Friday July 30, 2010
“…By Means of the Bible”
What you don’t know about Dr. Benjamin Rush
by Adam Colwell
When he died at his home in Philadelphia at the age of 68, Dr. Benjamin Rush was the most celebrated physician in America. He was also remembered as a social activist, a champion of public medical clinics to treat the poor, and a fierce advocate for the abolition of slavery.
Yet what you perhaps don’t know about Dr. Benjamin Rush is that he was not only one of the nation’s greatest patriots…but a Christian who was bold about expressing his faith in God – and his belief about the Bible’s needed place in America.
When Rush was just six years old, his father died, leaving his mother to care for and educate him. She sent him to an academy in Maryland where he studied under the tutelage of the Rev. Samuel Finley, his maternal uncle. There Rush spent five years learning Greek and Latin and developing what would become a lifelong reverence for God and Christianity. By age 15, Rush obtained a bachelors degree from the college of Princeton. Upon graduation in 1760, he intended to become a lawyer, but then began to study medicine in Philadelphia and, fascinated by the subject, continued his education in Edinburgh and London. He attended medical lectures in England and Paris, where he benefited from the friendship and financial support of Benjamin Franklin.
In 1769, Rush returned to America, settled in Philadelphia, and engaged quickly in pre-Revolutionary movements and wrote constantly for the press on colonial rights. He was active in the Sons of Liberty and was elected to attend the provincial conference to send delegates to the Continental Congress. He was consulted by Thomas Paine on the writing of the pro-independence pamphlet Common Sense, and was appointed to represent Pennsylvania at the Continental Congress.
Predicting that “Britain and America will hereafter be distinct empires…America is the only vivid principle of the whole world,” Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, which he called “a masterpiece of human wisdom.” Rush hailed the system of checks and balances it created between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, and the genius of having two bodies of Congress, the Senate with two votes per state and the House with votes based on population.
As a physician, Rush served as physician-general of the Continental Army and is credited for saving at least 6,000 lives when, by studying old manuscripts, he rediscovered a cure for a deadly yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. Rush was also considered the pioneer of American psychiatry, publishing the first textbook on the subject in the United States. He was also one of the first people to describe Savant Syndrome and introduced the therapeutic approach to treating addiction.
Yet it is Rush’s work as an educator that is often overlooked. He not only helped establish five universities and college, he founded the First Day Society, a precursor to today’s Sunday schools. When he called for free public education to be supported by property taxes, Rush also wrote a pamphlet giving 12 reasons why the Bible needs to be the central textbook in schools:
“I lament that we waste so much time in punishing crimes and taking so little pains to prevent them,” he wrote. “We neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible…equality among mankind…respect for just laws…and sober and frugal virtues.”
Rush also believed the U.S. government should furnish a Bible to every family at public expense and that “the following sentence be inscribed in letters of gold over the door of every State and Court house in the United States, The Son of Man Came into the World, Not To Destroy Men’s Lives But To Save Them.” He continued to advocate such government action even after the ratification of the First Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Founder of the Philadelphia Bible Society, Rush also helped Richard Allen in the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Upon his death in 1813, John Adams wrote of Dr. Benjamin Rush: “I know of no character, living or dead, who has done more real good in America.”
Adam Colwell is a freelance writer and Chief Editor of The Presidential Prayer Team website. Active in Christian para-church ministry for over 25 years, he and his wife Ginger have two daughters and live in Tucson, AZ.
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Presidential Quote of the Week
Warren G. Harding (1865-1923), 29th President of the United States
“I accept my part with single-mindedness of purpose and humility of spirit, and implore the favor and guidance of God in His Heaven. With these I am unafraid, and confidently face the future. I have taken the solemn oath of office on that passage of Holy Writ wherein it is asked: “What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” - From Harding’s Inaugural Address
Warren Gamaliel Harding was born in November 1865 in Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio. He was the eldest of eight children. His father owned a farm and taught at a rural school. One of Harding’s great-grandmothers may have been African American. He graduated from Ohio Central College in Iberia, Ohio. During his youth, he worked for the local newspaper, which had been acquired by his father.
After graduating, Harding moved to Marion, Ohio, where with two friends he purchased the Marion Daily Star. The newspaper became quite popular but it took its toll on Harding’s health, and at age 24 he suffered from exhaustion and nervous fatigue.
As an influential newspaper publisher with a flair for public speaking, Harding was elected to the Ohio State Senate where he served four years before being elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, a post he held for two years. In 1914, Harding was elected to the United States Senate. He ran for the office of President as a “dark horse”, winning his party’s nomination and the election with the campaign promise of “A Return to Normalcy.” He was the first U.S. Senator to be elected President.
When Harding assumed office, the United States was in the midst of a post-war economic depression. Unemployment was at 12 percent. His efforts to reduce the national debt involved cutting government spending by 50% over a two-year period.
In 1923, Harding set out on a cross-country “Voyage of Understanding,” in which he planned to meet ordinary people and explain his policies. During this trip, he became the first president to visit Alaska. Harding’s health was poor, even prior to the Alaskan venture, and he was dogged by rumors of corruption in his administration. While traveling south from Alaska through British Columbia, he developed what was believed to be a severe case of food poisoning. He still managed to give a speech to a large crowd in Seattle, but a scheduled speech in Portland was cancelled. As the President’s train rolled into San Francisco, he developed a respiratory illness, probably pneumonia, which caused him to suffer a cardiogenic pulmonary edema. He died suddenly in the middle of a conversation with his wife in the presidential suite at the Palace Hotel.
Harding was married to Florence King and had a step-son as a result of her prior marriage. He is alleged to have had a daughter as a result of an extra-marital affair. Harding’s faith is listed as Baptist.
And my grandfather, 5 generations back was a very good friend of Dr. Benjamin Rush’s. Dr. David Caldwell, a teacher, a pastor, a doctor and a great statesman,in North Carolina. Dr. Rush graduated from Princeton a year before David, but they became close friends. Because of the great need for medical care in North Carolina (Greensboro), “David Caldwell bought and read Dr. Rushe’s books as soon as they were published. He even made several journeys to Philadelphia to consult Dr. Rush about serious afflications he had encountered; and the two gentlemen kept up a steady correspondence as long as they lived” (Taken from the book,DAVID CALDWELL by Ethel Stephens Arnett, Page 26.)
Thank you for giving us this information. It was so good to learn more about one of my ancestors and realize once again who and for what our founding fathers stood!!! May God help us get there again!!
Thank you,
Nan Caldwell Walker Wallace
Here is one for your history file.
Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled
either by a power within them or by a power without them.;
either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man;
either by the Bible or by the bayonet
— Robert Winthrop, U.S. Speaker of the House, 1849
In 2Tim3:16 we are admonished to use the entire council of God.
I don’t know where in scripture God blesses those who allow His intended blessings to be taken from them. I do know where the lie that Christians can’t bring their faith and the Bible into the public arena.
‘Light/darkness; ‘men loved the darkness because their deeds are evil’, etc.
It’s not that evil deeds are necessarily hidden from view, it’s that they don’t want the light of God’s word exposing that their deeds are actually evil. Neither do they want to be told that there is a price to pay, both here and in enternity.
The father of lies is Satan, therefore if it is based on lies, what is it’s origins?
“I lament that we waste so much time in punishing crimes and taking so little pains to prevent them,” he wrote. “We neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible…equality among mankind…respect for just laws…and sober and frugal virtues.”
As I read this, it was apparent to me that Dr. Rush was indeed blessed with wisdom from God. How important it is that men and women in our contemporary USA society realize the truth in his words. Reading the information about Dr. Rush was inspiring, and I feel encouraged to continue seeking the will of God for my life and His glory. Thank you for presenting a summary of this outstanding Christian man’s life story.
It’s sad to observe how our USA government officials ,at all levels, have continued to approve funding and lobbied for support to increase the amount of prisons and jails in our nation rather than offering everyone an equal opportunity according to what the Lord has done for us. Certainly, providing a Bible to every household would be less expensive for the taxpayers!
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