Culture & Ideology Archives

Freemasonry in the Founding Era

As a result of the increased attention that Americans are now paying to Freemasonry, there has been a growing number of claims about the relationship of Freemasonry to America’s Founding Fathers and the nation they created. From the outset, we must acknowledge: Freemasonry is a non-Christian organization that, especially after the early 1800s, became an explicitly anti-Christian one. Yet many of the claims made about Freemasonry and its influence in the Founding Era are greatly exaggerated and historically incorrect. Below are five important points to know when addressing the topic of Freemasonry and the Founding Fathers.

1. Relatively few of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons.

Of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, a maximum of one in six (16%) could be considered Freemasons;¹ and of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention that formed the US Constitution, it was at most one in four (25%).² These numbers represent the highest number possible based on even the scantest evidence and include not only the inactive Masonic Founders but also those with inconclusive evidence of alleged Masonic activity. Those with indisputable evidence of having been Freemasons actually represent a much lower percentage than the maximum number indicated.

Founders such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, James Madison, Charles Carroll, John Jay, Samuel Adams, and so many others who have been accused of being Freemasons were not. These modern claims cite no contemporary evidence from the lives of the signers and are flatly wrong.

2. Even among the few Founders who were Freemasons, Freemasonry did not exert significant influence on their thinking or behavior.

As an example, Constitution signer John Dickinson became a Mason on January 11, 1780, but his membership was followed by the notation in the Masonic records: “Never since appeared in Lodge.”³ Declaration signer William Hooper became a Freemason, but then the Lodge of which he was a member ceased to exist,⁴ and no records have been found of his attending any other Lodge. Constitution signer James McHenry became a Freemason on May 21, 1806; but his entry in the records is followed by the notation, “Struck off, 1809,”⁵ after only three years in the organization.

Given the small percentage of Founders who had any affiliation with Freemasonry and given the weakness of the influence that Masonry asserted on the small handful that did have a connection, Freemasonry’s influence on the American Founding is far less significant than what modern conspiracies claim.

3. George Washington was an inactive Freemason, and Freemasonry was not a formative influence in his life. Washington was first and foremost a Christian.

Washington’s Involvement

William Adrian Brown, former librarian at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, compiled a chronological list of George Washington’s life activities.⁶ In his research, he identified Washington as an active participant in only 14 Masonic activities during his 47 years of being a Freemason. Moreover, according to Mark A. Tabbert, who most recently served as Director of Museum Collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, only ten of those activities involved attendance at a Masonic lodge.⁷ For comparison, this means that an atheist who only attends church with their grandparents once a year on Christmas is attending church more frequently than George Washington attended lodge. In other words, the genuine Masonic activities in which Washington participated were few and far between.

In the late 1790s, the Rev. G. W. Snyder wrote George Washington with concerns about the influence of Freemasonry in Europe, wrongly believing him to be an active Mason. Learning this, Washington wrote him to “correct an error you have run into of my presiding over the English lodges in this country. The fact is I preside over none, nor have I been in one more than once or twice within the last thirty years.”⁸

Abundant historical evidence affirms that Freemasonry was not a defining influence in Washington’s life; instead, it was his Christianity which was central to his identity.

Washington’s Beliefs

Testimonies abounded from Washington’s contemporaries confirming his Christianity. For example:

A Christian, in faith and practice, he was habitually devout. His reverence for religion is seen in his example, his public communications, and his private writings.⁹ JARED SPARKS, HISTORIAN AND BIOGRAPHER

Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.¹⁰ JOHN MARSHALL, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES, LIEUTENANT AND CAPTAIN IN THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, BIOGRAPHER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

George Washington. . . . respects God’s Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness.¹¹ THE REV. HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG, PASTOR; FOUNDER OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, LIVED NEAR VALLEY FORGE

[I]f we cannot aspire at his talents as a General, a President, or a Statesman, we may imitate his virtues as a man, a citizen, and a Christian.¹² ABIEL HOLMES, REVOLUTIONARY SURGEON; HISTORIAN

Christianity is the highest ornament of human nature. Washington practiced upon this belief. . . . He was neither ostentatious nor ashamed of his Christian profession.¹³ JEREMIAH SMITH, REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; U.S. CONGRESSMAN; GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Washington told his soldiers, “To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian.”¹⁴ As president, he issued multiple proclamations calling the nation to prayer before Almighty God.¹⁵ Over his lifetime, Washington personally acknowledged the direct intervention and Providence of God on more than 250 occasions.¹⁶

Perhaps the most concise testimony of George Washington’s overt Christian faith comes from Nelly Custis, Washington’s adopted daughter. In a letter she wrote to Jared Sparks, a chaplain of Congress, Nelly forcefully declared:

I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity. His life, his writings, prove that he was a Christian. . . . . As well may we question his patriotism—his heroic, disinterested devotion to his country.¹⁷

4. There is no evidence of Masonic influence in the design of Washington, DC.

Neither of the two men (Pierre Charles L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicot) who were responsible for the actual creation of Washington, DC’s original city layout in the 1790s were Freemasons. Nor are there any primary sources from this period suggesting any Freemasonic influence. In fact, the current claim that the street layout of Washington, DC, was designed to imitate a Freemasonic symbol did not even emerge until the 1980s.

The burden of proof lies with those claiming that Washington, DC was designed with Masonic symbolism, but the claim lacks any good evidence to which they can point. Significantly, any city with multiple diagonal avenues crossing a grid or converging on plazas will generate multi-pointed shapes if you selectively connect intersections. By this logic, the Freemasonic trope claimed to be unique to Washington DC could be identified in nearly any major city.

5. The Bible was the primary influence on the Founding Fathers

In his book The Origins of American Constitutionalism, Donald Lutz reports the findings of his team of political scientists who embarked on a project to analyze the political writings, compacts, constitutions, and charters from the Founding Era (1760-1805). Their goal was to isolate and identify the specific works quoted in those writings. If the sources of the specific quotes in those writings could be identified, then the origin of the Founders’ political ideas could be documented.

Beginning with some 15,000 representative writings, then finally reducing the focus to the most significant 916 that had explicit political content, the researchers isolated 3,154 direct quotations and then documented the origins of those quotations. Their research revealed the single most cited authority in the writings of the Founding Era was the Bible: thirty-four percent of the documented quotes were taken from the Bible.¹⁸ (For context, the three most-cited individuals were Baron de Montesquieu [8.3% of quotations], William Blackstone [7.9%], and John Locke [2.9%]—each of whom was a Christian thinker; but the most cited source was the Bible.).¹⁹

Summary:

As more claims arise about the influence of Freemasonry over America’s Founding Fathers, it is important to test these claims against historical evidence. While a minority of the Founders had some association with Freemasonry, the evidence shows that both the number of Founders who were Masons and the influence of Freemasonry on those Founders has been overstated. To the contrary, the historical evidence points to Christianity as a far stronger influence on the Founders. Those pushing the narrative that Freemasonry was centerstage in the American founding are either misled about their nation’s history or being intentionally dishonest to disparage the Founding Fathers.

_______________________

Endnotes

1 The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania lists 5 signers of the Declaration as Freemasons (see Ronald E. Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers (Silver Spring: Masonic Service Association, 1974), p. 93, “Philip Livingston,” quoting GL Proc. Pennsylvania, 1909, p. 463 – Report on Correspondence; while the Masonic Service Association lists a possibility of 9 signers of the Declaration as possible Freemasons (see Ronald E. Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers (Silver Spring: Masonic Service Association, 1974), p. xvi). The maximum of nine Declaration signers who might have been Masons are John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, William Hooper, William Whipple, Joseph Hewes, Robert Treat Paine, Richard Stockton, George Walton, William Ellery. See also Paul M. Bessel’s website, “Freemasons & the U.S. Declaration of Independence” (at http://bessel.org/declmas.htm).

2 Henry Wilson Coil, Conversations on Freemasonry, Lewis C. Wes Cook, editor (Chicago: Macok Publishing and Masonic Supply Co. Inc., 1976), pp. 265-266. Those delegates include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, David Brearley, Gunning Bedford Jr., Oliver Ellsworth, Rufus King, John Dickinson, Jacob Broom, William Pierce, and Daniel Carroll. And According to Coil, six other delegates became Freemasons after the Convention: William Davie Jr., James McHenry, John Mercer, William Patterson, Jonathan Dayton, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer.

3 Brother Ronald E. Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers (Silver Spring: Masonic Service Association, 1974), p. 16.

4 Brother Ronald E. Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers (Silver Spring: Masonic Service Association, 1974), pp. 74, 31.

5 Brother Ronald E. Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers (Silver Spring: Masonic Service Association, 1974), p. 43.

6 William A. Brown, When & Where: A Chronology of the Life of George Washington (United States: William A. Brown, 1984).

7 Mark A. Tabbert, A Deserving Brother: George Washington and Freemasonry (University of Virginia Press, 2022).

8 Washington to G. W. Snyder, September 25, 1798, Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1941), XXXVI:453.

9 Jared Sparks, The Life of George Washington (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.), 492.

10 John Marshall, The life of George Washington, written for the use of schools (Philadelphia: James Crissy, 1844), 376.

11 Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, The Journals of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, Theodore Tappert and John Dobestein, translators (Philadelphia: Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States, 1958), Vol. III, p. 149.

12 Abiel Holmes, The Counsel of Washington, Recommended in a Discourse Delivered at Cambridge, February 22, 1800 (Boston: Samuel Hall, 1800), p. 20.

13 Eulogies, p. 190, from an oration delivered by Jeremiah Smith on February 22, 1800.

14 Washington, “General Orders,” May 2, 1778, Writings of Washington, ed. Fitzpatrick (1934), 11:343.

15 George Washington, Proclamation—Day of National Thanksgiving, October 03, 1789; George Washington, Proclamation 6—Day of Public Thanksgiving, January 01, 1795.

16 Peter A. Lillback with Jerry Newcombe, George Washington’s Sacred Fire (Bryn Mawr: Providence Forum Press, 2006), 576.

17 From Jared Sparks, The Writings of George Washington (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1838), Vol. XII, pp. 406-407.

18 Donald Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988), 140-1.

19 Donald Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988), 142.

Jefferson’s Vision of Independence

Three weeks before the Civil War broke out and began watering American soil with soldiers’ blood, the vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens, addressed his fellow Confederates in Savannah, Georgia. His infamous words—known to history as the “Cornerstone Speech”—explained that the “cornerstone” of the Confederacy “rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition.”¹

It was necessary for the Southern states to break away from America, Stephens told his audience, because the proslavery “cornerstone” of the Confederacy was “exactly the opposite idea” to the principles that America’s Founding Fathers had agreed upon in 1776. Stephens explained,

The prevailing ideas entertained by him [Thomas Jefferson] and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.

These words startle modern Americans, who have been taught their whole lives to be ashamed of, or even to condemn, the Founding Fathers because of their alleged bigotry. In particular, why did the vice president of the Confederacy, a sickening racist, regard Thomas Jefferson as a herald of equality? Didn’t he know that Jefferson lived on a plantation and owned slaves? Couldn’t he have appealed to Jefferson’s legacy as a racist slaveowner?

To the contrary, the generations that came after the Founders (and Stephens himself, despite his manifold faults) had a very different understanding of Jefferson. They knew much about him that most Americans have never heard today.

In his article, Was Thomas Jefferson America’s First Abolitionist?² former University of Virginia law professor Robert F. Turner does a remarkable job rebuilding the true, historical Thomas Jefferson. He not only debunks the myth that Jefferson unequivocally fathered children with his slave but also documents Jefferson’s many attempts to fight and abolish the slave trade. Turner also introduces a document of premier importance—Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration Draft

In June 1776, the colonies had already been warring against Great Britain for more than a year. So Congress, realizing that full separation from Great Britain was on the horizon, called upon Thomas Jefferson—who was only 33, but brilliant beyond his years—to draft the Declaration of Independence. It would be America’s “breakup letter” articulating the reasons that the colonies had to separate from Great Britain.

Hunched over his portable writing desk for 17 days in the sweltering summer heat, Jefferson condensed the great political philosophy of America into a few basic principles: there is a God; He creates men with inalienable rights; governments exist to protect those rights; and it is the right of the people to replace a government that violates those principles.

Years later, after Thomas Jefferson passed away in 1826, his grandson found that original rough draft, which had survived for half a century. Knowing that Americans would want to see that important document for themselves, Jefferson’s grandson produced exact facsimiles of his grandfather’s handwritten manuscript. These pages contain a beautiful treasure never seen by most Americans.

When, in July 1776, the colonies began debating the words that Jefferson had drafted, the delegates understood how important it was to be unified in their grievances against Great Britain. This way the British crown could not divide the colonies over disagreements on the grievances. As Benjamin Franklin reportedly quipped, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”³

The Slave Trade Grievance

This resulted in certain of Jefferson’s original grievances being struck from the final version. One of these, Jefferson’s last and longest grievance, was a scathing condemnation of the slave trade. Jefferson opened:

He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.

This is already a stunning indictment, but Jefferson goes on. The emphasis is his own:

This piratical warfare, the opprobrium [disgrace] of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain.

Here Jefferson essentially accuses King George III of violating the commandment “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) by claiming the label of “Christian” while acting like the “infidel powers”—the Muslim Barbary Pirates on the north coast of Africa, who began and perpetuated the intercontinental slave trade. The king, although identifying himself with Jesus Christ, was acting no better than wicked nonbelievers.

Jefferson still was not done:

Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he [King George III] has prostituted his negative [veto] for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce [the slave trade]…. (emphasis original)

This is the crux of the grievance. In the years before the American Revolution, many colonies had pushed to restrict or ban the slave trade. Some colonies, like Connecticut and Rhode Island, had succeeded.⁴ But most attempts had been vetoed by Britain, including those by South Carolina (1760), Massachusetts (1771, 1774, and 1774 again), Delaware (1775), and Pennsylvania (1775).⁵ Even efforts by Virginia (1766, 1769, 1772) to impose taxes on imported slaves and discourage the slave trade were also vetoed.⁶

And thus, Jefferson’s final and longest grievance condemns the king for imposing slaves and the slave trade on the colonies against their will.

There is also one word in this grievance that stands out among the rest: MEN. Nearly all the words in the draft are lowercase and cursive, yet MEN is not only printed but also capitalized. This word was used in referring to all those who were being enslaved and trafficked in the evil slave trade. The word harkens back to the opening of the Declaration: “we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.” Too often, Americans hear that Jefferson did not truly believe that all men are created equal;⁷ yet in the very same document where he penned those words, Jefferson appeals to the humanity of the Africans who were bought and sold in the transatlantic slave trade—evidence from Jefferson’s own writing of his sincere belief that all men are created equal in the image of God.

A majority of the colonies agreed that the king’s imposition of slaves and the slave trade on the colonies was legitimate grounds for separation and approved the grievance. Tragically, South Carolina and Georgia—the two most southern (and likely the most proslavery) colonies—opposed the grievance.⁸ The grievance was removed.

But the failures of two states do not negate the significance of Jefferson’s vision. His Declaration draft stands today as a testament to his righteous crusade for equality. His outspoken denunciation of slavery and his biting condemnation of the king of Great Britain are essential parts of his story. His own handwritten words—and not the contrived smears of modern academics—are why, for so many generations of Americans, Thomas Jefferson stood as a visionary and champion of the freedom and equality of all people.

¹ Alexander Stephens, “Speech Delivered on the 21^st March, 1861, in Savannah, Known as “The Corner Stone Speech,” Reported in the Savannah Republican,” March 21, 1861, Alexander H. Stephens in Public and Private with Letters and Speeches, Before, During, and Since the War, ed. Henry Cleveland (National Publishing Company, 1866), 721.

² Robert F. Turner, “Was Thomas Jefferson America’s First Abolitionist?” May 20, 2021, Minding the Campus, https://mindingthecampus.org/2021/05/20/was-thomas-jefferson-americas-first-abolitionist/.

³ Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and A Life of the Author, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan and Dennet, 1844), I:408.

⁴ W. E. B. Du Bois, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1896), 222-223.

⁵ Du Bois, Suppression of the African Slave-Trade (1896), 20, 219, 221-222.

⁶ Du Bois, Suppression of the African Slave-Trade (1896), 12.

⁷ See, for example, Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.” Aug 14, 2019, New York Times Magazine, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html; Annette Gordon-Reed, “Thomas Jefferson’s Vision of Equality Was Not All-Inclusive. But It Was Transformative,” Feb 20, 2020, Time, https://time.com/5783989/thomas-jefferson-all-men-created-equal/; Melissa De Witte, “How the meaning of the Declaration of Independence changed over time” July 1, 2020, Stanford Report, https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/07/meaning-declaration-independence-changed-time; Shankar Vedantam et al., “The Founding Contradiction: Thomas Jefferson’s Stance On Slavery,” June 29, 2020, National Public Radio, https://www.npr.org/2020/06/29/884634146/the-founding-contradiction-thomas-jeffersons-stance-on-slavery.

⁸ Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1914), 33.

Lexington & More: April 1775

A Midnight Ride to Lexington

The events of April 18-19, 1775 are some of the most famous in the story of how Americans won the liberty that we still enjoy today.

Those eventful days began on April 18, 1775 with a horseback ride by Paul Revere¹ and William Dawes.² They set out to warn militias across the Massachusetts countryside of approaching British troops,³ who were sent to Concord to confiscate the weapons there. These British troops were also dispatched to “bring back the bodies of Mess. Hancock and Adams.”⁴

Arriving in Lexington around midnight at the home of the Rev. Jonas Clark (where John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying⁵), Revere passed on word of the British plans. Revere and Dawes then left Lexington, joined by Samuel Prescott,⁶ and continued their ride towards Concord. On their way, Revere and Dawes were captured by the British but Prescott escaped and alerted Concord.⁷

After the alert by Revere had been delivered in Lexington, the local militia (largely the men from Clark’s church) was mustered. On the morning of April 19, 1775, some 70 Americans would face about 800 British troops.⁸ Gunfire was exchanged — the American Revolution had begun!

As the smoke cleared, 18 Americans lay wounded or dead⁹ (all the casualties being from Pastor Clark’s church), including both black patriots (such as Prince Estabrook¹⁰) and white patriots (such as John Robbins¹¹). (One of the amazing items we have in the WallBuilders library is a sermon preached by Jonas Clark on the one-year anniversary of the Battle of Lexington.)

John Adams The much larger British force, having prevailed in that Lexington skirmish, continued their march towards Concord,¹² where they would be met by the Rev. William Emerson and 400 American patriots awaiting them.¹³ Also involved in that Concord group was black patriot Peter Salem,¹⁴ who a few weeks later went on to become the hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill.¹⁵

As we remember the events of this time from 1775 and the liberties they eventually produced, let’s also remember the responsibility those events place upon us. As John Adams reminded us:

Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.¹⁶

Endnotes

¹ Paul Revere, Deposition, c. 1775, Massachusetts Historical Society, detailing his ride and capture.
² “Paul Revere, Letter to Jeremy Belknap, c. 1798, Massachusetts Historical Society; see also “William Dawes: The Forgotten Midnight Rider,” February 17, 2014 History of Massachusetts Blog.
³ See “Letter from Francis Smith, Boston, to Thomas Gage, 1775 April 22, enclosed in Gage to Dartmouth, 1775 April 22,” University of Michigan Library for the British description of their mission, and Paul Revere’s handwritten deposition, c. 1775, Massachusetts Historical Society for the American description.
⁴ “Attempted Capture of John Hancock and Samuel Adams,” May 29, 2023, WallBuilders; see also Paul Revere’s letters to Jeremy Belknap, c. 1798, Massachusetts Historical Society.
⁵ J. T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (NY: Charles Scribner, 1864), 78.
⁶ See Paul Revere’s handwritten deposition, c. 1775, Massachusetts Historical Society; see also Paul Revere’s letters to Jeremy Belknap, c. 1798, Massachusetts Historical Society.
⁷ George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1864), VII:290; see Paul Revere’s handwritten deposition, c. 1775, Massachusetts Historical Society.
⁸ There is a wealth of sources relating to the numbers in the Lexington battle that often provide differing numbers, such as: “Letter from Francis Smith, Boston, to Thomas Gage, 1775 April 22, enclosed in Gage to Dartmouth, 1775 April 22,” University of Michigan Library (British officer who states they sent “six light infantry companies” to Lexington, or 200–300 troops); Deposition #20, Edward Thoroton Gould, American History Central (British soldier who states there were 60–70 American militia); Deposition #8, Nathanael Parkhurst et al., American Battlefield Trust (who provides more details about the militia assembly at Lexington). Benson J. Lossing, A History of the United States (NY: Mason Brothers, 1860), 232, says there were 800 British troops which aligned with information stated by Jonas Clark in his sermon.
⁹ A soldier present at Lexington stated: “they [the British] killed eight of our company & wounded several” (Deposition #8, Nathanael Parkhurst et al., American Battlefield Trust).
¹⁰ “Historical Documents: “A List of the Names of Provincials…” 1775,” PBS, accessed April 10, 2025.
¹¹ “Deposition of John Robbins,” April 24, 1775, DocsTeach.
¹² Bancroft, History (1864), VII:297; see “Letter from Francis Smith, Boston, to Thomas Gage, 1775 April 22, enclosed in Gage to Dartmouth, 1775 April 22,” University of Michigan Library for the British description of their march to and from Concord.
¹³ Deposition #17, James Barrett, April 23, 1775, American History Central (specifies 300–400 militia present at North Bridge in Concord); Bancroft, History (1864), VII:290, 299. “Letter from Francis Smith, Boston, to Thomas Gage, 1775 April 22, enclosed in Gage to Dartmouth, 1775 April 22,” University of Michigan Library provides a British perspective as he states: “On our leaving Concord to return to Boston they began to fire on us from behind the walls, ditches, trees etc., which as we marched increased to a very great degree and continued without the intermission of five minutes altogether for I believe upwards of eighteen miles, so that I can’t think but it must have been a preconcerted scheme in them to attack the King’s troops the first favourable opportunity that offered.”
¹⁴ “Historical Documents: “A List of the Names of Provincials…” 1775,” PBS, accessed April 10, 2025.
¹⁵ William C. Nell, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (Boston: Robert F. Wallcut, 1855), 21.
¹⁶ John Adams to Abigail Adams, April 26, 1777, Letters of John Adams Addressed to His Wife, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), 218.

WallBuilders 2024 Impact Report

A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT

While we understand that our reward is not in this life, God is good to give us an occasional peek into His workings here and now. WallBuilders has been blessed to share in some real victories and witness so many answers to prayer this year!

As we continue to rebuild our moral, religious, and constitutional foundation, we’ve seen reclaimed religious freedoms, with the reintroduction of Biblical content in classrooms in several states, and unapologetically Christian ads on the streets of Washington DC!

This year alone, through our Pro-Family Legislative Network, Pastors’ Briefings and Teachers Conferences, we’ve met with and fortified fellow rebuilders in almost all fifty states. In fact, in the last few months we’ve had Congressmen, congressional staffers, state legislators, school board members and numerous others, tell us they are now serving because of the influence of WallBuilders. We’ve encouraged faith leaders and emboldened church congregations to be salt and light in their communities. We also spent the several months before the election taking part in pastors’ and community events in all seven swing states. We had many reports of those pastors teaching about Christian participation and influence in the government arena, and church attendees who decided to be involved in the election process, many choosing to vote who had previously planned to abstain.

While we thank the Lord for these many victories, there is so much more to do! At this point, I feel like we’ve only won the coin-toss for possession of the ball and now the real effort begins; and there are so many opportunities in front of us. In the coming year, WallBuilders is looking to increase our outreach with expanded order fulfillment facilities and additional staff to support our mission of education and influence.

The rebuilding is ongoing and your support helps us empower many on the frontlines in school boards, state legislatures, get-out-the-vote efforts, and mobilize churches to reach their communities. We invite you to help us rebuild with a special gift today.

Now is the time to follow Nehemiah 2:18b: “Then they said, ‘Let’s arise and build.’ So they put their hands to the good work!”

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Tim Barton

Read the Full 2024 Impact Report Here

The mushroom clouds from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs.

Hiroshima, Obama, and American Morals

On May 27, 2016, President Obama visited Hiroshima – the only American president to do so since the city was hit by an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. That bomb hastened the end of World War II and helped halt further war deaths in the Pacific Theater beyond the 20 million lives already lost. ¹

Both supporters and opponents scrutinized the president’s speech to see whether he would issue any direct apology for America’s having dropped atomic bombs, thereby extinguishing between 200,000 and 250,000 Japanese lives. ² The president carefully stayed on script and delivered no overt apology, but even the mainstream media did not miss the fact that by simply appearing at Hiroshima he was issuing an indirect apology:

A majority of Japanese people view the atomic bombings as inhumane attacks — war crimes for which the United States has never been punished. . . . Hiroshima is a decidedly one-sided location; the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. At this setting one country is victim, the other assailant. ³ Washington Post
No American president has visited Hiroshima or Nagasaki in the 71 years since the attacks because of concerns the trip would be perceived as an apology for the two bombings that helped bring an end to World War II. ⁴ ABC News
The president wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in late March, “As the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons, the United States has a moral obligation to continue to lead the way in eliminating them.” “Moral obligation”? . . . Why would America assume a “moral obligation” if not because the nation was guilty of some ill-advised, even immoral, action? ⁵ US News
A visit would inevitably be construed by many as a de facto U.S. apology. . . It would be seen as vindication for Japanese claims of victimization, encouraging those in Japan who still deny responsibility for a war of aggression. . . . The goal of a presidential visit to the nuclear bombing sites is to finally come to terms with the morally difficult decisions made in World War II.⁶ The Diplomat

A Moral Revolution?

The media recognized that the issue of morals was inseparable from any official visit to Hiroshima, and as expected, the president did address that issue in his speech. According to President Obama:

The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well. That is why we come to this place [Hiroshima]. We stand here, in the middle of this city, and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry. We remember all the innocents killed across the arc of that terrible war, and the wars that came before, and the wars that would follow. Mere words cannot give voice to such suffering, but we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again. Someday the voices of the hibakusha [survivors of the bombings] will no longer be with us to bear witness. But the memory of the morning of August 6th, 1945 must never fade. That memory allows us to fight complacency. It fuels our moral imagination. It allows us to change. . . . We can tell our children a different story – one that describes a common humanity; one that makes war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted. We see these stories in the hibakusha [survivors of the bombings] – the woman who forgave a pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb, because she recognized that what she really hated was war itself. ⁷

Notice the interesting moral perspective communicated by the president. He asks that we imagine the suffering in Hiroshima – the dread of the children; the voice from the victims of the bombings; the silent cry. He also praises the forgiveness of the Japanese woman who forgave the American pilot who dropped the bomb. All of these statements point us toward the Japanese viewpoint. Human and losses are always tragic, but viewing them with a factually-accurate perspective is crucial.

Take for example, the woman who forgave the Americans. Did she also forgive her Emperor for the treacherous and unprovoked surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178, ⁸ thus bringing America into the war? Did she forgive Japan for declaring war on America when we were working diligently to stay out of the war and be uninvolved? Did she forgive the Japanese military leaders for keeping the war against America going long after the rest of the world had surrendered? America would not have dropped atomic boms without these three Japanese-initiated events. So why are the Americans the transgressors who need to be forgiven?

And empathizing with children is important. But shouldn’t we likewise imagine the cries of the American children whose fathers were mercilessly slaughtered by the Japanese in the Bataan Death March, or killed in the many other Japanese atrocities that in both brutality and scope parallel the war crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in Europe? Throughout the War Japan engaged in active genocides, including against its Asian neighbors in Korea, Manchuria, the Philippines, and China. (It is estimated that in China alone some ten million innocents were exterminated by the Japanese. ⁹) Japan’s military philosophy was barbaric with no respect for human life.

For example, Japanese officers reportedly held a competition to see which officer could kill 100 people with his sword first, with a runoff to determine a winner. ¹⁰ They callously burned alive American prisoners after capture. ¹¹ Others had their heads smashed in with sledgehammers. ¹² There are always brutalities and atrocities in war. But as historian Mark Felton termed it, with the Japanese “murder [was] the rule rather than the exception.” ¹³ There is a reason that after the war, war-crime trials were held in Japan and not just Germany.

President Obama’s acknowledgment that Hiroshima calls for a moral revolution is a common view among Progressives, who repeatedly blame America for much of the evil in the world. Even the 2014 study guide for the Advanced Placement Test for high school U. S. History (written by the College Board, headed by Progressive educator David Coleman) told students that “the decision to drop the atomic bomb raised questions about American values.” ¹⁴ Following public outrage, the College Board modified that statement to read: “The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.” ¹⁵ The change was an improvement, but it still preserved the view that the use of an atomic weapon was symbolic of America’s lack of morality. Other sources echo that belief:

Truman’s decision was a barbaric act that brought negative long-term consequences to the United States. ¹⁶
The . . . use of such a weapon was simply inhumane. Hundreds of thousands of civilians with no democratic rights to oppose their militarist government, including women and children, were vaporized, turned into charred blobs of carbon, horrifically burned, buried in rubble, speared by flying debris, and saturated with radiation. ¹⁷
The American government was accused [by modern Progressive writers] of racism on the grounds that such a device would never have been used against white civilians. ¹⁸

There are many similar claims. But what is missing is the compelling evidence that given what was occurring in Japan at that time, employing the atomic bomb was actually the more moral thing to do. Two categories of proof fully demonstrate this: (1) The reason the atomic bomb was used, and (2) The manner in which it was used. Consider the definitive evidence for each category.

The Reason the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Japan

Interestingly, there are many legitimate parallels between the Japanese military of World War II and ISIS more recently. In addition to the Japanese practices of open beheadings, mass executions, and other grotesque forms of torture intended to generate fear and terror among those they were seeking to subdue and control, they also specialized in suicide bombers. In fact, they leveled more than 2,000 suicide bombing attacks against Americans during the war, resulting in substantial losses of American lives. ¹⁹ Also, the Japanese military forcibly took Korean women and used them as sex slaves for their soldiers ²⁰ in a manner similar to what ISIS terrorists do with non-Muslim women.

In World War II, America and the Allied Forces fought simultaneously on both the European and Pacific fronts. But late in the War they focused the bulk of their efforts on the European Theater until Germany and Italy finally capitulated. At that time, Japan, the remaining major Axis power, was losing battle after battle to Allied Forces in the Pacific but still refused to surrender along with their comrade nations.

With the war in Europe ended, Japan and the Pacific became the unitary focus of Allied military action. As American and Allied forces worked closer to Japan in victory after victory, they extended multiple informal opportunities to surrender to Japan before the official surrender declaration from the Potsdam Conference. But Japan rejected all offers. ²¹ The Allies therefore planned an assault on Japan similar to that which had ended the war in Europe.

They would conduct a D-Day style invasion followed by Allied troops incrementally fighting their way across the island until they finally took complete control, forcing the surrender that all sides knew was inevitable. Significantly, Japanese leaders fully understood that they could no longer win. But they wanted to extract as high a price as possible with their loss. Japanese leaders were defiant, determined to fight to the end regardless of the cost in human lives. As one foreign policy expert explained:

As U.S. forces in the Pacific advanced toward Japan, its people were committing suicide in hordes rather than face capture. Anticipating a land invasion, Japan’s leaders were preparing their people for a fight to the finish, conscripting boys as young as 15 and teaching them how to kill incoming U.S. troops and conduct kamikaze operations. ²²

(Notice yet another similarity between the Japanese military and ISIS: training youth for suicide bombing missions.)

The Allies drew up plans for “Operation Downfall” – the code name assigned to the planned invasion of Japan. As part of the preparations, they prepared estimated casualties, calculating the probable loss of lives, both Japanese and Allied.

General Curtis Lemay, commander of the B-29 force that would be central to any invasion of Japan, was informed that the operation would result in at least 500,000 American deaths. ²³ A study done for President Truman’s Secretary of War Henry Stimson estimated American casualties at 1.7 to 4 million (including up to 800,000 deaths), and from 5 to 10 million Japanese fatalities, depending on their level of determined resistance. ²⁴ The projections included several million more casualties for other Allied Forces, which included nations such as Great Britain, China, Canada, and Australia. Evaluations thus placed the body count at around 7 million on the low side, to 14 million on the upper end.

President Truman understood the scope of the new atomic weapon at his disposal. But the other nations had no such conception for such a bomb had never been used before. Truman therefore went to extraordinary lengths to warn the Japanese of what was to come if they did not surrender (amazing details on this will be presented shortly). He finally had a choice to make. He could continue fighting with traditional weapons until the Japanese finally surrendered, which was estimated to be another half year, costing millions of lives in the process. ²⁵ Or he could use an atomic bomb, which might result in 100,000 deaths per bomb. These deaths would be tragic but the numbers paled in comparison to the potential loss of millions of lives. The psychological shock of the use of such a weapon should rapidly push the enemy toward an immediate surrender. Given the situation, there was no moral dilemma. Truman chose to save millions of Japanese and Allied lives by using the atomic bomb.

The Manner in which the Atomic Bomb was Used on Japan

Prior to the decision to use atomic bombs, Allied Forces conducted incendiary bombings against Japanese military production areas. The Tokyo bombings of March 9-10, 1945, alone killed 100,000. ²⁶ (Note that this death toll from traditional warfare was higher than that caused by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, or the one on Nagasaki.) Despite the high mortality numbers from traditional warfare, the Japanese not only refused to surrender but actually became more recalcitrant, preparing their people for continued fighting.

Months earlier, on June 15, 1944, the US military launched a bloody but successful weeks-long campaign to recapture the strategic island of Saipan. Located less than 1,500 miles from Tokyo, it provided a base from which Allied bombers could reach Japan and a key location from which to launch an invasion. A 50,000-watt radio station (KSAI) was also constructed there, so Allied bombers could track its radio broadcast waves as a beacon safely back to the tiny island in the middle of the Pacific.

Saipan also became the center of Allied communication. Utilizing the radio station, the US Office of War Information began broadcasting important information and messages directly to the Japanese people, bypassing their fanatical leaders. They also constructed a print shop. Prior to Allied bombings, B-29s dropped 63 million leaflets across Japan, warning citizens about the specific cities that had been targeted for bombing, and urging civilians to flee and avoid those areas. ²⁷ However, Japanese military officials ordered the arrest of any citizen who read the leaflets, or did not turn them into local authorities.

On the other side of the world Allied leaders gathered in Potsdam, Germany, on July 26, 1945, to establish terms of surrender for Japan. The resulting Potsdam Proclamation called for “disarmament and abolition of the Japanese military; elimination of military influence in political forums; Allied occupation of Japan; liberation of Pacific territories gained by Japan since 1914; swift justice for war criminals; maintenance of non-military industries; establishment of freedom of speech, religion, and thought; and introduction of respect for fundamental human rights.” ²⁸ If the Japanese rejected these terms, the result would be “prompt and utter destruction.” ²⁹

The Allies knew that Japanese leaders would say nothing to their people about this offer, so the radio station on Saipan began broadcasting the Proclamation directly into Japan even before it reached Japanese leaders through official channels. And B-29s also dropped 3 million leaflets (see some of these leaflets from the WallBuilders library here) telling the people about the Proclamation. But on July 27, Japan officially rejected the proposal, thus continuing the war. ³⁰

The next day, July 28, bombers dropped one million leaflets over the 35 Japanese cities (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) targeted for bombing in coming days, urging citizens to evacuate those cities. That leaflet (with its picture of five B-29s releasing their cargo of bombs) specifically warned:

Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend.
In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes.
So, in accordance with America’s humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives. America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has enslaved the Japanese people.
The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately. ³¹

Understandably, the crews scheduled to bomb those areas were concerned for their own safety, for the leaflets not only told the Japanese military exactly what was about to occur but also where. Nevertheless, humanitarian concerns for Japanese civilians remained foremost in American thinking, even jeopardizing the lives of Allied pilots and crews.

America specifically avoided bombing the Emperor’s palace or the historic temple area of Kyoto. But after days of bombings, “Japan’s Air Defense General Headquarters reported that out of 206 cities, 44 had been almost completely wiped out, while 37 others, including Tokyo, had lost over 30 percent of their built-up areas.” ³² But despite the increasingly extensive devastation, Japan still refused to surrender.

Bombings alone had proved insufficient to end the war. The only remaining traditional warfare option was a full-scale land invasion of Japan, which could produce the millions of casualties predicted in the various official reports. Facing this prospect, President Truman therefore approved the B-29 Enola Gay dropping the atomic bomb “Little Boy” over Hiroshima. The devastation that occurred is a matter of historical record.

Japan still refused to surrender. President Truman publicly and explicitly warned Japan that unless they ended the war quickly, more such bombs would be forthcoming:

We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war. ³³

B-29s then dropped five million leaflets across Japan, warning citizens:

TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:
America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.
We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by men. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29’s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.
We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.
Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our President has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.
You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.
EVACUATE YOUR CITIES ³⁴

The radio station on Saipan also began broadcasting warnings every fifteen minutes directly to the Japanese people. America had undertaken every means possible to prevent dropping the first bomb, and did so again with the second one. Yet even days after the bomb on Hiroshima, the Japanese leadership remained unmoved. So on August 9, 1945, America dropped a second atomic bomb, “Fat Man,” over Nagasaki.

By 2AM the following morning (August 10), following extensive debates by Japanese authorities, Emperor Hirohito ordered acceptance of the surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration. At 7AM the Japanese Cabinet transmitted word to the Allies that they accepted most of the terms, but insisted that the Emperor remain the sovereign ruler of the empire. Allied leaders tentatively agreed to this change so long as “from the moment of surrender, the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied powers.” ³⁵ They awaited Japan’s official acceptance of this provision.

While awaiting the Japanese response, the Allies temporarily halted further bombing of Japan. The decision to end the war was now back in the hands of Japan’s leaders, but the people still knew nothing of Japan’s official offer of surrender. So the radio station on Saipan began announcing the news to the people, and the printing presses went into high-speed production. On August 12, B-29s dropped five million leaflets telling the Japanese:

These American planes are not dropping bombs on you today. American planes are dropping these leaflets instead because the Japanese Government has offered to surrender, and every Japanese has a right to know the terms of that offer and the reply made to it by the United States Government on behalf of itself, the British, the Chinese, and the Russians. Your government now has a chance to end the war immediately. You will see how the war can be ended by reading the two following official statements. ³⁶

(The two statements included in the leaflet were the text of the Japanese offer to surrender, and the Allied response.)

On August 14, 1945, Japanese leaders accepted the terms and officially surrendered.

Conclusion

Neither bomb came as a surprise to the Japanese. They had been forewarned what would happen, and they chose a path of preventable destruction. Both bombs were dropped as a result of choices made by the Japanese leadership. Therefore, any “moral dilemma” that exists should center on Japanese decisions, not American ones.

By the way, Japan still has never officially apologized to America for the attack on Pearl Harbor. And Japan has other World War II skeletons in its closet that are just now being openly addressed. As one news service reported:

Japan and South Korea have only recently reached a compromise agreement to finally offer compensation and apology to the so-called “comfort women” compelled into sexual service in Japan’s wartime brothels. It remains a fragile agreement, not yet implemented, and many other wartime issues — such as the compensation for hundreds of thousands of Asians and Allied POWs dragooned into forced labor — remain unresolved. ³⁷

Also indicative of positive American morals, after the war was over America rebuilt Japan – something it had no obligation to do. American General Douglas MacArthur guided Japan through transformational reforms in military, political, economic, and social areas. ³⁸ An international military tribunal swiftly punished Japanese war crimes and war criminals and abolished official military Shintoism. America poured emergency food relief and economic aid into the nation, also extending $2.2 billion to Japan ³⁹ (about $15.2 billion today). Under American leadership, the people were raised, women elevated, the economy rebuilt, and the country democratized. The transformation under American leadership was so thorough that by 1952, Japan was openly accepted back into the world community of nations.

From the American side, what happened at Hiroshima demonstrates no need for any “moral revolution,” as President Obama called it. Contrary to the claims of critics, the use of the bomb did not show a lack of morality on the part of America. On the contrary. The true immorality would have been for America to allow the war to drag on for another year, costing millions of lives, when it could have been stopped quickly, ending further deaths. No civilized person should ever want to take innocent life but rather should always seek to preserve it. The use of the atomic bomb did exactly that, saving the lives of millions, both Japanese and Allied.

Originally written Summer, 2016. Updated October, 2024.

Endnotes

¹ There was a total of 60 million casualties during WWII (45 million civilian and 15 million military deaths). See “By the Numbers: World-Wide Deaths,” National WWII Museum, accessed June 24, 2016. Chinese civilian deaths alone numbered in the millions. See Micheal Clodfelter, Warfare and Armed Conflicts Fourth Edition (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company Inc., 2017), 367.

² See, for example, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki Death Toll,” UCLA, accessed June 24, 2016; “The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Chapter 10 – Total Casualties,” The Avalon Project, accessed June 24, 2016.

³ Jennifer Lind, “As Obama goes to Hiroshima, here are 3 principles for a successful visit (with no apologies),” Washington Post, May 26, 2016.

⁴ Margaret Chadbourn, “A Look at Whether Obama Should Visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” ABC News, May 9, 2016.

⁵ Lawrence J. Haas, “Don’t Apologize for Hiroshima: The president mustn’t express guilt over U.S. use of nuclear weapons during World War II,” US News, April 19, 2016.

⁶ Gi-Wook Shin and Daniel Sneider, “Should President Obama Visit Hiroshima?” The Diplomat, April 16, 2016.

⁷ “Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Abe of Japan at Hiroshima Peace Memorial,” The White House, May 27, 2016.

⁸ “Pearl Harbor by the Numbers,” Pearl Harbor, May 27, 2017.

⁹ Professor R.J. Rummel estimates that there were over 10 million Chinese civilian casualties during the Sino-Japanese war. – R.J. Rummel, China’s Bloody Century (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1991), 103.

¹⁰ “The Contest to Cut Down 100 People,” google.com, English translations of 4 Japanese articles from 1937; see also Bob Wakabayashi, “The Nanking 100-Man Killing Contest Debate: War Guilt amid Fabricated Illusions, 1971-75,” Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 26, 307-340.

¹¹ “The Palawan Massacre: The Story from One of its Few Survivors,” Warfare History Network, from an article in the WWII Quarterly, Spring 2019, Vol. 10, No. 3.

¹² Michael Sturma, Surface and Destroy, The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific (University Press of Kentucky, 2011).

¹³ Mark Felton, The Slaughter at Sea, The Story of Japan’s Naval War Crimes (South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2007).

¹⁴ The College Board, AP United States History Course and Exam Description (September 2014), 71.

¹⁵ The College Board, AP Course and Exam Description: AP United States History (Fall 2015), 75.

¹⁶ “The Decision to Drop the Bomb,” U.S. History (accessed on June 20, 2016).

¹⁷ “Reasons Against Dropping the Atomic Bomb” History on the Net, accessed September 25, 2024.

¹⁸ “The Decision to Drop the Bomb,” U.S. History, accessed June 20, 2016.

¹⁹ Saul David, “The Divine Wind: Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots of World War II,” The National WWII Museum, May 19, 2020.

²⁰ Comfort Women Speak: Testimony by Sex Slaves of the Japanese Military, Includes new United Nations Human Rights report, ed. Sangmie Choi Schellstede (New York: Holmes & Meier, 2000).

²¹ Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori, The Cause of Japan (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956), 313.

²² Lawrence J. Haas, “Don’t Apologize for Hiroshima: The president mustn’t express guilt over U.S. use of nuclear weapons during World War II,” US News, April 19, 2016.

²³ Thomas M. Coffey, Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay, (New York: Crown Publishers, 1986), 147.

²⁴ Richard B. Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire (New York: Random House, 1999), 340; see also, Samuel J. Cox, “H-057-1: Operations Downfall and Ketsugo – November 1945,” Naval History and Heritage Command, January, 2021.

²⁵ Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific, Vol. 1 (1994 Reprint), “‘Downfall’ The Plan for the Invasion of Japan.”

²⁶ “Hellfire on Earth: Operation MEETINGHOUSE,” The National WWII Museum, March 8, 2020.

²⁷ Richard S. R. Hubert, “The OWI Saipan Operation,” Official Report to US Information Service, Washington, 1946, Richard S. R. Hubert Papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, charts pp. 88-89 .

²⁸ Josette H. Williams, “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945,” Studies in Intelligence (2002), Vol 46, No 3, referencing “Proclamation by the Head of Governments, United States, China, and the United Kingdom,” Potsdam, Germany, July 26, 1945.

²⁹ “Proclamation by the Head of Governments, United States, China, and the United Kingdom,” Potsdam, Germany, July 26, 1945.

³⁰ Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori, The Cause of Japan (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956), 313.

³¹ Richard S. R. Hubert, “The OWI Saipan Operation,” Official Report to US Information Service, Washington, 1946, Richard S. R. Hubert Papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, charts pp. 88-89, cited in Josette H. Williams, “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945,” Studies in Intelligence (2002), Vol 46, No 3. For an image of this leaflet and its translation, see “WWII Japanese Leaflets,” WallBuilders, May 29, 2023.

³² OWI [Office of War Information] Daily Digest, series 7, no. 46, 23 August 1945 cited in Josette H. Williams, “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945,” Studies in Intelligence (2002), Vol 46, No 3.

³³ Harry S. Truman, “Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima,” August 6, 1945, The American Presidency Project, accessed October 3, 2024.

³⁴ Lilly Rothman, “See a Leaflet Dropped on Japanese Cities Right Before World War II Ended,” Time, December 14, 2015.

³⁵ Richard B. Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire (New York: Random House, 1999), 302.

³⁶ Josette H. Williams, “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945,” Studies in Intelligence (2002), Vol 46, No 3.

³⁷ Gi-Wook Shin and Daniel Sneider, “Should President Obama Visit Hiroshima?” The Diplomat, April 16, 2016.

³⁸ “Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945-52,” Department of State, accessed June 24, 2016.

³⁹ Nina Serafino, et. al, U.S. Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared (Congressional Research Services, 2006), 14, “Table 2. Japan: U.S. Assistance FY1946-1952.”

Christians and Voting 2024

Election Survey Information

Noted pollster George Barna conducted a study to determine Christians’ interest levels and viewpoints in the upcoming 2024 election: “A Pre-Election Survey of Self-Identified Christians Who Regularly Attend Church Services, Examining Attitudes and Behaviors Related to the 2024 Election and Church Engagement in the Election Process.” He interviewed 2,000 church-going, self-identified Christians.

Here are just a few highlights:

Most (57%) believe the outcome of the November 2024 election will make a big difference in their lives. While many (29%) say it will make only some difference.
Less than one-quarter of churched Christians (23%) identified moral decline as a defining issue in this election. Correspondingly, a startling 42% of church-going Christians supported abortion on demand.
On the list of issues, economic matters were identified as the top concern, especially in relation to inflation and cost of living (listed by 67%). Another top economic issue was the economy in general (64%). Other economic issues were unemployment and jobs (38%), and the federal deficit and debt (33%). A related issue, named by 43%, was addressing poverty and homelessness.
Abortion was the seventh-ranked issue, identified by 41% of churched Christians.
When asked if they would prefer that their churches be more involved or less involved in the 2024 election than they had been in other recent elections, the respondents were split. A plurality (42%) opted for the status quo, preferring the same level of involvement as in the past. The other half of the respondents were evenly divided between saying they prefer their churches to be more involved (25%) or less involved (27%).

Full Study & Supporting Documents

Complete Survey

Executive Summary

Memorandum

Talking Points

Charts & Graphs

Court Orders D.C. Transit Authority to Accept and Run Unconstitutionally Rejected Ads

In December 2023, First Liberty, ACLU, and Steptoe filed a lawsuit on behalf of WallBuilders relating to ads that were rejected by the DC Transit Authority. (See more about the history of this issue here.) We now have great news!

“Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) to accept and run four advertisements that it had unconstitutionally rejected. The court ruled that WMATA’s ban on issue ads violates the First Amendment’s requirement that restrictions on speech be reasonable.”

Read the full Press Release from First Liberty here.

These ads have already started to appear in Washington DC! You can follow WallBuilders’ social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and X) to stay updated.

The ads link to a collection of quotes by numerous Founding Fathers via our article “The Founding Fathers on Jesus, Christianity and the Bible”: https://wallbuilders.com/resource/the-founding-fathers-on-jesus-christianity-and-the-bible/.

Support WallBuilders’ Mission! Donate here!

Black Robe Regiment Hub

What Is It?

The modern National Black Robe Regiment (NBRR) is a network of national and local pastors that equips and empowers pastors to engage in their Biblical and historical role to stand boldly for righteousness and transform society through spiritual and cultural engagement.

The early American pastor had a reputation as a courageous and fearless leader, causing the British during the American Revolution to dub them “The Black Regiment,” a reference to their clerical robes. Those pastors boldly proclaimed the Word of God as it applied to everything in life, whether spiritual or temporal—about eternal life in Christ, taxes, education, public policy, good government, the military, or any other current issues that the Bible addressed.

“If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it…. If satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.” – Charles Finney

Today, the struggle is for the heart and soul of America. Never before has there been such openly orchestrated frontal attacks against America’s core beliefs, including traditional morality, public religious expressions, the rights of conscience, inalienable rights, common sense economics, and limited constitutional government. An American Revolution, not with guns, but with the same pastoral fervor and leadership is needed today.

This resource is designed to help pastors fulfill that calling.

Historical Origins

The Black Robed Regiment was the name that the British placed on the courageous and patriotic American clergy during the Founding Era (a backhanded reference to the black robes they wore). Significantly, the British blamed the Black Regiment for American Independence, and rightfully so, for modern historians have documented that:

There is not a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence which had not been discussed by the New England clergy before 1763.

It is strange to today’s generation to think that the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence were nothing more than a listing of sermon topics that had been preached from the pulpit in the two decades leading up to the American Revolution, but such was the case….

Read the Full Article Here!

Helpful Resources

Use these resources in your church or consider sending them to your pastor or priest adding a personal note of encouragement to not keep silent on the divisive issues facing our culture.

WallBuilders does not necessarily endorse or agree with all the information from unaffiliated organizations. Listings are provided as additional resources that may be utilized to affirm, enhance, and/or supplement Black Robe Regiment efforts.

Other Groups

http://www.blackrobereg.org/
https://www.danfisherbrr.com/

Legal Resources

ACLJ information for 501(c)(3) incorporated churches

Liberty Counsel and First Liberty have a number of very useful resources for churches and pastors to assist you in informing your church family about today’s issues. Use these resources to learn about what you can and can’t do politically.

This article and this article from the IRS lists activities that are and are not permissible for 501(c)(3) incorporated churches.
Read WallBuilders corrections to an intimidation letter from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent to pastors and churches in 2006 attempting to intimidating Christians and churches from being involved.

Christian Legal Organizations

Historical Resources

The sermons and proclamations listed below come from WallBuilders’ Collection. There are many more beyond this curated list available on our Resources page.

Sermons

Election Sermons

These sermons were preached to government officials at the state capitol upon the annual opening of the legislature

Governmental Sermons

Patriotic Sermons

Proclamations

The American practice of calling days of fasting or thanksgiving was so strong that by 1815, civil governments had issued at least 1,400 official prayer proclamations. Thousands more have been issued since that time—a tradition that now spans more than four centuries of the American Story, and one that continues to the present day since a 1952 federal law requires that every president issue a prayer proclamation on the National Day of Prayer, commemorated the first Thursday of every May, and observed by every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

God’s People Want to Know

This 2015 survey by Dr. George Barna asked theologically conservative Christians the areas in which they felt that they needed additional teaching from the pulpit. Here are a just a few highlights:

Among the national sample of spiritually active Christian conservatives and moderates, only one in ten people (10%) said their church has been very involved in the election process in the last two voting cycles (2012, 2014). Four out of ten said their church was somewhat involved. The remaining one-half said their church was not involved.
Christian conservatives indicated they want their church to get in the game: six out of ten (58%) said they want their church to be more involved in the election process. Among the Christian conservatives, 61% want greater involvement; among the politically moderate Christians only one-quarter (23%) want heightened church engagement.
A majority of the survey respondents said it is “extremely important” for their pastor to preach or teach the congregation about the following issues:
- - Abortion 71%
  - Religious persecution 61%
  - Sexual identity 56%
  - Israel 54%
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Sermon – Solar Eclipse – 1806

Joseph Lathrop (1731-1820)

Lathrop was born in Norwich, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale, he took a teaching position at a grammar school in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he also began studying theology. Two years after leaving Yale, he was ordained as the pastor of the Congregational Church in West Springfield, Massachusetts. He remained there until his death in 1820, in the 65^th year of his ministry. During his career, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from both Yale and Harvard. He was even offered the Professorship of Divinity at Yale, but he declined the offer. Many of his sermons were published in a seven-volume set over the course of twenty-five years.

In this sermon, Rev. Lathrop uses the occasion of a recent solar eclipse to strengthen the Biblical worldview of his parishioners by providing both a scientific explanation and gleaning spiritual truths from the phenomenon. Lathrop’s sermon is a clear example of how early American pastors used the events of their time to impart truth and develop the Christian worldview of their listeners.

A
SERMON
CONTAINING
REFLECTIONS ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSE
WHICH APPEARED ON JUNE 16, 1806
DELIVERED
ON THE LORD’S DAY FOLLOWING.

By Joseph Lathrop, D. D.
Pastor of the first Church in West-Springfield

AMOS 8:9
It shall come to pass in that day; saith the Lord, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

Amos was bred an husbandman and a shepherd. From his rural employment he was called to the office of a prophet. He says, “I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but I was an herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me, as I followed the flock, and said unto me, go, prophesy unto my people Israel.”

Many expressions in his book are taken from observations, which a shepherd would naturally make in attending to the business of his calling. In Judea the shepherds watched their flocks, not by day only, but also by night, to guard them against beasts of prey, in which that country abounded. And, in their attendance on their flocks, they would naturally observe the motions of the planets, and the appearances in the heavens, that they might foresee changes of weather and approaching storms. Hence the prophet, calling on the degenerate tribes of Israel
to renounce their false gods, and to worship the great author and governor of nature, uses a language suggested by his former pastoral occupation. “Seek not Bethel, enter not into Gilgal, nor pass to Beersheba,” the idolatrous places, where the sun and moon, and hosts of heaven were worshipped; “but seek him, who maketh the seven stars and Orion; and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night.”

The stated course of nature, the order of the heavenly bodies, the vicissitude of day and night, and the regular succession of seasons, demonstrate the existence and providence, the wisdom, power and goodness of God. “Day unto day uttereth speech; night unto night sheweth forth knowledge.” “God hath not left himself without witness, in that he giveth rain and fruitful seasons, and filleth our hearts with food and gladness.” But common appearances, as they become more familiar, are less impressive. Unusual phenomena, though no less the effects of natural causes, more powerfully arrest the attention, and more deeply affect the mind. The prophet, therefore, predicting some dire calamities on the house of Israel, alludes to an unusual and solemn appearance in the skies, which probably they had lately seen; a total eclipse of the sun in the midst of a clear day. “Thus saith the Lord, I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.” The phenomenon which we beheld, on Monday last, will naturally lead us to understand the words as poetic descriptions of a solar eclipse.

Archbishop Usher, in his annals of the world, says, that in Amos’s time, there were two remarkable eclipses of the sun, which happened at solemn festivals, and struck the people with great consternation. In ancient times, when astronomy was but imperfectly understood, eclipses were by many considered, as preternatural and portentous. The prophet, therefore, foretelling the judgments coming on the land of Israel, might with great propriety figure to them the changes soon to take place in their political hemisphere, by an allusion to the change, which they had seen, with terror and amazement, in the natural hemisphere. “God would cause their sun to go down at noon, darken the earth in the clear day, turn their feasts into mourning, and their songs into lamentation, and bring up sackcloth on all loins.”

The use, which the prophet makes of a solar eclipse will justify us in some moral and religious reflections on the singular scene, which was exhibited in the past week.

1. We have reason to rejoice in the progress, which has been made in the sciences, and particularly in the noble science of astronomy. By this we are freed from many superstitious terrors, which, in the dark ages of the world, tormented mankind.

Eclipses have been observed from the remotest antiquity; and of these which were most remarkable, accounts have been transmitted to us by some of the earliest historians, who have also related the disastrous events which followed, and which the eclipses were supposed to portend.

The cause of eclipses must have been known long before they could be the subjects of mathematical calculation. It was well understood, many ages ago, that an eclipse of the moon was caused by its passing through the shadow of the earth, when the earth was between that and the sun; and that an eclipse of the sun was caused by the moon’s passing between us and the sun, and intercepting its light. This knowledge, however, was not common to the vulgar; nor did the more learned view these causes as operating by regular and stated laws.

There were predictions of some eclipses, which appeared several centuries before the birth of our Savior. But these predictions were probably, like the present predictions of comets, conjectures grounded on a course of observations, and not the result of exact calculations.

The relations, distances and motions of the heavenly bodies are now so well ascertained, that accurate calculations can be made of all the eclipses, which shall be in ages to come, and of those which have been, since our system was framed. These calculations are of great utility to mankind, in husbandry, navigation, geography, chronology and history. The credit of some ancient histories derives confirmation from this source. The historian relates some great events, which he supposes, were portended by a certain eclipse, which he describes. The astronomer finds, that there was in fact, such an eclipse, at such a time, and hence justly gives more full credit to the historian.

These phenomena have also their moral uses. They enlarge our views of the works of God, and of the grandeur and extent of his creation and providence. They display his wisdom, power and goodness, and his continual agency in the government of the world. They teach us his constant care for the creatures, which he has made, and call us to reverence and adore him, who thus manifests himself to us in the works of his hands.

We see innumerable worlds rolling around us at vast but various distances; with different, but inconceivable rapidity. These all perform their motions with regularity, and observe their times with exactness. They obey their destination, they keep their order, they never interfere. Shall we not fear the power, admire the wisdom, adore the goodness of that being, who made and adjusted, who sustains and directs such a stupendous system, and render it subservient to our happiness? These rational sentiments are pleasant and delightful in themselves; and are far more conducive to piety and virtue, than the terrors of that superstitious ignorance, which views every comet flaming in the sky, every obscuration of the sun at noonday, every failure of the full orbed moon at night, every unusual noise bursting from the clouds, every strange appearance in the heavens and in the earth, as awfully portentous of some dire, but unknown calamity.

Superstitious terrors may operate as a temporary restraint from vice. But when the dreaded calamity is delayed, the restraint ceases, and vice regains its dominion. A rational fear of God, arising from a calm contemplation of his agency and government, displayed in his works, and taught in his word, will have a steady and permanent influence. “Fear ye not me, saith the Lord, will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, who give the former and the latter rain, and reserve to you the appointed weeks of harvest?” The more just are our thoughts of God’s government, and the more rational our reverence of his majesty, the more uniform and cheerful will be our obedience to his will.

2. An eclipse of the sun, though it is not an omen of any particular calamity, yet may properly lead us to contemplate the gloomy changes which await us in this guilty and mortal state.

By a total obscuration of his glorious luminary, at noon, in a clear day, a gloom is suddenly spread over the face of nature. Not only the human mind, but the animal and material creation is deeply affected. Night seems to anticipate the time of its return. The stars hand out their lamps; the dews descend on the earth; the grazing beasts forget their hunger; the fowls hasten to their resting places; the bird of night chants his evening ditty; every thing wears a sober and mournful aspect.

Here is an emblem of declining age and approaching death.

The time is coming – to some of us it is near; when the sun and the light will be darkened; the eyes, which look out at the windows, will be bedimmed, surrounding objects will be hidden, and “we shall go to our long home – to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” “While we have the light, let us walk in the light, lest darkness come upon us. Let us give glory to God, before he cause darkness, and before our feet stumble on the dark mountains; lest, while we look for light, it be turned into the shadow of death.” The eyes of our understanding still remain unextinguished, and the sun of righteousness shines upon us with salvation in his beams. Let us attend to the glorious discoveries which are made to us, and apply ourselves to the momentous work before us. Let us work while it is day. The time is short – night is at hand. What we find to do, let us do it with our might. There is no work in the grave.

Some of you are in youth and in full strength. My friends, your morning sun shines bright and pleasant; you think your day will be long. But, oh! flatter not yourselves. Your sun may go down at noon, and your prospect be darkened in a clear day. Employ these morning hours in the work of your salvation. You know not what a day, or an hour may bring forth.

The darkness of an eclipse the prophet improves, though not as an omen, yet as an emblem of national judgments. He warns his people that a metaphorical and political darkness may overspread their country, in the same surprising manner, as literal darkness in a solar eclipse falls on the unsuspecting earth. “Thus saith the Lord unto me, an end is come upon my people; I will not pass by them any more. Hear this, ye that swallow up the needy, and that say, when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, surely I will not forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? Thus saith the Lord, I will darken the earth in the clear day. I will turn their feasts into mourning, and their songs into lamentation.”

Sudden darkness caused by eclipses, clouds, vapor and storms, is, in the prophetic writings, a common figure for great and unexpected plagues; such as war, discord, pestilence and famine. The prophet Isaiah, describing the calamitous state of the Jews, on the invasion of the Chaldeans, says, “They shall look to the earth, and behold, trouble and darkness, and dimness of anguish; they shall be driven into darkness.” In the same figurative language, Joel describes the devastation and famine caused in the land by clouds of devouring locusts, and by the rage of subsequent fires. “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh and is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and gloominess, of clouds and thick darkness. There shall be wonders in the heavens and in the earth; there shall be pillars of smoke, and the sun shall be turned into darkness.”

When we see the sun darkened in the heavens, and the earth covered with a gloom, we are reminded, how easy it is for Him, who in a moment extinguishes the sun, to cast a cloud over our earthly prospects; to turn our joys into anguish, our confidence into terror, and our songs into lamentation – to subvert our national security, to let loose the infernal spirit of discord, to remove restraint from hostile nations, to send a blast on the labors of our hands, and to spread among us pestilence and death.

On God we are dependent not only for the daily visits of the sun, but also for his friendly beams, when he returns. The moon, which chases away the gloom of night, now and then steps in, and intercepts the light of day. If it should
make a stand in that position, our day would become night, and the warmth of summer would be changed into the frost of winter. But the moon obeys the divine command, moves the cheering beams, which it had, for a few moments withholden.

The creatures, which are our ordinary comforts, may by God’s direction or permission, become the occasions of affliction and anguish. The sun, which enlivens the rational, animal and vegetable world, may dart malignant fires and scatter pestilential
diseases. The rains, which refresh and fructify our fields, may “wash away the things which grow out of the earth, and destroy the hope of man.” The friends in whom we confide may become our tormentors, and “a man’s foes may be those of his own household.” Government, which is our defense against injustice, fraud and violence, falling into the hands of cruel and unprincipled men, may be made an instrument of oppression and misery. “They who lead us may cause us to err, and destroy the way of our paths.”

Where then is our security? It is in the protection of Him, who created and upholds the frame of nature, “who made and guides the seven stars and Orion, turns the shadow of death into the mourning, or makes the day dark with night” – “who calleth to the waters and sends them on the earth, and restrains the floods” within the bounds prescribed – “who rules the raging of the sea, and stills the tumults of the people” – ” who turns the hearts of men, as the rivers of water are turned” – “who causes the wrath of men to praise him, and the remainder of that wrath he restrains.” How shall we enjoy his protection ? He has told us, “If ye will walk in my statutes, keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary, then I will give you rain in due season, your fields shall yield their increase; I will give peace in your land, and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid.” – “But if ye will walk contrary unto me, I will walk contrary unto you, and make your plagues wonderful.”

Learned astronomers can calculate with exactness the times when, the places where, and the quantities in which the luminaries of heaven will be eclipsed; but they cannot with the same accuracy predict the judgments of God. Nor do we here need their astronomical skill. There are other signs by which we may discern impending judgments. Our Savior. has taught us a kind of moral astronomy to direct our prescience of such events. The prevalence of infidelity, immorality and vice as surely indicates approaching calamities, as clouds indicate a shower, winds forebode a storm, or the conjunction, or opposition of the sun and moon, in certain places in the heaves, presignify an eclipse. He said to the people, “When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straitway, ye say, there cometh a shower; and so it is. When ye perceive the south wind blow, ye say, there will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it, that ye cannot discern this time? Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?” The blindness and stupidity of the ancient Jews to the impending judgments of God, the prophet upbraids by referring them to the sagacity and discernment apparent in the fowls of heaven. “The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time; the turtle, the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people knoweth not the judgments of God.”

There are now, as there were in former times, many who ask, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” And the watchman’s answer then, is seasonable now, “If ye will inquire, inquire ye” wisely; “return, come,” return to God by repentance; then come and inquire, and you may hope for a favorable answer.

It is common for people to look forward and inquire, what will be our national state in future years – what will be the result of certain public measures – what shall be done to obtain this favorite object, and avert that threatening evil, and to make future times better than these? But they inquire not wisely concerning this matter. Let them inquire what iniquities abound, and what share their own iniquities have in the common guilt? Let each one repent of his own wickedness, and apply himself to his own duty. Let each one use his best influence to correct the errors, and reform the manners of those with whom he is connected. Then things will go well. “Righteousness will exalt a nation. Sin will be a reproach to any people.”

3. The darkening of the earth in a clear day brings to mind the final judgment. The scripture assures us, that “God has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, and render to every man according to his works.” It teaches us, that the judgment will come on a guilty world by surprise – that “when men shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh.” The manner of its coming is compared to the catastrophe of Sodom. “As it was in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they fold, they planted, they builded. But the same day, that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone out of heaven, and destroyed them all. Even so shall it be in that day when the son of man is revealed.” To heighten the solemnity of this scene, the sacred writers tell us, “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken – the heaven shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island shall be removed out of their place.” What effect the expectation of such a day should have, St. Peter instructs us. “Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the day of the Lord. Let us be diligent, that we may be found of the Lord in peace without spot and blameless.”

You think that great day to be remote. Perhaps it is so. But whether it be near or remote, it will come. And when it shall come, it will be as real and important, as if it were now present. “Count the longsuffering of God’s salvation. He is not willing that you should perish, but that you should come to repentance.”

Were you sure, that within ten or twenty years, the frame of nature, as well as the works of man, would dissolved, the heavens with all their splendors would vanish, and the earth with all her furniture and in habitants would pass away, how vain would all your property, all your designs and labors appear? What folly would be stampt on avarice, ambition, worldly grandeur and ostentation, political intrigues, party contests and animosities? But, my fellow mortals, where is the mighty difference to you and me, whether the world is to be dissolved within twenty years, or whether within that time we are to leave the world forever. The latter will certainly be the case with many of us in a shorter, and with all of us in a little longer time than this. Under an impressive sense of this solemn truth, let us banish all worldly passions, and direct our cares to the grand interests of futurity.

4. Total darkness at noonday reminds us of the solemn scene of the Savior’s crucifixion. The evangelists tell us, that when Jesus hung on the cross, “there was darkness over all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour;” or, according to our calendar, from midday to the third hour; “and the sun was darkened.” The darkness continued for three hours. This, we know, could be no natural eclipse; for, in the eclipse of the week past, which appeared to be central, the total obscuration continued but about four minutes.

The darkness at the crucifixion was very extensive. It was “over all the land.” Yea, it was beyond the land of Judea; or “over all the earth,” as the words are, in one place, rendered. It was observed in countries distant from Judea; and is related by profane historians, as a phenomenon, for which no natural cause could be assigned. In a natural eclipse, the total darkness cannot be of very great extent. I have had correct information, that within the space of less than two hundred miles, from north to south, a segment of the sun appeared during the whole time of the late eclipse.

Nay, farther, at the time of the crucifixion there could be no natural eclipse, for the sun and moon were then in opposition. Christ was crucified at the time of the Passover. The Passover was to begin on the fourteenth day of the month. The Jewish month began at the first appearance of the new moon. On the fourteenth day, the moon, being full, and in opposition to the sun, could not cause an eclipse. The obscuration therefore must have been preternatural and miraculous.

That there really was such an obscuration is indubitable. It is recorded by three of the evangelists, who published their narrative so soon after the crucifixion, that many spectators of the scene, both friends and enemies to Christ, were still living. They would not have asserted such a strange phenomenon, as being universally known, in that and neighboring countries, and as having happened on a certain day, if it had not been a fact; for every man, woman and youth, living at that time, would have been able to contradict it. Had the evangelists been impostors, they would not have published a falsehood of this kind; for nothing could have been more fatal to their cause. There is no room to question the reality of the fact.

This darkness, the earthquake, and the rending of the veil of the temple, which occurred at the same time, had a great effect on the spectators. The commanding officer, who stood by the cross of Jesus, struck with astonishment, said, “Surely this was the son of God.” “And all the people, who came together to that sight, beholding what was done, smote their breasts, and returned.”

These miraculous appearances in the earth and in the heavens, at the time, when Jesus was suffering on the cross, were such divined attestations in his favor, as reason could not resist; and they were also most awful indications of the wrath of God against the horrid and impious work, which the infidel Jews were then transacting.

But were these the only persons against whom the darkness denounced the anger of heaven? No; it equally manifested, and still it manifests the amazing guilt of all unbelievers under the gospel – of all who are enemies to the blessed Jesus – of all who despise and oppose his religion.

Infidelity and impiety involve in them the same guilt now as in former times. The gospel comes to us with equal evidence and authority, as it came to the Jews. They who reject it, crucify afresh its heavenly author, and are bringing on themselves swift destruction – to such is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. As they walk in the darkness of unbelief and wickedness, they will fall into the darkness of misery and despair. “When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, he will come in flaming fire, and will take vengeance on them who know not God, and on them who obey not the gospel.”

5. The temporary darkness of an eclipse is followed with cheerful light, which “shines more and more unto the perfect day.” This is a natural emblem of that moral change, in which a soul is brought out of the darkness of sin and guilt into the marvelous light of purity, pardon and peace.

How sad and gloomy is the condition of a guilty mortal, who convinced of his numerous transgressions, feels himself condemned to eternal death. The divine law, which was delivered. From Sinai, in smoke and darkness, in clouds and tempest, thunders terror and destruction in his ears. But how happily is his state reversed, when light, beaming from mount Zion, in the discoveries and promises of the gospel, breaks in on his soul, exhibits to him a dying Savior, a forgiving God, a sanctifying spirit? What joy springs up, when he finds the power of sin subdued – his enmity to God slain – his opposition to the gospel conquered – and every thought captivated to the obedience of Christ? The light is ceding to previous darkness. So the hopes and comforts of religion in the soul are exalted by their contrast to preceding anxieties and fears.

Ye awakened, desponding souls, look up to the sun of righteousness. He shines from heaven with salvation in his beams. However guilty, unworthy and impotent ye feel, there is grace sufficient for you; there is righteousness to justify you, promises to support you, the spirit to help you. Light arises in darkness. Turn your eyes from the cloud, and direct them to the sun. Christ came a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not walk in darkness. Look to him, and be ye saved.

Finally: the obscuration of the sun in the sky bids us contemplate the uninterrupted brightness of the heavenly state. Could we rise above the moon, the sun which is eclipsed to the inhabitants of the earth, would shine to us in all its splendor. When the Christian has the moon under his feet, he will be clothed with the sun, and crowned with stars.

There is no darkness, no night in heaven: all is light; all is glory there.

In heaven there is the light of purity, and love. The pure in heart shall see God; he is light; in him is no darkness. Nothing enters into his presence that defiles.

There is the light of knowledge – glorious discoveries of God – of the Savior – of the works of providence and grace – of the wonders of creation and redemption. Here we see through a glass darkly; there we shall see face to face. Here we know in part, there we shall know as we are known.

The light of heaven is constant; it is never eclipsed nor clouded. The holy city needs not the sun to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and Jesus is the light thereof. The nations of them who are saved shall walk in the light of it, and there shall be no night there.

How different will be the state of good men in heaven from that which they experience on earth? Here they have some light, but it is often interrupted, and always dim. How little do they know of God and his works – how much error is mixed with their faith – how much doubt with their hope – how much fear with their courage; how much carnality with their devotion? In heaven it will be otherwise. Knowledge there will be full without error, certain without perplexity and clear without confusion. Holiness will be perfect without sin, and refined without dross and corruption. And they will serve God continually without reluctance or weariness.

Let us begin the life, and accustom ourselves to the works of heaven, while we dwell on earth, that we may be prepared for admission into heaven, when we depart hence. Here God sheds down some beams of heavenly light to invite our thoughts and affections upward. The light is mingled with shades, and interrupted with clouds, because this is a state of trial, and our faith and patience must be exercised. Here we must walk by faith; we cannot walk by sight. “It is by faith and patience, that we inherit the promises.” “We are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? And if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. And the spirit helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us according to the will of God.”

It is but little, that we can at present know of heaven; but “then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” Let our souls follow hard after him; for what is there, which we can desire in comparison with him? “It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But when our Lord shall come, we trust, that we shall be like him and see him as he is. And having this hope, let us purify ourselves as he is pure.”

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