Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). Columbus had great learning in many sciences and was also well acquainted with the Scriptures. In a prayer taken from a letter to the sovereigns of Spain, dated October of 1492, we read: "O Lord, Almighty and everlasting God, by thy holy Word Thou hast created the heaven, and the earth, and the sea. . . ." And later, "(May you) . . . be well received before the eternal Creator, to whom I pray. . . ." (Las Casas' abstract of Columbus' Journal of the First Voyage.)[1]
Kay Brigham says, "The Admiral writes in his letter to the nurse of Prince John (1501): 'My hope in the One who created us all sustains me; . . .' She writes further, '. . . (T)he Holy Scriptures inspired the Discoverer to execute the idea with a sense of mission (and strength). Others had dreamed, but Columbus followed through and realized . . . the discovery of the marvelous Americas (unknowingly) . . . (and) the expansion of Christianity to 'Other Worlds.'"[2]
John Calvin (1509-1564), of whom it was said: "(He) was the founder of the greatest of republics. The 'Pilgrims' . . . were his sons . . . and that American nation which we have seen growing so rapidly boasts as its father the humble reformer on the shores of (Lake) Leman."[3] He, who was one of the greatest intellects that ever lived, whose influence is still felt throughout the world, wrote: ". . . God was pleased that a history of the creation should exist-a history on which the faith of the church might lean without seeking any other God than Him whom Moses sets forth as the Creator and Architect of the world."[4]
William Bradford, the great leader of the Pilgrims (who wrote our founding document, the Mayflower Compact), is the third person in our anthology to whom we turn as proof of the Creator's being honored by those who founded our country.
William Bradford (1590-1657), Governor of the Pilgrims for 37 years, author of the famous history of the beginnings of our country, and learned in several languages, wrote: 'Though I am grown aged, yet I have had a longing desire, to see with my own eyes, something of the most ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the Law, and oracles of God were writ; and in which God, and angels, spoke to the holy patriarchs, of old time; and names were given to things, from the creation."[5]
Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780). Mr. Federer tells us, "When scholars examined nearly 15,000 items written by the Founding Fathers from 1760 to 1805 . . . they found that Sir William Blackstone was quoted more than any other author except one," and then quotes Sir William thus: "(M)an, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. . . . (I)t is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker's will. . . .[6]
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) (so well known he needs no introduction), said: "I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe." March 9, 1790, in a letter to Ezra Stiles, p. 250.
Samuel Adams (1722-1803), "Father of the American Revolution," author of The Rights of the Colonists (the most systematic presentation of the American cause ever written and by whose suggestion Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence), stated: "In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound . . . by the laws of the Creator. . . ." He, Lieutenant Governor, was addressing the Massachusetts state legislature, 1794, p. 24.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth President of the U.S.A. (so well educated he was only a boy of 14 when made secretary to the ambassador to Russia), said: "I see Him (Jesus Christ) explicitly and repeatedly announced, not only as having existed before the worlds, but as the Creator of the worlds without beginning of days or end of years." Written from London, December 24, 1814, p. 17.
Noah Webster (1758-1843), lexicographer and "Father of American Education," mastered 26 (!) languages to produce his American Dictionary of the English Language, therein defining creation and creature thus: "Creation . . . especially, the act of bringing this world into existence, Romans I. . . . Creature, . . . Every being besides the Creator, . . . "[7]
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