American Exceptionalism

Ryan Cox • August 26, 2020

Every political candidate trumpets his or her unbeatable plan for American prominence. However, for all the promises made, how many of America’s current and would-be leaders know the reasons for America’s past greatness and the true path for its return? Well, here it is:

Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”

Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Deuteronomy 28:1, 13-15, 1 Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth…  13 The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, 14 and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15  But it shall come about, if you do not obey the  LORD  your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…

When America abided by the instruction of the Lord, she prospered. Hence her creation and even governing documents were guided by Godly wisdom and founded upon Biblical principles. This is what is meant by “American Exceptionalism.” America is not exceptional because of a superior people comprising her citizenry. She is exceptional because of her founding.

No other country in all of history was founded for the simple cause of liberty as was America.

This is why the basic principles of American democracy so wonderfully reflect Biblical principles:

  1. Worth of the Individual – “The importance of the individual is central to democracy.”
    Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
    Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you”.
  2. Equality of All Persons – “All people are entitled to equality of opportunity and equality before the law.”
    Acts 10:34, “In truth I perceive that God shows no favoritism.”
    Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God.”
    Acts 17:26, “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth”.
  3. Majority Rule, Minority Rights – “Democracy argues that a majority of the people will be right more often than wrong. However, the majority must always recognize the right of any minority to become the majority.”
    Romans 13:8-10, 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9  For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  10  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
  4. Individual Freedom – “Each individual must be as free to do as he or she pleases, as far as the freedom of all will allow.”
    1 Peter 2:16, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”
    Galatians 5:13, 13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

These four quotes regarding the basic principles of American democracy are taken straight out of chapter 1 of the government textbook from which I used to teach. Isn’t it amazing how perfectly aligned they are with Biblical principles?

Coincidence? Not by a long shot. Sadly, though, the Biblical influence upon our founding is left out of modern curricula.

This is why we are adding several new resources to our bookstore to counter the effort to erase America’s history. This is also why we now offer Our American Founding program.

If you would like to book this new program, contact us today!

By Bob Dugas May 23, 2025
NS-29 Launch
By Matt Miles May 22, 2025
As many of you may know, I appreciate space. Not space around me, although the older I get the more I appreciate that as well. The things in the heavens fascinate me and have for a large chunk of my life. I love working with our telescopes, allowing people to see for themselves objects that the Lord made on the 4th day of history. When I was younger I followed our Space Shuttle program, and over the years I have had the opportunity to see a couple of those shuttles around the country. Now it is great to see all the renewed interest in exploring the heavenly creation. I know most of it is for evolutionary reasons, yet over and over again something is discovered that points to the trustworthiness of God’s Word. After all, we are to study His creation as Genesis 1:28 states. On a recent trip to El Paso, it occurred to me that Blue Origin’s launch facility is in west Texas somewhere. After some quick searching I realized we were within an hour and half of it, and there was a rescheduled launch window during the time of our meeting. So, with some persuading of my colleagues, we arose early one morning to make the launch. We made it with just minutes to spare. It was spectacular! The whole launch to just beyond the Karman Line (space boundary, 62 miles/100km) and return of the rocket and capsule is about ten minutes total. While Blue Origin is best known for its New Shepherd rocket that carries paying customers to space and back with the biggest windows ever in a capsule, this NS-29 launch was purely experimental with a payload of instruments to measure simulated lunar gravity. Even though it was not a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Starship or Falcon launch, it was great to hear and feel a launch for the first time, from blast off to the sonic boom return. It has piqued my desire to see a bigger launch now. As I began to reflect on what I experienced, the Lord reminded me of His design. Earth, our home planet, is so well designed for life. There is literally nowhere in all the universe like it. Yet He gave us the ability to discover creation beyond it. The only reason we can launch rockets and do space exploration is because He set it up in an orderly way. Physics works because He established it to work in a predictable fashion. As much as we may never understand everything in the universe from our position here, it works on an ordered reality that is reinforced by God’s Word. This is what drove Sir Isaac Newton in his understanding of physics. He wrote, “The motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were by an intelligent Agent.” Evolutionists may come up with theories about the origin of things in the heavens, but over and over again they are being shown through experimentation and observation to be wrong. The Lord set the order of everything in the beginning and sustains it by His Word (Hebrews 1:3). So as you look to the heavens tonight, gaze into the depths of space and observe the different facets the Lord placed up there for our eyes (Genesis 1:17). Peer through a telescope at the lesser light of the moon with marvel and anticipation of further human study in the coming years. Check out the amazing observations being made by the James Webb telescope from deep in space. All of these place a perspective of how awesome our Creator is and how much we depend on Him. Our design becomes more and more obvious with every discovery, yet in our universe we appear so minuscule and fragile. Thanks be to God that His infinite focus has, is and always will be here on us! Blessings.
By Ryan Cox May 22, 2025
Moses & History (part 2)
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