National Independence

An Historico-Political Digression on the Occasion of America's Semiquincentennial

This publication is ordinarily and primarily a theological one. Yet for the present article, I intend to briefly diverge off the beaten path of Christian soteriology and Biblical exegesis, into the realm of political theory and, specifically, U.S. history—although, of course, all of these subjects are inevitably and properly somewhat interwoven, if not wholly inextricable.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of American Independence, in the spirit of commensurate patriotism, it is apt to reflect not only on the Founding Fathers’ courageous act of declaring independence, but also on the written substance of the Declaration itself as a political document, especially the aspects and portions thereof which are ordinarily neglected or misconstrued.

Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson Reviewing the Declaration of Independence in Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1932.