The Black Robe Regiment
Podcast Transcript (Listen to episode here)
One of the most fascinating aspects of the formation of this country is the role clergy played. And let’s not forget the Biblical model of ministers influencing leaders and nations. Elijah’s entire ministry was confronting a wicked and unrighteous government under Ahab’s rule. Joseph was an influencer in Egypt. David was a king. Daniel served several world leaders as well as his friends. Of course, we are not to interact with world leaders and nations under the OT ministry of death (2 Cor. 3:7). Jesus gave us our instruction:
Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We are to teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded us. The OT is the Bible, God-inspired, but perfect theology is Jesus who came to give life; therefore, we must make sure that Acts 10:38 is the Spirit we operate in.
Acts 10:38 ESV
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
We are to engage nations and national leaders. The idea that we are going outside our bounds just doesn’t like up with the Bible. The idea that clergy shouldn’t be involved in government or science started in the 1920’s and 30’s. Even in the book of Acts, you see Paul’s main call and focus was the leaders of mountains.
Acts 9:15 ESV
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
Before Gentiles, KINGS, and the children of Israel. This is why he was determined to get before Caesar. From the foundation of America, Christians leaders felt it was their duty to engage government. For many, the way of government was a reflection of the way of the church and her leaders. Morality was for them key in whether a nation survived.
The Real Influence
When you think of America’s founders, you might think of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and John Adams as the most instrumental. And you would not be wrong. But John Adams himself declared that the “Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were two of the individuals ‘most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential’ in the ‘awakening and revival of American principles and feelings’ that led to our independence” (The Role of Pastors and Christians in Civil Government).
Other ministers include George Whitfield (who became a good friend of Benjamin Franklin), James Caldwell, and brothers, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg and Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg. How did these ministers help lead the way to independence? It was the work they did in “shaping the thinking of the nation, and…the work of Christians in founding our government.”
Let’s look at the shaping of the thinking of our nation. Today, sermons are easily captured by video, audio, or text and distributed throughout the world within seconds. We have thousands of Christian books we can easily purchase in both written or digital format. We have podcasts. The access to Christian material is unprecedented. Unfortunately, with it comes a lot of wrong doctrine and man’s ideas that have no basis in Scripture. But we are definitely blessed with technology and with that comes the power to influence others more easily and on a wider scale than back in our founders’ days.
For them, they would produce what was called a “published sermon.” Only a small fraction of a minister’s sermons were published because of the considerable amount of time and money to do so. Only sermons with an especially high demand were published. And a high-demand sermon was one that had a life-changing significant impact on those who heard it.
Looking back at the published sermons reveals what most interested the nation and what the church believed. There were topics on earthquakes (after one hit New England in 1755), the Great Fire in Boston, the solar eclipse, and even a sermon on “A Moral View of Railroads.” Whatever was important and practical for the citizens, clergy taught on. There are even sermons on aging as well as executing criminals! These were called occasional sermons and were topics that Americans wanted to understand and gain a Biblical point of view. Surveys have shown the same desire to know what the Bible says on abortion, borders, and more. But for some reason we stay away from these.
They would also publish “annual sermons” like the once-a-year practice of preaching the Artillery Sermon to local military using the scriptures to lay out the proper role of the military. Another annual sermon was the Election Sermon. The first documented Election Sermon was in 1634 in Virginia. It was the longest form of annual sermon in America.
These sermons emphasized their dual citizenship as citizens of heaven but also citizens of America, a “stewardship government that belonged to ‘We the people.’” This sermon outlined what God expected from their stewardship like civil duties, selection of leaders, the scriptures on the election process, and more. Often these sermons were regularly preached before our founding fathers like John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and before the Council, Senate, and House of Representatives.
Another sermon was “A Voice of Warning to Christians in the Ensuing Election of a President of the United States.” Ministers would set forth the candidates’ and parties’ positions, compared them to the Bible, and advised whether a Christian should vote nor note vote for a candidate. Why? They understood that there is not any Biblical model where God’s ministers remained silent with civil leaders or about civil issues.
On top of the sermons, many ministers served in civil government. Thomas Jefferson encouraged the lifting of restrictions against ministers holding office in Virginia. Many states had no such restrictions or they were reserved against specific denominations like Catholicism. He said, “I observe…[in the Virginia] Constitution an abridgement of [a] right…I do no approve. It is the incapacitation of a clergyman from being elected.”
The Declaration of Independence
Many found fathers attribute one man, John Locke, for most of the ideas in our Declaration. John Locke was considered a theologian and wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on Paul’s epistles as well as a topical Bible called, “Common Place-Book to the Holy Bible” that listed verses in the Bible by subject. He was not a deist as many claim. In fact, when Christianity was attacked by anti-religious enlightenment thinkers, he defended Christianity in his book, “Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered by the Scriptures,” and then when he was attacked because of that book, he responded with another, “A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity.”
However, his “Two Treatises of Government” was the most influential in the Founders’ philosophy in the Declaration. In fact, one signer, Richard Henry Lee, said that the Declaration was copied from Locke’s treatises. The book is less than 400 pages long but Locke included 1500 Bible references “to show the proper operation of civil government.” (Role)
The Constitution
Our country is the longest on-going constitutional republic in the history of the world. Our constitution was not a compilation of the best clauses and ideas from others countries but was and is an original and uniquely American document. This then begs the question of where the ideas came from.
Political scientists have had the same question so they took on the task of analyzing some 15,000 writings from the Found Era over 10 years with the goal of isolating and identifying the “specific political sources quoted during the time surrounding the establishment of American government.” (Role) They felt that if they identified the sources of the quotes, they could figure out the origins of the Founders’ political ideas. Their project revealed that the single most cited authority was the Bible, a whopping 34%. Everything from immigration laws to citizenship to capital punishment to the branches of government to tax exemptions for churches (that still exist today), a republic form of government including election of officials, and much more.
READ PAGES 18-20 BRACKETED IN ROLE
The esteem our Founders held Christianity is what created a welcoming environment of other faiths. To them Christianity was far superior and need to worry about other religions.
READ NEXT BRACKET PAGE 20
Listen to this astounding conclusion of the US Congress following an extensive year-long investigation into the idea that America was founded on Christian principles:
READ BOTTOM PAGE 21 ROLE TO PG 21
Unfortunately, for many today, there is an attempt to rewrite history or minimize the role of Christians and clergy in the founding of our country. To them many of the Founders were atheists, agnostics, or deists not Christians. We’ve already looked at the two least religious founders and their high opinion of Christianity.
Earliest Settlers
This tradition of clergy influencing our nation and leading even in political office goes way back to 1606. The early settlers who arrived in Virginia included ministers like, Robert Hunt, Richard Burke, William Mease, Alexander Whitaker, William Wickham, and more. They formed America’s first representative government in 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses with members elected by the people. They met in Jamestown Church and opened with prayer.
In 1620, the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. Their pastor, John Robinson, charged them to elect civil leaders who would not only seek the “common good” but also eliminate “special privileges and status between governors and the governed.” This was radical back in the day. They organized their representative government and held annual elections. They established a citizen’s Bill of Rights in 1636, America’s first.
The same occurred with the pilgrims in the MA Bay Colony under the leadership of their ministers and also established a “Body of Liberties” written by Rev. Nathaniel Ward in 1641.
In 1636, Rev. Thomas Hooker (along with Revs Samuel Stone, John Davenport, and Theophilus Eaton) founded Connecticut. They established an elected form of government but also our first written constitution based on a 1638 sermon on Deut. 1:13 and Exodus 18:21 that described the three Biblical principles of government:
1. The choice of public magistrates belongs to the people
2. The privilege of election belongs to the people
3. Those who have power to appoint officers and magistrates (the people) also have the power to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place
New Jersey was chartered in 1676 and then divided into two sub-colonies: Puritan East Jersey and Quaker West Jersey. Each had their own representative government. The governing document for West Jersey was written by Christian minister William Penn. Penn later wrote (1681) the Frame of Government for Pennsylvania that established annual elections and numerous guarantees for citizen rights.
The list goes on and on. But it gets even better.
The Great Awakening
Right before the Revolutionary War, a Great Awakening swept across the colonies re-awakening the hearts of Americans for God. One significant leader of this movement was Rev. George Whitefield. He traveled throughout the American colonies and Europe for 34 years preaching 18,000 times. It was estimated that 80% of all Americans heard him preach. Jonathan Edwards, William Tennant, and Samuel Davies also set hearts aflame during the Awakening. Thousands converted to Christianity and churches were filled. During this time Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield became close friends.
What many don’t know is that Whitefield’s “Father Abraham” sermon that unified the colonies under the umbrella of Christian faith versus dispute and hostility toward one another denominationally. Listen to this one part:
READ EXCERPT PG 105 (AMERICAN STORY)
The reason this sermon was so important is there would not be an America or Independence if the colonies had not unified into one force. Rev. Davies pointed out the “miraculous Divine intervention” that saved General Washington’s life during the French and Indian War putting George Washington on the radar to be the lead General. He also influenced Patrick Henry.
Elisha Williams, a congregationalist minister, who wrote, “The Essential Rights and Liberties of Protestants,” which set forth the Biblica ideas of equality, liberty, and property. Johnathan Mayhew was also a congregationalist minister who reminded listers and later readers that rebellion against tyrants was both Biblical and just in his 1750 sermon, Concerning Unlimited Submission. He is attributed with “awakening and revival of American principles and feelings” that led to our independence (according to John Adams).
Listen to the list of sermons preached during the Great Awakening:
READ PAGES 108-109 (THE STORY)
Many founding fathers were ministers. The education of children became a priority to teach the Bible. Great universities were started to create ministers and further the gospel like Harvard and Princeton and more. America was ripe for change. She was unified and on fire for God.
The Black Robe Regiment
In the meantime, tensions had been building with England. American leaders had repeatedly tried to avoid war and gain our independence peacefully. We had tasted freedom with representative government and there was no way we were going to allow the abuses of England to keep going. And while many point to taxation without representation as the main fire that lit the war, an even greater concern was the spreading of slavery. Americans didn’t want it. England did. That along with religious persecution and other grievances, we wrote our Declaration. There are 27 to 28 grievances (can’t remember) in it.
It was a matter of time before Britain attacked. We needed an army. George Washing had tried 3 times to gather up an army but Americans weren’t interested in spite of the oppressive rule of England. We are naturally peace loving people. It wasn’t until George Washington approached the clergy that an army was gathered.
Remember Peter Muhlenberg. Here is his story:
Peter Muhlenberg is perhaps the most iconic figure associated with the Black Robe Regiment. A Virginia minister, Muhlenberg accepted a commission to lead a regiment of the Continental army. An anecdote—likely apocryphal—from an 18th-century biography depicted Muhlenberg preaching to his congregation in his clerical robes, only to strip them off and reveal his military uniform underneath, a dramatic appeal for men to join the Patriot struggle. Muhlenberg served as an officer in the Continental Army throughout the war and commanded a brigade at the Battle of Yorktown. But Muhlenberg’s literal participation in the war’s fighting was highly unusual for clergymen. Far more common, and the origin of the British label “Black Robe Regiment,” was the rhetorical support for independence those ministers offered regularly from their pulpits. Nor should the undeniable importance of support from this influential group of Protestant clergymen suggest that the American Revolution was mainly a religious revolution, or that its supporters were monolithic in their faith. Colonial religious life was heterogeneous and reflected a diverse set of beliefs. Some Patriot supporters, like the Black Robe Regiment and their congregations, subscribed to Protestant faiths and read in the events of the war evidence that God favored their cause. https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24635
The Brits called the support of Christian clergy and ministers the Black Robe Regiment because they recognized their significant and influential role in garnering support for what they considered a righteous cause. For the Brits it was a derogatory term. For us, we should see the impact of clergy in not only shaping the nation’s thought but also literally fighting and shedding blood for her.
Get this. The Revolutionary War started on a church lawn led by its pastor, Jonas Clark.
READ PAGES 147-149 IN THE STORY
For our founders and those who fought for this nation, the purpose of government was to secure the people’s inalienable rights (rights that only come from God). The fight to protect our God-given rights started way before we were a nation. British subjects began the fight in 1016 or 1086 through a series of 5 documents that later became some of the language in our own. As many of our founding fathers were British subjects, they would have known this history and seen the mistakes that led to government overreach and oppression of human liberty seen in Britain. Our founding fathers worked hard to create documents not to give us those rights but to protect them. Our rights come from God. The end.
What Happened?
So what happened? How did we go from a nation literally formed and founded by Christian thought and ministers to one where most stay out of politics (including not voting at all) and even call addressing political issues and society as “gospel overreach?” How can the gospel ever overreach?
I believe there are several factors:
1. Incorrect teaching and doctrine regarding the church’s role and Christian’s role in society, especially government
2. A general ignorance of our history
3. A direct attack against our history by Christians and non-Christians alike
4. Separation of Church and State
5. The Johnson Amendment
I’ve just given you a clear history of our role in this country. I’ve also shown you in the scriptures how believers in God influenced leaders and nations. Any “historian” that tries to tell you that we were formed just to preserve slavery is outright lying. All you have to do is go back to the original documents and read books that provide a generous supply of footnotes to original source documents to see that was not the case.
But what about the separation of church and state? First, it’s important to know that this phrase is extraconstitutional meaning it’s not in the constitution itself but the idea behind it is a protection of the first amendment.
“Congress shall make no law establishing religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
You might think that settles it right there. There is not to be any law establishing religion. Well, not so fast. If you read the Congressional Record of the discussions our founding fathers in the first congress from Jun 8 to September 25, 1789, you’ll see that what they were trying to prevent is “the legal establishment by the national government of a single religious denomination in exclusion of all others” like Great Britain had done throughout its history; therefore, religion and denomination were used interchangeably.
The first part of the clause prohibited Congress from establishing a national religion to the exclusion of others and the second clause prevented them from prohibiting citizens from the free exercise of religion. Some try to say that we were never a Christian nation but as I’ve proven and even a cursory examination of the writings of our founders, this is a Christian nation and has always been a Christian nation. Prayer in governmental settings, schools to teach the Bible, etc. were all practiced. There were some founding fathers who didn’t like that at all and said that no religion should be practiced at all but that did not set well with the people. And there were some abuses in the colonies. But overall the evidence shows a clear Christian founding.
So where on earth did this separation of church and state come from?
READ PAGE 12-15 SEPARATION BOOK
Removing God from the public arena has had devastating effects in this nation. I don’t have time to go into them. But this happened on our watch because we became disengaged from the marketplace—business and government.
Next came the Johnson Amendment.
The Johnson Amendment
Let me read to you how the Johnson Amendment came about and the long history of religious tax exemption prior.
http://www.blackrobereg.org/uploads/2/8/9/8/2898266/01stanleyvol.24.2.pdf
Start with: A Brief History of Church Tax Exemption Generally
and then: The 1954 U.S. Senate Race in Texas to page 248.
Even so, the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to “chill free speech” and has acknowledged the ancient history of religious tax exemption even before the Johnson Amendment.
In Summary
I hope that through this series a new Black Robe Regiment is formed that will use “urgent education” to awaken the hearts of Americans to God, our history, our duty, and our responsibilities of a stewardship government that we possess in this nation.
If every Christian voted, we would end legalized abortion, further the prosperity of the nation, protect individual rights and liberties given to us by God, protect freedom of worship, and enjoy the blessings of God on us, which would serve as an evangelistic tool for other nations.
Psalm 67:1–2 NKJV
1 God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah 2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
As with anything I or anyone else teaches, do your own research. I have some great resources listed for you. But know this. If we remain passive thinking that God will deliver this nation without our participation, America will be forever lost. No more just praying without boots on the ground. Engage locally and statewide first. Vote. Get elected to local and state offices. Be poll watchers and prevent fraud. Conduct educational classes. Host those who educate. Ask God to show you what your role is in the context of your life, your location, your occupation, and your family. Time is running out. We must take action, now!