Our note: In the interview, Dr. Kidd said that the right in America wants a state church. That’s incorrect. America was founded on Christian morals and beliefs. John Adams said that the government was set up for only a moral and religious people. Most conservative Christians believe in not having a state church but instead see our country return to those morals and standards. God is written all over our founding documents and early government leaders, even Jefferson put the Bible and hymnals in schools for learning how to read.
Do know each faith / religion congregated into what would become separate states - they all left the U.K. as the monarchy was forcing all its citizens to participate only in the church of the King, making it a government-centric church. This was not settling well with many and they had basically setup their own unofficial churches without buildings (they met in homes). Anyone caught forming a new religion and/or church in the U.K was cited for treason. And yes, some did die for the sake of their faith. This strong animosity carried over to the Colonies who wanted a faith-based church and not a government-centric church.
This resulted in the different faiths having prominent positions in each jurisdiction. There was an anxiety of a state government controlling a church in their jurisdiction which came to a head in October 1801. The Danbury Baptists had written to Jefferson, expressing concerns about religious liberty in their state, where the Congregationalist denomination held a prominent position. They feared that their religious freedoms were seen as privileges granted by the legislature rather than immutable rights. It is in his letter to the Bishops that Thomas Jefferson penned the phrase "separation of church and state" on January 1, 1802. That is the ONLY document where this phrase was used, it is not found in any of our pillar documents nor any State documents.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
4:14 Does the US have a Christian founding?
6:42 Theological influence of the Puritans
9:05 MBTS give away anouncement
10:10 Secular or religious origins of the US?
21:56 Religious language in the Founders
29:21 How many US Founders were Christian?
44:59 Persecution of Baptists
48:47 Separation of Church and State?
52:58 Christian Nationalism?
58:58 Dr. Thomas Kidd's material
