation, & Pilgrims
Activity: The Miracle of America High School Teacher Course Guide, Unit 2, Part 1, Activity 8: Learning More About the Puritans, pp. 69, 318-319. ES-HS.
To download the whole unit, sign up as an AHEF member (no cost) to access the member resources page on americanheritage.org.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.
Women’s History Month – Katherine Lee Bates
In honor of Women’s History Month, we wanted to share a blog featuring the author of “America the Beautiful” Katherine Lee Bates.
“America the Beautiful” first appeared in print in 1895. Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929) wrote the poem in 1893. She wrote a second version in 1904 and the final version in 1913.
Katharine Lee Bates was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts on August 12, 1859. In 1880, she graduated from Wellesley College where she taught from 1886 -1925. She wrote books of poetry and books about her travels around the world. She also enjoyed writing stories for children. Miss Bates loved animals and often had her picture taken with her collie, Hamlet, and her parrot, Polonius. She retired in 1925 and died four years later on March 28, 1929.
In the summer of 1893, Miss Bates was teaching at Colorado College. She joined a group of teachers one afternoon on a trip to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado. When she reached the top of the mountain, she was inspired by the beautiful view to write the first four verses of her poem. She wrote in her journal:
“One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”
Lesson Plan Ideas:
- Define: spacious, amber, majesties, grace, brotherhood
- Who wrote the poem America the Beautiful?
- Where was the poem first written?
- What beautiful things are described in the poem?
- What does “God shed his grace on thee” mean?
- What does “from sea to shining sea” mean?
Activity: America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty. Unit 10: America the Beautiful. pp. 163-166. ES.
This unit is available to download from the Member Resources at www.americanheritage.org.
Copyright © American Heritage Education Foundation. All rights reserved.