Reigniting the American Revolution slogan ‘No King but King Jesus’
The American Revolution had many slogans that ignited the passions of the colonists to fight for independence from George III, the King of England. Slogans such as: Captain Nathan Hale’s “I regret I have but one life to lose for my country”, Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”, General Christopher Gadsden’s “Don’t Tread On Me” flag and “No taxation without representation.”
One slogan that many have debated is “No King but King Jesus.”
Both those who defend and those who wish to debunk the “No King but King Jesus” slogan point to one historical fact. On April 18, 1775, a when British soldier ordered John Adams, John Hancock, and others to “disperse in the name of George the Sovereign King of England”, Adams responded with:
“We recognize no sovereign but God, and no king but Jesus!”
Many have written about this American Revolution slogan. Those who support it argue that John Adams and John Hancock, as well at the other Founding Fathers were orthodox Christians. Those who wish to portray this slogan as a myth point out that many of the Founding Fathers were Deists (see Molinism). Merriam-Webster defines deism as:
[A] movement or system of thought advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe.
In a January 18, 2001 Slate article titled “Was “No King but Jesus” a Revolutionary War Slogan?” reported:
At a 1999 commencement speech at Bob Jones University, Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft said this phrase was a slogan of the founding fathers. He also said this sentiment is found in the Declaration of Independence in the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
Slate asks: Was this the motivating cry of the Revolution, and was Thomas Jefferson alluding to it in the Declaration? Their answer is that “No King but King Jesus” was used but the slogan was “not central to the American Revolution.”
The Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Many misinterpret the Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause was not intended to separate the Christian Church from government, rather it was intended to protect the Christian Church from the government.
In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled 8 -1 in McCollum v Board of Education that the practice of inviting religious instructors into public schools to give optional religious instruction violates the Establishment Clause. Justice Black, writing for the Court, said that the practice was “unquestionably” a violation of the Establishment Clause, which created “a high and impregnable wall” between church and state. In 1962 in Engel v Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the ruled that New York’s practice of beginning school days with a prayer drafted by school officials violated the Establishment Clause.
Perhaps it is time to reignite “No King but King Jesus”? The Founding Fathers would be taken aback by what has happened since to morality in America since religion has been taken out of our public schools and the public square.
Selwyn Duke in a column titled “Restoring Civilization: We Can’t MAGA Unless We MAMA” wrote:
Echoing many Founders, George Washington noted that “morality is a necessary spring of popular government.” The famous apocryphal saying goes, “America is great because America is good, and if she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” For sure, we can’t MAGA unless we MAMA — Make America Moral Again.
To Make America Moral Again our culture must return to its Judeo/Christian roots. Every American must embrace the ideals in our Constitution or we are lost as a nation and as a culture.
MAMA and NKBKJ are simpatico. You can’t have one without the other.
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Thank you for the great reminder! I looked up Deism/Deist in my 1848 Webster’s…it’s a bit different on the definition,yet the basis of modern day is there. I thought you’d find this interesting as I looked this up once before…Webster calls a deist a “free thinker.”
It says a Deist acknowledges the existence of on God, but denies revelation or the belief in natural religion only or those truths, in doctrine and practice, which man is to discover by the light of reason, independent and exclusive of any revelation from God. Hence deism implies infidelity or a disbelief in the divine origin of the scriptures.
It goes on to say, The view which the rising greatness of our country presents to my eyes, is greatly tarnished by the general prevalence of deism, which, with me, is but another name for vice and depravity. P. Henry, Wirt’s Sketches