When you look at the history of the Christian church, or Europe, or the
United States, or anything else you can think of, do you see the hand of
God’s providence intervening at critical moments and steering history
in a certain direction?
Obviously, I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Europe and the United
States are richly blessed. There are moments in history where events could have
led to the collapse of Western civilization but good persevered. Was it God's
divine hand guiding us. I would like to think so. Does subscribing to this mean that
I believe that America is a 'Christian nation' and don't relish in religious diversity?
No. The writers of the Constitution understood how important religious freedom
was.
I do believe certain dominant values in Christianity influenced the way our founders
viewed government. For example, the Bible speaks about free will. I know some might
ask, "If you believe that God has been 'steering history' isn't that predestination and
the opposite of free will"? I actually think predestination and free will can co-exist. I
know it sounds odd. Look at our lives: Aren't there things that are out of one's control
(for example, what other people think and say) and then there are things that are
within our control (for example, we can choose to eat a whole pizza when we really
shouldn't).