The Media Mirage
The Truth Behind the Headlines
LIE #4: The Founding Fathers Laid Out a Plan of Government Based on the Assumption that Humans are Innately Good and Honest…
My professor and I were enjoying another after-school discussion when the old man asked me, pointedly, “So, what did you think of my main thesis in today’s lecture?”
“You mean the part about the philosophy of the Founding Fathers being more in line with classical Renaissance thinkers than with those of the biblically inspired Reformers?”
“That’s right,” he said, almost with an arrogant grunt.
“Well, I have to admit, it goes against some of what I grew up believing.”
“Why? Because you believe the Pilgrims came here seeking religious liberty in the name of the Christian God?”
“That, yes, among other things,” I replied confidently.
“That’s understandable. That’s what your parents taught you. No shame in that. But you’re a young man now; you’re your own man now. Time to put away childish things, as it were. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, sir; I suppose you’re right.”
“So think about it. What do you remember about the views of men like Jefferson, Franklin, and Paine?”
“I guess you’d have to describe them as humanists.”
“That’s correct, yes. And humanism was born in Renaissance Italy, right?”
“Right,” I echoed my professor, with a nod.
“Right, then,” said my professor. “And while the Old World viewed humans as irrevocably flawed and sinful, the Renaissance gave rise to a new view of man, in which he was seen as innately good and honest.”
“I suppose so, yes, sir. But…” I hesitated, not exactly sure how to respond.
Story Continues Below
To hear Kent, Zen Garcia and S. Douglas Woodward as they continue their discussion concerning the implications of the 5,500-year prophecy spoken of in various apocryphal sources and confirmed via the chronology of The Septuagint, CLICK BELOW.
Story Continues From Above
“But what?” asked the old man. “Look, I know it’s not easy to hear things that contradict ways of thinking you’ve grown up with. But isn’t that why you entered university? To learn the ways of this great, big world of ours? Not just to confirm the world of your parents?”
“Of course,” I replied, thoughtfully.
“Think, then; use that wonderful brain of yours. What does it tell you? The American colonists of the seventeenth century were all by and large Puritans. Isn’t that what your history books tell you?
I nodded affirmatively.
“Which means they were steeped in a pessimistic view of humanity. Why? How did they come to that conclusion? They got it from your Holy Bible. But the Founding Fathers? Absolutely not; no, sir. They were different. They rejected all that. They rejected it in favor of optimism—an optimism that was borne of the spirit of the Renaissance. Am I right?”
As I carefully considered my professor’s words, I reviewed in my mind what I already knew about men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine, who I had to admit did reject all the major tenets of Christianity: original sin, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His resurrection, all of it.
But was my professor’s argument really so cut-and-dry? In that moment I also had to admit that I had my suspicion that it was not. So rather than immediately respond, I set about, once again, to learn more about the subject before answering.
“Human nature is the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and will be influenced by all the same causes. The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they have gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold than to try withdrawing his teeth and claws after he has got you.”
Thomas Jefferson
