Skip to content 7/4/2025 On This Independence Day, Tony Takes a Insightful Look Into America’s Christian Heritage Jul 4 · 54 min ...more
7/4/2025 On This Independence Day, Tony Takes a Insightful Look Into America’s Christian Heritage
July 4, 2025 · 54 min
Tony Perkins shares excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course, highlighting America’s Christian heritage and offering action steps to engage and steward this country God has entrusted to us.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
July 4, 2025 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Tony Perkins shares excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course, highlighting America’s Christian heritage and offering action steps to engage and steward this country God has entrusted to us. ...more Show the full description Show less Tony Perkins shares excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course, highlighting America’s Christian heritage and offering action steps to engage and steward this country God has entrusted to us.
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In this video 0:00 The Foundation of a Nation13:57 Church and State: A Misunderstood Separation24:32 Action Steps for a Nation Under God
The Foundation of a Nation 0:01 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and0:12 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.0:19 Welcome to this special Independence Day edition of Washington Watch. Thanks so much for, tuning in. 249 years ago, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain in the0:31 midst of a war for liberty. Against all odds, just over 3000000 colonists took on and defeated what was the most powerful military force in the world at that time. They0:42 secured not only their freedom, but the future of a new nation. Now today, nearly 2 and a half centuries later, we're still in a battle for freedom, but this battle is of a different kind.0:54 Thankfully, it's not being fought with swords, muskets, and cannons. It's a battle older than war itself, a spiritual struggle for our faith, our families, and our freedom. Coming up on this special1:06 edition of Washington Watch, we'll feature highlights from FRC's God in Government series, which launched earlier this year on our Stand Firm app. While we can't cover all 13 sessions today, we'll touch on some of the1:18 most important topics, including America's Christian heritage. Yes. We were founded a nation on Christian principles. We'll talk about the relationship between church and state and what1:30 we're called to do once we understand God's design for government. So on this Independence Day, our hope is that more Americans will rediscover the
1:41 true foundation of our nation and that today's program will equip and inspire you for the mission we all share, to restore and rebuild the foundations of this great
1:53 country. Now if you happen to miss any part of today's broadcast, you can catch it later at tony perkins dot com. So for 30 years, I've taught a course on God and government. It's a course
2:05 that was born out of my own journey through scripture and just studying history, American history. And then I combined it with real world experience in the public policy arena. And that
2:17 journey for me began as a state representative and has continued over the last 2 decades as president of the Family Research Council in Washington, DC. Along the way, I've had the privilege of watching some
2:29 of my students go on to serve in a variety of roles, from local school boards to city councils, state legislatures, congress, and even to hold the speaker's gavel in the US House of
2:40 Representatives. So earlier this year, Family Research Council took the heart of what I had been teaching and turned it into a 13 session video course designed to equip even
2:52 more Christ followers with a solid Bible based understanding of God's design for government. We had to get this message out because it's not being taught in our schools, and, unfortunately, many of the pulpits are not
3:04 teaching our citizenship responsibilities. So this course combines biblical principles with the Christian history of our nation, but what's unique about it is that it also
3:16 brings in practical application for engaging in civil government. It's available now on the Sanfirm app, and it's a great resource for parents, students, pastors, and anyone who wants to make a lasting
3:28 difference for the Lord by standing for biblical truth in the public square. So today, in honor of Independence Day, I wanna share a few excerpts from the series, beginning with session 4, which explores the Christian
3:39 history of the United States. In this segment, I revisit the revolutionary period and the powerful role of sermons delivered from America's pulpits. These messages not only shaped the
3:51 convictions of our founders, they helped everyday Americans make sense of their moment in history. Here's a portion of what I shared in that session. Now these sermons not only
4:02 taught, you know, the personal salvation through Jesus Christ, but they also taught how to address the temporal issues that would lead to national prosperity
4:15 for God's people. In all the events, no matter how mundane or how random they might be, were patterned from scripture. They wanted
4:27 to know how they fit into scripture. So the sermons were not just theological, far removed messages, but they were practical how
4:39 to, what does this mean, what do I do with it, how then shall we live. That was the messages that were being preached in that time. And and so this is why
4:51 the pulpit was considered the single most powerful element of the war for independence. It's because people wanted to know. They wanted to know if God's blessing was going to be on their activities. This was
5:03 not a rebellion. This was not the French Revolution. This was totally different than the French Revolution. And those that would try to conflate the 2
5:16 are sadly mistaken, if not intentionally being driven, Because ours was was seeking out ordered liberty under the sovereignty
5:27 of God, and that's what the pastors were preaching and it had a profound impact on colonial America. Now let's look just, quickly at the
5:39 signers of the declaration. In 17 76, there were 56 men. All of the delegates in 17 87 were professing members of Trinitarian Christian
5:51 denominations. And in fact, let me quote Ben Franklin, when they were debating at the Constitutional Convention in 17 87. He said to that
6:03 kind providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful
6:14 friend or and this was coming out of the the war for independence, which they succeeded in. They said, you know, have we forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance?
6:26 Because they certainly needed him when they were the underdog in their fight for freedom. I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the
6:38 affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured sir in the sacred writings
6:50 that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in his political building no better than the builders of
7:01 Babel. We shall be divided by our partial local interest, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to
7:13 future generations. They understood the word of God, and the word of God and probably Benjamin Franklin is probably 1 of the least religious of the
7:25 group, but he understood it. He understood the language, the currency of the day, and it would clearly was a biblical understanding of God,
7:37 and and God was not far removed. This is not the words of a deist who would say, God put this thing in order and left. He recognizes that God is the 1 who gave them favor to be
7:49 established as a nation. Now let me go to some of the state constitutions. Okay? So we we kind of get a a sense of what those documents say. Again, these things are placed in writing, and they're there for his the
8:00 historical record. And for those that would want to just kind of sweep them ways, oh well that's old. It's a statement of principle, it's a statement of focus, it's a statement of priority.
8:13 Various state constitutions, again, there's many of the 13 you can look at. Pennsylvania, the frame of government section 10, this is what it says, and each member of the legislature before he takes a seat shall
8:25 make and subscribe the following declaration. Okay. Before they could take their seat in the state legislature, this is what they had to say. I do believe in 1 God, the creator and the governor of the universe, the
8:36 rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the scripture of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration. I I I don't think many churches would even do that as
8:48 for membership. But that was the oath of office that had to be taken. Delaware's constitution was which was framed in 17
8:59 76 says, everyone appointed to public office must say, I do profess faith in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son and the Holy Ghost, On God and blessed forevermore, and I do acknowledge
9:11 the holy scriptures of the old and new testaments be given by divine inspiration. That's in the constitution. South Carolina. The Christian Protestant religion
9:23 shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established religion of the state. No person shall be eligible to to to a seat in the senate unless he be of the Protestant religion.
9:36 So the US Supreme Court, more evidence in 18 92. The US Supreme Court determined in the case the Church of the Holy Trinity versus United States, that America was a Christian nation from its
9:48 earliest days. The court opinion delivered by justice Josiah Brewer was an exhaustive study of the historical and legal evidence for the for America's Christian heritage. So after examining
10:00 hundreds of court cases, state constitutions, and other historical documents, the court came to the following conclusion. This is it. Quote, our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the
10:11 teachings of the redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. This
10:23 is a religious people. This is historically true. From present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. We find
10:35 everywhere clear recognition of the same truth. These and many other matters which might be noticed at a volume of unofficial declarations to the massive organic utterances that this is a
10:46 Christian nation. That was the supreme court of the United States. There's other evidence. Let me give you I've got 10 of
10:58 them, and I I'm sure there's more. This is not exhaustive. Number 1, the 10 commandments hang over the head of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. If Christianity played no role
11:10 in our government or in our justice, then why would we have the 10 Commandments hanging over the head of the chief justice? Second, in the House and Senate chambers appear the word
11:22 in God the words in God we trust. Third, in the rotunda is the figure of the crucified Christ. Fourth, on the walls of the Capitol Dome, these words appear, the New Testament
11:34 according to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Fifth, on the great seal of the United States is inscribed the phrase God, it's in Latin, it means God has smiled on our
11:46 undertaking. And 6, under the seal in the phrase of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, this nation under God. Seventh, president Elliott of Harvard chose Micah 6 8 for the walls of the nation's
11:57 library. Quote, he has showed thee, oh man, what is good and what did God require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. The eighth, the lawmakers library quotes the
12:09 psalmist acknowledgment of the beauty and order of creation. Psalm 19 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Ninth, engraved on the
12:21 metal cap atop of Washington Monument are the words praise be to God. In fact, when the sun comes up in the east, the first place that the sun shines on the District
12:33 of Columbia is that metal, that aluminum cap with the words praise be to God. That's by design. That can only be the highest building in the District of Columbia.
12:45 Lining the walls of the stairwell are numerous Bible verses. Search the scriptures. Holiness to the Lord. Train up a child in the way that they should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. And then
12:57 tenth, the Liberty Bell, which is in Philadelphia, is inscribed with Leviticus 25 10, proclaim liberty throughout all the land into all the inhabitants thereof.
13:10 The history is very clear that this nation was not founded to be an agnostic nation. It was not founded to be a Muslim nation. It
13:22 was not founded to be anything other than a nation built upon the truths and principles of God's Word as a nation that would honor Him and be
13:34 the recipient of His blessing. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and that demands a nation who will
13:45 operate, which will operate according to God's word, by his word, according to those principles. And this is God's design for government.
Church and State: A Misunderstood Separation
14:05 A family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure.
14:17 That's why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
14:25 Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation's capital, FRC continues to
14:37 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
14:44 FRC is 1 of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north, and I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
14:54 The Family Research Council is key. It's 1 of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country
15:06 that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
15:12 It's just a wonderful para church organization that doesn't seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward
15:24 successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the holy scriptures.
15:33 FRC, is not gonna be whooped. You know, we're we're gonna fight. We're gonna take a stand. And, again, we don't retreat.
15:42 You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, DC, a white flag fly. We will never step back. We will never surrender, and we will
15:54 never be silent. Hello, friends. This is Tony Perkins. You know what? We just finished our 21 day family bible challenge through the book of
16:05 Matthew. And if you joined us, I pray that it has already borne fruit in your life and in your home as you place the Lord and his word at the center of your home. Now our journey through the Bible
16:17 doesn't end here, though. The challenge was a part of our stand on the word Bible reading plan. And from here, we're gonna cover the rest of the New Testament. And now that we finished the book of Matthew, let me ask
16:28 you, would you consider joining us for the rest of the journey through the word of God? In 10 to 15 minutes a day, you'll see how the good news of Jesus transformed the lives of common people, people just like you and
16:39 me, and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the holy spirit. I invite you to continue the journey with me and discover the life enriching power of the word of God. Visit
16:51 f r c dot o r g slash bible for our reading plan. That's f r c dot o r g slash bible to learn more. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm your
17:03 host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for joining us. The website, tony perkins dot com. Alright. Today, in honor of Independence Day, we're broadcasting content from FRC's 13 session God and
17:15 Government series. And by the way, you can get access to the entire course on FRC's Stand Firm app. If you don't have the app, text app a p p to 6 7 7 4 2, and I'll send you a link.
17:27 In this next part, I go into the relationship between church and state. What does the separation between church and state really mean? What was the intent? And we'll begin
17:39 with where the phrase came from. So we're gonna look at at this issue is the this phrase of the separation of church and
17:51 state. Now we we we kind of dismissed earlier where that came from. It's not in the constitution. It's not in the declaration of independence. In fact, it's not in any government
18:03 document other than some court cases that have appealed to it. It was originally in a letter that Thomas Jefferson sent to a group of Baptists.
18:16 It was the Danbury Connecticut Baptist. Now let me read a portion of that letter to you. Now the Baptist at the time were a small small
18:27 religious sect. They were not very big, and they did not have a lot of influence. So they were concerned as Jefferson was positioning himself, they wanted they did not want to be taxed to
18:39 pay for another church. They didn't want to be, you know, they they just wanted their own rights. They wanted to be left alone, and so Jefferson
18:51 writes this letter and he says, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that the act of the whole American people, which declared that their legislature should quote, make no law respecting an establishment of
19:03 religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state. So he's he's talking about the
19:15 free exercise clause and the establishment clause, which is the First Amendment. And he says, I see this is a wall of separation between the church and the state.
19:27 Well, that has become an entire legal theory, if if not doctrine, that has made its way into a lot of government policies. And it should
19:39 be stated that Jefferson, when the the Constitution was written, now he was he did draft the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn't even here when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written.
19:51 He was in France. So he's not an authority on the meaning of the Bill of Rights and the the Constitution. In fact, a number
20:03 of years ago I was, went with a member of Congress. The members of Congress have special privileges at the National Archives building, and I was able to go into the archives into
20:15 what they call the vault, where uncirculated documents are. And I was able to go in and and actually hold. They have a sneeze guard on them, little plastic stuff on it, but
20:26 actually hold and see the markup of the bill of rights that came over from the House to to the Senate. And in that there were, there
20:38 was not 10 originally. There was a couple that didn't make it, but the First Amendment, which became the First Amendment, it wasn't in the original until the Senate took it
20:50 up, was that it also provided for the rights of conscience and religious freedom, and those were separate from freedom of
21:01 speech, from the press, and from a right of assembly. And so they were all merged together to create the first amendment in 1. But when they came over from the House, the
21:13 number 1 issue was rights of conscience and religious freedom. So this was top of mind for the founders in a day to to to make sure that when
21:25 we settled the Bill of Rights, enumerating what the Constitution did to assure people that freedom of religion would continue, and that the
21:37 government would not it would not be a national government. So that was the real issue there because at the time, there were a number of state churches that had
21:49 already been established, and there were 9 of the 13 colonies had state churches. And so there was just the idea was they didn't want a national church,
22:01 a federal church, that all the colonies would then have to support. So that was really the issue there was a national church. It was not the influence of Christianity in
22:12 government. So what does the First Amendment actually say? Well, this is what it says. Says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or bridging the
22:24 freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the peaceful people peacefully to assemble and to position the government for redress of grievances. So what does it prohibit?
22:36 Well, it prohibits a state sponsored church. That's an establishment cause. That means the federal government cannot establish a church, a national denomination, a national
22:48 church. It also prohibits so there's 2 there's 2 parts to the First Amendment as it pertains to religion. There is the establishment, which is for
23:00 the government, and then there's the free exercise clause. That means that the government cannot restrict religious liberties. Now what were the historical purposes behind
23:12 this? Well as I said, it was a desire to establish a church free of government interference and no state church. So really the the reason part of the reason for the found for
23:24 the the pilgrims and others coming over, as we talked about religious freedom, but it was is also to they wanted separation of church and state. Okay? They didn't want the the
23:35 state and the church to be merged, just like in England, they had the the and we're watching it today, where the the church becomes a useful tool of the government. And so what happens is you have a church that
23:47 becomes corrupt, and then government becomes corrupt because the church has lost its prophetic voice. So we want separation. We want separation. We do not want a state
23:59 church, But what they're really saying is, they want the separation of government from God,
24:11 meaning God's principles in God's Word. That we cannot live with, because all of creation, all nations, whether they acknowledge it or not, are under the authority
24:23 of God. That was an excerpt from FRC's God in Government series as you are tuned in to a special Independence Day edition of Washington Watch. Alright. You can find out more about Our God in GovernmentShow more
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