Hugh Williamson (1735-1819). He was a signer of the Constitution of the United States, a member of the Continental Congress, a member of the U.S. Congress, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a land speculator and scientist. Hugh Williamson joined Dr. Benjamin Franklin in many of his electrical experiments. He studied for the ministry as a young man. Williamson visited and prayed for the sick in his community. When his father died, he pursued the study of divinity and became a preacher.
“In 1759 he went to Connecticut, where he pursued his theological studies and was licensed to preach. After returning from Connecticut, he was admitted to membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia … [and] preached nearly two years.”
A chronic weakness in his chest would not permit him to continue a career in public speaking. He entered medical school, working as a professor in mathematics to finance his education. After graduating from college, he practiced in Philadelphia. After traveling to Europe, he became surgeon general and distinguished himself in medical service during the American Revolution. He became wealthy through land speculation and investments after his service in Congress. Williamson wrote extensively for medical and literary societies. He wrote a powerful book in 1811 that refuted the claims of “higher criticism” of Scripture. His book Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America, provided scientific explanations for the credibility of the Holy Scriptures in regard to Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). He was a renowned British philosopher and mathematician. His works include: Principia Mathematica (1910-1913); Principles of Natural Knowledge (1910). To my knowledge, Alfred North Whitehead was not a Christian; but affirmed that Christianity was the mother of Modern Science which began with the Scientific Revolution in Europe. In Science and the Modern World (1925), chapter 12, Alfred North Whitehead wrote:
“The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.”
“The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.”
John Tyndall (1820-1893). He was a British physicist and philosopher who became the director of the Royal Institute. The areas of his scientific study included: glacier flow, transmission and radiation of heat, the Tyndal effect which demonstrates how light is scattered by microscopic particles such as dust and colloids in suspension. In Fragments of Science, vol. II, “Professor Virchow and Evolution,” Tyndall declared:
“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”
“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”
Lord Rayleigh John Strutt (1842-1919). He was a leading scientist at Cambridge, 1879-84; a member of the Royal Institution, 1887-1905; and the chancellor of Cambridge, 1908-1919. Strutt was the discoverer of argon, 1895, and other rare gases. He pioneered the studies of electromagnetic wave motion, optics, sonics, gas dynamics, and perfected similitude and dimensional analysis as scientific tools. Strutt was a pioneer in developing molecular acoustics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904.
In the introduction to his published papers; Lord Rayleigh John Strutt declared:
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”
In the introduction to his published papers; Lord Rayleigh John Strutt declared:
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”
Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870). He pioneered modern anesthesiology through the discovery of “Chloroform” in 1847. He said that he was inspired by the “deep sleep” that Adam was put into by God. He was considered a chief founder of the medical field of gynecology. Simpson was the Professor of Obstetric Medicine at Edinburgh University. He invented the Simpson forceps, introduced iron wire sutures, and acupressure. Simpsons’ writings on medical history, fetal pathology, and hermaphroditism are highly regarded. He declared his greatest discovery:
“That I have a Savior!”
He wrote a gospel tract which concluded with the following words:
“But again I looked and saw Jesus, my substitute, scourged in my stead and dying on the cross for me. I looked and cried and was forgiven. And it seems to be my duty to tell you of that Savior, to see if you will not also look and live. 'He was wounded for our transgressions…and with His stripes we are healed'” (Isaiah 53:5,6)
Sir James Young Simpson declared:
“The unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a corpse; it is 'dead in sins.'” Of all of you who are now living by faith in Christ it may be truthfully said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of the Ephesians converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 'You hath He quickened, who were dead.'"
“As many of you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scripture, 'dead.'” You are dead in the eye of Divine justice; for as the condemned criminal is as a 'dead man,' when his crimes have brought on him the legal doom of death, you re likewise 'dead,' because 'he that believeth not is condemned already.'"
“Furthermore, you are also spiritually dead on account of being cut off by your sins from communion with the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing burden of their own sins your souls are not all conscious; for the dead feel not.”
“But in the infinitude of His love to our fallen race, God offers to each of us individually a free and full pardon, and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, who He sent to suffer in our stead – to die that we might live – if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins – as our substitute and security.”
“That I have a Savior!”
He wrote a gospel tract which concluded with the following words:
“But again I looked and saw Jesus, my substitute, scourged in my stead and dying on the cross for me. I looked and cried and was forgiven. And it seems to be my duty to tell you of that Savior, to see if you will not also look and live. 'He was wounded for our transgressions…and with His stripes we are healed'” (Isaiah 53:5,6)
Sir James Young Simpson declared:
“The unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a corpse; it is 'dead in sins.'” Of all of you who are now living by faith in Christ it may be truthfully said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of the Ephesians converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 'You hath He quickened, who were dead.'"
“As many of you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scripture, 'dead.'” You are dead in the eye of Divine justice; for as the condemned criminal is as a 'dead man,' when his crimes have brought on him the legal doom of death, you re likewise 'dead,' because 'he that believeth not is condemned already.'"
“Furthermore, you are also spiritually dead on account of being cut off by your sins from communion with the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing burden of their own sins your souls are not all conscious; for the dead feel not.”
“But in the infinitude of His love to our fallen race, God offers to each of us individually a free and full pardon, and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, who He sent to suffer in our stead – to die that we might live – if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins – as our substitute and security.”
Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864). He was an honored physicist, chemist and geologist. In 1818, he founded and edited the American Journal of Science and Arts. Silliman was an original member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. He published his research on the potential uses of crude oil in Silliman Report, 1855, which made significant contributions and influence in establishing the American oil industry. The mineral Sillimanite (a form of aluminum silicate, Al2SiO5 is named for him.
Silliman was profoundly influenced by President Timothy Dwight of Yale. Professor Silliman wrote of the atmosphere on the Yale campus during the tenure of President Dwight.
“It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.”
Silliman made the statements which follow:
“The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata.”
“The Word and the works of God cannot conflict, and the more they are studied the more perfect will their harmony appear.”
Silliman concluded his course of college lectures on June 13, 1885.
“Thus, O Almighty God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life…For myself, in the evening of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy through the Redeemer of men; and if power and opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my fellow men.”
“For my salvation I depend entirely upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I implore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou hast in mercy given me.”
“I implore it, also, for the precious youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer.”
Silliman was profoundly influenced by President Timothy Dwight of Yale. Professor Silliman wrote of the atmosphere on the Yale campus during the tenure of President Dwight.
“It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.”
Silliman made the statements which follow:
“The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata.”
“The Word and the works of God cannot conflict, and the more they are studied the more perfect will their harmony appear.”
Silliman concluded his course of college lectures on June 13, 1885.
“Thus, O Almighty God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life…For myself, in the evening of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy through the Redeemer of men; and if power and opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my fellow men.”
“For my salvation I depend entirely upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I implore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou hast in mercy given me.”
“I implore it, also, for the precious youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer.”
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). He was the French scientist who developed the process of “pasteurization” for milk. He developed the vaccine for anthrax and chicken cholera in 1881 and the rabies vaccine in 1885. Pasteur was a chemist and physicist who revolutionized the medical field by establishing the germ theory of disease, organic basis and regulation of fermentation, and bacteriology. Pasteur’s research laid the foundation for the control of Tuberclosis, cholera, diphtheria, tetanus, and several other diseases. He was appointed dean of the faculty of sciences at Lille University in 1854. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was founded to treat rabies and advanced biological research.
Pasteur made the following comments when describing anaerobic bacteria:
“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”
He was questioned in his mature years about his faith and replied:
“The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of a Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.”
He was one of the first European scientists who rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life.
“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves…There is something in the depths of our souls which tell us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”
Louis Pasteur once declared in his lectures,
“Science brings man nearer to God.”
Pasteur made the following comments when describing anaerobic bacteria:
“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”
He was questioned in his mature years about his faith and replied:
“The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of a Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.”
He was one of the first European scientists who rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life.
“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves…There is something in the depths of our souls which tell us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”
Louis Pasteur once declared in his lectures,
“Science brings man nearer to God.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). Renowned “Father of the Science of Hydrostatics” Pascal helped establish the principles of hydrodynamics and made invaluable contributions in mathematical treatment of conic sections, the theory of probability, and differential calculus, with his invention of Pascal’s triangle for calculating the coefficients of a binomial expansion. Pascal helped develop the barometer through his discoveries in fluid mechanics which is known as “Pascal’s Principle.” Pascal wrote in Lettres provincials in 1656-57. In 1670 he published his highly influential religious work, entitled Pensee su la religion. In Pensee Pascal wrote:
“Men blaspheme what they don’t know.”
He was well known for his famous “Wager of Pascal.”
“How can anyone lose who chooses to become a Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost nothing – in fact, he has been happier in life than his nonbelieving friends. If, however, there is a God and a heaven and hell, than he has gained heaven and skeptical friends which have lost everything in hell.”
Pascal declares in his work Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules:
“We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this Mediator, is taken away all communication with God; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who have pretended to know God; and prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only had impotent proofs.”
“But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophesies which are good and valid proofs. And those prophesies, being fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the certainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals.”
“We know life, death, only through Jesus Christ. Except by Jesus Christ we know not what life is, what our death is, what God is, what we ourselves are. Thus, without Scripture, which has only Jesus Christ for its object, we know nothing, and we see not only obscurity and confusion in the nature of God, but in nature herself. Without Jesus Christ, man must be in sin and misery; with Jesus Christ, man is exempt from sin and misery. In Him is all our virtue, and all felicity. Out of Him, there is nothing but sin, misery, error, darkness, death, and despair.”
After Pascal died the writing that follows was found among his effects:
“’The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,’ not of philosophers and scholars.”
“Men blaspheme what they don’t know.”
He was well known for his famous “Wager of Pascal.”
“How can anyone lose who chooses to become a Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost nothing – in fact, he has been happier in life than his nonbelieving friends. If, however, there is a God and a heaven and hell, than he has gained heaven and skeptical friends which have lost everything in hell.”
Pascal declares in his work Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules:
“We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this Mediator, is taken away all communication with God; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who have pretended to know God; and prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only had impotent proofs.”
“But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophesies which are good and valid proofs. And those prophesies, being fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the certainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals.”
“We know life, death, only through Jesus Christ. Except by Jesus Christ we know not what life is, what our death is, what God is, what we ourselves are. Thus, without Scripture, which has only Jesus Christ for its object, we know nothing, and we see not only obscurity and confusion in the nature of God, but in nature herself. Without Jesus Christ, man must be in sin and misery; with Jesus Christ, man is exempt from sin and misery. In Him is all our virtue, and all felicity. Out of Him, there is nothing but sin, misery, error, darkness, death, and despair.”
After Pascal died the writing that follows was found among his effects:
“’The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,’ not of philosophers and scholars.”
Robert Morris Page (1903-1970) Physicist who invented pulsation radar used for detection of aircraft. Page served with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He received the U.S. Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Presidential Certificate Merit, the IRE Fellowship Harry Diamond Memorial Award, and the Stuart Ballantyne Medal of the Franklin Institute. Robert Morris Page held thirty-seven patents, mostly in radar.
“The authenticity of the writings of the prophets, though the men themselves are human, is established by such things as the prediction of highly significant events far in the future that could be accomplished only through a knowledge obtained from a realm which is not subject to the laws of time as we know them.”
“One of the great evidences is the long series of prophesies concerning Jesus the Messiah. These prophesies extend hundreds of years prior to the birth of Christ. They include a vast amount of detail concerning Christ himself, His nature and the things He would do when He came – things which to the natural world, or the scientific world, remain to this day completely inexplicable.”
“The authenticity of the writings of the prophets, though the men themselves are human, is established by such things as the prediction of highly significant events far in the future that could be accomplished only through a knowledge obtained from a realm which is not subject to the laws of time as we know them.”
“One of the great evidences is the long series of prophesies concerning Jesus the Messiah. These prophesies extend hundreds of years prior to the birth of Christ. They include a vast amount of detail concerning Christ himself, His nature and the things He would do when He came – things which to the natural world, or the scientific world, remain to this day completely inexplicable.”
Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813). Rush was a physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, “father of public schools,” and promoter of the American Sunday School Union. Rush served his country as Surgeon General of the Continental Army. He helped write the Pennsylvania Constitution and was treasurer of the U.S. Mint. Dr. Benjamin Rush established the first free medical clinic in 1786. He helped found the first American anti-slavery society. After the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1798, Dr. Rush declared:
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can ne no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
Dr. Rush published Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical in 1798. In that work he declared:
“I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted. But let us not be wider than our Maker. If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospels rests upon the doctrine which, thought often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”
Benjamin Rush described himself as:
“I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.”
Dr. Rush wrote to his wife when facing his final illness,
“My excellent wife, I must leave you, but God will take care of you. By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation; by Thy holy nativity; by Thy baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Thine agony and bloody sweat; by Thy cross and passion; by Thy precious death and burial; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, blessed Jesus, wash away all my impurities, and receive me into Thy everlasting kingdom.”
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can ne no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
Dr. Rush published Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical in 1798. In that work he declared:
“I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted. But let us not be wider than our Maker. If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospels rests upon the doctrine which, thought often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”
Benjamin Rush described himself as:
“I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.”
Dr. Rush wrote to his wife when facing his final illness,
“My excellent wife, I must leave you, but God will take care of you. By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation; by Thy holy nativity; by Thy baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Thine agony and bloody sweat; by Thy cross and passion; by Thy precious death and burial; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, blessed Jesus, wash away all my impurities, and receive me into Thy everlasting kingdom.”
John Ray (1627-1705). Ray was a founder of the Royal Society. He was considered to be the father of English natural history. He was a respected expert in the fields of botany and zoology. Ray compiled an extensive catalogue of English flora. A book he authored was titled:
“The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Work of Creation.”
Ray stated in the book that God’s works of creation were:
“The works created by God at first, and by Him conserved to this day in the same state and condition in which they were first made."
“The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Work of Creation.”
Ray stated in the book that God’s works of creation were:
“The works created by God at first, and by Him conserved to this day in the same state and condition in which they were first made."
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Newton was the discoverer of the laws of universal gravitation. He formulated three laws of motion. The laws aided in advancing the discipline of dynamics. Consequently, Newton helped develop calculus into a comprehensive branch of mathematics. He was a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Sir Isaac Newton constructed the first refracting telescope and established the foundation for the law of energy conservation. Newton was responsible for the particle theory of light propagation. The following comments are from his work Optics which was published in 1704.
“God in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them.”
Newton emphatically asserted:
“We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever…Worshipping God and the Lamb in the temple: God, for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb, for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood.”
“There is one God, the Father, ever-living, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus…”
“To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. That is, we are to worship the Father alone as God Almighty, and Jesus alone as the Lord, the Messiah, the Great King, the Lamb of God who was slain, and hath redeemed us with His blood, and made us kings and priests.”
“The Book of Revelation exhibits to us the same peculiarities as that of nature…The history of the Fall of Man – of the introduction of moral and physical evil, the prediction of the Messiah, the actual advent of our Savior, His instructions, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and the subsequent propagation of His religion by unlettered fishermen of Galilee, are each a stumbling-block to the wisdom of this world…”
“But through the system of revealed truth which this Book contains is, like that of the universe, concealed from common observation, yet the labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin, and developed in all its order and beauty the great plan of human restoration.”
“God in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them.”
Newton emphatically asserted:
“We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever…Worshipping God and the Lamb in the temple: God, for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb, for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood.”
“There is one God, the Father, ever-living, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus…”
“To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. That is, we are to worship the Father alone as God Almighty, and Jesus alone as the Lord, the Messiah, the Great King, the Lamb of God who was slain, and hath redeemed us with His blood, and made us kings and priests.”
“The Book of Revelation exhibits to us the same peculiarities as that of nature…The history of the Fall of Man – of the introduction of moral and physical evil, the prediction of the Messiah, the actual advent of our Savior, His instructions, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and the subsequent propagation of His religion by unlettered fishermen of Galilee, are each a stumbling-block to the wisdom of this world…”
“But through the system of revealed truth which this Book contains is, like that of the universe, concealed from common observation, yet the labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin, and developed in all its order and beauty the great plan of human restoration.”
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872). Samuel F.B. Morse was the inventor of Morse Code. He also developed the telegraph and built the first camera in America. He was the son of Jedediah Morse, “Father of American Geography.” Samuel Morse was one of the greatest portrait painters of antiquity. He was the founder and president of the National Academy of Design. In 1831, he received the distinction of being appointed to the first chair of fine arts in America. He was Professor of Sculpture and Painting at the New York University. He erected the first telegraph wires between Baltimore and Washington D.C. in 1844. The first message sent over this new communications system would revolutionize the world. The message was four words from a verse in the Bible found in Numbers 23:23:
“What hath God Wrought!”
Samuel Morse wrote the following message to his wife during anxious days between failure and success.
“The only gleam of hope, and I cannot underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look upward it calms my apprehensions for the future, and I seem to hear a voice saying: ‘If I clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not also clothe you?’ Here is my strong confidence, and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence.”
When he was informed of the death of his wife; he wrote to his father:
“Oh, is it possible? Is it possible? Shall I never see my wife again? But I can not trust myself to write on this subject. I need your prayers and those of Christian friends.”
He graduated in 1910 from Yale College where he studied under the godly influence of President Timothy Dwight. Four years before his death; he gave this testimony of his faith.
“The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God’s remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.”
“What hath God Wrought!”
Samuel Morse wrote the following message to his wife during anxious days between failure and success.
“The only gleam of hope, and I cannot underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look upward it calms my apprehensions for the future, and I seem to hear a voice saying: ‘If I clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not also clothe you?’ Here is my strong confidence, and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence.”
When he was informed of the death of his wife; he wrote to his father:
“Oh, is it possible? Is it possible? Shall I never see my wife again? But I can not trust myself to write on this subject. I need your prayers and those of Christian friends.”
He graduated in 1910 from Yale College where he studied under the godly influence of President Timothy Dwight. Four years before his death; he gave this testimony of his faith.
“The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God’s remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.”
Jedediah Morse (1761-1826) He was a pioneer American educator and geographer. Jedediah Morse was called the “Father of American Geography.” He was the father of Samuel F.B. Morse who invented Morse Code and the telegraph. Jedediah Morse taught for several years in New Haven schools. He compiled his notes and published them in 1784 entitled, Geography Made Easy. He set the standard for American Geography and authored several books. Jedediah Morse published, The American Geography, 1789; Elements of Geography, 1795; The American Gazetter, 1797; A New Gazetter of the Eastern Continent, 1802; A Compendious History of New England, 1804; and Annals of the American Revolution. He was founder of the New England Tract Society, 1814 and The American Bible Society, 1816. Jedediah Morse was also a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1811-1819.
In 1799 Jedediah Morse declared:
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.
“All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.
“Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
In 1799 Jedediah Morse declared:
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.
“All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.
“Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873). Maury was a scientist and the pioneer hydrographer known as the “Pathfinder of the Seas.” While serving in the Navy; He charted the sea and wind currents. Maury was the founder of modern hydrography and oceanography. He was Professor of Meteorology at the Virginia Military Institute. The following remarks are from his book Physical Geography of the Sea published in 1855.
“I have always found in my scientific studies, that, when I could get the Bible to say anything on the subject it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and a round in the ladder by which I could safely ascend.”
“As our knowledge of nature and her laws has increased, so has our knowledge of many passages of the Bible improved.”
“The Bible called the earth “the round world,” yet for ages it was the most damnable heresy for Christian men to say that the world is round; and, finally, sailors circumnavigated the globe, and proved the Bible to be right, and saved Christian men of science from the stake.”
“And as for the general system of circulation which I have been so long endeavoring to describe, the Bible tells it all in a single sentence: “The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again to his circuits.”
A verse from Psalm 8 is engraved on Maury’s tombstone at the U.S.Naval Academy. It is the verse which inspired him.
“Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”
“I have always found in my scientific studies, that, when I could get the Bible to say anything on the subject it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and a round in the ladder by which I could safely ascend.”
“As our knowledge of nature and her laws has increased, so has our knowledge of many passages of the Bible improved.”
“The Bible called the earth “the round world,” yet for ages it was the most damnable heresy for Christian men to say that the world is round; and, finally, sailors circumnavigated the globe, and proved the Bible to be right, and saved Christian men of science from the stake.”
“And as for the general system of circulation which I have been so long endeavoring to describe, the Bible tells it all in a single sentence: “The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again to his circuits.”
A verse from Psalm 8 is engraved on Maury’s tombstone at the U.S.Naval Academy. It is the verse which inspired him.
“Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”
Alexander MacAlister (1844-1919). MacAlister was professor of anatomy at Cambridge and was a distinguished author of textbooks on the subjects of physiology and zoology.
“I think the widespread impression of the agnosticism of scientific men is largely due to the attitude taken up be a few of the great popularizers of science, like Tyndall and Huxley.”
“It has been my experience that the disbelief in the revelation that God has given, in the life and work, death and resurrection of our Savior, is more prevalent among what I may call the camp followers of science then amongst those to whom scientific work is the business of their lives.”
“I think the widespread impression of the agnosticism of scientific men is largely due to the attitude taken up be a few of the great popularizers of science, like Tyndall and Huxley.”
“It has been my experience that the disbelief in the revelation that God has given, in the life and work, death and resurrection of our Savior, is more prevalent among what I may call the camp followers of science then amongst those to whom scientific work is the business of their lives.”
Joseph Lister (1827-1912). Lister was an English surgeon who developed “antiseptic surgery” by using the application of chemical disinfectants. He was the founder of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine in London. He served as President of the British Association and the Royal Society. Lord Lister was of Quaker background and declared:
“I believe in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.”
“I believe in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.”
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1788). He was a Swedish botanist who was considered the father of modern botany. He was the first naturalist to classify plants. Linnaeus initiated the use of two Latin names, identifying genus and species to classify all plants and animals. Among his works are the following texts: Bibioltheca Botanica, Systema Naturae, 1735; Genera Plantarum, 1737; and Species Plantarum, 1753. The following words were inscribed over the door of his bedchamber:
“Live innocently; God is here.”
“Live innocently; God is here.”
Paul Lemoine (1878-1940). Lemoine was the director of the Natural History Museum in Paris. He was also President of the Geological Society of France. He was chief editor of the 1937 edition of the Encyclopedia Francaise. I do not know Lemoine’s religious convictions concerning the validity of Christianity. He made the following comments in an article on evolution.
“The theory of evolution is impossible. At base, in spite of appearances, no one any longer believes in it …Evolution is a kind of dogma which the priests no longer believe, but which they maintain for their people.”
“The theory of evolution is impossible. At base, in spite of appearances, no one any longer believes in it …Evolution is a kind of dogma which the priests no longer believe, but which they maintain for their people.”
Johaan Kepler (1571-1630). Kepler was the founder of physical astronomy and discovered the laws of planetary motion. He was the pioneer of the discipline of celestial mechanics. Kepler proved the heliocentric nature of the solar system – all planets revolve around the sun. He published ephemeris tables which were necessary for plotting star movement and contributed to the theory of calculus. Johann Kepler made the following statement in regard to his invaluable scientific discoveries.
“O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee! Nothing holds me! I will indulge in my sacred fury, I will triumph over mankind by the proud confession that I have stolen the golden vases to build up a tabernacle for my God, far away from the confines of Egypt. If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you be angry, I can bear it. The die is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.”
Kepler concludes his treatise Harmony of Worlds with these words,
“I thank Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy creation, this delight in the works of Thy hands; I have shown excellency of Thy works unto man, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thine infinity; if I have said aught of Thy glory, graciously forgive it.”
Kepler declared the following remarks in Homage to the Book.
"We astronomers say, with the common people, the planets stand still or go down; the sun rises or sets. How much less should we require than the Scriptures of Divine inspiration, setting aside the common mode of speech, should shape their words according to the model of the natural scientist, and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom it designs to instruct, perplex the people of God, and thus obstruct its own way towards the attainment of far more exhalted object at which it aims.”
“O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee! Nothing holds me! I will indulge in my sacred fury, I will triumph over mankind by the proud confession that I have stolen the golden vases to build up a tabernacle for my God, far away from the confines of Egypt. If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you be angry, I can bear it. The die is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.”
Kepler concludes his treatise Harmony of Worlds with these words,
“I thank Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy creation, this delight in the works of Thy hands; I have shown excellency of Thy works unto man, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thine infinity; if I have said aught of Thy glory, graciously forgive it.”
Kepler declared the following remarks in Homage to the Book.
"We astronomers say, with the common people, the planets stand still or go down; the sun rises or sets. How much less should we require than the Scriptures of Divine inspiration, setting aside the common mode of speech, should shape their words according to the model of the natural scientist, and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom it designs to instruct, perplex the people of God, and thus obstruct its own way towards the attainment of far more exhalted object at which it aims.”
Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907). Lord Kelvin was the famous scientist who developed degrees Kelvin to document temperatures based on an absolute scale. Lord Kelvin held the chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 54 years. He formulated the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and introduced the Concept of Energy.
Lord Kelvin went on to make tremendous advances in the areas of physics and mathematics. The ships’ compass which was free from the magnetic influence of iron on ships was one of his greatest inventions. Kelvin helped to design and lay the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.
In 1903 Lord Kelvin declared,
“With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.”
Lord Kelvin addressed the Chairman of the Christian Evidence Society in London on May 23, 1889.
“My primary reason for accepting the invitation to preside was that I wished to show sympathy with this great Society which has been established for the purpose of defending Christianity as a Divine Revelation.”
“I also thought something was due from Science. I have long felt that there was a general impression in the non-scientific world that the scientific world believes Science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless.”
“It seems to me that when a scientific man says – as it has been said from time to time – that there is no God, he does not express his own ideas clearly. He is, perhaps, struggling with difficulties; but when he says that he does not believe in a creative power I am convinced he does not faithfully express what is in his mind. He is out of his depth…”
“I may refer to that old but never uninteresting subject of the miracles of geology. Physical Science does something for us here. Peter speaks of scoffers who said that ‘all things continue as they were from the beginning.’ But the Apostle affirms himself that ‘all these things shall be dissolved.’”
“It seems to me that even physical science absolutely demonstrates the scientific truth of these words. We feel that there is no possibility of all things going on forever as they have done for the past six thousand years. In science, as in morals and politics, there is absolutely no periodicity.”
Lord Kelvin went on to make tremendous advances in the areas of physics and mathematics. The ships’ compass which was free from the magnetic influence of iron on ships was one of his greatest inventions. Kelvin helped to design and lay the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.
In 1903 Lord Kelvin declared,
“With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.”
Lord Kelvin addressed the Chairman of the Christian Evidence Society in London on May 23, 1889.
“My primary reason for accepting the invitation to preside was that I wished to show sympathy with this great Society which has been established for the purpose of defending Christianity as a Divine Revelation.”
“I also thought something was due from Science. I have long felt that there was a general impression in the non-scientific world that the scientific world believes Science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless.”
“It seems to me that when a scientific man says – as it has been said from time to time – that there is no God, he does not express his own ideas clearly. He is, perhaps, struggling with difficulties; but when he says that he does not believe in a creative power I am convinced he does not faithfully express what is in his mind. He is out of his depth…”
“I may refer to that old but never uninteresting subject of the miracles of geology. Physical Science does something for us here. Peter speaks of scoffers who said that ‘all things continue as they were from the beginning.’ But the Apostle affirms himself that ‘all these things shall be dissolved.’”
“It seems to me that even physical science absolutely demonstrates the scientific truth of these words. We feel that there is no possibility of all things going on forever as they have done for the past six thousand years. In science, as in morals and politics, there is absolutely no periodicity.”
Sir William Herschel (1738-1822). The renowned English astronomer discovered the planet “Uranus.” He also noted the recognition of double stars. Herschel constructed the greatest reflecting telescopes of his time and catalogued and studied nebulae and galaxies as never had been done before. Sir William Herschel declared:
“The undevout astronomer must be mad.”
“The undevout astronomer must be mad.”
Sir John Fredrick Herschel (1792-1871). He was an outstanding astronomer and son of Sir William Herschel. He discovered and catalogued over 500 new stars and nebulae of the southern and northern hemispheres. He declared the following comments:
“All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths that come from on high and are contained in the Sacred Writing.”
“All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths that come from on high and are contained in the Sacred Writing.”
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Galileo was the famous Italian astronomer who conceived the idea for the isochronous pendulum. He invented the sector-compass and made the first practical telescope. Galileo discovered the four bright moons of Jupiter and discovered the famous Law of Falling Bodies. Galileo, the first mathematician at the University of Pisa declared:
“I am inclined to think that the authority of Holy Scripture is intended to convince men of those truths which are necessary for their salvation, which, being far above man’s understanding, can not be made credible by any learning, or any other means than revelation by the Holy Spirit.”
Galileo wrote in a letter,
“I send you a rose, which ought to please you extremely, seeing what a rarity it is at this season. And with the rose you must accept its thorns, which represent the bitter suffering of our Lord, while the green leaves represent the hope we may entertain, that through the same sacred passion we, having passed through the darkness of this short winter of our mortal life, may attain to the brightness and felicity of an eternal spring in Heaven.”
“I am inclined to think that the authority of Holy Scripture is intended to convince men of those truths which are necessary for their salvation, which, being far above man’s understanding, can not be made credible by any learning, or any other means than revelation by the Holy Spirit.”
Galileo wrote in a letter,
“I send you a rose, which ought to please you extremely, seeing what a rarity it is at this season. And with the rose you must accept its thorns, which represent the bitter suffering of our Lord, while the green leaves represent the hope we may entertain, that through the same sacred passion we, having passed through the darkness of this short winter of our mortal life, may attain to the brightness and felicity of an eternal spring in Heaven.”
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) Faraday was one of the greatest physicists of all time. He was an English chemist and naturalist who pioneered the liquefaction of gases and discovered benzene used in high explosives, aniline dyes and perfumes. Faraday was honored in 1833 as professor of chemistry at the Royal Institute. Michael Faraday’s scientific contributions include the discovery of electrolysis, electromagnet induction, the concept of magnet lines of force and the invention of the first electric generator in 1831.
“It is permitted to the Christian to think of death; he is even represented as praying that God would teach him to number his days. Words are given him: “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And though death brings the thought of judgment, it also brings to the Christian the thought of Him who died, who rose again for the justification of those who believe in Him.”
Furthermore Faraday declared:
“The Christian who is taught by God (by Word and Holy Spirit) finds his guide in the Word of God, and commits the keeping of his soul in the hands of God. He looks for no assurance beyond what the Word of God can give him; and if his mind is troubled by the cares and fears which may assail him, he can go nowhere but to the throne of grace and to Scripture.”
No outward manifestation can give either instruction or assurance to him, nor can any outward opposition or trouble diminish his confidence for Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness; but to them who are called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. The Christian religion is a revelation, and that revelation is the Wisdom of God.”
“It is permitted to the Christian to think of death; he is even represented as praying that God would teach him to number his days. Words are given him: “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And though death brings the thought of judgment, it also brings to the Christian the thought of Him who died, who rose again for the justification of those who believe in Him.”
Furthermore Faraday declared:
“The Christian who is taught by God (by Word and Holy Spirit) finds his guide in the Word of God, and commits the keeping of his soul in the hands of God. He looks for no assurance beyond what the Word of God can give him; and if his mind is troubled by the cares and fears which may assail him, he can go nowhere but to the throne of grace and to Scripture.”
No outward manifestation can give either instruction or assurance to him, nor can any outward opposition or trouble diminish his confidence for Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness; but to them who are called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. The Christian religion is a revelation, and that revelation is the Wisdom of God.”
Henri Jean Fabre (1823-1915). Fabre was considered the “Father of Modern Entomology.” The famed biologist pioneered unprecedented studies of insects in their habitats. He was the author of several textbooks including Souvenirs Entomologigues (1879-1907) Henri Jean Fabre, a personal friend of Louis Pasteur declared:
“Without Him I understand nothing; without Him all is darkness…Every period had its manias. I regard Atheism as a mania. It is the malady of the age. You could take my skin from me more easily than my faith in God.”
“Without Him I understand nothing; without Him all is darkness…Every period had its manias. I regard Atheism as a mania. It is the malady of the age. You could take my skin from me more easily than my faith in God.”
James Dwight Dana (1813-1895) He was a famous American geologist and professor at Yale who succeeded the renowned Professor Silliman. Professor Dana was president of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. James Dana became editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Science. He authored several books on mineralogy and geology which included System of Mineralogy and Manuel of Geology. Professor Dana declared:
“The grand old Book of God still stands; and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned over and pondered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the Sacred Word.”
“The grand old Book of God still stands; and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned over and pondered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the Sacred Word.”
George Washington Carver (1864-1943). Carver was an agricultural chemist of international fame and prestige. He introduced hundreds of uses for the peanut, soybean, pecan and sweet potatoe. His research revolutionized the Southern economy with crops that replenished the soil. His mother was kidnapped when he was an infant. Carver was raised by his Uncle Moses and Aunt Sue Carver. The poor boy spent much time around the house and in the woods. Carver went to school in Neosho, Missouri, then in Kansas. He graduated from Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. He became an accomplished artist and his painting The Yucca received an Honorable Mention at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. He gave up his faculty position at Iowa State College of Agricultural to join Booker T Washington, President of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Carver made many medical discoveries which include a cure for infantile paralysis and Penol. George Washington Carver made over 300 discoveries from peanuts and 118 discoveries from sweet potatoes. His discoveries included cosmetics, face powder, shaving cream, vinegar, cold cream, printer’s ink, salad oil, rubbing oil, infant coffee, leather stains from mahogany to blue, synthetic tapioca and egg yolk, flour, paints, non-toxic colors (from which crayons were created).
George W Carver was personal friends with Henry Ford. He was fascinated with Carver’s method of deriving rubber from milkweed. Ford tried several times to persuade Carver to work with him in business. Carver was committed to helping the poor of the South. Henry Ford built a duplicate of Dr. Carver’s birthplace at his Dearborn Village and a school named George Washington Carver School.
Carver was visited at Tuskegee Institute by Vice President Calvin Coolidge and by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He became confidant and advisors to leaders and scientists throughout the world. Thomas Edison offered him a position with a six figure number but was turned down.
In the summer of 1920, The Young Men’s Christian Association of Blue Ridge, North Carolina invited him to speak at their summer school for southern states. Dr. Willis D. Weatherford, President of Blue Ridge introduced Mr. Carver. George Carver, with his high voice, exclaimed:
“I always look forward to introductions as opportunities to learn something about myself.”
He continued:
“Years ago I went into my laboratory and said, ‘Dear Mr. Creator, please tell me what the universe was made for?’”
“The Great Creator answered, ‘You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask for something more your size, little man.”
“Then I asked, ‘Please Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for?’”
“Again the Great Creator replied, ‘You are still asking too much. Cut down on the extent and improve the intent.’”
“So then I asked, ‘Please, Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?’”
“That’s better, but even then it’s infinite. What do you want to know about the peanut?”
“Mr. Creator, can I make milk out of the peanut?”
“What kind of milk do you want? Good Jersey milk or just plain boarding house milk.”
“Good Jersey Milk.”
“And then the Great Creator taught me to take the peanut apart and put it together again. And out of the process have come forth all these products!”
A bottle of good Jersey milk was among the things on the table. Three-and-a-half ounces of peanuts produce a pint of milk or one quart of boardinghouse blue John! In 1921, he accepted the invitation to address the United States Senate Ways and Means Committee in Washington, D.C. concerning the potential uses of peanuts and other new crops. He was initially given ten minutes to speak but enthralled his audience. The chairman declared: “Go ahead Brother. Your time is unlimited.” Carver spoke for an hour and forty-five minutes. At the end of the address, the Chairman of the Committee asked Mr. Carver:
“Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?”
Carver answered:
“From an old book”
“What book?” asked the Senator.
Carver replied, “The Bible.”
The Senator inquired, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carver replied, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carter replied. ‘But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.”
George Washington Carver named his laboratory God’s Little Workshop and never took a textbook into God’s Workshop. He merely asked God how to perform his experiments. He accepted the invitation of the Women’s Board of Domestic Missions on November 19, 1924 to speak to an audience of 500 people in New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church.
“God is going to reveal to use things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”
George Carver would lock the door behind him whenever he entered God’s Little Workshop.
“Only alone can I draw close enough to God to discover His secrets.”
George Washington Carver developed a lifelong friendship with Jim Hardwick from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Harry Hardwick was Jim’s brother was the head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy. Jim visited Tuskegee Institute in 1928 and asked Dr. Carver to share some of his observations about God. Dr. Carver responded:
"As a very small boy exploiting the almost virgin woods of the old Carver place, I had the impression someone had just been there ahead of me. Things were so orderly, so clean, so harmoniously beautiful. A few years later in the same woods I was to understand the meaning of this boyish impression. Because I was practically overwhelmed with the sense of some Great Presence. Not only had someone been there. Someone was there…"
"Years later when I read in the Scriptures, 'In Him we live and move and have our being.' I knew what the writer meant. Never since have I been without this consciousness of the Creator speaking to me…The out of doors has been to me more and more a great cathedral in which God could be continuously spoken to and heard from…"
"Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be…God’s worker…"
"My attitude toward life was also my attitude toward science. Jesus said one must be born again, must be as a little child. He must let no laziness, no fear, no stubbornness keep him from his duty."
"If he were born again he would see life from such a plane he would have the energy not to be impeded in his duty by these various sidetrackers and inhibitions. My work, my life, must be in the spirit of a little child seeking only to know the truth and follow it."
"My purpose alone must be God’s purpose – to increase the welfare and happiness of His people. Nature will not permit a vacuum. It will be filled with something."
"Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill…"
"With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum and I became an agent. Then the passage, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,' came to have real meaning."
"As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need forces were working through me which I amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke the answer was there."
"Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory? Some things must be baffling to the critic who has never been born again."
"By nature I am a conserver. I have found nature to be a conserver. Nothing is wasted or permanently lost in nature. Things can change their form, but they do not cease to exist."
"After I leave this world I do not believe I am through. God would be a bigger fool than even a man if he did not conserve what seems to be the most important thing he has yet done in the universe. This kind of reasoning may aid the young."
"When you get your grip on the last rung of the ladder and took over the wall as I am now doing you don’t need their proofs. You see. You know you will not die."
George Washington Carver was awarded the Roosevelt Medal in 1939 with this declaration:
“To a scientist humbly seeking the guidance of God and a liberator to men of the white race as well as the black.”
George Washington Carver remarked:
“The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible. ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’”
Carver made many medical discoveries which include a cure for infantile paralysis and Penol. George Washington Carver made over 300 discoveries from peanuts and 118 discoveries from sweet potatoes. His discoveries included cosmetics, face powder, shaving cream, vinegar, cold cream, printer’s ink, salad oil, rubbing oil, infant coffee, leather stains from mahogany to blue, synthetic tapioca and egg yolk, flour, paints, non-toxic colors (from which crayons were created).
George W Carver was personal friends with Henry Ford. He was fascinated with Carver’s method of deriving rubber from milkweed. Ford tried several times to persuade Carver to work with him in business. Carver was committed to helping the poor of the South. Henry Ford built a duplicate of Dr. Carver’s birthplace at his Dearborn Village and a school named George Washington Carver School.
Carver was visited at Tuskegee Institute by Vice President Calvin Coolidge and by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He became confidant and advisors to leaders and scientists throughout the world. Thomas Edison offered him a position with a six figure number but was turned down.
In the summer of 1920, The Young Men’s Christian Association of Blue Ridge, North Carolina invited him to speak at their summer school for southern states. Dr. Willis D. Weatherford, President of Blue Ridge introduced Mr. Carver. George Carver, with his high voice, exclaimed:
“I always look forward to introductions as opportunities to learn something about myself.”
He continued:
“Years ago I went into my laboratory and said, ‘Dear Mr. Creator, please tell me what the universe was made for?’”
“The Great Creator answered, ‘You want to know too much for that little mind of yours. Ask for something more your size, little man.”
“Then I asked, ‘Please Mr. Creator, tell me what man was made for?’”
“Again the Great Creator replied, ‘You are still asking too much. Cut down on the extent and improve the intent.’”
“So then I asked, ‘Please, Mr. Creator, will you tell me why the peanut was made?’”
“That’s better, but even then it’s infinite. What do you want to know about the peanut?”
“Mr. Creator, can I make milk out of the peanut?”
“What kind of milk do you want? Good Jersey milk or just plain boarding house milk.”
“Good Jersey Milk.”
“And then the Great Creator taught me to take the peanut apart and put it together again. And out of the process have come forth all these products!”
A bottle of good Jersey milk was among the things on the table. Three-and-a-half ounces of peanuts produce a pint of milk or one quart of boardinghouse blue John! In 1921, he accepted the invitation to address the United States Senate Ways and Means Committee in Washington, D.C. concerning the potential uses of peanuts and other new crops. He was initially given ten minutes to speak but enthralled his audience. The chairman declared: “Go ahead Brother. Your time is unlimited.” Carver spoke for an hour and forty-five minutes. At the end of the address, the Chairman of the Committee asked Mr. Carver:
“Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?”
Carver answered:
“From an old book”
“What book?” asked the Senator.
Carver replied, “The Bible.”
The Senator inquired, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carver replied, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carter replied. ‘But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.”
George Washington Carver named his laboratory God’s Little Workshop and never took a textbook into God’s Workshop. He merely asked God how to perform his experiments. He accepted the invitation of the Women’s Board of Domestic Missions on November 19, 1924 to speak to an audience of 500 people in New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church.
“God is going to reveal to use things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”
George Carver would lock the door behind him whenever he entered God’s Little Workshop.
“Only alone can I draw close enough to God to discover His secrets.”
George Washington Carver developed a lifelong friendship with Jim Hardwick from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Harry Hardwick was Jim’s brother was the head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy. Jim visited Tuskegee Institute in 1928 and asked Dr. Carver to share some of his observations about God. Dr. Carver responded:
"As a very small boy exploiting the almost virgin woods of the old Carver place, I had the impression someone had just been there ahead of me. Things were so orderly, so clean, so harmoniously beautiful. A few years later in the same woods I was to understand the meaning of this boyish impression. Because I was practically overwhelmed with the sense of some Great Presence. Not only had someone been there. Someone was there…"
"Years later when I read in the Scriptures, 'In Him we live and move and have our being.' I knew what the writer meant. Never since have I been without this consciousness of the Creator speaking to me…The out of doors has been to me more and more a great cathedral in which God could be continuously spoken to and heard from…"
"Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be…God’s worker…"
"My attitude toward life was also my attitude toward science. Jesus said one must be born again, must be as a little child. He must let no laziness, no fear, no stubbornness keep him from his duty."
"If he were born again he would see life from such a plane he would have the energy not to be impeded in his duty by these various sidetrackers and inhibitions. My work, my life, must be in the spirit of a little child seeking only to know the truth and follow it."
"My purpose alone must be God’s purpose – to increase the welfare and happiness of His people. Nature will not permit a vacuum. It will be filled with something."
"Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill…"
"With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum and I became an agent. Then the passage, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,' came to have real meaning."
"As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need forces were working through me which I amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke the answer was there."
"Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory? Some things must be baffling to the critic who has never been born again."
"By nature I am a conserver. I have found nature to be a conserver. Nothing is wasted or permanently lost in nature. Things can change their form, but they do not cease to exist."
"After I leave this world I do not believe I am through. God would be a bigger fool than even a man if he did not conserve what seems to be the most important thing he has yet done in the universe. This kind of reasoning may aid the young."
"When you get your grip on the last rung of the ladder and took over the wall as I am now doing you don’t need their proofs. You see. You know you will not die."
George Washington Carver was awarded the Roosevelt Medal in 1939 with this declaration:
“To a scientist humbly seeking the guidance of God and a liberator to men of the white race as well as the black.”
George Washington Carver remarked:
“The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible. ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’”
Sir David Brewster (1781-1868). In 1817 this Scottish physicist patented his invention of the kaleidoscope. Brewster founded the science of optical mineralogy, involving light polarization. He was the founder and President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
“I shall see Jesus, and that will be grand! … Oh, is it not sad that all are not contented with the beautiful simple plan of salvation – Jesus Christ only - who has done so much for us.”
“Notwithstanding his talents!” That disgusts me: merit for a man to bow his intellect to the Cross! Why, what can the highest intellect on earth do but to bow to God’s Word and God’s mind thankfully?”
“When I find a doctrine plainly stated in the Bible, that is enough, God knows. I can depend on God’s Word. We should not expect in this world to be free from things obscure to us, and beyond our ability to explain” …
“To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to live; I trust Him and enjoy His peace.”
“I shall see Jesus, and that will be grand! … Oh, is it not sad that all are not contented with the beautiful simple plan of salvation – Jesus Christ only - who has done so much for us.”
“Notwithstanding his talents!” That disgusts me: merit for a man to bow his intellect to the Cross! Why, what can the highest intellect on earth do but to bow to God’s Word and God’s mind thankfully?”
“When I find a doctrine plainly stated in the Bible, that is enough, God knows. I can depend on God’s Word. We should not expect in this world to be free from things obscure to us, and beyond our ability to explain” …
“To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to live; I trust Him and enjoy His peace.”
Wernher Magnus Maximillian von Braun (1912-1977) “Father of the American Space Program” von Braun was director of NASA and the U.S. guided missile program. He had a PhD from the University of Berlin and eventually developed the V-2 rocket during World War II. He immigrated to the United States in 1945 and became an American citizen in 1955.
“In this age of space flight, when we use the modern tools of science to advance into new regions of human activity, the Bible – this grandiose, stirring history of the gradual revelation and unfolding of the moral law- remains in every way an up-to-date book."
"Our knowledge and use of the laws of nature that enable us to fly to the moon also enable us to destroy our home planet with the atom bomb. Science itself does not address the question whether we should use the power at our disposal for good or for evil."
"The guidelines of what we ought to do are furnished in the moral law of God. It is no longer enough that we pray that God may be with us on our side. We must learn to pray that we may be on God’s side.”
Wernher von Braun made the following declaration in the forward to Anthology on the Creation and design exhibited in nature:
“Manned space flight is an amazing achievement, but it has opened for mankind thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. An outlook through this peephole at the vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator.”
“I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advance of science.”
In May of 1974, von Braun declared:
“One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all… The better we understand the intricacies of the universe and all it harbors, the more reason we have found to marvel at the inherent design upon which it is based…”
“To be forced to believe only one conclusion- that everything in the universe happened by chance – would violate the very objectivity of science itself…What random process could produce the brains of a man or the system of the human eye?...”
“They (evolutionists) challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun? … They say they cannot visualize a Designer. Well, can a physicist visualize an electron? … What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electron as real while refusing to accept the reality of a Designer on the ground that they cannot conceive Him?”
“It is scientific honesty that I endorse the presentation of alternative theories for the origin of the universe, life and man in the science classroom. It would be an error to overlook the possibility that the university was planned rather than happening by chance.”
“In this age of space flight, when we use the modern tools of science to advance into new regions of human activity, the Bible – this grandiose, stirring history of the gradual revelation and unfolding of the moral law- remains in every way an up-to-date book."
"Our knowledge and use of the laws of nature that enable us to fly to the moon also enable us to destroy our home planet with the atom bomb. Science itself does not address the question whether we should use the power at our disposal for good or for evil."
"The guidelines of what we ought to do are furnished in the moral law of God. It is no longer enough that we pray that God may be with us on our side. We must learn to pray that we may be on God’s side.”
Wernher von Braun made the following declaration in the forward to Anthology on the Creation and design exhibited in nature:
“Manned space flight is an amazing achievement, but it has opened for mankind thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. An outlook through this peephole at the vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator.”
“I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advance of science.”
In May of 1974, von Braun declared:
“One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all… The better we understand the intricacies of the universe and all it harbors, the more reason we have found to marvel at the inherent design upon which it is based…”
“To be forced to believe only one conclusion- that everything in the universe happened by chance – would violate the very objectivity of science itself…What random process could produce the brains of a man or the system of the human eye?...”
“They (evolutionists) challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun? … They say they cannot visualize a Designer. Well, can a physicist visualize an electron? … What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electron as real while refusing to accept the reality of a Designer on the ground that they cannot conceive Him?”
“It is scientific honesty that I endorse the presentation of alternative theories for the origin of the universe, life and man in the science classroom. It would be an error to overlook the possibility that the university was planned rather than happening by chance.”
Robert Boyle (1626-1691). Boyle was the “Father of Modern Chemistry” and a founder of the Royal Society of London. He made significant contributions in physics and chemistry. Among his contributions: he discovered the basic law of gas dynamics; relating gas pressures to temperature and volume. He devoted much of his time to propagate the gospel. He wrote the Boyle Lectures in the field of apologetics proving the Christian religion. Robert Boyle declared:
“Our Savior would love at no less rate than death; and from the supereminent height of glory, stooped and debased Himself to the sufferance of the extremist of indignities, and sunk himself to the bottom of abjectness, to exalt our condition to the contrary extreme.”
Robert Boyle, in his work titled Some Considerations Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures, He declared:
“The Books of Scriptures illustrate and expound each other; as in the mariner’s compass, the needle’s extremity, though it seems to point purposely to the north, doth yet at the same time discover both east and west, as distant as they are from it and each other, so do some texts of Scripture guide us to the intelligence of others, for which they are widely distant in the Bible.”
“Our Savior would love at no less rate than death; and from the supereminent height of glory, stooped and debased Himself to the sufferance of the extremist of indignities, and sunk himself to the bottom of abjectness, to exalt our condition to the contrary extreme.”
Robert Boyle, in his work titled Some Considerations Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures, He declared:
“The Books of Scriptures illustrate and expound each other; as in the mariner’s compass, the needle’s extremity, though it seems to point purposely to the north, doth yet at the same time discover both east and west, as distant as they are from it and each other, so do some texts of Scripture guide us to the intelligence of others, for which they are widely distant in the Bible.”
Professor Louis Bounoure, March 8, 1984. I do not know if Professor is a Christian. I quote him because he denies the Darwinian belief in evolution. He was quoted in The Advocate publication and his statement carried considerable credence. He had been the President of Biological Society of Strasbourg and Director of the Strasbourg Zoological Museum. Later he became Director at the French National Centre of Scientific Research. Professor Bounoure declared:
“Evolution is a fairy tale for grown-ups. This theory had helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless.”
“Evolution is a fairy tale for grown-ups. This theory had helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless.”
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans was an English philosopher, essayist, courtier, jurist and statesman. Sir Francis Bacon was significantly responsible for the formulation and acceptance of the scientific methodology which stressed gathering of data from experimentation and induction rather than through the practice of philosophical deduction promulgated by Aristotle. Sir Francis Bacon assisted in creating and founding the Royal Society of London.
“There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent our falling into error; first, the volume of Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of the Creatures, which express His power.”
“There never was found, in any age of the world, either philosophy, or sect, or religion, or law, or discipline, which did so highly exalt the good of community, and increase private and particular good as the holy Christian faith. Hence, it clearly appears that it was one and the same God that gave the Christian law to men, who gave the laws of nature to the creatures.”
In The Advancement of Learning, Book II, Sir Francis Bacon stressed:
“But men must know that in this theatre of man’s life it is reserved only for God and the angels to be lookers on.”
“All good moral philosophy is but the handmaid to religion.”
In the treatise Of Atheism, Sir Francis Bacon declared:
“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.”
In, Literary and Religious Works of Francis Bacon, Volume II, Sir Francis Bacon declares:
“I believe that the Word of God, whereby His will is revealed, continued in revelation and tradition with Moses; and that the Scriptures were from Moses’ time to the time of the Apostles and Evangelists; in whose ages, after the coming of the Holy Ghost, the teacher of all truth, the book of Scriptures was shut and closed, so as to receive no new addition, and the Church hath no power after the Scriptures to teach or command anything contrary to the written word.”
“I believe that Jesus, the Lord, became flesh a sacrificer and a sacrifice for sin; a satisfaction and price paid to the justice of God; a meriter of Glory and the Kingdom; a pattern of all righteousness a preacher of the Word, which Himself was; a finisher of the ceremonies; a cornerstone to remove the separation between Jew and Gentile; an intercessor for the Church; a Lord of nature in his miracles; a conqueror of death and the power of darkness in His resurrection; and that He fulfilled the whole counsel of God; performing all His sacred offices, and anointing on earth, accomplishing the whole work of the redemption and restitution of man to a state superior to the angels, whereas the state of man by creation was inferior; and reconciled and established all things according to the eternal will of the Father.”
He proclaimed in his work Novum Organum Scientiarum (1620):
“Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some parts repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.”
Sir Francis Bacon declared, “To conclude, therefore, let no man speak out of weak conceit of sobriety, or in ill applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works.”
The “book of God’s word” is the Bible and the “book of God’s works” is the world which God has created.
Sir Francis Bacon wrote his Will in 1626.
“I bequeath my soul to God….My body to be buried obscurely. For my name and memory, I leave it to men’s charitable speeches, and to foreign nations, and the next age.”
“There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent our falling into error; first, the volume of Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of the Creatures, which express His power.”
“There never was found, in any age of the world, either philosophy, or sect, or religion, or law, or discipline, which did so highly exalt the good of community, and increase private and particular good as the holy Christian faith. Hence, it clearly appears that it was one and the same God that gave the Christian law to men, who gave the laws of nature to the creatures.”
In The Advancement of Learning, Book II, Sir Francis Bacon stressed:
“But men must know that in this theatre of man’s life it is reserved only for God and the angels to be lookers on.”
“All good moral philosophy is but the handmaid to religion.”
In the treatise Of Atheism, Sir Francis Bacon declared:
“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.”
In, Literary and Religious Works of Francis Bacon, Volume II, Sir Francis Bacon declares:
“I believe that the Word of God, whereby His will is revealed, continued in revelation and tradition with Moses; and that the Scriptures were from Moses’ time to the time of the Apostles and Evangelists; in whose ages, after the coming of the Holy Ghost, the teacher of all truth, the book of Scriptures was shut and closed, so as to receive no new addition, and the Church hath no power after the Scriptures to teach or command anything contrary to the written word.”
“I believe that Jesus, the Lord, became flesh a sacrificer and a sacrifice for sin; a satisfaction and price paid to the justice of God; a meriter of Glory and the Kingdom; a pattern of all righteousness a preacher of the Word, which Himself was; a finisher of the ceremonies; a cornerstone to remove the separation between Jew and Gentile; an intercessor for the Church; a Lord of nature in his miracles; a conqueror of death and the power of darkness in His resurrection; and that He fulfilled the whole counsel of God; performing all His sacred offices, and anointing on earth, accomplishing the whole work of the redemption and restitution of man to a state superior to the angels, whereas the state of man by creation was inferior; and reconciled and established all things according to the eternal will of the Father.”
He proclaimed in his work Novum Organum Scientiarum (1620):
“Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some parts repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.”
Sir Francis Bacon declared, “To conclude, therefore, let no man speak out of weak conceit of sobriety, or in ill applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works.”
The “book of God’s word” is the Bible and the “book of God’s works” is the world which God has created.
Sir Francis Bacon wrote his Will in 1626.
“I bequeath my soul to God….My body to be buried obscurely. For my name and memory, I leave it to men’s charitable speeches, and to foreign nations, and the next age.”
Andre Marie Ampere (1775-1863) was a French electrician and scientific writer. Ampere discovered the relationship between magnetism and electricity. He defined a unit to measure the strength of an electric current. (Amperes equals volts divided by ohms.) Before he died, Ampere wrote on a piece of paper:
“Believe in God, in His providence, in a future life, in the recompense of the good; in the punishment of the wicked; in the sublimity and truth of the doctrines of Christ, in a revelation of this doctrine by a special divine inspiration for the salvation of the human race.”
“Believe in God, in His providence, in a future life, in the recompense of the good; in the punishment of the wicked; in the sublimity and truth of the doctrines of Christ, in a revelation of this doctrine by a special divine inspiration for the salvation of the human race.”
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
National Day of Thanksgiving
"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy...
I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens...[it is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord....It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American people."
October 3, 1863
President Abraham Lincoln
[The first formal proclamation, passed by an Act of Congress, initiating the first annual National day of Thanksgiving."
I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens...[it is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord....It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, by the whole American people."
October 3, 1863
President Abraham Lincoln
[The first formal proclamation, passed by an Act of Congress, initiating the first annual National day of Thanksgiving."
National Day of Thanksgiving Proclamation
"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor...
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we then may all unite unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence if the course and conclusion of the late war;
for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed....
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord, to promote the knowledge and practice of the true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd of October, A.D. 1789.
G. Washington
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we then may all unite unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence if the course and conclusion of the late war;
for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed....
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord, to promote the knowledge and practice of the true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd of October, A.D. 1789.
G. Washington
George Washington's Prayer for the United States
"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy Holy protection; and Thou wilt incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly to their brethren who have served in the Field.
And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Chartity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.
Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[George Washington's prayer for the United States is inscribed on a plaque in St. Paul's Chapel in New York City and at Pohick Church, Fairfax County, Virginia, where George Washington was a vestryman from 1762 to 1784.]
And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Chartity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.
Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[George Washington's prayer for the United States is inscribed on a plaque in St. Paul's Chapel in New York City and at Pohick Church, Fairfax County, Virginia, where George Washington was a vestryman from 1762 to 1784.]
General Washington's Private Prayer
"And now, Almighty Father, if it is Thy holy will that we shall obtain a place and name among the nations of the earth, grant that we may be enabled to show our gratitude for Thy goodness by our endeavors to fear and obey Thee. Bless us with Thy wisdom in our counsels, success in battle, and let all our victories be tempered with humanity. Endow, also, our enemies with enlightened minds, that they become sensible of their injustice, and willing to restore our liberty and peace. Grant the petition of Thy servant, for the sake of Him whom Thou hast called Thy beloved Son; nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done."
General George Washington - June 1779
General George Washington - June 1779
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
