Rubio: “The Soul of Our Nation Has Always Been Rooted in the Christian Faith”
At a time when many Western leaders are abandoning their Christian foundations, Rubio’s speech reminded the world that America still has the potential to be Winthrop’s “city upon a hill.”
At a time when Western leaders are embarrassed to speak openly of Christianity, Marco Rubio has boldly proclaimed Christ before the world, declaring that the soul of America has always been rooted in the Christian faith.
In a speech delivered for the Rededicate 250 National Prayer Jubilee, the United States Secretary of State said America’s identity and greatness cannot be understood apart from Christianity.
“From our country’s beginning,” Rubio said, “for as long as America has embodied freedom and exceptionalism, the soul of our nation has been rooted in the Christian faith.”
Rubio described the gathering as a continuation of the kind of national prayer and repentance that has marked America’s founding. He noted the Continental Congress’ 1775 call for prayer and fasting prior to the Revolutionary War, and said the founders publicly humbled themselves before God even as war with the British Empire loomed.
“In three and a half months’ time,” Rubio said, “the colonists would be in open revolt against the most powerful empire in the history of the world.”
The founders, he explained, understood the enormous cost of what they were doing. Referencing Benjamin Franklin’s famous remark after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Rubio said: “We must indeed all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Despite the danger, Rubio explained the founders did what Christians have always done in times of uncertainty.
“With the dark storm clouds of war looming on the horizon,” he said, “they did what Christians have always done across place and time for 2,000 years. They turned their eyes to heaven and placed their fate in the hands of God.”
Rubio argued that Christianity fundamentally shaped Western civilisation and, in particular, America’s sense of purpose in history.
“Our faith calls us outwards into the limitless darkness of the unknown,” Rubio said. “It tells us to go forth and preach the Gospel to the world as a witness unto all nations unto the ends of the earth.
“From that command came America,” he added.
Throughout the speech, Rubio traced the influence of Christianity through key moments in American history. He referenced John Winthrop’s famous “city upon a hill” sermon, frontier missionaries spreading the Gospel westward, and Samuel Morse sending the first telegraph message with the words: “What hath God wrought?”
Rubio concluded by warning Americans not to forget the spiritual roots that shaped the nation.
“America is still a young nation measured against the record of history,” he said. “But the soul of our nation has always been rooted in an ancient faith.”
At a time when many Western leaders are abandoning the Christian foundations that once shaped their nations and institutions, Rubio’s speech stood as a reminder to the world that America still has the potential to be Winthrop’s “city upon a hill” — a nation that serves as an example to the world of what a people grounded in faith, morality, and divine providence ought to be.
Of course, America is far from perfect, and much work remains to be done. Yet on the global stage, it is increasingly one of the few Western nations still willing to acknowledge the moral and spiritual direction in which a nation ought to face.
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