JOSIAH Chapter Five, Van Gogh, Faith, Future

Volume XIV, Issue V

Josiah
By Bob Kirchman
Copyright © 2018, The Kirchman Studio, all rights reserved

Chapter 5: In Fact It's Cold as Hell

In the darkness of the bunker, Allison and Josiah suspected something terrible had been attempted and thwarted. They now prepared to die. The bunker, however, had been provided with ample oxygen for more crew members than it now held and the two settled in to a routine as they waited for the radiation levels outside to subside. Then they donned pressure suits and pushed open the hatchway. Digging through the rubble they eventually emerged on the cratered surface. That night they watched the Great Northern arc across the Martian sky. “Tomorrow we’ll try to create an’S.O.S.’” Allison said. That night was the last time they saw Great Northern pass overhead.

Allison and Josiah looked hard at the suicide pills. There was a problem, however, as they would have to get into a pressurized space to remove their helmets and take them. Removing the helmets, they correctly surmised, would lead to a painful death if they did it in the rarified Martian atmosphere. The pathway back into the bunker was very unstable. “Let’s see if any greenhouses have survived past the ridge.” Josiah said as they began the long walk out. There might be a place where they could go in, remove the helmets and take the pills. Then they could sit in the gardens as their lives ebbed away.

They walked for most of a day. “I wonder what happened to the tractor?” Allison thought to herself as they trudged on.

Threading through a small crevasse in the ridge, they saw the tractor. A pressurized personnel trailer was attached to it and it sat parked at the airdock of the closest greenhouse. The greenhouses sheltered by the ridge had indeed survived and likely there would be others there. The helmet radios were short range by design so they would have to enter the airlock to find out. They proceeded to do so and soon stepped into a biosphere garden, lush with all forms of edible plant life.

The greenhouses were large, with pathways laid out in a grid and graveled so as not to become mud in the constant irrigation. Up ahead, Allison spotted a maintenance barn and the two colonists decided to investigate. Josiah cautiously opened the door. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw signs of encampment. Bedding and personal spaces seemed to have been established inside. “Hello,” he stammered. “Anybody home?” There was only silence. He and Allison stared at the makeshift living quarters for a long time. Had the survivors actually lived on? Were they able to avoid the radiation and somehow make a way for themselves?

Josiah and Allison stepped outside into the bright Martian sunlight filtering into the biosphere and made a meal of the vegetables growing in raised beds near the barn. The graveled paths did not yield clear or fresh clues as to movement within the biosphere so the two marked the position of the barn and set out in a likely direction.
(to be continued)

Building for Future Generations


Townhouses. Architect Heidi Schweizer, Painting by Bob Kirchman.

Sorting through some old renderings in the archives, I came across a little painting of some townhouses I had done for architect Heidi Schweizer. They had been built near Lexington in Rockbridge County. I had forgotten about them. Looking at the painting, something seemed familiar. Finally it came to me – I had played with my granddaughter in one of those upstairs rooms with the double windows, for that was her room in the townhouse her family briefly occupied when they returned to Virginia from South Carolina.

Little did I know, I was participating in helping to create the home they would occupy one day! At the time I had little children of my own. I simply couldn’t see that far into the future. I was also involved in the renderings for the initial concept of the Virginia Horse Center – a favorite place for my granddaughter as well! Building for the future! The prophet Jeremiah understood it, even in the dark days of exile. He exhorted the exiles: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” – Jeremiah 29:4-7

Building for the future might seem intuitive and yet in Israel’s darkest moment it was necessary to remind the people. In times of trouble it is easy to forget. Add to that the fact that many people today simply do not have children. One criticism often leveled at German Chancellor Angela Merkel is that having no children herself, she is not concerned that runaway immigration is changing the country rapidly. This is not a criticism of immigration, it is a criticism of failing to protect the unique qualities that make a nation people seek to come to. Merkel, while presiding over an expanding economy is simply not seen as adequately protecting and preserving her country’s unique culture. If I were a parent there, I would want that, most of all, to be there for generations to come.

Likewise, it seems that some people in the American Evangelical community, while lamenting the state of American young people are busy railing against the problem – but are we actively building a future for our youth? We are quick to point out how terrible things are, but are we offering creative investment in solutions? Our missionaries understand. They dig clean wells and invest in the future of those they seek to reach for Eternity. Then they build upon that work an Eternal Kingdom! For our own children, I would say that giving them the gift of a Jeremiah 29 vision is an investment, not only in the future of our world, but in the next as well.


Virginia Horse Center, Anderson Arena. 
Charles Wilkerson, Architect, Painting by Bob Kirchman.


Virginia Horse Center Master Plan. 
Michael Leary and Associates, Painting by Bob Kirchman.


Display of Paintings and Photography by Bob Kirchman at Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The works celebrate the Monacan heritage of the region surrounding MOHOMONY, as the Monacans called the Natural Bridge. The name means“The Bridge of God.”

The State of the Church Today
By Tony Perkins

[click to read]

Liberals have stuck to a pretty consistent strategy in dealing with American Christianity: If you repeat something often enough, people will start to believe it. With the media's help, they set out to convince the country that evangelicals were dying on the political vine. But, as so often happens, they were proven wrong on the biggest of stages when, in 2016, the church's "withering" influence proved to be anything but. (read more)



U.S. Christianity is Not Shrinking
Harvard Study Says Otherwise, Glenn T. Stanton

[click to read]

Is churchgoing and religious adherence really in ‘widespread decline’ so much so that conservative believers should suffer ‘growing anxiety’? Absolutely not. (read more)


John Wesley.

God is Not Dead
Neither is His Church

I AM not afraid, that the people called Methodists, should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.” – John Wesley

The Harvard study referenced above notes that Christianity is not in decline, rather in transition. They note that researchers were quick to note the decline in attendance in traditional churches without seeing that Faith has actually remained strong in the church as a whole. Also missed, I believe, is the strength of ‘Confessing Movements’ in these churches. The Confessing Movement, in a nutshell, is “is a lay-led conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of liberalism and progressivism within several mainline Protestant denominations and seeks to return them to its view of orthodox doctrine. It overlaps with other conservative Christian movements including Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Holiness, and Fundamentalist Christianity. Its members have stated their commitment to work to change their home denominations from within rather than establishing new ones, even if they are unable to regain full control. The Confessing movement places particular weight on the role of evangelism and traditional doctrine concerning the deity of Christ and holds conservative views on sexuality, especially homosexuality.” [1.]

The Confessing Church (also translated Confessional Church) (German: Bekennende Kirche) has its roots in the Christian resistance to the National Socialists and their takeover of German churches to create a ‘pro-Nazi’ state church (if not in the Reformation itself). Today’s Confessing church sees an imposition of secular culture’s views in defiance of Scriptural teaching. Be it the government or the academy, today’s Confessing Church fears what Wesley feared—that the church will indeed become a ‘form without its God-given function!’ Historically this is not new. In recent times the Episcopal Church in our country struggled with this and the Confessing congregations were often evicted from the buildings they had paid for. This because the central denomination held title.

These congregations in many cases put themselves under the umbrella of African leadership, but the statistician will simply see that the church building once full is now not. In the Mennonite Church, as the overall conference pushes ‘social’ issues such as the ordination of homosexual ministers, some local churches have changed affiliation. Others have voted to become independent. Again, statistics show a decline were story points to a desire for reformation (meaning a return to robust adherence to the teaching of Scripture).

Hopefully further study will take this into account and present the true picture of the church today—far from moribund, reaching for its Spiritual roots!


Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

This Sign Could Save Your Life



Every day most of us cross railroad grade crossings without thinking much of it. If our regular travel time does not coincide with a scheduled train, we may never see one. But trains are not always on a particular schedule. An off-schedule freight delivery could easily surprise you. Still, there is a safety feature at each crossing most of us don’t even notice – but we should. The blue sign with a phone number and the unique number of that particular crossing is very important should a vehicle get stuck on the tracks or any problem occur on the crossing. If there is a problem at that particular crossing, CALL THE NUMBER ON THE BLUE SIGN. You will reach a dispatcher with the railroad that operates that particular section of track. Give them the crossing number and tell them the problem. The dispatcher can shut down traffic on that particular section until the problem is resolved.

The movies usually get this wrong. If your car gets stuck on the tracks, the first thing you should do is look to see if a train is already approaching. Remember that trains require a very long distance to stop. Get yourself, and everyone else out of the car and proceed on foot VERY RAPIDLY 45 degrees from the direction the train is coming from. Run if the way is clear. A train can throw an obstruction for a great distance and 45 degrees from the oncoming train is the safest place to go.



If no train is coming, evacuate the car and then call the number on the blue sign. The sign may be on a pole at the crossing or on a switch box for the crossing. Call BEFORE you start trying to rock the car off the crossing or have a tow truck remove it. Make sure the dispatcher has stopped traffic before proceeding.

Should you get ‘caught’ by a closing crossing arm on the tracks, you should drive right through the arm if you can’t go around it. The arms are designed to break away in an emergency like that.

Every year many people are killed needlessly at grade crossings and engineers carry the sorrow for a long time. Knowing what to do in an emergency is a great kindness to them.

Loving Vincent
A Film Hand-Painted Frame by Frame





Why Beauty Matters
[click to read]

It all started with a very nice request from the White House. They asked the Guggenheim Museum in New York if they could have on loan Vincent Van Gogh’s “Landscape with Snow.” It was a request like the president’s house had made many times before and a request gladly honored by many a curator. (read more)


Landscape with Snow, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Masters of 'Imagineering' III

The Spirit of Esther

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume XII, Issue IVb

The Spirit of Esther

Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. -- Esther 4:15,16

There is an old bit of wisdom about how bank employees are trained to recognize counterfeit bills. One's first thought is that they would obviously have to spend a lot of time examining the phony money... not so! They instead spend a great deal of time handling and examining the REAL THING. I am told that after a long period of handling real money, they don't need to be told how to spot a counterfeit bill because the measure of the true bill is embedded in their minds.

Likewise, I think in our day we become very versed all too easily in what is wrong and tawdry around us. I believe that events in Washington proved that out just recently. I just listened to a commentary by Rick Joyner [1.] that brings this home. He spoke of the recent events in Washington. Indeed there was a shocking and vile display of vitriol that he identified as the 'Spirit of Jezebel.' He was quick to point out that it was a male as well as a female thing. Ahab, after all, was the husband of the notorious queen and together they contributed to the ruin of their nation.

But Joyner pointed out some important facts. Evil becomes ever more vocal and violent as it is being vanquished. That is not to say that marchers are necessarily evil, but there is a spirit over certain aspects of our culture that is hostile to that which is holy. What might be vanquishing that 'Spirit of Jezebel,' perchance? Joyner says that it is the Spirit of Esther! Esther, you will remember, was the young Jewish maiden, Hadassah, who became queen of Persia. She was an orphan and was being raised by her uncle, but when king Xerxes sought a new queen, she was suddenly pushed into the halls of power. Obviously she was beautiful, wise and gracious, but it is her courage and Faith that give her a place in the history of G-d's people.

The story of Esther's courage to save the Jewish people from the wiles of Haman is truly heroic, and is celebrated every year at the feast of Purim. It is the true calling and reflection of the Divine nature. We don't immerse ourselves in it enough. We perhaps spend too much time and energy reflecting on the wrong, rather we should celebrate the millions of noble and beautiful women in our own nation, our wives, daughters, granddaughters and colleagues, who quietly work to make our world a better and more beautiful place. You might not ever see them assembled on the national mall, but they are many! They are part of that 'Great Cloud of Witnesses' mentioned in Hebrews 12:1!


Sign at the Women's March on Washington.

Special Christmas Edition

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume XI, Issue XX

A Repeat of One of Our Favorite Issues

Glimpses into a World Unseen
The Amazing Photography of Alexey Kljatov

© 2015 The Kirchman Studio, All rights reserved. 
Photographs © Alexey Kljatov, Used by permission.

When I first saw the work of Alexey Kljatov, I was amazed. He takes these stunning images with a simple point and shoot camera rigged with an old macro lens and employing skillful manipulation of lighting. Snowflakes landing on his Moscow window reveal their full wonder and individual beauty through his sublime images. Mr. Kljatov graciously allowed THYME to share his amazing work. You can see more of his photography Here [click to view].

Just imagine the swirling dance of these beautiful shapes in a snowstorm!

























Glimpses into a World Unseen
Act II

The electron microscope further reveals amazing patterns.


Vertical section of the human dna.

Evidence of Divine Design, Great and Small
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of G-d;
The Skies Proclaim the Work of His Hands." -- Psalm 19:1


Moth wing pattern.

I saw this little creature outside my studio one morning. It got me reflecting on the creative wonder, both large and small, that surround us.


M 51 Spiral Galaxy, NASA photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.


Detail of the 'X Structure' in M 51, NASA photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The artist is amazed. So much beauty and wonder in the very large cosmos and in the very small things as well! Can a G-d who spins galaxies into being be concerned with things small and personal? Such order and grace in the extreme scales of our world, yet often what we see before us is chaotic and makes no sense.

That is why we present here Lee Strobel's Case for Faith and Case for Christ. If you had stepped into that Bethlehem stable many years ago, you would have not necessarily seen beauty and redemption. The smells of animals and the pain of labor and delivery would have overwhelmed contemplation. Yet Christians around the world will contemplate the wonder of that night; for what happened there ultimately made its mark on human history.

The Case for a Creator [click to view] by Lee Strobel
The Case for Faith [click to view] by Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ [click to view] by Lee Strobel

Creche at the National Cathedral
A Particularly Beautiful Representation of the Nativity


Photo by Kristina Elaine Greer.

Books to Inspire Young Hearts II

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume XII, Issue XIII

Imagination and Inspiration

For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. Imagination, producing new metaphors or revivifying old, is not the cause of truth, but its condition. -- C.S. Lewis, Selected Literary Essays (1969).

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe


The BBC Production of these classic stories is pretty faithful to the original works.

The story began, C. S. Lewis recalls, with a childhood image he had of a faun carrying a parcel and an umbrella... not so much as a burning desire to write a classic allegory of the Christian Faith. But the work grew in scope and stature (Lewis initially thought it was terrible) and now is considered essential reading for young people. Thankfully Lewis resurrected his manuscript which was inspired by war evacuee children he hosted at his Oxford home and his Goddaughter, Lucy Barfield.

His friend and colleague, J. R. R. Tolkien, also wrote works of modern myth as the 'inklings,' as they called themselves, sought to create a legendary literature for modern times. Lewis once opined to Tolkien that it was a shame the great myths were not true, to which Tolkien responded that they in fact contained great truths. Lewis realized that the desires that could only be satisfied in Faith were expressed in the great stories. Lewis, who had abandoned his Faith as a young man, embraced it again largely as a result of this realization.

Originally intending to become a poet, Lewis would go on to produce serious works of apologetics as well as wonderful fantasies. Today he is probably best known for Narnia, but his Ransom Trilogy and other fiction join with his scholarly works to create a very impressive body of work. Narnia is a good starting point, but his 'Mere Christianity,' a publishing in book form of a series of talks Lewis gave on BBC Radio during the war, is also well worth pursuing.

The Work of Inspiring

In tumultuous times such as ours, it is important to remember that the work of inspiring young people goes on, whatever the state of the culture. C. S. Lewis lived through two great wars, fighting in the first one, and inspiring his embattled people on the radio during the second. We must not neglect this important work in our own era.



Lewis found inspiration in the writings of Scottish writer George MacDonald. A new book by Plough celebrates the spiritual insight of the man C. S. Lewis considered his primary inspiration. The Gospel in George MacDonald brings the work of this important, but now largely neglected writer to serve as an inspiration to a whole new generation of readers. Introducing the work, Marianne Wright writes of MacDonald's clear vision: “I do care to live – tremendously, but I don’t mind where. He who made this room so well worth living in, may surely be trusted with the next!”

Love of life and an uncomplicated trust in its Author: these are the gifts George MacDonald offers his readers. In an age when the daily news seems increasingly complex and terrible, it is high time for many more to discover with him the joy and promise of simple discipleship. As he wrote to a friend near the end of his life: “Then hail to the world with all its summers and snow, all its delight and its aching, all its jubilance and its old age. We shall come out of it the sons and daughters of life, of God himself the only Father.” -- Marianne Wright

Lewis would credit... George MacDonald with having influenced virtually every word he ever wrote.... It began with Phantastes, a dreamlike tale in which a boy wishes to visit fairy-country. He awakes the next morning in an enchanted wood where he encounters profound happiness mixed with perilous adventure — including death and rebirth of sorts.... And so, thanks to the imagination of George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis found his way home." -- Kurt Bruner, Birthing Narnia

Lewis himself said of MacDonald: “The quality which had enchanted me in his imaginative works turned out to be the quality of the real universe, the divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic reality in which we all live. I should have been shocked in my teens if anyone had told me that what I learned to love in Phantastes was goodness. But now that I know, I see there was no deception. The deception is all the other way round – in that prosaic moralism which confines goodness to the region of Law and Duty, which never lets us feel in our face the sweet air blowing from “the land of righteousness.”

I regarded George MacDonald as my master: indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him." --C. S. Lewis



A Vision For Work and the World

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." -- Psalm 90:16-17

In the book The Poverty of Nations, A Sustainable Solution [click to read] by Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus. It examines the reasons successful nations are successful and how successful nations can forget the roots of their success and fall into decline. Like Alvin Schmidt's Under the Influence [click to read], the book does not hide the influence of Biblical principles in advancing the state of humanity. As many in the academy and the media today criticize free markets, Grudem and Asmus point out that the flaws are not necessarily a flaw in free markets, but in human morality. If a people have no moral barrier to it, markets will indeed deliver drugs, slaves and a host of evils, but that is not necessarily a fault of a free market. Indeed the attempts of government to control such evils will inevitably cost far more than imagined and have far less effect on curtailing the evils than proponents of such action desire. Thus the authors show how the Rule of Law, Respect for Property and Good Leadership are all essential for national prosperity... these things being rooted in values presented in the Bible.

Markets, influenced by morality, are actually quite fertile for creativity. When the slave trade was ended in England by William Wilberforce, the initial result was the economic decline of the port of Bristol. Creativity responded to the need as Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the Great Western Railway and steamships to link Bristol to America. The heart of George Müller ministered to Bristol's cast off children, but it was possible largely due to the creativity that linked Bristol to the economic pulse of the world. In fact, Grudem and Asmus point out that a wonderful coming together of talents and resources occurs in markets that requires no huge agency of oversight. In a simple little story called I Pencil, the beauty of this phenomenon is wonderfully illustrated.


I Pencil.

No single person on the earth could make a pencil without the help of countless others."

Read, Leonard E., "I, Pencil: My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read." [click to read] 1999. Library of Economics and Liberty. 5 February 2014.


Jimmy Stewart's classic film: Mr.Smith Goes to Washington.

Everyone Should See this Film

This Classic Tale [click to watch] of a man of integrity who finds himself in the United States Senate, and who ultimately has to fight for that integrity, is one that we would do well to heed today!

The film was made in 1939 and  Frank Capra reminds us that human nature in the period preceding the great war was not so different as it is now.

Capra was able to make this film so good because he both believed in the American ideal, and understood how easily it could be co-opted and undermined by the unscrupulous and the greedy. America, he's telling us, should be celebrated because it’s the kind of country that can produce a Jefferson Smith; but at the same time, we must always be on our guard, because it’s also capable of destroying one.” -- Gina Dalfonzo [1.]

  Jimmy Stewart as Senator Smith visiting the Lincoln Memorial.

WONDER Show Opens
[click to read]

To cease to wonder is to fall plumb-down from the childlike to the commonplace-the most undivine of all moods intellectual. Our nature can never be at home among things that are not wonderful to us.”
― George Macdonald
(read more)

What Makes a Nation Great?

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume XII, Issue V

What Makes a Nation Great?

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] once asked: "What makes a school great?" THYME asks: "Why stop there, what makes a NATION great?" As we seek to teach our children the foundations of our Nation, we can agree with the 'other' magazine that it takes great teachers.

No doubt, some will insist that it is a simple matter of perfecting institutions. Some will venture so far as to address the character of man himself, but it is quite evident that those who crafted the original documents our nation is founded on saw a need for a hand greater than their own to guide them. Their own writings give us a clear indication that they did,  so here are some thoughts from our Founding Fathers:

John Adams and John Hancock:
We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]

John Adams:
“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of G-d.”
“[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson

"Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." [John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817]

Samuel Adams: 
“He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” [ "American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia]

“ Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” [October 4, 1790]

John Quincy Adams:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?
--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“The Law given from Sinai [The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code.”
John Quincy Adams. Letters to his son. p. 61

Elias Boudinot:
“Be religiously careful in our choice of all public officers . . . and judge of the tree by its fruits.”

Charles Carroll - signer of the Declaration of Independence
" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." [Source: To James McHenry on November 4, 1800.]

Benjamin Franklin:
“ G-d governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 original manuscript of this speech

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?” [Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787]

In Benjamin Franklin's 1749 plan of education for public schools in Pennsylvania, he insisted that schools teach "the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern."

In 1787 when Franklin helped found Benjamin Franklin University, it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

Alexander Hamilton:
Hamilton began work with the Rev. James Bayard to form the Christian Constitutional Society to help spread over the world the two things which Hamilton said made America great:
(1) Christianity
(2) a Constitution formed under Christianity.
“The Christian Constitutional Society, its object is first: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.”

On July 12, 1804 at his death, Hamilton said, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of G-d, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." [1787 after the Constitutional Convention]

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man."

John Hancock:
“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.
"A Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775"

Patrick Henry:
"Orator of the Revolution."
This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”
—The Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

John Jay:
“ Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Source: October 12, 1816. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed., (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393.

“Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab ["Shouldest thou help the ung-dly and love them that hate the Lord?" 2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson.” [The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p.365]

Thomas Jefferson:
“ The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.”

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

"I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital) [Source: Merrill . D. Peterson, ed., Jefferson Writings, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.]

Samuel Johnston:
“It is apprehended that Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), pagans, etc., may be elected to high offices under the government of the United States. Those who are Mahometans, or any others who are not professors of the Christian religion, can never be elected to the office of President or other high office, [unless] first the people of America lay aside the Christian religion altogether, it may happen. Should this unfortunately take place, the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
[Elliot’s Debates, Vol. IV, pp 198-199, Governor Samuel Johnston, July 30, 1788 at the North Carolina Ratifying Convention]

James Madison:
“ We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart.”

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of G-d.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]

• I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare the unsatisfactoriness [of temportal enjoyments] by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.
Letter by Madison to William Bradford (September 25, 1773)

• In 1812, President Madison signed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible
.
“ An Act for the relief of the Bible Society of Philadelphia” Approved February 2, 1813 by Congress

“It is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”

• A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven. [Letter by Madison to William Bradford [urging him to make sure of his own salvation] November 9, 1772]

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22;
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
He will save us.”
[Baron Charles Montesquieu, wrote in 1748; “Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separated from legislative power and from executive power. If it [the power of judging] were joined to legislative power, the power over life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislature if it were joined to the executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same … body of principal men … exercised these three powers." Madison claimed Isaiah 33:22 as the source of division of power in government
See also: pp.241-242 in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History: The Principle approach by Rosalie Slater]

James McHenry – Signer of the Constitution:
Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

Jedediah Morse:
"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. . . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg:
In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, 1776, he preached from Ecclesiastes 3.

Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenberg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenberg finished the Revolution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.

Thomas Paine:
“ It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal.” “The Existence of God--1810”

Benjamin Rush:
• “I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them…we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism.” “By withholding the knowledge of [the Scriptures] from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.” [Letter written (1790’s) in Defense of the Bible in all schools in America]
• “Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.”
• “If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into our world would have been unnecessary.”

"Let the children who are sent to those schools be taught to read and write and above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education”
Letters of Benjamin Rush, "To the citizens of Philadelphia: A Plan for Free Schools", March 28, 1787

Justice Joseph Story:
“ I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]
“ Infidels and pagans were banished from the halls of justice as unworthy of credit.” [Life and letters of Joseph Story, Vol. II 1851, pp. 8-9.]
“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.”
[Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States p. 593]

Noah Webster:
“ The duties of men are summarily comprised in the Ten Commandments, consisting of two tables; one comprehending the duties which we owe immediately to G-d-the other, the duties we owe to our fellow men.”

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”
[Source: 1828, in the preface to his American Dictionary of the English Language]

Let it be impressed on your mind that G-d commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. [Noah Webster, The History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie and Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, 49]

“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” [Noah Webster. History. p. 339]

“The Bible was America’s basic textbook
in all fields.” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5]

“Education is useless without the Bible” [Noah Webster. Our Christian Heritage p.5 ]

George Washington:
Farewell Address: The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion" ...and later: "...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."


“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without G-d and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” [speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" [May 2, 1778, at Valley Forge]
During his inauguration, Washington took the oath as prescribed by the Constitution but added several religious components to that official ceremony. Before taking his oath of office, he summoned a Bible on which to take the oath, added the words “So help me G-d!” to the end of the oath, then leaned over and kissed the Bible.

Nelly Custis-Lewis (Washington’s adopted daughter):
Is it necessary that any one should [ask], “Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?" As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to his country. His mottos were, "Deeds, not Words"; and, "For G-d and my Country."

“ O Most Glorious G-d, in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving Father; I acknowledge and confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of my sins, but so coldly and carelessly that my prayers are become my sin, and they stand in need of pardon.”
“ I have sinned against heaven and before Thee in thought, word, and deed. I have contemned Thy majesty and holy laws. I have likewise sinned by omitting what I ought to have done and committing what I ought not. I have rebelled against the light, despising Thy mercies and judgment, and broken my vows and promise. I have neglected the better things. My iniquities are multiplied and my sins are very great. I confess them, O Lord, with shame and sorrow, detestation and loathing and desire to be vile in my own eyes as I have rendered myself vile in Thine. I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son and only Savior Jesus Christ who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thou gavest Thy Son to die for me.”
[George Washington; from a 24 page authentic handwritten manuscript book dated April 21-23, 1752
William J. Johnson George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.]

"Although guided by our excellent Constitution in the discharge of official duties, and actuated, through the whole course of my public life, solely by a wish to promote the best interests of our country; yet, without the beneficial interposition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we could not have reached the distinguished situation which we have attained with such unprecedented rapidity. To HIM, therefore, should we bow with gratitude and reverence, and endeavor to merit a continuance of HIS special favors". [1797 letter to John Adams]

James Wilson:
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Supreme Court Justice appointed by George Washington
Spoke 168 times during the Constitutional Convention

"Christianity is part of the common law"
[Sources: James Wilson, Course of Lectures [vol 3, p.122]; and quoted in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, 11 Serg, & R. 393, 403 (1824).]

Source: Quotes of the Founding Fathers.


Photo by Nick Page.

School Starting Age: The Evidence
by David Whitebread

Earlier this month the "Too Much, Too Soon" campaign made headlines with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, from the Faculty of Education, explains why children may need more time to develop before their formal education begins in earnest.

"In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously" -- David Whitebread

In England children now start formal schooling, and the formal teaching of literacy and numeracy at the age of four. A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal ‘schooling’ in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being).

This is a brief review of the relevant research evidence [1.] which overwhelmingly supports a later start to formal education. This evidence relates to the contribution of playful experiences [2.] to children’s development as learners, and the consequences of starting formal learning at the age of four to five years of age

There are several strands of evidence which all point towards the importance of play in young children’s development, and the value of an extended period of playful learning before the start of formal schooling. These arise from anthropological, psychological, neuroscientific and educational studies. Anthropological studies of children’s play in extant hunter-gatherer societies, and evolutionary psychology studies of play in the young of other mammalian species, have identified play as an adaptation which evolved in early human social groups. It enabled humans to become powerful learners and problem-solvers. Neuroscientific studies have shown that playful activity leads to synaptic growth, particularly in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for all the uniquely human higher mental functions.

In my own area of experimental and developmental psychology, studies have also consistently demonstrated the superior learning and motivation arising from playful, as opposed to instructional, approaches to learning in children. Pretence play supports children’s early development of symbolic representational skills, including those of literacy, more powerfully than direct instruction. Physical, constructional and social play supports children in developing their skills of intellectual and emotional ‘self-regulation’, skills which have been shown to be crucial in early learning and development. Perhaps most worrying, a number of studies have documented the loss of play opportunities for children over the second half of the 20th century and demonstrated a clear link with increased indicators of stress and mental health problems.

Within educational research, a number of longitudinal studies have demonstrated superior academic, motivational and well-being outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, play-based pre-school programmes. One particular study of 3,000 children across England, funded by the Department for Education themselves, showed that an extended period of high quality, play-based pre-school education was of particular advantage to children from disadvantaged households.

Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7. Their results show that the early introduction of formal learning approaches to literacy does not improve children’s reading development, and may be damaging. By the age of 11 there was no difference in reading ability level between the two groups, but the children who started at 5 developed less positive attitudes to reading, and showed poorer text comprehension than those children who had started later. In a separate study of reading achievement in 15 year olds across 55 countries, researchers showed that there was no significant association between reading achievement and school entry age.

This body of evidence raises important and serious questions concerning the direction of travel of early childhood education policy currently in England. In the interests of children’s academic achievements and their emotional well-being, the UK government should take this evidence seriously.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. [1.] The original article appears Here [click to read].

C.S Lewis Life Story with a Purpose



Twisting Interpretations
[click to read]

by Lela Markham

Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite writers whose name is synonymous with one book, Fahrenheit 451, a novel set in a twisted future version of America where books are banned and burned. My dad made me read it when I was 11.The book is well-regarded as a literary classic and it has been studied by academics for decades. I remember reading it in high school and getting an interpretation that I had not gotten when I read it at age 11. It turns out that I may have understood Bradbury better than the scholars do.

Under “Makes you say ‘hmmm’, some would-be scholars once told Bradbury that he was wrong about his own book. It has long been believed by people studying the novel that it is a clever commentary on censorship. There have been thousands of articles and dissertations written on the subject and I’m not going to dust-off my inner geek and bore you with the details about how academics have interpreted the novel over the years, because they all say the same basic thing. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about censorship. Except Ray Bradbury claimed the book wasn’t about censorship at all. You’d think he’d know what the book was about because he wrote it. And, yes, he wrote it during any era when actual book burnings had occurred within recent memory. Still, he always insisted that the main theme of the book is the role of the mass media and its effect on the populace, in particular television and how it makes people less able to digest more complex forms of media, like books. I find it odd that scholars ignore this as the true theme of the novel, even though the author says that is what he meant. Bradbury himself experienced this slavish adherence to a false doctrine while giving a lecture on the novel to a class of college students. He casually mentioned that the theme of the novel was the dangers of television and someone loudly exclaimed “no, it’s about censorship!“.

Bradbury then tried to correct the student, pointing out that he wrote the novel and ought to know the message he meant to convey, but the rest of the class chimed in and agreed that the novel was about censorship. Bradbury became so pissed off at the sheer pig-headedness of the students that he walked out of the lecture and vowed he’d never give another lecture on the book. (read more)

The America I Love


Window at Mount Airy, the Augusta County home of the artist known as 'Grandma Moses.'


Anna Mary Robertson Moses and her husband, Thomas, purchased Mount Airy after renting several farms in the area.


Mrs. Moses did not begin painting until her seventies, but her work was influenced by her life as a farm wife. Here is a view of the road to the house at Mount Airy.