A group blog to promote discussion, debate and insight into the history, particularly religious, of America's founding. Any observations, questions, or comments relating to the blog's theme are welcomed.
James R. Rogers On Mitt Romney’s Constitutional Theology
Very interesting article that details how Mormonism (unlike orthodox Christianity) believes as a matter of official doctrine that America's Founding documents and their promotion of republicanism and political liberty are divinely inspired.
The comments [from Mormons] are illuminating. That God created America---let it come into being---fits into the view the Founders had, of America being permitted/assisted by Providence.
That the principles of liberty come from God is no different than arguing they are enshrined in the natural law, something the Founders surely argued.
This "American exceptionalism" doesn't mean that America is always right, and I think now that half of Mormons are outside the USA, the providential role of America will not be the be-all-and-end-all, but as a vital part---but only a part---of Providence's plan for human history.
It strikes me that any dimension of Mormon theological Americanism has a benign counterpart in the Founding era's providentialism.
I liked this comment a lot:
"Mormons do not quote the Constitution as scripture, but believe that it was crafted, warts and compromises and all, by a body of people who had been "raised up" by God with necessary skills for creating a nation that could be both effective and free. The concept is the same as when God told Moses he "raised up" certain men among the Israelites to be craftsmen who would be needed to prepare the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and other material objects needed in the worship of Jehovah."
These craftsmen weren't prophets, just men "raised up" for God's own purposes. We can say that of the Founders without making them quasi-divine figures.
. The belief that the God of the Bible directed the Founders has more to do with the doctrine that He has an eternal plan than it does what one group or another promotes. .
2 comments:
The comments [from Mormons] are illuminating. That God created America---let it come into being---fits into the view the Founders had, of America being permitted/assisted by Providence.
That the principles of liberty come from God is no different than arguing they are enshrined in the natural law, something the Founders surely argued.
This "American exceptionalism" doesn't mean that America is always right, and I think now that half of Mormons are outside the USA, the providential role of America will not be the be-all-and-end-all, but as a vital part---but only a part---of Providence's plan for human history.
It strikes me that any dimension of Mormon theological Americanism has a benign counterpart in the Founding era's providentialism.
I liked this comment a lot:
"Mormons do not quote the Constitution as scripture, but believe that it was crafted, warts and compromises and all, by a body of people who had been "raised up" by God with necessary skills for creating a nation that could be both effective and free. The concept is the same as when God told Moses he "raised up" certain men among the Israelites to be craftsmen who would be needed to prepare the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and other material objects needed in the worship of Jehovah."
These craftsmen weren't prophets, just men "raised up" for God's own purposes. We can say that of the Founders without making them quasi-divine figures.
.
The belief that the God of the Bible directed the Founders has more to do with the doctrine that He has an eternal plan than it does what one group or another promotes.
.
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