Today we celebrate the birthday of a man known only for his famous signature, John Hancock. You might've heard of someone's signature being their "John Hancock." Well, here's his story. . .
From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
John Hancock, born January 12, 1737, was a Boston merchant and one of the richest men in America at the time of the Revolution. A fiery Patriot, he never hesitated to risk his wealth for the cause of independence. The British considered him a dangerous traitor and reportedly put a price of £500 on his head.
Hancock served as president of the Continental Congress and was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He signed in bold letters and, according to legend, remarked as he wrote, “There! His Majesty can now read my name without glasses. And he can double the reward on my head!”
John Hancock marveled that the Lord gave this country “a name and a standing among the nations of the world.” He wrote: “I hope and pray that the gratitude of [Americans’] hearts may be expressed by a proper use of those inestimable blessings, by the greatest exertions of patriotism, by forming and supporting institutions for cultivating the human understanding, and for the greatest progress of the arts and sciences, by establishing laws for the support of piety, religion and morality. . . . and by exhibiting in the great theatre of the world, those social, public and private virtues which give more dignity to a people, possessing their own sovereignty, than crowns and diadems afford to sovereign princes.”
Now to be perfectly fair, the story of what he supposedly said as he signed the Declaration is probably just a legend. But I still get a kick out of it, and it's certainly true that he's an underrated Founding Father, since the only thing anyone knows about him (if they know anything at all) is about his signature. He was a still a great Patriot who, as the Declaration puts it, risked his "Life, [his Fortune], [and his] sacred Honor" for the cause of Liberty.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. It's "a daily newsletter that will teach you key events that took place each day in American history." Click here to subscribe.
Welcome to the Intersections Blog, where I try to work out where politics, pop culture, and the Bible meet
So What's This All About?
In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"
P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!
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