In God We Don't Trust - Softcover

David Bercot

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0924722258 ISBN 13: 9780924722257

Publisher: Scroll Publishing Co., 2011

Synopsis

The product of nine years of research, In God We Don t Trust challenges much of what most of us learned in school about the founding of America and the American Revolution. Bercot s well-documented findings will surprise many people. Here are just a few of the surprising facts the book reveals:

Tobacco saved Jamestown and became the economic basis for many of the Southern states.

Rum distilleries were one of the main industries of Puritan New England.

Puritan New England dominated the slave trafficking industry.

Contrary to what most history books present, the American colonists were the least heavily taxed people in the world.

During the War of Independence, the revolutionists imprisoned and persecuted the Mennonites, Amish, Brethren, Quakers, and other nonresistant Christians.

The Founding Fathers deliberately left any mention of God out of the U. S. Constitution.

Here is the compelling narrative of the founding of America told from a perspective that few people have ever heard. That perspective is the teachings of Jesus.

Our currency declares, In God We Trust. But did the American colonists truly trust in God in the founding of the United States?

For example, in the Scriptures, God clearly commands us: Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. . . . Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due (Rom. 13:1 2,7). Yet, the American colonists to refused to pay their taxes, and they rebelled against their government.

The American colonists had many admirable traits, and they established a wonderful country. This is not an anti-American book. It is a pro-Jesus book. Bercot firmly believes that Jesus and His kingdom always have to have our ultimate allegiance. And in the pages of this book, Bercot demonstrates that the colonists repeatedly failed to do things God s way. This was true in their treatment of the Indians, in trafficking slaves, in building economies on tobacco and rum, in smuggling, and in refusing to pay their taxes. In short, the colonists lacked the faith to believe that if they did things God s way, everything would work out for the best.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Here is the compelling narrative of the founding of America—told from a perspective that few people have ever heard. That perspective is the kingdom of God. Our currency declares, “In God We Trust.” But did the American colonists truly trust in God in the founding of America? For example, in the Scriptures, God clearly commands us: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. . . . Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due” (Rom. 13:1–2,7). Yet, the American colonists refused to pay their taxes, and they rebelled against their government. Was that right? The American colonists had many admirable traits, and they established a wonderful country. This is not an anti-American book. It is a pro-kingdom book. Bercot firmly believes that Jesus and His kingdom must have our ultimate allegiance. And in the pages of this book, Bercot shows how the colonists repeatedly failed to do things God's way. This was true in their treatment of the Indians, in trafficking slaves, in building economies on tobacco and rum, in smuggling, and in refusing to pay their taxes. In short, the colonists lacked the faith to believe that if they did things God's way, everything would work out for the best. The product of nine years of research, In God We Don't Trust challenges much of what most of us learned in school about the founding of America and the American Revolution. Bercot's well-documented findings will surprise many people. At the same time, this timely work will strengthen the convictions of nonresistant, kingdom Christians.

About the Author

In 1985, David Bercot was a successful attorney, practicing title law for the largest public utility in the state of Texas. The thought of ever becoming an author was the farthest thing from his mind. Nevertheless, despite being a career lawyer, Bercot s passion in life was Christ not law. At the time, he was a member of a conservative evangelical church.

Although he enjoyed the fellowship at the church he was attending, it seemed to Bercot that some of the doctrines popularly taught by evangelicals such as unconditional eternal security and endorsement of war contradicted the plain words of Scripture. When he questioned various ministers about these matters, he was told that the evangelical teaching on these doctrines was the historical faith. Bercot certainly didn t want to put his own personal interpretations over the historical faith. Yet, he wasn t going to just take other people s word for it that these doctrines were truly the historical faith.

Bercot realized that the only way he could verify the historical faith was to read all of the existing writings of the early Christians who lived within a century or two of the apostles. So he purchased a set of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (which contain nearly all of the existing writings from Christians who wrote prior to the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.) During 1985, he cut back his law practice as needed to devote the whole year to reading these ancient writings. These early Christian writings confirmed Bercot s views on eternal security and war. However, he was surprised to learn that most of the early Christian beliefs were different than his own beliefs not only on theology but on lifestyle as well. Yet, when he went back and read the New Testament again, he realized that everything they taught was right there in the New Testament. But his preconceptions had blinded him to the plain language of Scripture.

Bercot immediately began sharing what he had discovered about the historical faith with various Christian friends. Soon these friends encouraged him to write a book about what he had discovered and how Christianity looked when it was still young. Bercot eventually followed up on their suggestion, and he wrote the book Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up, which was published in 1989. That book contrasts early Christianity with modern Christianity.

Since then, Bercot has written a number of other books pertaining to early Christianity, committed Christian discipleship, and American history. He purposefully writes in a reader-friendly, conversational style, eschewing a more academic approach. As he said at one conference, Scholars have had all of this information for centuries, and they have essentially done nothing with it. My goal is to get this information across to the average man or woman in the pews.

Bercot married Deborah Hart Darragh in 1972. They have three children and make their home in the Amberson Valley in Pennsylvania.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scroll Publishing Co.
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0924722258
• ISBN 13: 9780924722257
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320