April 12, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, if you want to know about the history of America, it is imperative that you know the role that the Bible played in shaping our country. Our Founding Fathers—both Christian and non-Christian—were heavily influenced by the Bible. Here to share another story is Robert Morgan, who is the author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America: Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundation of Faith.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habibe and this is our American stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
If you want to know about the history of America,
it's imperative that you know the role that the Bible
played in shaping our country. Here to share another story
is Robert Morgan, who is the author of one hundred
Bible verses that made America, defining moments that shaped our
(00:34):
enduring foundation of faith. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Elijah Lovejoy was born in my wife's home state of
Maine in eighteen oh two. His father was a Congregational
pastor and a farmer. Lovejoy began reading his Bible at
the age of four, and while still very young, he
met rise the entire one hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which
is the longest chapter in the Bible, along with other
(01:07):
passages in many classic hymns. He later graduated at the
top of his class and decided to move west to
Saint Louis. His parents, concern for his spiritual well being,
prayed earnestly for him, and their prayers were answered when
he wrote home telling them he had experienced a personal
(01:28):
relationship with Christ during a revival meeting He also told
them that he was entering the Presbyterian ministry. He enrolled
in Princeton, and as he grew in his knowledge of scripture,
his convictions about the abolition of slavery deepened. Within a year,
(01:48):
Lovejoy was licensed to preach, and while on a preaching
circuit through Missouri, he met Celia and French and fell
in love with her and married her. Lovejoy did confine
his sermons to the pulpit. Returning to Saint Louis, he
became the editor of a weekly Christian publication called the
Saint Louis Observer. The first issue rolled off the press
(02:11):
on November twenty second of eighteen thirty three. In his
opening editorial, Lovejoy wrote that his paper will seek no controversy,
and it will decline none when by so doing it
might compromise the purity of the faith that was once
for all delivered to the Saints. The Observer became a
(02:32):
vehicle for teaching scripture, relating the news of the day,
and interpreting the latter by the former. His editorials were
must reading, and sparks began to fly when he set
forth the biblical facts and the brutal truths about slavery.
On April sixteenth, eighteen thirty two, Lovejoy wrote prophetically, while
(02:55):
Christians have been slumbering over it, the eye of God
has not slumbered, nor has his justice been an indifferent
spectator of the scene. The groans and sighs, and tears
and blood of the poor slave have gone up as
a memorial before the throne of Heaven. In due time,
they will descend in awful curses upon this land, unless
(03:19):
averted by the speedy repentance of us all. Love Joy's
drumbeat against slavery sparked an uproar in Saint Louis. Mobs formed,
threatening his newspaper and threatening his life. Officials sought to
silence him, demanding he pass over in silence everything connected
(03:42):
to the subject of slavery. Crowds marched into the street,
chanting down with the observer. Lovejoy was threatened with whipping.
He said, I cannot surrender my principles, though the whole
world besides should vote them down. Asserting his freedom of speech,
(04:07):
he fired off another series of blistering editorials, condemning slavery
with all of its horrors. He compared himself to his
namesake in the Bible, Elijah, who stood before Ahab rebuking
his sins, and who refused to be silenced. He said,
I do, therefore, as an American citizen and a Christian patriot,
(04:31):
and in the name of liberty and law and religion,
solemnly protest against all these attempts, howsoever and by whomsoever
made to frown down the liberty of the press, and
forbid the free expression of opinion. Under a deep sense
of my own obligations to my country and Church and
(04:54):
to my God, I declare it will be my fixed
purpose to submit to no such dictation. Writing to his
brother Elijah, Lovejoy said, men came to me and told
me that I could not walk through the streets of
Saint Louis by night or by day. I was alone
(05:15):
in Saint Louis, with none but God to whom to
ask counsel. But thrice, blessed be his name, he did
not forsake me. I was enabled deliberately and unreservedly to
surrender myself to Him. When it became impossible for Lovejoy
to dwell in Saint Louis, he moved thirty miles away
(05:38):
to Alton, Illinois. His printing press, which was transported by
a boat up the Mississippi, was destroyed by a mob
upon its arrival. He ordered another press from Cincinnati, and
the paper resume publishing. On August seventeenth, eighteen thirty seven,
another mob surrounded him, shoved him around, and destroyed his
(06:02):
new press. Love Joy ordered a third one. About ten
pm on November twenty first, in the light of a
full moon, a mob of about thirty men armed with
rocks and pistols left local taverns and began marching toward
Elijah Lovejoy's house. Church bells rang, and by midnight the
(06:25):
whole town had assembled. The mob broke into his house
and one of the rioters shot love Joy. Three bullets
struck his chest, another his stomach, and another his left arm.
His new printing press was destroyed and thrown into the
(06:45):
Mississippi River, and his hearse was hissed in the streets
on the way to the cemetery. He was buried on
his thirty fifth birthday, the first white martyr in America
for the cause of abolition, A fearless publisher who gave
his life for the freedom of the press, and a
preacher of the gospel who once said I can die
(07:09):
at my post, but I cannot desert it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. In a special thanks to
Robert Morgan, the author of one hundred Bible verses that
made America the story of Elijah Lovejoy. Here on Our
American Stories, liehbib here the host of Our American Stories.
(07:35):
Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from
across this great country, stories from our big cities and
small towns. But we truly can't do the show without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love what you hear, go
to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click the donate button.
Give a little, give a lot. Go to Ouramerican Stories
(07:57):
dot com and give
This is Lee Habibe and this is our American stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
If you want to know about the history of America,
it's imperative that you know the role that the Bible
played in shaping our country. Here to share another story
is Robert Morgan, who is the author of one hundred
Bible verses that made America, defining moments that shaped our
(00:34):
enduring foundation of faith. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Elijah Lovejoy was born in my wife's home state of
Maine in eighteen oh two. His father was a Congregational
pastor and a farmer. Lovejoy began reading his Bible at
the age of four, and while still very young, he
met rise the entire one hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which
is the longest chapter in the Bible, along with other
(01:07):
passages in many classic hymns. He later graduated at the
top of his class and decided to move west to
Saint Louis. His parents, concern for his spiritual well being,
prayed earnestly for him, and their prayers were answered when
he wrote home telling them he had experienced a personal
(01:28):
relationship with Christ during a revival meeting He also told
them that he was entering the Presbyterian ministry. He enrolled
in Princeton, and as he grew in his knowledge of scripture,
his convictions about the abolition of slavery deepened. Within a year,
(01:48):
Lovejoy was licensed to preach, and while on a preaching
circuit through Missouri, he met Celia and French and fell
in love with her and married her. Lovejoy did confine
his sermons to the pulpit. Returning to Saint Louis, he
became the editor of a weekly Christian publication called the
Saint Louis Observer. The first issue rolled off the press
(02:11):
on November twenty second of eighteen thirty three. In his
opening editorial, Lovejoy wrote that his paper will seek no controversy,
and it will decline none when by so doing it
might compromise the purity of the faith that was once
for all delivered to the Saints. The Observer became a
(02:32):
vehicle for teaching scripture, relating the news of the day,
and interpreting the latter by the former. His editorials were
must reading, and sparks began to fly when he set
forth the biblical facts and the brutal truths about slavery.
On April sixteenth, eighteen thirty two, Lovejoy wrote prophetically, while
(02:55):
Christians have been slumbering over it, the eye of God
has not slumbered, nor has his justice been an indifferent
spectator of the scene. The groans and sighs, and tears
and blood of the poor slave have gone up as
a memorial before the throne of Heaven. In due time,
they will descend in awful curses upon this land, unless
(03:19):
averted by the speedy repentance of us all. Love Joy's
drumbeat against slavery sparked an uproar in Saint Louis. Mobs formed,
threatening his newspaper and threatening his life. Officials sought to
silence him, demanding he pass over in silence everything connected
(03:42):
to the subject of slavery. Crowds marched into the street,
chanting down with the observer. Lovejoy was threatened with whipping.
He said, I cannot surrender my principles, though the whole
world besides should vote them down. Asserting his freedom of speech,
(04:07):
he fired off another series of blistering editorials, condemning slavery
with all of its horrors. He compared himself to his
namesake in the Bible, Elijah, who stood before Ahab rebuking
his sins, and who refused to be silenced. He said,
I do, therefore, as an American citizen and a Christian patriot,
(04:31):
and in the name of liberty and law and religion,
solemnly protest against all these attempts, howsoever and by whomsoever
made to frown down the liberty of the press, and
forbid the free expression of opinion. Under a deep sense
of my own obligations to my country and Church and
(04:54):
to my God, I declare it will be my fixed
purpose to submit to no such dictation. Writing to his
brother Elijah, Lovejoy said, men came to me and told
me that I could not walk through the streets of
Saint Louis by night or by day. I was alone
(05:15):
in Saint Louis, with none but God to whom to
ask counsel. But thrice, blessed be his name, he did
not forsake me. I was enabled deliberately and unreservedly to
surrender myself to Him. When it became impossible for Lovejoy
to dwell in Saint Louis, he moved thirty miles away
(05:38):
to Alton, Illinois. His printing press, which was transported by
a boat up the Mississippi, was destroyed by a mob
upon its arrival. He ordered another press from Cincinnati, and
the paper resume publishing. On August seventeenth, eighteen thirty seven,
another mob surrounded him, shoved him around, and destroyed his
(06:02):
new press. Love Joy ordered a third one. About ten
pm on November twenty first, in the light of a
full moon, a mob of about thirty men armed with
rocks and pistols left local taverns and began marching toward
Elijah Lovejoy's house. Church bells rang, and by midnight the
(06:25):
whole town had assembled. The mob broke into his house
and one of the rioters shot love Joy. Three bullets
struck his chest, another his stomach, and another his left arm.
His new printing press was destroyed and thrown into the
(06:45):
Mississippi River, and his hearse was hissed in the streets
on the way to the cemetery. He was buried on
his thirty fifth birthday, the first white martyr in America
for the cause of abolition, A fearless publisher who gave
his life for the freedom of the press, and a
preacher of the gospel who once said I can die
(07:09):
at my post, but I cannot desert it.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. In a special thanks to
Robert Morgan, the author of one hundred Bible verses that
made America the story of Elijah Lovejoy. Here on Our
American Stories, liehbib here the host of Our American Stories.
(07:35):
Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from
across this great country, stories from our big cities and
small towns. But we truly can't do the show without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love what you hear, go
to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click the donate button.
Give a little, give a lot. Go to Ouramerican Stories
(07:57):
dot com and give
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