Faith Works 7-1-22

Faith Works 7-1-22
Jeff Gill

Huzzah for the Fourth (or the Second)
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John Adams, our second president, was perhaps the most openly religious of our early American politicians.

When it came to the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, approved by the Continental Congress in no small part due to his efforts, Adams had strong feelings, often expressed.

It was actually on July 2, 1776 that the Continental Congress ended debate and approved the resolution initially proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7 and seconded by Adams:

"Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

In terms of parliamentary procedure, that's the motion on the floor. It was approved by the body, and the chair asked a committee of five members to draft a more formal declaration explaining this dramatic and drastic action. That's how we get the Declaration of Independence, largely written by Thomas Jefferson, with editorial assistance from Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Except the delegates as whole debated the draft, took out passages critical of the English people and of slavery, and then approved the revised Declaration on . . . July 4. Most didn't end up signing the official document until a month or more later.

It was the enabling action, though, the motion which created the authority to declare the United States as an independent nation, which Adams felt was the true cause for celebration, and indeed, for thanksgiving. And when the motion passed, later that day he wrote his wife Abigail, and said:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

John Adams, like his cousin Samuel, believed that God was in the movement towards independence. Baptist preachers like David Jones, a key figure in the pioneer settlement of Licking County, had been run out of pulpits and threatened by Loyalist mobs for saying God was engaged and interested in the American experiment towards self-government and honoring the rights of (ahem) man. (Saying "all men" had inalienable rights was a big step for 1776…)

In my own religious tradition, the Irish immigrant Alexander Campbell quickly picked up a definite reverence for the movement of the Holy Spirit as he saw it around the events of the 1770s on this continent, and in preaching during the 1810s & 1820s he always marked the Fourth of July, and when he founded Bethany College his practice until his death in 1866 was to hold over commencement ceremonies until . . . July 4 of each year.

Joseph Smith, Jr. who, in that same era was to establish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made much of the Fourth of July, and pointed to the events and the documents of the founding of this nation as having divine inspiration at work in them. We recently heard a witness at a Congressional hearing speak of this belief as a core principle of his faith, that the Constitution is in its own sense divinely inspired, looking back to Smith's prophetic statements.

Congregations and clergy today still wrestle with the proper relationship between church and state. For any church to simply casually celebrate nationalism is a step into deep and murky waters. Yet there are events, coming long after the Biblical witness, which seem to speak to us today about God's intentions, how divine design is at work in the world.

When John Adams says "solemnized" in his letter to Abigail, he doesn't mean being solemn. He's talking about the legal and civic act of firmly establishing and passing along traditions and understandings, just as we speak today of "solemnizing a marriage" in the ceremony. John wants us to have fireworks and "shews" and a good time to mark our deliverance in 1776 for every year forward.

At the same time, I think we all would benefit from some "Acts of Devotion to God Almighty" to reflect on how it all worked out, from John's day to our own.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he likes a good shew or an illumination as much as the next fellow. Tell him about your bells and bonfires at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.