CAN THESE BONES LIVE has been Expanded
and is planned on being published under the title ~
AMERICA AND THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
The following is the Preface to the New Expanded Edition:
PREFACE
Wandering through woodland acres near our home, my scenic tour turned to depression; I am gripped by fear as I come upon a prison. Sounds from the cold gray cells give me alarm – with the sound of a whip and the muffled noise of weeping. In my dream I hear groans mingled with restful melodies of praise. My mind nervously panics to understand what it might mean.
My tour had taken me back to 1660 where stood the old Bedford, Britain’s notorious prison. The groanings come from several prisoners who occupy the jail for violating Britain’s Conventicle Act. That Act condemns any who failed to attend the state-sanctioned church. But the singing! Why the singing – and the frequent pauses between songs?
John Bunyan, Bedford’s most prominent resident, is in prison for preaching outside the walls of the State Church. He is brought to trial for boldly saying: “If you release me today, I will preach tomorrow!” And for that defiance he must spend twelve more years in Bedford prison where he will write The Pilgrim’s Progress, a classic that will bless the Christian world.
Strolling on through my favorite woodland I see a young man: He too is in prison for preaching: British authorities had padlocked his church, so he and his 400 members have no other option but to meet in the street. For his crime William Penn and his assistant William Mead are in jail. After their trial they are freed by a jury of twelve who refuse to find them guilty of “preaching in the street.” The jury, however, is imprisoned by an angry judge because they disobeyed his orders to find the two preachers guilty.
The young Pastor Penn is the son of Admiral William Penn, an officer in the King’s Navy. Young William had been a rebel in his teens, but in the midst of his rebellion Jesus finds him and Penn becomes His faithful servant. He determines, like the Apostle Peter, that “. . . we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)
John Bunyan and William Penn are but two men of God whose freedom is stolen by the British Crown. Due to this religious oppression, the American Colonies determine to find a way to protect their people from state-run religion.
Strolling further I come upon a small building. As I peered through an open window a young man named Patrick Henry is just finishing his heated address to the Virginia Legislature. It is March 23, 1775. It is not a hot day, but 38-year-old Henry is sweating. Flushed with anger, he asks the crowded hall, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” The urgent plea of this young lawyer booms across America.
Colonists recall how they had so recently fled the religious straitjacket of Britain. Now, those same British tentacles were deviously following them across the Atlantic. Perhaps Britain would soon build another Bedford on these shores? Colonists tremble at the thought! For now, though, Britain was content to send traitors like Patrick Henry to stand trial in Britain, and perhaps a lengthy stay in Bedford prison, or a swift drop on the gallows. Colonists understood. Henry too understood that his defiance was cause for a death sentence in a British court. The cry of Patrick Henry echoes and re-echoes across the land. Soon, Henry is not alone: Dozens, hundreds, thousands join the train: Give me liberty or give me death!
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David Pett, Author ~ a Xulon Press book
ISBN 978-1-60647-978-0
