Is the United States of America a Christian nation?
Many of the arguments regarding this question attempt to
examine documents or quotations from the late 1700s… but I would like to draw
from a much older source.
After the flood in the Old Testament, in a land called
Shinar, people aspired to build a great tower that they hoped would let them
ascend to heaven without having to live the laws of God. The Lord confounded the languages of many of these
people rendering them unable to communicate, but before the process was
completed, a man named Jared and his brother pled that God not confound the
language of their family. Their faith
pleased the Lord and he not only allowed them to keep their tongue, but offered
to guide their people to a land of promise.
The journey ultimately brought them to the shores of the ancient
sea. There the God of the Old Testament
revealed his identity as Jesus Christ, who would be born in the future and
perform a great sacrifice to save all men.
He also spoke of the land to which they were being led.
“…but he would that they should come forth
even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which
the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. And he had sworn in his
wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of
promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and
only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come
upon them.” (Ether 2:7-8)
The land across the sea was the American continent. Tragically, these Jaredites eventually
abandoned the guidance of Christ and his prophets, and destroyed themselves in
a civil war that had but one survivor… Just as had been promised, they had been
swept off the land, and God guided another group of people seeking refuge from
the wickedness of Zedekiah in Jerusalem to his land of promise. Among these travelers was a prophet named
Nephi. He foresaw that in spite of his
efforts to preach of the Messiah, his own people would eventually reject Jesus
and be swept off the land, but he had hope that his efforts might be valued by
those to whom Christ would lead to his promised land afterward: Christopher
Columbus and other European colonists:
“And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was
separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the
Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth
upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the
promised land. And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that
it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the
many waters.” (1 Nephi 13:12-13)
This ancient Christian prophet foretold the hand of God in
aiding the American Revolution and establishing an independent nation:
“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles
who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and
the power of the Lord was with them. And I beheld that their mother Gentiles
were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle
against them. And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also
that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against
them to battle. And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out
of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other
nations.” (1 Nephi 13:16-19)
The founding fathers were not just imagining divine
providence, they were brought here and preserved by God himself. The witness and warning of ancient Christians
regarding this place echoes across time:
“…and that after the waters had receded from off the face of
this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the
Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell
upon the face thereof;” (Ether 13:2)
Perhaps it is not important to ask “is the United States of
America a Christian nation?” Christ is
responsible for the existence of our nation, and as he has done with the land’s
previous inhabitants, he has prospered us when we have put our trust in
him. As this is his promised land, a more prudent question might be “what can we do
to make the United States of America a more Christian nation?” Our knowledge and understanding has not
advanced us so far as to make faith and penitence, charity and forgiveness,
humility and diligence, or any of the teachings of Christ obsolete. Adhering to these principles is the ultimate
in patriotism.
For more information about the role of Jesus Christ on the
American continent, visit http://mormon.org/beliefs/book-of-mormon
Music credit: Destiny of the chosen – Immediate
