A Study of New England History
Shows That All The Colonies
Were In Covenant With God

The record of New England history is clear in its testimony that all the original colonies were in formal covenant with the God of the Bible.

Constitutional Offense

This is what made adoption of the U.S. Constitution the most egregious act in all the annals of New England history. Although the new Constitution retained some of the old Biblical forms

1) Separation of Power,
2) Limited, Delegated Power, and
3) Republican representation

The Constitution of 1787 abandoned the ruling authority of God and the Bible, as we have noted elsewhere. It substituted in His place the will of the majority.

And thus the new American Constitution was endowed with a Republican skeleton and a Democratic heart. This is why it is sometimes referred to as a Democratic Republic. In the words of II Timothy 3:5, the United States Constitution has “the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

The story of how America’s Christian government under the 13 independent colonies was subverted by a secular counterfeit all in the name of Christianity is the story of one of the great delusions in New England history. Indeed in world history.

To this very day most of the victims of that delusion fail to recognize the fact that they have been fooled and fleeced of their most precious possession. That possession was their national covenant with the most-high God.

Colonial Covenants

A careful study of New England history shows that it all began about five years before the Assembly in Philadelphia of 1787. At that time all 13 colonies, with the exception of Rhode Island, were in formal covenant with God via their constitutions and charters. For example:

“To perpetuate the principles of free government, insure justice to all, preserve peace, promote the interest and happiness of the citizen, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, we, the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” (Georgia, 1945 Preamble)

“Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of this State.” (South Carolina, Constitution of 1778).

“…where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such people there should b e an orderly and decent government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people…enter into combination and confederation together, to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we do profess…” (Preamble to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut)

The Example of Israel

New England did not shrink from imitating ancient Israel in this matter. According to Deuteronomy 4:6-8 the Gentile nations were to look to Israel as the example of national obedience to the law of God. In Amos chapters 1 and 2 the Gentile nations around the Holy Land were condemned with Israel and Judah for failing to keep God’s law.

On the positive side, the gentile nation of Ninevah was blessed because the city responded in obedience to the preaching of Jonah. That same obligation for national obedience to the law of God remains in the New Testament era, according to I Timothy 1:8-10. That passage declares a political application to be a “lawful use” of the Old Testament law. For example, the Bible requires double restitution for theft instead of the humanistic prison system.

Establishments of Religion

However, New England history reveals that the seeds for a modified autocracy had been planted simultaneously in much of colonial America. Unfortunately, most of the colonies had also set up state or established churches. This required the salaries of pastors in the established church to be paid by the state.

This is tyrannical in that it requires members of non-established denominations to pay for propagation of doctrines they may not believe. It is also a threat to the established church because what government funds government eventually controls.”

New England history is replete with examples of how the established churches became a threat to liberty. The colonies failed to recognize that the civil covenant did not necessitate a state church.

America today is much like ancient Israel, who often broke her covenant with God. God patiently chastised the nation and entered into covenant renewal on numerous occasions. Eventually He divorced Himself from national Israel at the time of the incarnation.

Jesus told the leaders of the Jewish nation in no uncertain terms, "The kingdom of God is taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof" (Mt. 21:43).

Covenant renewal was accomplished by means of the religious test oath. What was the religious test oath? How did it manifest itself in the several colonial constitutions?

This was not a cookie cutter formula; it varied from state to state but expressed essentially the same idea. For example, one state required the candidate to swear that he was a member in good standing of a Christian church. Another that he believed in the Word of God as contained in the Old and New Testaments. And so forth. Puritanism was the model.