Jasper Adams and the Judgment of America

David Q Santos

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Abstract

Jasper Adams, an Episcopal minister presented a sermon titled The relation of Christianity to civil government in the United States where he describes the challenges of uniting a religion and a civil authority. He argues that there had been problems with a union between the two that led to abuses and corruption of power. In his view the US Constitution had made an effort to prevent such corruption. He also argues that Christianity has always been the foundation of America and should always be the theological and moral compass for the nation. His fear is that the nation will let Christianity be diminished and bring judgment on America which would end like Sodom.

Article

Jasper Adams was a Protestant Episcopal minister, professor, and president of the College of Charleston of Carolina in early 1800s. He was a professor of moral and political philosophy. During his career he presented several sermons on the topics of religion and the government. Within these sermons Adams offered a theology of the relationship of Christianity to the American government as well as the government as a moral agent. This study examines the beliefs of Adams regarding the eschatological judgment of America.

His 1833 address to the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church was preached in St. Michael’s Church, Charleston on February 13^th. Its title was The relation of Christianity to civil government in the United States. This message opens with a declaration of the eternality of Christianity which is able to adapt to any and all conditions of humankind. Adams appeals to prophecy to declare that there will be a strict union between the church and the state which he likens to the church-state relationship in the time of Constantine. However, Adams is critical of the kind of church-state relationship that the Roman Empire had with the Medieval church and that of the Church of England and the American Colonies. He notes the many abuses and corruption of power that can come from a union between the church and civil authority. He is not proposing that the church should run the government. He then explains that Americans are well aware of the trouble that can come from putting one form of Christianity in a union with civil authority. He argues that the Unites States Constitution had put clear barriers from this kind of union.

Adams makes the case that America was established as a Christian nation. To him this was not simply an accident of history. He makes two points on the issue of the origin of America’s Christian foundation. First, he gives credit to the Almighty who called the forefathers to America. Second, he gives credit to those forefathers. He explains that those forefathers were deliberate in designing the colonies as Christian communities.

The arguments presented by Adams are clear statements that he believes America to be a Christian nation. It was established as a Christian nation in a deliberate manner. He believes that God Himself established the nation. What is insightful about this sermon is how Adams approaches his fears for the future. First, while noting the unifying and uplifting power of Christianity withing communities he also notes that there is moral standard within Christian ethics that should be observed for many reasons, one of which is a future coming judgment. The concept of judgment is an underlying theme in Adams’ sermon.

Adams expands on the notion of judgment day by comparing the potential eschatological future with that of the destruction of Sodom. He then argues that Christianity cannot be allowed to decline while believers just stand by and idly look on. Rather, believers in the truth of Christianity have personal responsibility to stand against any influence that would undermine Christianity in America. His prayer is that no historian will ever have to record the shame and humiliation that America would receive if the judgments of Heaven were poured out on the American land because of unfaithfulness.

Adams’ case is that America is a Christian nation that was established in history. He argues that America will stand as long as it is faithful to the religion of the forefathers. Only God Almighty is able to judge the nation which He will do when Christianity is no longer the standard both faithfully and morally in the land.

Sources

Adams, Jasper. The relation of Christianity to civil government in the United States: a sermon preached in St. Michael’s Church, Charleston, February 13th, 1833, before the convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of South-Carolina. Charleston: A. E. Miller, 1833.