The NAR is now asking for a restoration of America's "divine destiny." Seriously?

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"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. - Matthew 25:31-34 (ESV)

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As a former American History teacher and a former pastor, I always find the NAR dominionist understanding of the bible and history to be extraordinarily, and horrifically, bad. Now, I assume some just do not realize because if there is one thing Christian leaders love doing, it is stepping out of their lane. We saw this during the pandemic when they all thought they were experts now on epidemiology and virology. Others are more deliberate, knowing full well they are spewing lies to accomplish their goals. You see, dominionism has a central problem and that is it is idolatry based upon falsehoods. They have to pretend that America was once a Utopia for evangelical Christians, founded by the direct descendants of Charisma News contributors, all seeking that Shangri-La of Christian fundamentalist nationalism, like God allegedly demands. This fantasy land of puppies and rainbows is absurdly inaccurate as any casual reader of history understands. What they do is prey on the fact that America has relatively been a "good" country and turn it into righteousness they never earned nor sought. One of the most egregious dominionists who writes all the time about this nonsense is Eddie Hyatt. What I like about Eddie is he is about as transparently bad at this as Kris Vallotton is at exegesis. It makes it far easier to debunk. The above linked article is Hyatt again trying to reframe reality into a heavenly battle between historical noble Christianity and the godless heathens he adoringly refers to as secularists. Or leftists. Or Democrats. That is because at its heart, dominionist Christianity is nothing more than an offshoot of the Republican Party, slandering the gospel to achieve carnal, political ends. Hallelujer. Let us reason once more beloved.

'Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent eight years in a Soviet labor camp and observed how the Marxists sought to erase Russia's Christian past, said, "To destroy a people you must first sever their roots." Secularists have known that America's history stands in the way of her being transformed into a socialist, godless state. This is why, for several decades, there has been all-out effort to purge America of her Christian past and reframe her as a racist, evil nation in need of "fundamental transformation."' - Eddie Hyatt

This is the war Eddie and the nutcases like to set up to make Christians feel like they have to defend something. This despite the fact that the United States is already 65% Christian! Eddie wants you to believe that there is a secret band of forces that are trying to transform America into a socialist, godless state. The idiotic socialism charge stems from anyone who has the temerity to believe that nearly 40 million people should not be living in poverty in the richest country in the world. The godless charge is even more idiotic, and it stems from anyone who does not bow down to the theocratic maneuvers of those that Hyatt supports. So, why the focus on American history? Because Eddie knows his version is ridiculous! Projection is a powerful weapon beloved. Hyatt is accusing his perceived enemies of doing exactly what he is doing. It is not racist for example to admit that this nation was built on the backs of slaves. Yes, we eventually got around to making that right, but we were far from the forerunners of that correction. Sure you can point to some who at the time where on the side of ending the slave trade but the reality is we didn't and fought a Civil War over it!

"The truth is that America was founded by people with a deep sense of Divine destiny. They envisioned a land of individual and religious liberty from which the gospel would be taken to the ends of the earth. This is obvious from many historical documents. Consider the following.

In the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims stated that they had come to this land for two purposes: (1) for the glory of God and (2) for the advancement of the Christian faith. Twenty-three years later, in 1643, thousands of new immigrants had arrived and many new towns had sprung up. The United Colonies of New England was formed, and the opening statement of their Constitution reflected the same vision. It reads: "Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace" (Hyatt, "1726: The Year that Defined America," 31). A Great Awakening, beginning in 1726, revitalized the faith of the descendants of those earliest immigrants. Even Benjamin Franklin described how his hometown of Philadelphia was transformed by this awakening, and how houses on every street were filled prayer and the singing of praises to God (Hyatt, "1726:The Year that Defined America," 79)." - Eddie Hyatt

The reason Eddie has to go back to 1726 is that 1776 doesn't support his warped view of history. So, he pretends instead that the Puritans started America. Spoiler alert! They didn't. What they did however is engage in genocide against the natives that already owned the land they wanted. Not so ironically, they viewed the natives as savages and inferior to the while Christian culture they enjoyed so perhaps Eddie would have fit right in. Look, when you examine history it is fair to conclude that no country has done more collective good in this world than America but to pretend that it has done no wrong is just silly. Now as to the references here, Hyatt does this all the time. He quotes distortions he has already written and uses them as sources! Ben Franklin was a deist! How do we know? Because he told us so in his autobiography! He was raised Puritan but ended up far far away from what we profess today. America was founded after 1776, not 50 years earlier. The revolution was economic, not religious. The Boston Tea Party was actually about tea.

"As documented in my books, "1726" and "Abolitionist Founding Fathers," this Great Awakening had a direct bearing on both the founding of America and the ending of slavery on this continent. It is, therefore, not surprising that the First Continental Congress opened in 1774 with an extended time of Bible reading and prayer. Each succeeding session was then opened with prayer. During the Revolutionary War, no less than 15 proclamations for days of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving were issued by the Continental Congress. As commander-in-chief of the American forces, George Washington ordered that each day was to begin with prayer led by the commander of each unit. He also proceeded to appoint Christian chaplains throughout the army. It was no accident that he took the very first presidential oath of office with his hand on a Bible. Yes, America's founding generation had a sense of Divine destiny. Many of those at the 1787 Constitutional Convention believed that God had led them in the formulation of the U.S. Constitution. This was the conviction of James Madison, the chief architect of the Constitution, who declared: "It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in critical stages of the Revolution" (Hyatt, "1726: The Year that Defined America," 127)." - Eddie Hyatt

The Emancipation Proclamation was in 1862. England ended slavery almost thirty years prior. Mexico ended it in 1829. Spain way back in 1811. Denmark, Netherlands and France? All 50 years prior. You can want credit for finally ending it after a brutal and bloody war to keep it, but you cannot rewrite history Eddie. George Washington was a Third-Degree Mason - hardly compatible with Christian beliefs. As for war, it is always helpful to believe that you are on God's side. Divine destiny is not something to be bragging about. It is this sense of believing God is behind whatever you do even if it is evil at heart. Manifest destiny was the belief that White Americans were supposed to settle the North American continents. Divine destiny was an excuse used to pretend God is on your side during slavery, genocide, or any other atrocity committed in the name of "destiny."

"That the Founders wanted Christianity to spread from America's shores to the ends of the earth is obvious from their writings and prayers that they prayed. For example, Washington recorded a prayer in his prayer journal that reads, "Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ" (Hyatt, "1726: The Year that Defined America," 132). John Hancock, President of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, wanted the entire earth to hear the Good News of Jesus. This was made clear in a Proclamation he issued for a day of prayer and fasting while serving as governor of Massachusetts. In this 1793 Proclamation, he expressed his desire:

"That with true conversion of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior . . . and finally to overrule all the commotion in the world, to the spreading of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, in its purity and power among all the people of the earth" (Hyatt, "1726: The Year that Defined America," 173)." - Eddie Hyatt

Another favorite pastime for Eddie is to peruse history and pluck out individual quotes without context, much like he does when he proof-texts the bible, and then try to apply it to an entire life or situation. Consider this quote:

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." - George Washington

Oops. We can play these games all day but at the end of the day George Washington was not trying to set up a theocracy and neither were any of the other founding fathers. Hancock appears to be very serious about his faith and the belief that moralism stems from religion. This is not an exercise in pretending America did not have Christian influences! Of course, it did! America was founded on a balance of ideas and remains so to this day. For every John Hancock I can point to a Thomas Jefferson, who denied the deity of Jesus Christ! The bottom line today is in the key verses. Note that while the nations will be gathered to Jesus for judgment, it is the individual people that are called to glory or condemnation. Also note that America is not spared this. Read Matthew 7 and all those who will stand before Him thinking they had a divine destiny as well only to discover that He never knew them!

"This sense of Divine destiny was expressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1892 ruling in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity vs The United States. After examining thousands of historical documents, the nation's highest Court stated: "The churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices; the gigantic missionary associations, with general support and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe. These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation" ((Hyatt, "1726: The Year that Defined America," 170). This sense of Divine destiny in the founding generation and succeeding generations has been extinguished by secularist historians who have re-written our history and severed our roots. It has also dampened hopes of another Great Awakening because in cutting us off from our past we have lost the sense of who we are as a nation and people." - Eddie Hyatt

Oooh again the boogeymen of secularist historians! The bottom line here is some people do not let you get away with throwing down historical nuggets without CONTEXT. The case in question was about a church that hired a British pastor despite there being a law against hiring foreign nationals. The court admitted the church broke the law but they claimed not the spirit of it since it was designed to keep out unskilled workers (sound familiar) and a pastor is not that. The quote is not "from the court" but rather from one justice, David Brewer and remained a source of great controversy to this day. In a 1905 book however, Brewer admitted "the United States cannot be called a Christian nation "in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or that the people are in any manner compelled to support it" Doesn't sound like divine destiny to me. Hyatt concludes:

"This is not Christian nationalism. America's founders had no desire to impose their faith on anyone, which is why they formulated the First Amendment. Neither do we. Nor does it mean that we think America is better than any other nation. This is simply recognizing that God works through nations to move the flow of history in the direction of His eternal will and purpose. We simply want to recognize and acknowledge that God had a purpose in bringing forth this nation.

We want to reclaim America's Divine destiny." - Eddie Hyatt

Please. If you feel compelled to swear you are not espousing Christian nationalism, chances are you know that you are. Also do not fall for the nonsensical statement that he does not wish to impose his beliefs. That is EXACTLY what dominionists want to do! That is the entire point of the seven mountains heresy! God used this nation as He does others, all for his glorious and grand purpose but do not think for a second that He has covenanted with America, as Eddie believes. Do not fall for the revisionist, blatantly false version of history the NAR wants to sell you. America was founded by people rebelling against perceived economic slights and abuses. Some were Christian and some were not. The most hardcore believers rested in this notion that their every movement and decision was God-ordained. Slaughter the savages? Well they needed Jesus! Southern pastors used the bible to defend slavery. This is our history of people who believed in divine destiny. This is who stands before Christ lamenting "Lord Lord." People who thought God was on their side only to discover they were never on His. Do not make the same mistake beloved.

Reverend Anthony Wade - January 27, 2023

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.