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, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
and we love to hear from you and your story.
Send them to our American Stories dot com. There's some
of our favorites. If you want to know about the
history of America, it's imperative that you know the role
that the Bible played in the shaping of our country.
(00:33):
Our founding fathers, both Christian and non Christian, were heavily
influenced by the Bible. Here to share another story is
Robert Morgan, who's the author of one hundred Bible verses
that made America the finding moments that shaped our enduring
foundation of faith. Take it away, Robert.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I vividly remember Christmas Eve of nighteen sixty eight. I
was a high school student preparing for college in troubled times.
The Vietnam War was ripping americant pieces. Campuses were battle zones,
cities burned from race riots, and the land was violent.
I registered with the local draft board and worried about
(01:18):
my future. Martin Luther King Junior and Robert F. Kennedy
had been slain. Lending Johnson abandoned hopes for reelection. That
Democratic National Convention in Chicago was engulfed in teargas, and
in November Richard Nixon won the presidency, but the Soviet
Union was threatening America both on Earth and in space.
(01:42):
On December twenty one, a Saturn five rocket lifted off,
with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders strapped into
a small capsule known as Apollo eighth.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Running in.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Many within the NASA community wondered if they would ever return.
Experts gave the mission a fifty to fifty chance of success,
and Frank Borman's wife, Susan prepared his eulogy. Some officials
worried openly that if the astronauts perished in lunar orbit,
no one would ever look at the Moon or at
(02:22):
Christmas in the same way. But John F. Kennedy had
set a deadline to take men to the Moon by
the end of the decade, and NASA was determined to
keep it. The astronauts traveled faster and further than anyone
before them in history, and we effectively won the space
race as Americans. As Frank Borman gazed at the window
(02:45):
at the receding marble of Earth, he thought to himself
This must be what God sees. Robert Curson wrote in
his book rocket Men to Anders, Earth appeared as a
Christmas tree or an hung radiant blue and swirling while
in an endless black knight. From there, it was no
(03:06):
longer possible to pick out countries or even continents. All
a person could see was the Earth, and it occurred
to Anders and this last week of nineteen sixty eight,
this terrible year for America and the world, that once
you can see the boundaries, you started to see something different.
You saw how small the planet is, how close all
(03:29):
of us are to one another, and how the only
thing any office have in an otherwise empty universe is
each other. On Christmas Eve, we all stopped their suppers
and celebrations and gathered around our television sets for one
of the most extraordinary moments in television, a worldwide broadcast
(03:55):
from lunar orbit. No one knew what the astronauts would say,
not even mission control, but at eight thirty Central Time,
the American networks interrupted their programming as granny black and
white images appeared on the screen through the static of space.
Borman said, this is Apollo coming to you.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Live with the boon.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
We all heard that, though we could hardly believe it.
The men aim their camera at the moon, at the earth,
and at the stars, as they described their sights and
their sensations. Then Anders said.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Where now booking letter Ryan, and for all the people
back on earth the Apollo.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
And we really liked it. Then you.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
There was a pause, and then he began reading from
Genesis one.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
In the beginning, God created in the earth, and the
earth was without form and avoid and with the bond
the bay of the deep.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
One by one the astronauts passed a far proof copy
of Genesis chapter one, taken from the gide In Bible,
and they read the creation account.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
And God said, left there be light, and there was light,
and God thaw the light. They went good and divide
the light.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
From the darkning. And God called the late day, and
the darkness called, and then the morn with a birth day.
And God let them be of the water, and let
it divide the water from the water. And God made
the permit and divided the water, which were then the word, which.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Were a boon.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And God called them. And then in the morning with
the second day, and God let a lot of them
to heaven be gethered together at one point, and let
the gyland appear. And it was so, and God called.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
The guy land the earth, and the gathering thegether of
the water, and calleenname, and God thought that it was good.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well. After Borman finished verse ten, he ended the broadcast saying,
and from.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
The girl the boy, we called with good night, good
luck a Mary.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Gridman, and God with all of you, all of you.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
On the good Earth, and mission control scientists and engineers
openly wept. We all wept, and estimated one billion people
in sixty four countries had heard the message. And all
around the world, men and women and children went outside
(06:56):
and gazed into the sky, wondering at the words sides
we have just witnessed from two hundred and forty thousand
miles away.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Robert Morgan,
who's the author of one hundred Bible verses that made America,
defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith, the
story of Apollo eight and the special Christmas Eve rendering
of Genesis. Here on our American Stories. Here at our
(07:31):
American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
need to be told, but we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
(07:53):
a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot com.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
and we love to hear from you and your story.
Send them to our American Stories dot com. There's some
of our favorites. If you want to know about the
history of America, it's imperative that you know the role
that the Bible played in the shaping of our country.
(00:33):
Our founding fathers, both Christian and non Christian, were heavily
influenced by the Bible. Here to share another story is
Robert Morgan, who's the author of one hundred Bible verses
that made America the finding moments that shaped our enduring
foundation of faith. Take it away, Robert.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I vividly remember Christmas Eve of nighteen sixty eight. I
was a high school student preparing for college in troubled times.
The Vietnam War was ripping americant pieces. Campuses were battle zones,
cities burned from race riots, and the land was violent.
I registered with the local draft board and worried about
(01:18):
my future. Martin Luther King Junior and Robert F. Kennedy
had been slain. Lending Johnson abandoned hopes for reelection. That
Democratic National Convention in Chicago was engulfed in teargas, and
in November Richard Nixon won the presidency, but the Soviet
Union was threatening America both on Earth and in space.
(01:42):
On December twenty one, a Saturn five rocket lifted off,
with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders strapped into
a small capsule known as Apollo eighth.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Running in.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Many within the NASA community wondered if they would ever return.
Experts gave the mission a fifty to fifty chance of success,
and Frank Borman's wife, Susan prepared his eulogy. Some officials
worried openly that if the astronauts perished in lunar orbit,
no one would ever look at the Moon or at
(02:22):
Christmas in the same way. But John F. Kennedy had
set a deadline to take men to the Moon by
the end of the decade, and NASA was determined to
keep it. The astronauts traveled faster and further than anyone
before them in history, and we effectively won the space
race as Americans. As Frank Borman gazed at the window
(02:45):
at the receding marble of Earth, he thought to himself
This must be what God sees. Robert Curson wrote in
his book rocket Men to Anders, Earth appeared as a
Christmas tree or an hung radiant blue and swirling while
in an endless black knight. From there, it was no
(03:06):
longer possible to pick out countries or even continents. All
a person could see was the Earth, and it occurred
to Anders and this last week of nineteen sixty eight,
this terrible year for America and the world, that once
you can see the boundaries, you started to see something different.
You saw how small the planet is, how close all
(03:29):
of us are to one another, and how the only
thing any office have in an otherwise empty universe is
each other. On Christmas Eve, we all stopped their suppers
and celebrations and gathered around our television sets for one
of the most extraordinary moments in television, a worldwide broadcast
(03:55):
from lunar orbit. No one knew what the astronauts would say,
not even mission control, but at eight thirty Central Time,
the American networks interrupted their programming as granny black and
white images appeared on the screen through the static of space.
Borman said, this is Apollo coming to you.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Live with the boon.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
We all heard that, though we could hardly believe it.
The men aim their camera at the moon, at the earth,
and at the stars, as they described their sights and
their sensations. Then Anders said.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Where now booking letter Ryan, and for all the people
back on earth the Apollo.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
And we really liked it. Then you.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
There was a pause, and then he began reading from
Genesis one.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
In the beginning, God created in the earth, and the
earth was without form and avoid and with the bond
the bay of the deep.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
One by one the astronauts passed a far proof copy
of Genesis chapter one, taken from the gide In Bible,
and they read the creation account.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
And God said, left there be light, and there was light,
and God thaw the light. They went good and divide
the light.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
From the darkning. And God called the late day, and
the darkness called, and then the morn with a birth day.
And God let them be of the water, and let
it divide the water from the water. And God made
the permit and divided the water, which were then the word, which.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
Were a boon.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And God called them. And then in the morning with
the second day, and God let a lot of them
to heaven be gethered together at one point, and let
the gyland appear. And it was so, and God called.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
The guy land the earth, and the gathering thegether of
the water, and calleenname, and God thought that it was good.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well. After Borman finished verse ten, he ended the broadcast saying,
and from.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
The girl the boy, we called with good night, good
luck a Mary.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Gridman, and God with all of you, all of you.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
On the good Earth, and mission control scientists and engineers
openly wept. We all wept, and estimated one billion people
in sixty four countries had heard the message. And all
around the world, men and women and children went outside
(06:56):
and gazed into the sky, wondering at the words sides
we have just witnessed from two hundred and forty thousand
miles away.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Robert Morgan,
who's the author of one hundred Bible verses that made America,
defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith, the
story of Apollo eight and the special Christmas Eve rendering
of Genesis. Here on our American Stories. Here at our
(07:31):
American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
need to be told, but we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
(07:53):
a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot com.
Host
Lee Habeeb
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.