新的生命—美國遺產概要 4 

神使用國家與文化作為祂在世界栽種種子的禾場。為此緣故，詩篇九十篇16-17節說：「願祢的作為向祢僕人顯現；願祢的榮耀向他們子孫顯明。願主─我們神的榮美（恩寵）歸於我們身上。願祢堅立我們手所做的工；我們手所做的工，願祢堅立。」我們領受主的恩寵是藉著尋求祂的工，當我們與祂和諧一致，這便堅立了我們手所做的工。

當我們瞭解神在列國的工，我們便可以看見祂在各國的關注，是要預備土壤好讓種子栽種。假若那個國家成為種子能成長的好土，我們接著會看見種子是如何在那地被栽種與成長，正如我們從耶穌撒種比喻所瞭解的。

美國共和國種子的土壤是由第一批殖民者開始預備，之後的每個世代又增加了一些備用土壤，好使美國可以繼續生長萌芽。接著大覺醒運動又撒了一些種子，這些種子長成並結出美好果子。瞭解此好土的本質是很重要的，因為我們需要同樣的土壤繼續結果與支撐共和國。以下是美國殖民地成為如此肥沃土壤的一些主要因素。

在美國革命期間，美國殖民地不單成為當時全世界識字率最高的國家，更可能是有史以來最高的。若找到任何不識字的人還會被當作奇事，然而這些殖民家不僅能識字，他們還閱讀許多書籍，他們閱讀了當時最好的古典文學作品。

在殖民地能出現這種閱讀文化，就像共和國本身一樣非常例外。第一批抵達美國的殖民者是來自歐洲受逼迫的宗教難民，他們冒著生命危險站立在他們所明白的真理上。的確有些人是來尋找黃金和其他寶藏，但對那些清教徒、朝聖者、猶太人與其他宗教難民而言，追求真理、自由並按著他們所明白的來遵守，遠比黃金更加珍貴。

很快教育的水平和殖民者的平均才智都變得很卓越，就連新開發地區的拓荒者也是如此。大部分是在家教育，都被教導的很好。美國孩子能知道好幾種語言在當時是很普遍的事，在十幾歲前就進入大學也不罕見。今日我們竟有高中畢業還不會閱讀的人，我們的教育到底是如何跌落至此？我們會在未來的美國遺產概要中談論。

熱力學的第二定律（又稱為熵增原理Law of Entropy）聲稱，有序和合成所產生的匯集並不是隨機發生的；它們必是智慧源頭採取行動的結果。當我們看見這些卓越人士所產生的世代成為我們的開國父老，任何誠實的觀察者都必須看見有一隻神聖的手在塑造美國，為著神聖的目的。透過他們的文章，我們看見這些開國父老非常瞭解自己國家有其神聖目的，而且知道這目的。他們看見神的工作，並加入祂的工作行列中。

我們可以將這種文化和共和國的根源，最早追溯到第一批來到美國殖民者在屬靈、哲學與政府方面的工作。接下來的每個世代使其更加滋潤，直到它成為預備好的肥沃土地，為著從基督到地上以來最重要的事件─大覺醒。

世俗的歷史學家很少提到大覺醒，但在靈裡它可能是從基督行走在地上以來，為世界帶來最大改變的運動，這場屬靈革命促成了後來的美國革命。自由不單在這塊土地被宣告出來，更被實際經歷。屬靈的自由在某個程度上所釋放的政治與文化自由，是從來沒有過的。當英國威脅這樣的自由，他們所面對的是一群寧可死也不願失去自由的人。

大覺醒是大範圍的，可能觸及到殖民地裡的每戶人家，深入在每個地方並維持很長時間，大約從1730年到1770年。此運動的果子是對神火熱的愛，還有對知識、智慧與理解力的喜愛。所帶來的結果是產生更多的學校與大學，在這些地方開始的大覺醒運動早於其他地方。

大覺醒主要是由以下這些人所點燃的：兩位英國屬靈先鋒喬治.懷特菲（George Whitefield）和約翰.衛斯理的講道、德國伯爵親岑多夫，以及一位美國人約拿單.愛德華茲(Jonathan Edwards)。他們傳講著讓人得自由的真理，真理的愛好者繼而成為知識的愛好者。在大覺醒期間，儘管各個領域的知識都被高度尋求，但對神學的熱愛更上一級，神學儼然成為美國學院與大學的主要主修，遠超過其他領域的總和。

神學不單成為當時最受歡迎的學習領域，牧師和演說家成為殖民地最出名的名流。因此，作一個傳道人的門檻很高。到美國的遊客寫道，殖民地的才智與學習廣為盛行，即便在偏遠的屯墾區，也是如此。講道深切又鼓舞人心，無聊的傳道人無法在如此的火熱中存留太久。 

主日崇拜成為殖民者每週最興奮的時刻，但他們也在那裡得到關於國家和世界大事的新聞，主日信息與新聞便成為人們當週的談話主題。主日信息的內容如此深層，因此連續參加六年主日被視為等同於獲得學士學位，這就是美國所誕生的屬靈與智力DNA。

這給人一種普遍感覺，就是美國人有其神聖命定。當人與偉大理想連結上了，就可能很有動力，但這完全無法與連結上神聖委任的動力相比。大覺醒將一種如同君尊祭司般的呼召放在人的心中，他們相信自己的國家被呼召成為神要來國度的先鋒。

牧師是殖民地最具影響力的人士，在美國革命戰爭期間，英國稱他們是「黑袍軍團」，認為他們比美國軍隊更具威脅性。為此緣故，英國集中主要策略來封住這些傳道人的口，不是逮捕或殺害他們，就是燒了他們的教會。然而，神的道在反對下茂盛成長，之後也是如此，在偉大與堅定的人心中增加燃料點燃熊熊大火。

儘管修正歷史學家試圖把我們的開國父老塑造成某種相反形象，但除了二到三位外，他們全都是一群愛神的人，更是虔誠的基督徒，就像我們在今日最偉大講台上所看到的人物。從歷史上我們可以看到，他們具有崇高的意圖，他們個人的生命也是尊榮的，正如我們下面將看見的。

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～摘錄班傑明‧富蘭克林（Benjamin Franklin）～

閣下，我活得夠久了，我活得越久，就越能確信我看見此真理─那就是神掌管人的事務。 

～摘錄第二任總統─湯馬斯·傑弗遜（Thomas Jefferson）～

我的觀點…是生命探究與省思的結果，與那些敵基督體制歸咎於我的截然不同，他們完全不了解我的看法。對於基督教的腐敗，我的確非常反對，但那卻不是耶穌本身的真實訓誡。我是一個基督徒，單單照著耶穌對任何人所希望成為的樣式，真誠地忠於祂的教義，勝過所有其他教義。 

 (摘自喬納word for the week, Week4, 2020) 
 

A New Life—Heritage Brief 4

God uses nations and cultures as fields for planting the seeds He wants to grow in the world. For this reason, Psalm 90:16-17 says, “Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your majesty to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands.” By seeing His work, we receive His favor, and this confirms the work of our hands as being in harmony with His.

        As we understand God’s work in the nations, we can see His attention in every nation to prepare the soil for the seeds He will plant in them. We then see how the seeds are planted and how they grow if that nation has become the good soil required for the seeds to grow, as we understand from Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.

         The soil for the seeds of the American Republic began to be prepared by the first colonists. Each generation added to the preparation of the soil that the American Republic could sprout from. Then the seeds were sown by The Great Awakening. The seeds grew and bore fruit. It is important to understand the nature of this good soil as it will require the same kind of ground to continue to bear fruit and sustain the Republic. The following are some of the main factors that made the American colonies such fertile soil.

          At the time of the American Revolution, the colonies had become not only the most literate nation on the earth at the time, but possibly of all time. It was considered a curiosity to find anyone who could not read. Yet, the colonists could not only read, they did read. And they read the best literature available, the classics. 

         How this kind of culture came to be in the colonies is as exceptional as the Republic itself. The first colonists that came to America were religious refugees from the persecution in Europe. They had risked their lives to stand on the truth as they understood it. There were some who came seeking gold and other treasure, but to the Puritans, the Pilgrims, the Jews, and the other religious refugees, truth, and the freedom to pursue and obey it as they understood it, was more valuable than gold. 

        Soon the level of education and the brilliance of the average colonist, even of the pioneers on the frontier, was extraordinary. Most were schooled at home, and they were schooled well. It was common for the American children to know multiple languages. It was also not uncommon for one to enter college before their teens. How is it that we have high school graduates today that cannot even read? How have we fallen so far? We will cover this in future briefs.

        The Second Law of Thermodynamics (also called the “Law of Entropy”), declares that convergences that result in order and synthesis do not happen by random chance; they must be the result of action by an intelligent Source. As we see how remarkable the people that produced the generation that became our Founders were, any honest observer will have to see that there was a Divine hand shaping the nation; it was for a Divine purpose. By their writings, we see that the Founders understood very well that they were a nation with a Divine purpose, and they knew the purpose. They saw the works of God, and they joined theirs to His.

         We can trace the roots of this culture and our Republic to the spiritual, philosophical, and political works of the first colonists that came to America. It was enriched by each generation until it was a prepared, fertile soil for one of the most important events since Christ walked the earth—the Great Awakening. 

          Secular historians rarely mention the Great Awakening, but to the spiritual it was a movement that changed the world possibly more than anything since Christ walked the earth. It was the spiritual revolution that made the American Revolution inevitable. Freedom was not only proclaimed throughout the land, it was experienced. The spiritual liberty released political and cultural liberty on a level that had not been seen before. When the British threatened this liberty, they faced a people who would rather die than lose it.

        The Great Awakening was wide, perhaps touching every household in the colonies. It was also deep and enduring, lasting from about 1730 to 1770. Fruit of this movement was an insatiable love for God, as well as a love of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This resulted in more schools and universities being born out of the Great Awakening than had been seen before anywhere. 

         The Great Awakening was sparked mostly by the preaching of two great British spiritual pioneers: George Whitefield and John Wesley, a German Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf, and an American, Jonathan Edwards. They preached truth that set men free. Lovers of truth become lovers of knowledge. Knowledge in all fields was highly sought during the Awakening, but theology was such a devotion that it had more majors in the American colleges and universities at the time than all of the other fields combined. 

         Theology was not only the most popular field of study at the time, but the great preachers and orators became the most famous celebrities in the colonies. Because of this, the bar was set high for every preacher. Visitors to America wrote of the astonishing brilliance and learning that was prevalent, even in the remote settlements. Sermons were profound and so inspiring that boring preachers did not last long in such a fire. 

         Sunday services were not only the most exciting time of the week for the colonists, but it was where most got their news about national and world events. The sermons and the news shared were the subject of conversation all week long. The content of the sermons was such that it was considered that attending church services for six years was equivalent to getting a Bachelor’s Degree. That was the spiritual and intellectual DNA of the American nation at its birth.

         This brought about a prevailing sense of a connection of the Americans to a Divine destiny. To be connected to the great ideas of men can be motivating, but this cannot be compared to the motivation of feeling connected to a Divine mandate. The Great Awakening had set in the hearts of the people their calling as a royal priesthood, and that as a nation they were called to be a forerunner of the coming kingdom of God. 

         Pastors were the most influential people in the colonies. During the Revolutionary War, the British called them “The Black Robed Regiment” and considered them more of a threat than the Continental Army. For this reason, the British focused much of their strategy on silencing these preachers by capturing or killing them, and burning their churches. Yet, the word of God thrives under opposition, and so it did then, adding fuel to the fires in great and resolute hearts. 

         In spite of what revisionist historians have tried to make our Founders out to be, they were all, with the possible exception of two or three, not just lovers of God, but they were as devout as we may find in even the greatest pulpits today. Their intent was as noble as can be found in history, and their personal lives as honorable, as we will see.  

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         I’ve lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. –Benjamin Franklin

         My views…are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity, I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus Himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished any one to be; sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others. – Thomas Jefferson