As many of you know, I am intrigued with history, and especially pilgrim-era American history. In fact, that’s my favorite area of historical study as I have many books in that area of study. But to explain why I recently picked up an old history book and reread it as though I had never seen it before—only God can help me understand that. Nevertheless, just last week I was perusing the titles of some of these books and became attracted to The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, published by Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977.

I had first read this book in the early 1980s, referred to it occasionally, and quoted from it, but never had its message or genre (or any other history book for that matter) hold me so spellbound as did this recent reading! Just so you will know, when I first read a book of this warp and woof, I mark it up thoroughly. I wrote in the margins, defined words in the spaces between the lines, underscored whole sentences, highlighted in yellow, red and orange, made comments at the end of each chapter, etc. – it was so disfigured that I could hardly read it! Nevertheless, its exciting details came through with startling impact! If you have never read this book, or if it’s been several years since you last read it, you would do yourself a great favor to read it again (it only takes a few hours), because its message remains pungent, vital and exciting to any patriotic, godly American! What I discovered was that even though the words were, of course, the same as they were before, my personal maturation opened possibilities in my cognitive understanding that were not available when I first read this book.

So, what I want to succinctly pursue in the balance of this article are some of the more meaningful ideas featured in this book. Probably, uppermost to Marshall and Manuel, is an idea that liberals most often disparage regularly today: that God intended America to be exceptional among the nations of the world, and she is! The Pilgrims believed, almost to the man, that they were called by God to be a “light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke2:32).

They looked at this transatlantic journey, which was by itself a life changing experience, not as a mere escape from the rigors of King James, but as an opportunity to investigate an amazing land and mysterious people group, and to worship their God according to the dictates of their own hearts and understanding of Scripture … and all within the safety of this distant cloister. Moreover, the Pilgrims saw themselves as founder of a new Israel! Their chief purpose was the establishment of a city set on a hill, and that they did!

The Pilgrims believed that God had sent them to the new world with all the spiritual and mental resources necessary to establish a functioning covenant, by which they could peacefully work out any differences that might arise among them. And at the same time they would establish a spiritual covenant (church) and a civil body politic (government), for the proper ordering and management of their intended goals and purposes, under God. Amen!

G. Thomas Sharp