You might ask, “Pastor Ball, what is this view that you hold that is so shocking?”  Well, here it is—it was a big mistake for America to allow Jews, Muslims, and Hindus to construct places of worship on American soil.  Not only do I believe that this was a major error, but I believe it was contrary to the Bible.  This problem has come to the forefront lately with the secularization of America, the replacement of Protestant Pluralism with National Polytheism, and the rise of Christian Nationalism.

Years ago, the phrase “coming out of the closet” referred to a person revealing to the public that he was a homosexual.  Because homosexuality has become so prevalent in our nation, people no longer have “coming out parties.” It is no longer a big deal.

However, I think the phrase is still useful when someone reveals a shocking view that he may have held for many years, but has been hesitant to go public.  For many years I have held a theological view that is very unpopular in America and especially among my peers, but I think now is the time for me to “come out of the closet.”

You might ask, “Pastor Ball, what is this view that you hold that is so shocking?”  Well, here it is—it was a big mistake for America to allow Jews, Muslims, and Hindus to construct places of worship on American soil.  Not only do I believe that this was a major error, but I believe it was contrary to the Bible.

This problem has come to the forefront lately with the secularization of America, the replacement of Protestant Pluralism with National Polytheism, and the rise of Christian Nationalism.

Now, what is the biblical basis of my view.  Well, you won’t find it clearly laid out in the New Testament.  The early church lived under a Roman Caesar and the need to develop a Christian view of the State was not an issue at the time. That information was latent in the Old Testament.  The New Testament period was a time of persecution. Later in history, as Christianity expanded, things changed. The persecuted Christians in Rome eventually led to the Holy Roman Empire and Western Christendom.

As a covenantal Presbyterian, I take the Old Testament as seriously as I do the New Testament.  Although Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament (especially the necessity of the sacrificial system), yet Old Testament Israel provides a template for a Christian Nation.

Jehovah in the Old Testament expected his people to remain faithful to him, as a spouse would her husband (and vice versa).  To prevent apostasy (time and time again, and over and over again), God warned Israel about setting up temples to worship false gods or changing the good temples into bad temples.  Good kings smashed the bad temples and bad kings allowed them to exist.

The first commandment says plainly that they were to have no other gods before Jehovah, and the second commandment forbids any idols in the land. God demanded singularity of worship—the worship him of alone. With obedience came blessing, and with disobedience came cursing. Worship to the true God brought peace in the land, and infidelity brought chaos and judgment.  The temples of foreign gods were not allowed in Israel. Individuals who followed strange gods could not hold any official or civil office.

America is not Israel, but the principles laid down in the Old Testament still hold true.  Old Testament Israel in the civil sphere still provides a template for modern America, or for any nation for that matter.

Also, it should be noted that in Old Testament Israel, foreigners and aliens were welcome in the land.  They could conduct commerce, live under the protection of the civil laws of Israel, and prosper as the Israelites would prosper. Israel was never to forget that they too were once strangers in the land of Egypt. Aliens were welcome and to be treated with grace and mercy, but there was one major restriction.  They could not erect temples to their false gods.  The people of God were like sheep, and God knew that they were easily attracted to these false gods (usually free-sex gods). Bringing false gods into a God-fearing nation was forbidden.

Years ago, this principle was practiced in America, at least in rural Appalachia where I was raised.  Previous to the Second World War, Christian churches blanketed the land almost like snow in the winter time. Church steeples were to be found on most every street corner. There were no Muslim mosques, and maybe only a couple of Jewish synagogues.   Public schools were Protestant schools and the only other alternative schools in my home county were Catholic schools.

As Israel remained faithful to the one true God, people from other nations who worshiped other gods were attracted to this land of blessing.  Even the Queen of Sheba came to admire the great Kingdom of Soloman. The exclusivity of the worship of the true God in the land was actually a great means of evangelism, as those in other nations became jealous and wanted what the true God had given to Israel.

Of course, Israel failed in the end.  Christ came to guarantee what they failed to do as he died on the cross and ascended into heaven and declared himself as King over all the earth, even over Ceasar. The times have changed but the template that God gave to Old Israel is still trustworthy.

America and Great Britain have been Christian Nations for hundreds of years because they practiced this principle (I call it the exclusivity principle).  America can trace her practice of the exclusivity principle back to the English settling in Jamestown, and the Puritans in New England.  For over 200 years we have lived under the blessing of God (not perfectly, but enjoying the favor of God).  Great Britain can trace her heritage back to the Christian King, Alfred the Great (849-886 AD). That’s over a thousand years as a Christian Nation.  The British Empire once covered the earth wherever the sun did set. Her success cannot be separated from the Chrisitan Faith.

Of course, both America and Great Britain have lost their unique blessings.  Marxism and Darwinism conquered the modern church and the I believe the end of God’s blessing on America may be coming to an end. As American Liberalism and American Pietism captured the church, the game was over.  We became polytheistic by allowing the construction of temples dedicated to Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Marxism (without a temple) captured our universities.  We disobeyed the first four commandments of God, exchanging them for a secular democratic society that worships a secular constitution that does not even mention the God of the Bible or recognizes Christ as King sitting at the right hand of the Father.

I believe I stand in the lineage of Presbyterians in the past.  All Presbyterian elders declare their adoption of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms upon ordination.  Larger Catechism Question 108 asks “What are the duties required in the second Commandment?” The answer in part says that the duty of Christians in every sphere of life (including the civil magistrate) is “disapproving, detesting, opposing, all false worship; and, according to each one’s place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.”  How many Presbyterian elders do you think agree with this?  Very few, I suspect.

Where are we today?  It’s probably too late to change this trajectory in America.  I say this as a post-millennialist, not knowing yet when the glories of Christ to the nations will be manifested before his second coming.  In the Old Testament as one of the signs of the curse of God, he would bring strange languages into their presence (Deut. 28:49).  Strange languages (and customs) which they could not understand was a sign of the judgment of God.  Welcome to modern America.

Since the time when America moved from Protestant pluralism to religious polytheism, chaos and division has grown.  Apart from God’s mercy, Christians may lose their land.  Preachers were silent in times past when the first four commandments of God should have been proclaimed with courage.  I believe the same is true today.  Maybe I am guilty too, but I have repented, and I am now out of the closet.

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tenn.