Fireworks, Faith, and Founding Fathers: The True Spirit of July 4th

What if the Fourth of July was actually meant to be celebrated as a religious holiday? That's exactly how the founding fathers envisioned it.

On this special Independence Day episode we unpack the profound Christian foundations of American freedom. They reveal how John Adams, writing to his wife Abigail on July 2nd (the actual day independence was declared), envisioned future celebrations with "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." Sixty-one years later, John Quincy Adams would explain that July 4th had become America's second most venerated holiday after Christmas because "the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior."

The Bartons dive deep into the Declaration's acknowledgment that human equality and inalienable rights come from our Creator, not from government. This revolutionary concept shattered the European hierarchical worldview where kings, nobles, and elites stood above common people. They explore how the founders understood freedom not as license to do whatever one pleases, but as liberty guided by "the laws of nature and nature's God."

This perspective couldn't be more relevant today. When government officials claim authority to determine which rights are essential during emergencies, they've forgotten the Declaration's fundamental principle: rights come from God, not government, and government exists to protect those rights, not suspend them.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, understanding these foundations is crucial. The atmosphere that nurtures freedom must be preserved if we hope to pass this precious inheritance to future generations. Listen to discover why July 4th isn't just about fireworks and barbecues, but about celebrating the spiritual seeds that produced the most free, stable, and prosperous nation in world history.

Chapters

• 0:00 Celebrating Independence Day
• 3:13 The Seeds of Liberty
• 9:26 Freedom's Worldview and Biblical Roots
• 16:12 The Religious Atmosphere of Independence
• 21:26 Founding Father Trivia Game

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] You found your way to the intersection of faith and culture. Thanks for joining us today on the WallBuilder show where we take on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. Rick Green here with David and Tim Barton. It's Friday, so it's good news Friday. And here's the best news. Hey, we're a free and independent nation. In fact, it was a few years ago, some guy wrote a document that said something about declaring our independence and today we celebrate it. Going to be doing some fireworks at the Patriot Academy campus. David, Tim, where are y'all celebrating today? What's your July 4th independence day celebration going to be? 

Tim Barton [00:00:39] I am up in Arkansas with some of our friends up at Brookhill Ranch. So I get to hang out, I got to bring my wife and my girls up with us. And so we're gonna be out in the very warm temperatures in Arkansas. 

Rick Green [00:00:54]  I know people in Arkansas know how to blow things up. So I am betting you're going to have some good fireworks tonight. 

Tim Barton [00:01:01] Yes, at least I knew I was going to be with like-minded people who believe the proper way to celebrate is with good food, with guns and fireworks. And so we will be doing all of those things at some point today. 

David Barton [00:01:13] And I'm actually in Missouri, speaking at church this weekend. This is 4th of July weekend. And so Sterling Heights, which I guess is part of St. Louis grace church there. And so looking forward to that to be a lot of fun, have a lot of the original documents from signers of the declaration that we'll go through and see that as part of church service, plus covering the strong faith of these guys and the faith that they infused into that founding document, by the way, because not only do you have the 161 words there at the beginning, the six principles in the declaration, five of which are God-centered, you also have the fact that in that period of time they called the nation to prayer on 15 separate occasions as part of winning independence. And so as you go through some of those prayer proclamations, you go through what the founding fathers asked other Americans to pray for, it's really some pretty strong revealing stuff. So we're gonna have a lot of fun this weekend at St. Louis with the church going through a lot of those documents and a lot of those beliefs. 

Rick Green [00:02:11] All right. So hopefully everyone is having a good celebration today. We want to encourage you to already be thinking ahead to next year as well. So 365 days from now, we'll have the big two fiftieth, and we're looking to have thousands of celebrations all over the country and especially churches. I love the fact you're in a church this weekend, David, you're trying to get churches to host it themselves. It's going to be on a Saturday next year. So this year falling on a Friday, but next year for the big one on a Saturday, so start planning now, start getting with people in your community, take our rebuilding Liberty course that's just come out. This week, literally and, and get, get started, you know, get people educated so they don't just have fireworks and food next year. They actually understand why we're waving the flag that we're waiving but start now. Great time to plan. Tell everybody you're partying with tonight and having your big celebration with tonight. So, hey, let's get together in the next few weeks and start planning for next year, so what should we, what should our emphasis be today? Guys, if we're talking about independence, like, you know, we know God's mentioned four times in the declaration. We encourage people to read the declaration, what do you want people thinking about today?

Tim Barton [00:03:09] I would say one of the things that is important to remember on the 4th of July, not just that we have freedom, the idea was certainly rooted in Christianity. It was for freedom that Christ set us free, but that freedom was not in a libertarian sense that now we can be unrestrained and do whatever we want. It's similar when Paul writes that, shall we sin that grace may abound? He says, by no means, forbid it, right? The reason that God made us free wasn't so that we can now go do whatever we want to follow this licentious, fleshly, lustful desires. And this is what the founding fathers understood. They understood there are necessary guardrails. That's why in the first paragraph of the declaration, Jefferson highlights the laws of nature and nature's God. That something John Locke had written about, William Blackstone wrote about, many of the most influential voices for the founding fathers were very clear and open on the laws of nature, nature's god. William Black Stone, I think, explained it that there are two ways that God has ultimately revealed Himself. That God has revealed Himself through creation And God has revealed Himself. Through His Word. And so when you look at creation, instead of creation, there's a lot of things you can learn about God, about the way that He orchestrated the world to operate, about some basic rights and wrongs through creation. But also, then God gave us His Word, and the reason that matters is because this is the foundation where the founding fathers are coming saying, we know there are some guardrails, some guidelines for ultimately the life that we are living that God has set up. And then they get the second paragraph. And, and they acknowledge Jefferson writes, we hold these truths to be self-evident. And this was a big deal because they had a lot of disagreements. And this is something you, you see very well, as you look at the records of Congress, the first and second continental Congress, as you look even at the constitution convention. What's very well documented is many of the arguments and disagreements they had. And in fact, there were times that all they did was argue and disagree. So it's, it's more significant when Jefferson said that these are the That we have agreed upon are the obvious self-evident truths. These are the truths that are self-evenant. So they found common ground. And where they found the common ground was in the acknowledgement that there is a creator and he made us equal. And this equality thought was very unique in that time, because coming from Europe, like pretty much all of them did, there was hierarchy in Europe and Europe, you had the king and then you had your lords and your nobles, you at the parliament, you have business owners. And there was this whole scale of. Where there was a deemed to be esteemed value worth power. And the low down on the scale were the colonists and then below the colonist were the slaves. Like that was the way England had viewed it and the way this hierarchical structure worked. And so the founding fathers say that's not the way God intends it. God doesn't intend for some people to be above the law. God doesn't intend for some people to have the power to be abusive toward other people. No, there's a creator and he's given us these inalienable rights and we were created equally and among this equality, we have all been given the same set of rights and government exists to protect those rights. And I would say as we look at the declaration or celebrate the 4th of July, it's not just a freedom we are celebrating. It's a worldview that has led to us being free. The worldview is that there is a God and God has already revealed a set of standards in creation and His word that are the best way for us to govern ourselves and govern society. And inside of that is the acknowledgement that God intended for there to be equality among the value of individuals, that there's not a hierarchy, there's no king and lords and nobles and parliament and everything else, and that God has given us all rights and that government's primary job is to protect the rights God has given us. All of that is incredibly significant because if we forget what made us free and all we do is celebrate freedom, if we don't know the seeds that were planted, then what happens is over time, people say, no, no. What you need is not the recognition of a God who gave us rights. What you needs is to empower government more, let government have the power, let them have the authority, let them determine who can say what, who can do what, And who can go where? If we start planting the wrong seeds, then we will lose The very thing that has grown and produced the most free, stable, prosperous society in the history of the world. And so in the midst of celebrating the 4th of July, we need to go back and remember what seeds were planted that helped us become the most free, stabile, prosperous nation in the world and part of those seeds are recognizing that there's a God, that God's already revealed truth to us in creation and his word, that part of the reality that America was based on is that all men are created equal. That we have inalienable rights from our creator and that government exists to protect those rights. And if we get away from any of that, if we think our politicians are the ones who should have more power and the little man has no say, well, you've misunderstood this notion of created equal. The reason that we, the people are in charge, it goes back to that all men are created equal, the idea that we haven't inalient rights is so significant because we have seen just in the last couple of years, The government, whether it be at times presidents, but certainly governors and mayors and different political officials who would say, well, you can have your rights, but only during certain times, under certain conditions, and we get to determine a lot of the way you can live your life, where you go to work, when we close down your business, what's essential with non-essential. We have lived in that moment. And the reason it lasted as long as it did is because we didn't have enough people remembering those principles from the declaration, those seeds that were planted, the seeds of liberty. And then certainly recognizing the role of government is to protect our God-given rights. The role of governments, if we're looking even at what Trump labeled his big, beautiful bill, there's so much in there that is beyond what the role of the government should be doing. And certainly we recognize President Trump and so many members of Congress are working to restrain some of the overreach of government, but if we forget the reason government exists, then we begin to give government more authority and more power to do more things than they should be doing because we forgot the basic principle. So I would say we have to remember the principles and we have to make sure we have the right worldview to know why we're even able to celebrate because if we forget that worldview and those principles, we start planting different seeds and it won't be long until we're not able to celebrate freedom in the future. 

David Barton [00:09:26] And I would say the other important thing is remembering the atmosphere. I mean, here I am in Texas. I love fried okra, guys. That's a kind of a Southern delicacy for us, is fried okara. Try getting that in Montana. You can't, because the atmosphere's not right there. Or if you're from Georgia, the Peach State, let's see you grow that in Maine. It ain't gonna happen, the atmosphere is not right. But conversely, we're not gonna get blueberries in Texas because it's way too hot here. So you have to have the right atmosphere for things to grow. And I think the Founding Fathers did a really good job. Of identifying the atmosphere in which freedom and liberty and limited government grows. Now go back to, I mean, in the middle of the debates on the Declaration of Independence. On the 28th of June, the Committee of Five brought the draft of the Declaration back to the full Congress and said, okay, guys, here's what we've done in committee, primarily Jefferson. Let's talk about what we want and what we're going to tell the world. And so over the next days, they debate that and they come to July the 2nd. And July the 2nd is actually Independence Day, not July the 4th. July the second is when we voted to separate from Great Britain. Now once we voted separate from great Britain become independent, then we picked up the declaration said, okay, we've had this, this work from the committee. Now let's look at it and see what the declaration needs to say now that we've decided to be independent. And so July the fourth, we come out with the final wording of the declaration. So actually July the 4th is declaration day, July the 2nd is Independence Day, but we wrap those two days together into one and call it independence. So this is Independence Day holiday. On the second of July, when they voted that yes, we need to be a separate nation and we need the move away from Great Britain, John Adams wrote his wife Abigail two letters that day, and they're really significant. And John and Abigail, they wrote each other all the time. I think more than a thousand letters between them. I think it was 1,135, yeah, 1,100 letters plus between the two of them. And I mean, the relationship they had was just so cool and tender and they were relying on each other and they were the great thinker for the other. And iron sharpens iron, the Bible says, and they did that. And so John and the first letter is fairly short. And he says, we've done it. We've we've separated. We we've decided to become independent. He's a rejoicing over Independence Day. And then he writes a letter later that day. It's a lot longer, a lot more pensive, a lot more thoughtful and he says. You know, I've been thinking about what we've just done. I mean, this is a big thing, us separating from the mother country, we've been now centuries under them and we're going to break out on our own and is this something we should celebrate? And he's kind of thinking ahead, is this going to be a significant day? Will we celebrate this day as we go forward? And he finally decides that this is worthy of celebration, what they've just done to become independent is worthy of celebration. And then he tells Abigail how he thinks it should be celebrated. He said, this should be celebrated as the day of deliverance. By solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. So if you're gonna celebrate Independence Day, we need to do it with solemn acts of devotion the God Almighty, really? It's like they saw this as a religious holiday. That's not the way most Americans see it today as a Religious holiday, but that was the atmosphere in which it grew. And even 61 years later, when their son John Quincy Adams was now an old man and lived through the revolution and thereafter, He was given a 4th of July oration in Newberryport, Massachusetts. And he asked about why is it that the 4th of July has become one of our top two holidays in America? And by the way, one of our top to holidays, well, here's what he said. He said, and he's asking the people, he's got this big crowd. He says, why is that next to the birthday of the savior of the world? And by the way what is the birthday, the savior, the world Christmas? He says, why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, that is Christmas, that your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day, the 4th of July? Why is it the Christmas and the 4 th of July are our top two holidays in America? Here's his answer. Is it not that in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the savior, that it forms the leading event in the progress of the gospel. In other words, you can't separate the birthday of America apart from the birthday of Christ. Those two things go together. He says, is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission on earth that it laid the cornerstone of human government on the first precepts of Christianity. Now think about that. Even 61 years after the declaration in 1837 we're saying the top two holidays in America are Christmas and the 4th of July because they fundamentally celebrate the same thing. They fundamentally celebrate Christian principles, biblical principles, we brought them to barren earth and now we have freedom, we have independence like no other nation, this is why Christ died, why he wanted us to be free, he wanted to be reliant on him and nobody thinks about the Fourth of July as a religious holiday but it was for all that time until progressives rewrote our history and we no longer see it. So when you look at the words of those who were there, John Adams and the words of those that lived through it, John Quincy Adams. It's real clear that the atmosphere that produced this document was a very religious atmosphere and our freedom, our independence is not gonna survive apart from that. We'll become like the French Revolution with the French. You become secular, it's just not gonna work the same. 

Rick Green [00:14:57] Yeah, it sounds like to me is very important than even the words itself. It give us a prayer, right? We're appealing to the Supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intention. So if they had a prayer there in the declaration, then tonight is we're doing the fireworks or gathering everyone around, or maybe even reading through the declaration which we're really going to encourage people do on the 250th, but literally to pray for the nation, make that a part of the celebration tonight. 

Tim Barton [00:15:20] Now, Rick, I know we're about to take a break. I just, I didn't want to get carried away and forget I've been working on trivia. 

Rick Green [00:15:28] I was hoping you'd ask before the break so I could cheat during the break and go, you know, hook it up. 

Tim Barton [00:15:34] I wanted you to have a moment. 

Rick Green [00:15:35] I'm gonna run into the wall builder's vault. You're gonna ask the question that I'm going to run over to the vault and rifle through papers trying to find the answer. 

Tim Barton [00:15:41] I was giving you a moment. So to make sure you have your question too, right. So that we, we all get to have a chance to put each other on the spot so that we all fail together. I mean, Benjamin Franklin, as he pointed out, right? Like either we all hang separately or we all hanging together. Like this is the way it's going to go. So before we go to break, just reminder, we do have trivia that we don't have to do a lot, but I do have some questions I would do want to run by you and dad, I want you guys to see if you can answer this just out of curiosity. 

Rick Green [00:16:11] If I'm gonna hang with anyone, I want it to be David and Tim Barton. All right, stay with us, folks. We'll be right back. You're listening to The WallBuilders Show Show.  Welcome back to the WallBuilders show on this good news Friday. And the good news, of course, is that we are still a free nation and that the principles that were planted, that were literally sewn into this soil in this country, produced the greatest nation in the history of mankind. And guys, we've been talking about the celebrations tonight. We got, we got three states covered tonight. Tim's in Arkansas. I'll be in Texas, the Patriot Academy campus and David's in Missouri. So having some wonderful celebrations and Tim has the trivia, but does he, you know, he probably didn't even get a Chick-fil-A. Card because he's thinking there's no way they're going to get these right. 

Tim Barton [00:17:59] I mean, I've been traveling with one for nine years. I definitely have a card. 

David Barton [00:18:03] Rick, I'm taking the microphone away from him because he's going to start asking us questions which puts him in charge and he doesn't have to answer the questions because he is asking us so I'm going to ask him a question first. 

Tim Barton [00:18:14] Now, wait a second, to be clear, I saw you during the break looking something up on Wikipedia, so I just wanna- No, Wikipedia. I just, in the midst of you getting ready to call me out, 

Rick Green [00:18:25] I was on wallbuilders.com. I was just, just so you know, it was wallbuilder.com, not Wikipedia. That's where I was searching. That's where I was searching. 

Tim Barton [00:18:31] Listen, what we said was everybody gets to ask a question. That's right. It doesn't matter who starts. I have no problem. My question is not going to change. 

David Barton [00:18:40] Just to make sure I don't get shut out on this thing. I'm gonna, I've got a Nolan Ryan fastball I'm going to blow by you guys. So here we go. Tell me about blue skin and Nelson. 

Rick Green [00:18:54] Yes, wiff I just swung and I swung five minutes after the ball hit the mitt. 

Tim Barton [00:19:00] I mean, I'm not even sure what the question is, right? So blue skin, no, so blue skin what happens? 

Rick Green [00:19:08] Oh, wait, that's the guy in Marvel in the Civil War Marvel Captain America thing, the blue guy that could disappear and go, no? 

Tim Barton [00:19:19] Well, I was going to say, if you've been in a blizzard for a long time, right, you're the blue guy, if your not dressed properly and then Nelson, so Nelson Cruz is the guy who dropped the ball for the Texas Rangers during the world series to keep them from winning the world series. So yes, like you've given us too much opportunity in a vague question. You need to be more specific. 

Rick Green [00:19:44] So now David Barton has to take Tim and Rick to a Rangers game and get us really good seats. That's the that's the payoff 

David Barton [00:19:51] That was a really bad subterfuge because we're talking about we're talking about the founding fathers and the American Revolution and independence. So how you got to the Texas Rangers and Nellie Cruz? So try it again, boys. We're, we're, talking Independence day here. We're talking American revolution. 

Tim Barton [00:20:06] I think we need to practice how we ask questions, because like the question I was going to ask is which founding father was in Edinburgh recruiting another founding father and while he's in Edinburgh, he actually was attacked by a robber, had to draw a sword to defend himself, wounds the attacker and lives to tell about it. So my question was 

Rick Green [00:20:32] Let me see how loud my typing is, as I'm certain of you. I'm 0 for 2, man. I don't know either of these, but I see David Raynard. 

David Barton [00:20:39] But I see David raising a hand, so. It's a trio of founding fathers involved in this story. 

Tim Barton [00:20:43] No, there's one founding father. 

David Barton [00:20:45] Yeah, but it ends up being the result of the story is three founding fathers, three signers of the declaration. It's a great story. 

Rick Green [00:20:52] So what was the timeframe? When did you say it happened? 

David Barton [00:20:55] It happened back in the 17 sixties when a young man who had just graduated from college went overseas to study medicine and while he's overseas studying medicine, and by the way, his father-in-law or soon to be father in law says, hey, while you're over there, go talk to this guy. And see if he'll come over here and head a college for us. And so you've got Richard Stockton, talks to young Benjamin Rush, signer the declaration, and Richard Stockson soon be sign her declaration says, go talk to this guy named John Witherspoon and see, if you can get him to come back and take the college of New Jersey and be the president of that. So what you've is Richard Stockton and he has a daughter named Julia and Julia marries Benjamin Rush. And Benjamin Rush invites John Witherspoon to come to America, and Stockton, Rush, and Witherspoon are all three signers of the Declaration seven years later. Okay, but who was the guy that defended himself with the sword? We have an answer! 

David Barton [00:21:52] Benjamin Rush. 

Tim Barton [00:21:54] Incorrect. 

Tim Barton [00:21:55] Oh, no. All right, Rick, do you have a guess? He's given you some name options now. 

Rick Green [00:22:01] I was gonna say Rush and so now I'm glad, so David thought it was. 

Tim Barton [00:22:06] So let me, let me back you up. 

[00:22:07] I'm gonna go with witherspoon man. Maybe he was actually not only brilliant, but also like good with a sword 

Tim Barton [00:22:13] So how did Richard Stockton know about John Witherspoon to tell Benjamin Rush to go back? Because Richard Stockdon had already been over. He had met John Whitherspoon and they had in that connection of knowing each other, that's when he was robbed. And it's after he returns, he sends Benjamin Rush back or the attempted robbery happened. So it was Richard Stockden actually was the guy that defended himself. All of these names are correct. All of the names, but see, that's how you are asking a question, not, hey, tell me about a white horse that somebody rode in 1778. 

Rick Green [00:22:48] Oh wait, I think we should start calling our license to carry a Stockton. If he was willing to pull out the sword and defend himself, you know, way before we even had the declaration, we're going to when we get our license to carry to defend ourselves, I'm getting a Stockdon. We're gonna name it after Richard Stockton, there you go. 

Tim Barton [00:23:04] If we're ever somewhere and we need like the code word like hey, did you bring your stockton with you? And then like oh, yeah, I got I got my Stockton and I'm good. I like that. Alright, so let's back up 

Rick Green [00:23:14] What was this blue Nelson? 

Tim Barton [00:23:16] Yeah, Nelson, fourth and Nelson. So, so I, two options are either a George Washington's horse or which I think is very likely or Thomas Nelson Jr. but I actually think it's George Washington related and I think it is horse related since we are talking founding fathers. 

Rick Green [00:23:38] All I can think of is what Nelson, the one that, that,  set fire on his own house and, and they,  maybe there was a blue statue or chandelier they got shot up when they fired on his house. 

Tim Barton [00:23:51] It's not a bad guess because that's the same Thomas Nelson Jr. I was thinking of. And I'm like, it's either George Washington and horses or it's Thomas Nelson, Thomas Nelson jr. And something related to his house, so I'm with Rick. I got a feeling we're way off, but let's go. 

Tim Barton [00:24:04] Go for it. Well, Tim got it close because Blue Skin and Nelson were George Washington's two favorite horses for battle. When he's in battle, those are the two horses that stayed calm under battle. Nobody that thinks about that today having a horse that stays calm under the battle, but those were his two favorite horse for battle, so Nelson and blue skin. So for horse lovers, there you go. There's two great names from George Washington. All right, Rick, now it's your turn. 

Rick Green [00:24:27] Okay. I mentioned yesterday, Button Gwinnett mashing the trigger and you know, which for those that haven't done our gun training, it basically means you're pressing too hard. And so your gun goes kind of, you end up shooting down into the left instead of hitting where you're wanting to hit. And so Gwennett got hit in the leg and the guy he was having a duel with hit him in the lag or also got hit the leg. Who did button Gwinett have a duel with that he ended up dying from? 

Tim Barton [00:24:54] Okay, what's sad is, I know the name because I remember thinking, I'm not sure how to pronounce that the first time I saw it, and... 

Tim Barton [00:25:06] It's a general, it's like a Macklin or Macintosh or. 

Rick Green [00:25:10] Oh, I'm impressed. Are you looking that up or did you actually come up with that off the top of your head? 

Tim Barton [00:25:17] But what's the first name? It's something Macintosh. What's the first name. 

Rick Green [00:25:20] It is, it is Macintosh and he was actually governor of Georgia. And they, and one of them called the other one a scoundrel. I can't remember, but it's Lackland, Lacklan McIntos. I can believe you knew that David. I'm buying a Chick-fil-A cart for this guy. There's no doubt. Now I'm at least getting your Chick-Fil-A tea next time you come to town. That's incredible. How did you remember that? I didn't even remember I had to go look it up. 

Tim Barton [00:25:43] Well, but button was one of the seven guys who did not live to see the end of what he signed the document for so we look at button And by the way, Richard Stockton also didn't make it to the end he was another guy who was killed in the revolution, but he's one of those seven guys who paid the ultimate sacrifice? 

Rick Green [00:26:02] There's a really monument where you can see the story of where Gwinnett went to try to rescue the three South Carolina signers of the Declaration who had been captured and they were being held in Florida and the, and the mission, you know, fell apart. And that's why he got in this argument with the governor. I can't remember which one called the other one a scoundrel, but they literally dueled over the, McIntosh called him a scoundral and a lying rascal. Fun stories, guys. We'll do this again, everybody. And by the way, there is a lot more good news at the website, wallbuilders.show. Your good news Friday today has been to get you ready for your celebration tonight of our 249th birthday as a nation and be sure and tell your friends and family that you're celebrating with tonight to be ready. For big celebrations next year on the 250th. Thanks so much for listening to The WallBuilder Show.