The American Soul
Are you tired of hearing the myth about separation of church and state? Are you tired of being told that America is not and never was a Christian nation? Do you want to have the information to stand up for the truth and fight back against this fundamental lie that’s invading our culture and education? Each week, host Jesse Cope will dive into quotes and excerpts from our great leaders and documents throughout our history showing how in President Woodrow Wilson’s words “America was born a Christian nation.” We have the truth on our side and together we can absolutely turn our nation around. Follow Jesse @jtcope4 on X for daily doses of the truth to help fight back. Subscribe to The American Soul and share the show with someone who needs to hear it. We're on a mission to spread the truth and get our nation back on the right track — and you can help us make this possible.
The American Soul
Suffering, Scripture, And The Unfailing Promise Of Christmas
Doubt doesn’t always start with disbelief; it often starts with uneven standards. We put ancient sources on pedestals while demanding perfection from the Gospels. So we ask a sharper question: if historians trust accounts of Alexander the Great written centuries after his death, what should we do with Christian claims circulating within years of the resurrection? Walking through insights popularized by Lee Strobel and scholarship that outlines early creeds, eyewitness proximity, and manuscript depth, we press for intellectual fairness—and courage to follow the evidence where it leads.
From there, we bring faith home. Colossians 3 reframes marriage not as power but as mutual sacrifice: wives honoring God’s order, husbands rejecting bitterness through self-giving love. Then we step into the Jordan and the wilderness. John the Baptist calls for fruit worthy of repentance, and Jesus answers temptation with Scripture, refusing shortcuts to comfort, spectacle, or power. Those scenes become a map for modern pressure: hold to truth, obey when unseen, and let God define the path.
We round out the journey with battle-tested courage and seasonal hope. The story of Medal of Honor recipient Joel Thompson Boone shows love with skin in the game—running into fire to save the wounded. Psalm 3 and Proverbs 1 ground our courage and prudence, while FDR’s 1935 Christmas words cast a wider light: the message of peace and goodwill crosses borders, eras, and fears. Taken together, these threads form a steadying line—from historical reliability to daily obedience, from battlefield sacrifice to a manger’s promise. If this conversation strengthens your footing, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part challenged you most today?
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Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are in whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate y'all joining me and giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely for those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it. Thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast. Thank you very much. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them and want them, and hopefully y'all are getting to listen to this with somebody else. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for this day that you have made. Help us to rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for the people that you've put in our lives, Father. Thank you for the trials that you've put in our lives. Thank you that your grace is sufficient for those thorns in our side. Help us remember that following your son is not easy, is not simple. That his life was not and that he led by example. Help us to follow his example all the way home to you.
SPEAKER_01:To trust trust that one day we will get to be with you in heaven forever because you've promised with no more tears and no more sadness, no more sorrow or grief, illness or injury.
SPEAKER_00:Help us to share that hope of your Son Jesus Christ with others. To lead them to you through him. Forgive us when we fail. Forgive us when we abandon those stumbling toward the cliff. Help us to do better. And guide my words here, Father, please. Your son's name we pray. Amen. So there were a couple things I wanted to talk about today, but I imagine I'll just get to one of them, so I'll start with I was reading through recently rereading, though it's been a while, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.
SPEAKER_01:And one of the arguments, I think often that people fall into who reject Christ or or even those who accept Christ, one of our doubts, our sources of doubts, is the reliability of the New Testament talking about Christ, of the Bible, the writings. And he's got a couple of really great sections on that. And one of them I was just stumbling across, and I'll just read you a couple sentences out of here.
SPEAKER_00:He's talking to a man named Bloomberg, who is a scholar. I won't pretend to know of what kind exactly.
SPEAKER_01:He's got all the titles and everything in here, but at any rate, Bloomberg made the quote: The two earliest biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arian and Plutarch more than 400 years after Alexander's death in 323 BC. Yet historians consider them to be generally trustworthy. Yes, legendary material about Alexander did develop over time, but it was only in the centuries after these two writers. So you got about 400 years there, right?
SPEAKER_00:And then another quote later on in their interview.
SPEAKER_01:A good case can be made for saying that Christian, the Christian belief in the resurrection, though not written down yet, can be dated to within two years of that very event. This is enormously significant. Now you're not comparing 30 to 60 years with the 500 years that's generally acceptable for other data you're talking about too.
SPEAKER_00:If you get a chance, take a look at this book, folks.
SPEAKER_01:The point that I'm trying to get across is if we use the same standard for the Bible that is generally used in academic circles, the reliability would be almost beyond question.
SPEAKER_00:At least in the sense of people accurately recording what occurred compared to when you look at other, for example, he goes back to that Alexander the Great example. And I just I find that fascinating.
SPEAKER_01:Marriage verse for today is from Colossians chapter three. Wives be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00:Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. Scripture for today go back into Matthew three, seven through four eleven.
SPEAKER_01:But when he, John the Baptist, saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. You brood of snakes, he exclaimed, who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way that you live, that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other we're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham. That means nothing. For I tell you God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the axe of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
SPEAKER_00:I baptize with water, those who repent of their sins and turn to God.
SPEAKER_01:But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am, so much greater that I am not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn, but burning the chaff with never ending fire. Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, but John tried to talk him out of it. I am the one who needs to be baptized by you, he said. So why are you coming to me? But Jesus said, It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires. So John agreed to baptize him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus told him, No, the scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city of Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple, and he said, If you are the Son of God, jump off. For the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect you, and they will hold you up with their hands, so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Jesus responded, The Scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God. Next the devil took him to a peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. I will give it all to you, he said, if you will kneel down and worship me. Get out of here, Satan, Jesus told him. For the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil went away and angels came and took care of Jesus. Psalm three verses one through eight. O Lord, I have so many enemies, so many are against me, so many are saying God will never rescue him. But you, O Lord, are a shield around me. You are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side. Arise, O Lord, rescue me, my God. Slap all of my enemies in the face, shatter the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_00:Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people.
SPEAKER_01:Proverbs one verses ten through nineteen. My child, if sinners entice you turn your back on them. They may say, Come and join us, let's hide and kill someone. Just for fun, let's ambush the innocent. Let's swallow them alive like the grave, let's swallow them whole like those who go down to the pit of death. Think of the great things we'll get. We'll fill our houses with all the stuff we take. Come, throw in your lot with us, we'll all share the loot. My child, don't go along with them, stay far away from their paths. They rush to commit evil deeds, they hurry to commit murder. If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away. But these people set an ambush for themselves. They are trying to get themselves killed. Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money.
SPEAKER_00:It robs them of life.
SPEAKER_01:Medal of Honor for today is Joel Thompson Boone, Lieutenant Commander, highest rank vice admiral World War I, Sixth Regiment U. S. Marines, U. S. Navy, july nineteenth, nineteen eighteen, vicinity of Verzi, France. For extraordinary heroism, conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving with the Sixth Regiment U. S. Marines in actual conflict with the enemy, with absolute disregard for personal safety, ever conscious and mindful of the suffering fallen. Sergeant Boone, leaving the shelter of a ravine, went forward onto the open field where there was no protection, and despite the extreme enemy fire of all calibers, through a heavy mist of gas, applied dressings and first aid to wounded marines. This occurred southeast of Versey, near the cemetery, and on the road south from town. When the dressings and supplies had been exhausted, he went through a heavy barrage of large caliber shells, both high explosive and gas, to replenish these supplies, returning quickly with a sidecar load and administered them in saving the lives of the wounded. A second trip under the same conditions and for the same purpose was made by Surgeon Boone later that day. Accredited to St. Clair, Sculkell County, Pennsylvania, not awarded posthumously. Born august twenty ninth, eighteen eighty nine, Saint Clair, died april second, nineteen seventy four, Bethesda, Maryland, buried Arlington National Cemetery, eleven TAC 137 TAC two, Arlington, Virginia, location of Metal Naval Historical Center, Washington, Navy Yard, Washington, DC, Freedoms Foundation, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER_00:Joel Thompson Boone.
SPEAKER_01:Christmas greeting message for this for today. It's from December twenty fourth, nineteen thirty five. From FDR broadcast during the lighting of the National Christmas tree in Lafayette Square outside of the White House. Once more, the most joyous of all days draws near, and again it is my great privilege on this blessed eve of the Nativity to wish the American people everywhere a Merry Christmas. This is the third time that I have joined in these Christmas Eve festivities. We are gathered together in a typical American setting in the park here in front of the White House. Before me and around me is an American assemblage, men and women of all ages, youths and maidens, young children, who know nothing about the cares of life, all jubilant with joyous expectation. The night is falling, and the spirit of other days too broods over the scene. This is in keeping with the universal spirit of the festival we are celebrating. For we who stand here among our guardians out of the past and from far shores are, I suppose, as diverse in blood and origin as are the uncounted millions throughout the land to whom these words go out tonight. But around the manger of the babe of Bethlehem, all nations and kindreds and tongues find unity. For the Spirit of Christmas knows no race, no creed, no climb, no limitation of time or space. The Spirit of Christmas breathes an eternal message of peace and goodwill to all men. We pause, therefore, on this holy night, and laying down the burdens and the cares of life and casting aside the anxieties of the common day, rejoice that nineteen hundred years ago, heralded by angels, there came into the world one whose message was of peace, who gave to all mankind a new commandment of love. In that message of love and of peace we find the true meaning of Christmas. And so I greet you with the greeting of the angels on that first Christmas at Bethlehem, which, resounding through centuries, still rings out with its eternal message. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.
SPEAKER_00:Remember Joel Thompson Boone.
SPEAKER_01:Remember God's commands for marriage out of Colossians, the responsibilities and roles for you as a husband or a wife.
SPEAKER_00:Remember the encouragement out of Psalm when you feel like you're surrounded by enemies, to turn to God, to cry out to him, and that he will hear you.
SPEAKER_01:Remember scripture from Matthew and the fact that our Lord and Savior suffered a great deal in his life despite being the Son of God. He didn't have to, he chose to. And remember that those of us who follow him are not greater than our master, and that we too will suffer, and the world will hate us because it hated him first.
SPEAKER_00:And at the same time, remember FDR and his Christmas message from 1935.
SPEAKER_01:Remember that the spirit of Christmas knows no limitation of time or space, no race, ethnicity. That Jesus Christ comes to all, right? All nations, kindreds, tongues, and offers the same gift, free gift of salvation, with no restraints, no requirements, other than to accept Him for the payment of our sins as the Son of God that God raised from the dead. No denomination is required, no other human being is required.
SPEAKER_00:Remember that as we feel like the night is falling, and darkness, storm clouds are on the horizon. That first Christmas at Bethlehem. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men. If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, something along the lines of Narnia, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, if you would check out the Countryside series, see what you think of that, I would be grateful.
SPEAKER_01:And if you enjoyed, if you'd leave a review somewhere online, I would be very grateful for that for the first or the second book or both. That would be awesome. And if you feel like you have three or four or five dollars a month that you can spare if you're getting something out of the podcast, there's a web page on the Buzz Sprout website where you can donate.
SPEAKER_00:And I would be very grateful for that as well.
SPEAKER_01:Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all, God bless your marriages. If you're married, God bless your families, God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.