Brown Book Loft Blog

A recent documentary on the U S Constitution, “Ismellarat – An Anti-Federalist Interpretation Of American History,” challenges the prevailing view of the U S Constitution as a Christian document. An Evangelical production, the DVD demonstrates how historical revisionism is more of a problem among born-again Christians than among humanists.

Baptized Federalism

Readers of most contemporary authors on American Christian history are in for a shock. The video challenges almost everything they’ve been taught about the meaning of American history. The documentary takes issue with the “baptized Federalism” which is common to many of today’s “Christian America” authors. It asserts that too often strong Christians have allowed their patriotism to cloud their biblical discernment on this vital issue.

A full half hour in length, this video makes it crystal clear why so many evangelical Christians, Patrick Henry included, desperately fought against the proposed U S Constitution. The misguided claim that the U S Constitution is a Christian document is thoroughly exposed and discredited.

In plaintive testimony Patrick Henry exposed the dual taxation, the judicial tyranny, and the radical socialism that the proposed Constitution would unleash. The latter, he pointed out, would be the inevitable result of the open-ended General Welfare clause and the “Elastic Clause,” or “sweeping clause” as they called it. But the majority rejected the eloquence of his argument and doomed their posterity to the bloody Civil War that Patrick Henry predicted.

Why didn’t you attend the Constitutional Convention, Mr. Henry was asked. “I smelt a rat!” was his blunt reply. This DVD exposes “the rat” that Patrick Henry was so anxious to eradicate. The story is told by Christian Professor of History George Grant and pro-gun advocate Larry Pratt, among others.

Christian Revisionism

The DVD leaves little doubt that Christian revisionism is more prevalent among Christians than among the unbelieving humanists. Here are three typical interpretative flaws to watch out for:

1) Relying heavily on secondary evidence such as after-the-fact religious quotes and self-congratulatory statements by the founders and their Federalist cheerleaders.

2) Ignoring clear evidence from the “Federalist Papers” and “Notes From the Federal Convention,” which prove that the framers never referred to the Bible in their debates. (Franklin’s call for prayer was peripheral to the deliberations.) Then having the temerity to assert that the delegates were relying on the Bible as their “great political textbook.”

3) Pretending that strong evangelical opposition to the Constitution at the time of the ratification debates did not exist. Then proclaiming the Constitution to be the nonpareil of Christian government in spite of its many violations of Scripture.

Thus, the video suggests that many contemporary “Christian America” authors are in reality promoting a form of Christian historical revisionism. In many cases the distortion of history is more severe than that of their non-Christian counterparts, who recognize the true nature of what actually happened in 1787.

Oliver Woods is author of books and video on the anti-Christian features of the U S Constitution at the America Betrayed website. He also serves as headmaster at King’s Way Classical Academy an online classical, Christian school for grades 7-12.