Who is St. Nicholas, Santa vs. Jesus, etc.

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made of while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor , who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the in AD 325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique , called , formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, .
Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of St. Nicholas' life and deeds. These accounts help us understand his extraordinary character and why he is so beloved and revered as protector and helper of those in need.

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a . The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

One of the oldest stories showing St. Nicholas as a protector of children takes place long after his death. The townspeople of Myra were celebrating the good on the eve of his feast day when a band of Arab pirates from Crete came into the district. They stole treasures from the Church of Saint Nicholas to take away as booty. As they were leaving town, they snatched a young boy, Basilios, to make into a slave. The emir, or ruler, selected Basilios to be his personal cupbearer, as not knowing the language, Basilios would not understand what the king said to those around him. So, for the next year Basilios waited on the king, bringing his wine in a beautiful golden cup. For Basilios' parents, devastated at the loss of their only child, the year passed slowly, filled with grief. As the next St. Nicholas' feast day approached, Basilios' mother would not join in the festivity, as it was now a day of tragedy. However, she was persuaded to have a simple observance at home—with quiet prayers for Basilios' safekeeping. Meanwhile, as Basilios was fulfilling his tasks serving the emir, he was suddenly whisked up and away. St. Nicholas appeared to the terrified boy, blessed him, and set him down at his home back in Myra. Imagine the joy and wonderment when Basilios amazingly appeared before his parents, still holding the king's golden cup. This is the first story told of St. Nicholas protecting children—which became his primary role in the West.

Another story tells of three theological students, traveling on their way to study in Athens. A wicked innkeeper robbed and murdered them, hiding their remains in a large pickling tub. It so happened that Bishop Nicholas, traveling along the same route, stopped at this very inn. In the night he dreamed of the crime, got up, and summoned the innkeeper. As Nicholas prayed earnestly to God the three boys were restored to life and wholeness. In France the story is told of three small children, wandering in their play until lost, lured, and captured by an evil butcher. St. Nicholas appears and appeals to God to return them to life and to their families. And so St. Nicholas is the patron and protector of children.

Several stories tell of Nicholas and the sea. When he was young, Nicholas sought the holy by making a to the Holy Land. There as he walked where Jesus walked, he sought to more deeply experience Jesus' life, passion, and resurrection. Returning by sea, a mighty storm threatened to wreck the ship. Nicholas calmly prayed. The terrified sailors were amazed when the wind and waves suddenly calmed, sparing them all. And so St. Nicholas is the patron of sailors and voyagers.

Other stories tell of Nicholas saving his people from famine, sparing the lives of those innocently accused, and much more. He did many kind and generous deeds in secret, expecting nothing in return. Within a century of his death he was celebrated as a . Today he is in the East as wonder, or miracle worker and in the West as patron of a great variety of persons-children, mariners, bankers, pawn-brokers, scholars, orphans, laborers, travelers, merchants, judges, paupers, marriageable maidens, students, children, sailors, victims of judicial mistakes, captives, perfumers, even thieves and murderers! He is known as the friend and protector of all in trouble or need (see list).

Sailors, claiming St. Nicholas as patron, carried stories of his favor and protection far and wide. St. Nicholas chapels were built in many seaports. As his popularity spread during the Middle Ages, he became the of (Italy), Sicily, Greece, and (France), and many cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Belgium, and the Netherlands (See list). Following his baptism in Constantinople, of Russia brought St. Nicholas' stories and devotion to St. Nicholas to his homeland where Nicholas became the most beloved saint. Nicholas was so widely revered that more than 2,000 churches were named for him, including three hundred in Belgium, thirty-four in Rome, twenty-three in the Netherlands and more than four hundred in England.

Nicholas' tomb in Myra became a popular place of . Because of the many wars and attacks in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult. For both the religious and commercial advantages of a major pilgrimage site, the Italian cities of Venice and vied to get the Nicholas . In the spring of 1087, sailors from Bari succeeded in spiriting away the bones, bringing them to Bari, a seaport on the southeast coast of Italy. An impressive church was built over St. Nicholas' and many faithful journeyed to honor the saint who had rescued children, prisoners, sailors, famine victims, and many others through his compassion, generosity, and the countless miracles attributed to his intercession. The Nicholas in Bari was one of medieval Europe's great pilgrimage centers and Nicholas became known as "Saint in Bari." To this day and tourists visit Bari's great di San Nicola.

Through the centuries St. Nicholas has continued to be venerated by Catholics and Orthodox and honored by Protestants. By his example of generosity to those in need, especially children, St. Nicholas continues to be a model for the compassionate life.

Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity. In Germany and Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes for themselves! In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds. December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe. For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas is celebrated on the 5th, the eve of the day, by sharing candies (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles. Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the saint's horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts. Simple gift-giving in early helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.

Was St. Nicholas A Real Person?

Some say St. Nicholas existed only in legend, without any reliable historical record. Legends usually do grow out of real, actual events, though they may be embellished to make more interesting stories. Many of the St. Nicholas stories seem to be truth interwoven with imagination. However, the following facts of the life of St. Nicholas could contain some part of historical truth. They provide a clear sense of his personal characteristics which are further elaborated in other narratives.
• Nicholas' birth in
Though the exact date is not known, it is believed to have occurred between AD 260 and 280. The place, Patara, can be historically grounded.
• for the poor girls
This story, distinct to Nicholas, can be regarded as historical in its essence. There are three very ancient accounts which only differ in regard to the number of maidens and other detail. This event reveals important aspects of St. Nicholas's personality, namely, his charitable nature and humility. This story is not found in accounts of other saints' lives.
• Popular election as Bishop of
Unusual though it was for a layman to be nominated to the position of , two sources corroborate the story.
• Participation in the
Although Bishop Nicholas does not appear on all lists of attenders, his name appears on the oldest Greek list and on five other lists.
• Saving three condemned innocents
This story is the oldest and most genuine recorded episode from the life of St. Nicholas. Historical documentation confirms the many references to place names and people. Some versions expand the account to include the story of the three generals.
• Intervention in favor of the unjustly jailed
The outstanding figures in this solidly structured story are well known in other contemporary accounts, where they are portrayed in similar ways.
• Destruction of the Temple of
This account reveals knowledge of detail concerning the temple which would have been unknown to a writer several centuries later had it not been based on an account coming out of the people and traditions of that city.
• Mariners saved during a tempest
The episode is important to explain the origin of his wide-spread patronage to sailors and other sea voyagers.
The earliest reference to St. Nicholas of Myra comes from the late 700s—about 250 years after his death. The life of St. Nicholas of Sion (a 6th century abbot of a mountain monastery near Myra) describes a visit "going down to the metropolis of Myra, [Nicholas of Sion] went off to the martyrium of the glorious Saint Nicholas." This reliable witness, written by a close associate of Nicholas of Sion shortly after his death, roots Nicholas of Myra in history and reveals his status as a revered saint.

The ancient sources cited to substantiate this information are Michael the Archimandrite, Sinaitic and Ethiopian manuscripts, Gratianus' Decretum, Theodore the Lector, Andrew of Crete, Eustratios of Constantinople, AD 583; Passionarium Romanum, 650 AD; and Praxis de tributo.
Sources:
Cioffari, P. Gerardo, O.P., "The Truth About Saint Nicholas: The Most Ancient Texts in the Light of Recent Historical Criticism," Bollettino di San Nicola, November-December 1997
Cioffari, P. Gerardo, O.P., Saint Nicholas: His Life, the Translation of his Relics and his Basilica in Bari, translated by Philip L. Barnes, Centro Studi Nicolaiani, Bari, Italy, 1994
Seal, Jeremy, Nicholas: The epic journey from Saint to Santa Claus Bloomsbury, New York & London, 2005
Nicholas' transformation into Santa told through careful historical detail, travelogue, and personal reflection; extensive material on Nicholas as Saint, as well as Santa. Purchase from amazon.com, amazon.ca, or amazon.co.uk

Nicholas, An Advent Saint

Advent is the time when Christians prepare to greet Christ—who came as a babe in a manger, who comes into our lives each day, and who will come again at the end of time. Advent is the time when the people of faith are most at odds with the culture, as the church calls people to focus on getting ready to receive Christ—preparing hearts and lives to make room for Jesus, to live as he would have us live. It is a time of longing, not fulfillment. Quiet reflection, not celebration. But the culture is in full pursuit of festivity, unable or unwilling to wait and contemplate and prepare for the real festival. It is not easy to observe Advent without being pulled prematurely into Christmas.

How does St. Nicholas fit into all of this? He is an Advent because his December 6th always falls in early Advent (Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas between November 27 and December 3). However, Nicholas is a good Advent saint for more important reasons than the date of his special day. Whatever he did, and it is said that he did many kinds of amazing things, what he did may not be as important as the way he did it. Nicholas became so popular because in his own life he was such a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. His life always clearly reflected the way each one of us is called to show God's love to others, especially those in need.
Celebrating St. Nicholas on his day in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into homes, churches, and schools. His small treats and surprises help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and ways to express his care for those in need are sought. Yes, Nicholas is a good Advent saint.

Nicholas and Jesus

In these days before Christmas, we can celebrate the feast of Nicholas as a time to refocus on Jesus. St. Nicholas showed us how to find Jesus in the poor, the oppressed and abused. He was devoted to charity, but charity always linked to justice.

Nicholas teaches us that faithful followers of Jesus defend those who are wrongly accused. Today we can see the face of Jesus not only in political prisoners around the world, but also in anyone who suffers from false accusation. After all, wasn't Jesus himself executed on false charges?

Finally, St. Nicholas shows us how to find Jesus through prayer and religious zeal.
Let's relish the spirit of joy and charity embodied in Santa's gift-giving, but let's not forget the real St. Nicholas, who, like all the , points to Jesus. That's the truest Christmas spirit.

The Real Saint Nicholas
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/christmas/nick.html
by Ted Olsen, former assistant editor of Christian History
December 6 marks Saint Nicholas Day, and I thought I'd mark the beginning of the Christmas season by telling the story of Santa Claus's namesake. But before I do, I should remark that, historically speaking, there's not much we really know about Nicholas. Though he's one of the most popular saints in the Greek and Latin churches, his existence isn't attested by any historical document. All we can say is that he was probably the bishop of Myra (near modern Finike, Turkey) sometime in the 300s.

That said, there are of course many legends about Nicholas, and since these have influenced people throughout history, and they likely illustrate something about the historical man, they are fair game for a publication, like ours, devoted to Christian history.

Supposedly, Nicholas was born to a wealthy family in Patara, Lycia. His parents died, and he inherited a considerable sum of money, but he kept none of it. In the most famous story about his life, he threw bags of gold through the windows of three girls about to be forced into lives of prostitution. At least that's the most common version of the story; there are others, including an excessively grim one where the three girls are beheaded by an innkeeper and pickled in a tub of brine until Nicholas resurrects them.

After a couple of miracles (he's sometimes called Nicholas the Wonder-Worker) performed while he was still a boy, Nicholas was chosen by the people of Myra to be their new bishop. But it wasn't long before Diocletian and Maximian began their persecutions of Christians, and the new bishop was imprisoned.

When Constantine became emperor, Nicholas was released with countless others and returned to his preaching only to find a new threat: Arianism. According to one biographer (writing five centuries after Nicholas's death), "Thanks to the teaching of St. Nicholas, the metropolis of Myra alone was untouched by the filth of the Arian heresy, which it firmly rejected as a death-dealing poison." Other biographers claim Nicholas attacked the heresy of Arius (who denied the full divinity of Christ) in a much more personal way—he traveled to the Council of Nicea and slapped Arius in the face! As the story goes (and this should be taken as fantasy because there are pretty good records of the council, and Nicholas isn't mentioned), the other bishops at Nicea were shocked at such rude behavior and relieved him as bishop. But then Jesus and Mary appeared next to him, and they quickly recanted.
That's the questionable legend of Nicholas. But not the end of the story. Even by the reign of Justinian (d. 565), Nicholas was famous, and the emperor dedicated a church in Constantinople to him. By the 900s, a Greek wrote, "The West as well as the East acclaims and glorifies him. Wherever there are people, his name is revered and churches are built in his honor. All Christians reverence his memory and call upon his protection." The West became even more interested when his "relics" were taken from Myra to Bari, Italy, on May 9, 1087. He's said to have been represented by medieval artists more frequently than any saint but Mary, and nearly 400 churches were dedicated in his honor in England alone during the late Middle Ages.
With such a popularity, his legends inevitably became intertwined with others. In Germanic countries, it sometimes became hard to tell where the legend of Nicholas began and that of Woden (or Odin) ended. Somewhere along the line, probably tied to the gold-giving story, people began giving presents in his name on his feast day. When the Reformation came along, his following disappeared in all the Protestant countries except Holland, where his legend continued as Sinterklass. Martin Luther, for example, replaced this bearer of gifts with the Christ Child, or, in German, Christkindl. Over the years, that became repronounced Kriss Kringle, and ironically is now considered another name for Santa Claus.

Santa vs. Jesus
SANTA JESUS
Lives at the North Pole Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comes dressed in a red suit Luke 2:12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
Comes to your home once a year Matthew 28:20 "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Brings gifts Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gives gifts to good children Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Places presents under a tree 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on a tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
We prepare for his coming 1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when Christ is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
We give him food (milk and cookies) at Christmas We usually give Jesus nothing at Christmas and its His birthday!
Children watch for him Matt 24:42-45 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him."
Comes with reindeer Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Enjoys having children sit upon his knee Matthew 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and bless them, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
A fantasy 2 Peter 1:16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

http://www.new-life.net/santa-vs.htm

A Christmas True or False Quiz

Can you separate fact from fiction in the Christmas story? Test your knowledge by answering "T" or "F" to each statement. "T" would indicate that the fact can be found in Holy Scripture. "F" would indicate that the fact is not be found in the Bible.
There are no records of Joseph speaking in the Christmas story.
The wise men were three kings from the orient.
The little drummer boy came to the manger after the other shepherds.
The star did not appear above the manger.
Jesus' ancestors include a prostitute, an adulterer, a woman who committed incest, and a non-Israelite.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary first and then he appeared to Joseph.
Mary rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because of a decree by Caesar Augustus.
The wise men followed the star as it moved from their eastern land to Israel.
The wise men did not arrive on the night of Jesus' birth.
God sent a choir of chubby angels to announce Jesus' birth to the shepherds.
Shepherding was considered a very noble occupation.
Both Joseph and Mary were told that the baby was to be named "Jesus."
When Herod heard about Jesus he was the only one concerned about this new king.
The wise men found Jesus lying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem.
After the angels announcement the shepherds went straight to Bethlehem to see Jesus.
Joseph married Mary immediately after the angel appeared to him.
Some of the shepherds doubted and refused to believe the message they heard from the angels.

Here are the answers:
T There are no records of Joseph speaking in the Christmas story.
I'm sure he said something, but there is absolutely no record of him speaking at all.
F The wise men were three kings from the orient.
The number of wise men is not mentioned. They were not kings.
F The little drummer boy came to the manger after the other shepherds.
What little drummer boy? There is no mention of a drummer boy in the Bible.
T The star did not appear above the manger.
It appeared above the house where Joseph's family was living (Matthew 2:9-11).
T Jesus' ancestors include a prostitute, an adulterer, a woman who committed incest, and a non-Israelite.
Rahab was a prostitute, David & Uriah's wife were adulterers, Tamar & Judah committed incest, and Ruth was from Moab. Matthew 1:3,5,6.
F The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary first and then Gabriel appeared to Joseph.
Trick question. Mary was first, but we don't know the name of the angel who appeared to Joseph (Matthew 1:20). It might have been Harold. You know, "Hark the Harold Angel Sings."
F Mary rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
A donkey does not appear any where in the Biblical account. She probably walked.
T Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because of a decree by Caesar Augustus.
Yep. Luke 2:1-5.
F The wise men followed the star as it moved from their eastern land to Israel.
Apparently not. The wise men saw the star in the east (Matthew 2:2). But it did not take them to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem they asked for directions. Once leaving Jerusalem the star appeared again and led them to the house in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9).
T The wise men did not arrive on the night of Jesus' birth.
The wise men arrive sometime after Jesus is born (Matthew 2:1). Jesus is called a child, rather than a baby (Matthew 2:11). He may have been as old as two (Matthew 2:7,16).
F God sent a choir of chubby angels to announce Jesus' birth to the shepherds.
Actually God sent an army of warrior angels. See Luke 2:13. "Company" and "host" are military terms.
F Shepherding was considered a very noble occupation.
In first century B.C., shepherding was close to what we would consider garbage collecting. Shepherds were unable to remain ritually pure according to Pharisaic laws and so were considered unclean. Yet God chose them for His birth announcement!
T Both Joseph and Mary were told that the baby was to be named "Jesus."
Yes. See Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31. In Judaism, babies were always named by their father. Here we see God the Father (not Joseph) giving Jesus his name. By the way, "Jesus" is the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Joshua," the successor of Moses. (Joshua means "Yahweh saves").
F When Herod heard about Jesus he was the only one concerned about this new king.
All Jerusalem was disturbed by this news of a new king (Matthew 2:3).
F The wise men found Jesus lying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem.
Jesus was in a house by this time (Matthew 2:11).
T After the angels announcement the shepherds went straight to Bethlehem to see Jesus.
Correct. They were excited! They did not hesitate. They did not stop at Starbucks, they did not pass "Go" and stop to collect their $200! Luke 2:15-16.
T Joseph married Mary immediately after the angel appeared to him.
Yes. His obedience was quick, cheerful and complete. Matthew 1:24.
F Some of the shepherds doubted and refused to believe the message they heard from the angels.
They went to see the baby right away, they spread the word, and they praised God for what they had been permitted to see and hear. No doubt there. Luke 2:15-20.

Another 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of Christmas gifts danced in their heads.
A holiday Barbie, some video games,
A basketball goal and some new rollerblades,
A new Beanie Baby - the bear or the frog,
A Giga Pet - maybe a cat or a dog,
An album or CD, some shoes with red lights,
A brand new computer with more gigabytes!
And I, in my jammies and mom in her gown
Were so very happy to finally lie down.

We were exhausted, the bed was our goal.
The last-minute shopping had taken its toll.
The stockings were stuffed all with candy and loot,
And 'lectronic toys that go Zot, Bleep and Zoot.
We hunted and searched so the gifts were just right.
Thank goodness for stores that stay open all night!
We'd fought the crowds hard from dawn until dark
And that was just getting a good place to park!
We'd hiked for two hours 'cross that parking lot,
But we were SO proud of the gifts that we'd bought.

A sweater for Mary, a new watch for John,
Some toys for the Jones kids to clutter their lawn.
For the pastor's wife, something with sentiment deep.
(Oh, she'll never guess that we got it so cheap)!
We'd shopped high and low all night and all day.
It tuckered us out, but that was OK...
For piles of presents - all wrapped up so fine
Were under our own tree - and some of them mine!!

I'd played Santa Claus along side the best
And now I was sleepy and ready to rest.
So I, in my jammies and mom in her gown
Went into our bedroom to finally lie down.
As we lay there, she asked me, "Oh dear, did you pray?"
"Happy Birthday, dear Jesus..and have a nice day."
"What'd she get me?" I wondered, as we lay hand in hand
And we both drifted off into deep la-la land.

It seemed I'd been sleeping a minute or two
When I suddenly awoke to the sound of...a MOO!!
"A cow at our window?" I thought, "Couldn't be!"
But I rose from the bed just to look out and see.
I went to the window and opened the blind.
"Nothing there, I was dreaming - or out of my mind!"
Then I heard it again, this time from inside!!
"Now where in the house could a great big cow hide?"
I looked back at the bed where my wife lay asleep
Then, I heard something else! 'Twas the bleat of a sheep!!
"Something here's just not right", and I started to shake.
And I looked 'round the room for a weapon to take.
"Someone's here playing pranks, and it's not very funny."
I feared they were stealing our presents and money.
So I picked up a lamp - it was all I could find -
And I went out with retaliation in mind.

As I got to the end of the hall, I could see
There were long shadows cast by the light of the tree.
I was frozen in fear as of impending doom.
There were eight or ten people in my living room!
I could tell by the shadows that moved on the wall
There were certainly people - but that wasn't all...
There were some kind of animals also, in there -
They looked like big dogs and they had lots of hair!
As I crept to the room, I thought I'd soon die.
But I just had to fend for my home - I'm a GUY!

When I peeked around that dark corner..Surprise!!
What I saw..I just could not believe in my eyes.
The animals were not dogs, they were sheep!
And I saw some men kneeling, not making a peep.
They were dressed in wool robes and they carried sticks, all -
And their shoes were all stacked on the floor in the hall.
They were all gathered 'round on their knees, I could see
Something had their attention under my Christmas tree.

There was a small donkey and cows really big.
I thought, "Cattle and sheep, and not one single pig."
And somehow in all of this weirdness, I found
That my fear was all gone. Then I heard a strange sound.
The sound was familiar - it made me recall
When my own precious children were still very small.
Then I heard it again, and I knew it to be
The sweet little coo of a newborn baby.

Then the men gathered 'round my tree kneeling began
To sing songs in the language of some other land.
They were holy songs - that I could tell, although I
Could never explain just quite how or quite why.
I just KNEW, and I knew that I just had to see
Who they sang the songs for, down there under my tree.
So I inched my way in, trying not to offend.
'Til I'd worked my way up to the front of the men.

There I saw a young man sitting down on one knee.
He looked quite mature, although younger than me.
In his eyes, I saw wisdom, compassion, and care
And the strength of a man with a great load to bear.
By his side, a young woman - barely more than a child.
But a lady so lovely and gentle and mild.
I could see in her face - innocence and great joy.
And I saw in her arms, her new baby boy!

I was awestruck indeed that this sight I should see.
Then she held out the child and nodded to me.
"Oh, I couldn't," I thought. "That could never be right."
But she nodded again and I shuddered with fright.
Then I looked at the babe and He looked back at me.
And I knew by His look, that this thing had to be.
So I held out my arms and she gave Him to me.
And I held the Christ child beneath my Christmas tree!

He was precious and sweet, and a thrill to behold..
And the moment was worth more than silver and gold.
And then, quite out of habit, without even thinking
I just touched the palm of His hand with my pinky.
And just like any baby, His hand grabbed it tight!
He held onto my finger with all of His might.

He was strong, but so tiny and fragile and frail;
Then I looked at His hand and I thought of the nails.
I thought of Him hanging - His arms outstretched wide.
I thought of Him pierced with a sword in His side.
I thought of the crown made of thorns on His head.
I thought of Him hanging there..on the cross...dead.
I thought of my sin, all my guilt and my shame;
For my sin, He died, and that's why He came.
He rose from the dead, conquered death and the grave.
Though I am unworthy, my sins He forgave.

I awoke with a start, to the sound of the noise
Of a house full of children expecting new toys.
I went to the living room, still half asleep,
And kind of expected to see cows and sheep.
I could see all was normal, as I looked around,
And deep inside, I was a little let down.
The presents were beautiful, stacked on the floor.
But not so important as they'd seemed before.

I looked at my family and just HAD to say:
"Before we tear into this stuff, let us pray."
We stood, hand in hand, and then each bowed his head
And, recalling what happened last night, I said,
"Please forgive us, dear Father..sometimes we forget
That this day's not about all the presents we get.
It's not about friendship, it's just about You.
And what, for Your children, You're willing to do.
Forgive us, oh Lord, we sincerely pray.
Happy Birthday, dear Jesus...and thank You for this day!"

Why Jesus is Better Than Santa Claus

*Santa lives at the North Pole... JESUS is everywhere.

*Santa rides in a sleigh... JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

*Santa comes but once a year... JESUS is an ever present help.

*Santa fills your stockings with goodies... JESUS supplies all your needs.

*You have to wait in line to see Santa... JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

*Santa lets you sit on his lap... JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

*Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"... JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our head.

*Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly... JESUS has a heart full of love.

*All Santa can offer is HO HO HO... JESUS offers health, help and hope.

*Santa says "You better not cry"... JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

*Santa's little helpers make toys... JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

*Santa may make you chuckle but...JESUS gives you a joy that is your strength.

*While Santa puts gifts under your tree... JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

Its obvious there is really no comparison! Jesus is still the reason for the season. Yes, Jesus is better, he is even better than Santa Claus.

english equivalents of dutch names

ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS OF DUTCH NAMES

Difficulty is sometimes experienced in the examination of church records in this region (and the same occurs in the records in family Bibles and inscriptions on tombstones) by the want of familiarity with Dutch nomenclature. OLDE ULSTER has been requested to assist the inexperienced in such matters.

The following list gives the English equivalent of many of the more puzzling of Dutch Christian names. The final "je" in which so many Dutch names end bears the same relation to them which the "ie" of the English names does to the English. It is a diminutive and applied as a pet name. It is pronounced ye. It is usually applied to women's names but often to those of boys. There are many instances in which it is applied to men. It was no more common for the Dutch to call Anna " Antje" than for the English to call it "Annie." A familiar instance of the diminutive given to men is yet to be found in this county in the modification of the name Cornelius. It is still common to call Cornelius "Case." This is a corruption. The diminutive is correctly given in the list as "Keesje."

These instances suffice to explain the equivalent and the usage.

Aaltje = Alice.

Aart = Arthur.

Aetje = Eve.

Agnietje = Agnes.

Alyd = Adelia.

Andreas = Andrew.

Anneken, or Annetje, or Antje = Anna.

Adelheyd = Adelaide or Adeline.

Arendt = Aaron.

Alberick = Aubrey.

Alta = Alida.

Arriaantje = Harriet or Arrietta.

Barent = Bernard.

Badeloch = Beatrice.

Bastiaan = Sebastian.

Betje = Elizabeth.

Boudewyn = Baldwin.

Bram = Abraham.

Bregje = Bridget.

Caspar = Jasper.

Catrijn = Catharine.

Christoffel or Stoffel = Christopher.

Christyntje = Christina.

Coenraadt = Conrad.

Daatje = Alice.

Derrick = Theodorick.

Dientje = Diana.

Dirkje = Dorothy.

Doris = Theodore.

Elsje = Elsie.

Emmetje = Emma.

Engeltje = Angelica.

Epje = Egbert.

Evert = Everard.

Femmetje = Phoebe.

Fletje = Sophia.

Floris = Florence.

Francyntje or Fransje = Frances

Freek = Frederick.

Frem = Ephraim.

Geert or Gerrit or Garrett = Gerard.

Geertje or Geertrui = Gertrude

Geertruyd or Geertruy = Gertrude.

Gerrtie = Geraldine

Gijs = Gilbert.

Godfried = Jeffrey.

Govert = Godfrey.

Griet or Grietje = Margaret.

Guido = Guy.

Gysbert = Gilbert.

Hansje = Joan.

Hein = Henry.

Heintje = Henrietta.

Hendrik = Henry.

Hendrikje = Henrietta

Heyltje = Helena.

Hieronimus = Jerome.

Hillegond = Huldah.

Hiskia = Hezekiah.

Hilletje = Maria. It has been suggested that this should be Hilda or Huldah

Huybert = Hubert.

Jaantje = Jane.

Jaap or Jacobus = James.

Jacoba or Jacomyntje = Jemima.

Jaapje or Jannetje or Jansje = Jane.

Jan = John.

Jeronimus = Jerome.

Johannes = John.

Jochem = Joachim.

Joost = Justus.

Joris or Jury or Ury = George.

Josyntje = Justina

Jurian = George.

Kaatje = Catharine or Kate.

Kareltje = Caroline.

Katryne or Tryne = Catharine.

Keetje = Cornelia

Kees or Keesje = Cornelius.

Kersten or Christiaan or Shaan = Christian.

Klaar or Klaartje = Clara.

Klaas or Claus = Nicholas

Klaasje = Klarissa.

Kobus = Jacob or James.

Koenraadt = Conrad.

Koosje = Jaqueline.

Krelis = Cornelius.

Krisje = Christiana.

Lambrecht = Lambert.

Leen = Leonard.

Leentje = Eleanor or Helen.

Letje = Letitia.

Lezart = Elisha.

Lijsje = Elizabeth.

Lodewyk = Louis

Lotje = Charlotte.

Louw = Lawrence

Ludovicus = Louis.

Luytje = Lucy or Lucia.

Lys = Elizabeth.

Maartje = Maria or Mary.

Maarten = Martin.

Machiel = Michael.

Machteld = Matilda.

Manus = Herman.

Margaretha or Margrietje = Margaret.

Marvtje = Maria or Mary.

Matje = Matilda.

Matthys = Matthew.

Meewes = Bartholomew.

Mietje = Mary.

Mijntje = Wilhelmina.

Naatje = Anna.

Neeltje = Cornelia.

Nikolaas = Nicholas.

Niesje = Agnes.

Pietje = Peter.

Pieje = Petronella.

Reindert = Reginald.

Rip (Rijpert) = Rupert.

Roelof or Rolfe = Ralph.

Rutger = Roger.

Rykaard = Richard.

Saam = Samuel.

Saartje = Sarah.

Sannertje = Susan.

Seletje = Celia.

Skiaa = Hezekiah.

Staats = Eustace.

Stans = Constance.

Stijntje = Christina.

Stoffel = Christopher.

Taatje = Sarah.

Tanneken = Ann.

Teeuwis = Matthew.

Teunis = Anthony.

Teuntje = Antonia.

Tiebout = Theobald.

Tientje = Albertina.

Tijmen = Timothy.

Tijs = Matthias.

Tjaatje (Chawchee) = Charity.

Tjerck (Charick) = Theodorick

Toon = Anthony.

Treesje = Theresa.

Trui or Truitje = Gertrude.

Trijn or Tryntje = Catharine.

Urseltje = Ursula.

Valentyn or Felte = Valentine.

Wouter = Walter.

Wyntje = Lavinia.

Ydtje = Ida.

Yzaak = Isaak.

Zanneke = Susan.

Cure for cancer?

I have heard that vitamin B17 may actually be the "cure for cancer" that man has been looking for. We don't need to create some new wonder-drug; just bring back naturally found vitamins, minerals and oils that were originally in our diets. Here's the beginning of what I have found:

Foods Containing B17 (Nitrilosides)

Vitamin B17 appears in abundance in untamed nature. Because B17 is bitter to the taste, in man's attempt to improve tastes and flavors for his own pleasure, he has eliminated bitter substances like B17 by selection and cross-breeding. It can be stated as a general rule that many of the foods that have been domesticated still contain the vitamin B17 in that part not eaten by modem man, such as the seeds in apricots. Listed below is an evaluation of some of the more common foods. Keep in mind that these are averages only and that specimens vary widely depending on variety, locale, soil, and climate.

Fruits Range*
blackberry, domestic low
blackberry, wild high
boysenberry med.
choke cherry high
wild crabapple high
market cranberry low
Swedish (lignon) cranberry high
currant med.
elderberry med. to high
gooseberry. med.
huckleberry med.
loganberry med.
mulberry med.
quince med.
raspberry med.

Seeds Range*
apple seeds high
apricot seed high
buckwheat med.
cherry seed high
flax med.
millet med.
nectarine seed high
peach seed high
pear seeds high
plum seed high
prune seed high
squash seeds med.

Beans Range*
black low
black-eyed peas low
fava high
garbanzo low to med.
green pea low
kidney low to med.
lentils med.
lima, U.S. low
lima, Burma med.
mung med. to high
shell low

Nuts (all raw) Range*
bitter almond high
cashew low
macadamia med. to high

Sprouts Range*
alfalfa med.
bamboo high
fava med.
garbanzo med.
mung med.

Leaves Range*
alfalfa high
beet tops low
eucalyptus high
spinach low
water cress low

Tubers Range*
cassava high
sweet potato low
yams low

Range*
High — above 500 mgs. nitriloside per 100 grams food
Medium — above 100 mgs. per 100 grams food
Low — below 100 mgs. per 100 grams food

"Human Being Recall Notice"

Human Being Recall Notice

This notice applies to all human beings, no exceptions. Read carefully.

The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units, code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.

This defect has been technically termed, "Sub-sequential Internal Non-morality," or more commonly known as "SIN".

Some Symptoms:
a. Loss of direction
b. Lack of peace and joy
c. Depression or confusion in the mental component
d. Foul vocal emissions
e. Selfish, violent behavior
f. Amnesia of origin
g. Fearfulness
h. Rebellion
i. Pride

To correct this SIN defect, the Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service free of charge. The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs.

There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
a. Love
b. Joy
c. Peace
d. Kindness
e. Goodness
f. Faithfulness
g. Gentleness
h. Patience
i. Self-control

Please see the operating manual, HOLY BIBLE, for further details on the use of these fixes. As an added upgrade, the Manufacturer has made available to all repaired units direct monitoring and assistance from the resident Maintenance Technician, the HOLY SPIRIT. Repaired units need only make Him welcome and He will take up residence on the premises.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without making these corrections voids the Manufacturer's warranty, exposing the unit to many dangers and problems --- and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.

For free emergency service, call on JESUS.
Thank you for your attention.

notes from Creation Seminar part 3B (cont.)

Creation Seminar: Part 3B
November 18, 2007

Dinosaurs and the Bible (Part 3)

Job 40:15 (“behold now behemoth…”). Behemoth was not an elephant or hippopotamus. Behemoth was most likely a large, long-necked dinosaur. Job 40:17 says that behemoth moves his tail like a cedar (tree!).
Behemoth was most likely a brachiosaurus. He had a tail that could be compared to a cedar tree! (Also see Job 40:18 – bones like bars of iron). The biggest dinosaur found to date was 60 feet tall, found in Oklahoma. It probably weighed 100 tons (which is equal to 14 school buses).
Job 40:19 (He is the chief of the ways of God = biggest creature that God ever created. That would not be the hippo or elephant).
How big is your God? Is your God big enough to tell you what to do and you will do it without question?
 Clothes? (see 1 Timothy 2:9)
 Hair? (see 1 Corinthians 11:14)
 Speech? (see Ephesians 4:29)
 What you watch on TV? (see Psalm 101:3)
 What kind of music to listen to? (see Ephesians 5:19). God loves music. God invented music.
 Marriage? (see 1 Corinthians 7:1-2, Proverbs 6:26). Do you want to have a “precious life?” Don’t listen to Hollywood; stay faithful to your spouse for the rest of your life.
Satan couldn’t fool Adam about the dinosaurs. Adam named them!
Satan couldn’t fool Noah about the dinosaurs. Noah fed them every day during the Flood!
Over the next 4,000 years most of the dinosaurs died or were killed off by man.
By 1809 most of the dinosaurs were gone and people had forgotten about them.
Satan is using dinosaurs to brainwash kids. At our expense!
The biggest swamp in the world is the Likouala swamp in the Congo and Zaire, Africa. It is 55,000 square miles (the same size as the states of Florida, Iowa, and Illinois). Today this swamp is still 80% unexplored. Dinosaur sightings have been reported since 1910 in this swamp. Natives also described huge 50-foot crocodiles living there. (Look up the Mokele-Mbembe, or crypto-zoology for more information on this topic).
Sightings have also occurred in South America (between Brazil and Peru). A huge 35-foot snake was found with a native inside (and even up to 150-feet long!).
The Amazon River in places is 9 miles wide.
A lake in Scotland, called Loch Ness is huge: 24 miles long and 1 to 1 ½ miles wide and 900 feet deep. This lake is big enough to hold all 6 billion people on the planet. In 1933 there were 52 separate sightings of the “Loch Ness Monster.” By the 1960’s there had been over 9,000 sightings. Today it is over 11,000 sightings. This creature is most likely a plesiosaur. There are 7 other lakes in the same area as Loch Ness that have had “monster” sightings. There have been sightings in the English Channel of some sort of “sea serpent.” A creature washed up on the beach in Normandy, France in 1934. A “sea serpent” was reported off the coast of Brazil in 1905. There have many sightings around the world over the years. Feel free to do your own research so that you can come to your own conclusions.
Some people like the evolution theory because it gives them freedom from God.
The bible talks about “the dragons of the waters” (Psalm 74:13-14), and of “the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1-2).

JEREMIAH 10:23 (Bible memorization verse #7)

I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps (NIV)

or

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (KJV)

notes from Creation Seminar part 3A and 3B

Creation Seminar: Part 3A and 3B
November 11, 2007

Dinosaurs and the Bible (Part 2)

Isaiah 14:29 (the fiery flying serpent)
The famous Greek historian Herodotus wrote of winged serpents in 440 B.C. Josephus also wrote about serpents. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle from 793 A.D. mentions fiery flying dragons.
Leviathan was a fire-breathing dragon. The Book of Job talks about it in Job 41:19-21.
The ancient city of Babylon was rebuilt by Saddam Hussein. Saddam thought he was Nebuchadnezzar reincarnated (or at least a descendant of). The original walls of Babylon have carvings of lions and dragons on them from 2600 years ago.
Alexander the Great talked about dragons when he conquered parts of India in 326 B.C. Also see Roman mosaics from 2nd century A.D.; St. George slaying a dragon in 275 A.D.; Beowulf slew many dragons and was killed while fighting one in 583 A.D.; an Irish writer told of a large beast similar to a dinosaur in 900 A.D.; a Viking carving of a dragon swallowing a man from the 11th century A.D. and Viking ships often had a head of a dragon from 1000 A.D.; the Norway legend of Siegfried who slew the dragon Fafnir; etc.
Marco Polo lived in China for 17 years around 1271 A.D. and reported that the emperor raised dragons to pull his chariots in parades. In 1611 the Chinese emperor appointed the post of a “Royal Dragon Feeder.” Why would you need a Royal Dragon Feeder unless there were dragons?
“Scientists” can’t agree on how old the earth is:
 70,000 years old: George Buffon in 1770
 2 billion years old: 1902
 3.5 billion years old: 1969
 4.6 billion years old: today
 At these age changes, the earth is getting older at the rate of 21 million years per year! (or 40 years per minute). So obviously none of the above ages are correct. All you have to do is read the Bible to determine the real age of the earth.
Indians in the U.S., Australia, and Canada all have drawn paintings showing dragons/dinosaurs.
In Peru, giant images have been found in the Nazca desert (spider). “Ancient people” were not stupid/ignorant. Also check out the Ica Stones which show dinosaurs on them (and other strange things). People had to have seen dinosaurs in order to know what their skin looked like. You can’t tell what skeleton’s skin looked like unless you’ve seen one alive. Fossilized dinosaur skin was found, confirming that there was often circular patterns on their skin, as shown on some of the stones
Recently un-fossilized, soft dinosaur tissue was found (2005)
Roman artifacts have been found in Arizona (1925). The Romans came across the Atlantic to America way before Columbus did. Columbus was not the first “white man” across the ocean. Brendan the Navigator came from Ireland to America in 500 A.D. Hebrew coins have been found in Ohio. There was trade back and forth the Atlantic during the time of Christ. A huge 80-ton stone in New Mexico showed the 10 Commandments on it from 500-600 A.D. (Someone must have come across the ocean to try to evangelize America 1500 years ago!).
Legends of giant octopuses have existed for a long time. One washed up on the beach in Florida that was 200 feet across and weighed 5 tons. Large squid have also been found. In New Zealand, a baby squid washed ashore that if full grown would have been 150 feet long.
Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible? [START OF SESSION 3B]
The Book of Job. Job 1:1. Job was very wealthy. The Book of Job was probably written after the Flood, but during the time when people still lived around 400 years. Job was quite a guy. After he lost everything, including his 10 kids, Job said, “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Do you do that when bad things happen to you?
Ephesians 5:33
Yes, tragedy comes to good people. Read Romans 8:28 (…all things work together for good…)
The Christian life: Keep Your Heart Right with God. (Read Jeremiah 17:9)
Be careful about getting Bible doctrine from the Book of Job (the book accurately records what Job’s three friends said, but some of what they said are lies).
God understands everything that you even thought about. (1 Chronicles 28:9). “The Lord understands all the imaginations of the thoughts…” And, God knows the thoughts of man (Psalm 94:11). In Luke 11:17, it states that Jesus knew people’s thoughts. Luke 11:17 is one of many verses in the Bible that proves that Jesus is God Almighty in the flesh! Just think about this: God knows your thoughts, and loves you anyway!
Science is very slowly catching up with parts of the Bible. “Springs of the sea,” or in the sea (Job 38:16) – scientists didn’t know that there were springs in the sea until 1977, but it’s in God’s Word. “Light” dwells in a “way.” It is always moving – it doesn’t stay in one place (see Job 38:19). The opposite is true about darkness, there is a speed of light, but the speed of darkness is zero. Darkness cannot move.
Christians should be “the children of light and of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Be on the move – do something for the Lord!
Matthew 16:18
Job 38:24 (this verse is saying that light causes the wind to move). This is true; sunlight causes the wind patterns.
Job 38:35 (is God saying that we can use electricity to send a message?)
God asked Job 84 questions and Job never answered 1. The questions were asked to change Job’s attitude (like a father to his kids).
Warning - not real scripture quotes:
 “Whosoever payeth the bills, maketh the rules!” 2 Opinions 4:7
 “The golden Rule: He that hath the gold, maketh the rules! 2 Opinions 5:9
Job 40:15 (“behold now behemoth…”). Behemoth was not an elephant or hippopotamus. Behemoth was most likely a large, long-necked dinosaur. Job 40:17 says that behemoth moves his tail like a cedar (tree!).

notes from Creation Seminar part 3A

Dinosaurs and the Bible (Part 1)

For the past 200 years, some Christians have been confused as to how dinosaurs fit into the Bible
Some Christians have compromised the clear teaching of the Bible in order to accommodate the dinosaurs: such as the gap theory, the day-age theory, progressive creation, or theistic evolution
Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11. If God made everything in 6 days, then Adam and Eve must have seen dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are big lizards that lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. (They did not live millions of years ago!)
Were there dinosaurs on Noah’s ark? The big dinosaurs were very large – but Noah didn’t have to bring on fully grown dinosaurs (bring on babies!). The biggest dinosaur egg ever found is smaller than a football. Why bring babies:
 They are smaller
 They weigh less
 They eat less
 They sleep a lot more (so they are easier to take care of)
 They are tougher
 After the Flood, they will live longer to produce more offspring
God told Noah to bring 2 every sort/kind or animal on the ark, not species (see Genesis 7:14-15)
Genesis 7:22 (only animals in whose nostrils was the breath of life, and those on dry land). Noah did not have to bring any fish on the ark. Noah did not have to bring any bugs/insects on the ark because bugs don’t have nostrils – they breath through their skin.
Remember: God made the kinds and God told Noah how big to build the ark – so I think he had it figured out how to fit everything on the ark!
Genesis 6:11-14
So far, about 270 flood legends have been found throughout the world (Hawaiian: Nu-u; Chinese: Fuhi; Toltec Indians in Mexico: Coxcox)
Mt. Ararat in Turkey (on a Turkish map it is translated as Noah’s big boat)
Genesis 8:4 (the ark came to rest in the seventh month upon the mountains of Ararat). There are four theories about the location of Noah’s ark:
 It was taken apart and the lumber was used for buildings (you’d have to wait awhile for the trees to grow after the Flood!)
 It rotted
 It is still on the mountain
 It is in the valley
It may have originally come to rest in a village called Kazan (which means village of eight). The Turkish government says it is there and has even built a visitor center nearby.
Genesis 6:15 (the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, which is from elbow to fingertip). This would be about 2/3 the size of the Titanic and 2 football fields long
Also near Kazan, 8 drogue stones were found (anchor stones to help a boat stay stabilized during a storm). These large stones are thought to have been from Noah’s ark. Noah’s ark is also thought to have had a moon pool in the center.
What happened to the dinosaurs when everything got off the ark? (Satan loves to use dinosaurs as one of his favorite tools because kids love them!). There are 16 theories as to what happened to the dinosaurs: (an asteroid(s) struck the earth and killed off the dinosaurs, the dinosaurs killed themselves off with their own flatulence [methane gas], etc.)
They are asking the wrong question. The question is not, “What made the dinosaurs go extinct?” The question is, “Did they go extinct?” Liberals are great at getting us to argue about the wrong subject. Another example would be, “Should creation be taught in public schools?” vs. “Should we have public schools?”
Children do not belong to the state, they belong to God and he entrusted them to parents. Parents should decide what God wants them to be taught.
Dinosaurs leaving the ark faced a new world with a more hostile climate. Many probably died from the climate changes within the first few hundred years after the Flood.
Dinosaurs had two problems after the Flood: 1) the climate changes, and 2) people now hunted them
Dinosaurs were called dragons. There are thousands of legends of people seeing or killing dragons. The word “dinosaur” was invented in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen. So for most of history, these large lizards were known as dragons.
Dragons are mentioned in the Bible 34 times (you’ll have to look in the King James Version): Deuteronomy 32:33
Man killed off dragons (dinosaurs) for many reasons:
 For meat
 Because they were a menace
 To be a hero: save the village from the dragon!
 To prove his superiority
 Competition for the land – drive them away or kill them
 Medicinal purposes (many ancient recipes call for dragon blood, bones, saliva)
Why would the Chinese calendar have 11 real animals and one “mythical” dragon? Could it be that at the time they came up with these symbols, they were 12 real animals?
Isaiah 14:29 (a fiery flying serpent)

final comments about "republic" and "democracy"

My dictionary does not state that "a republic is one form of a democracy."

A REPUBLIC is a form of government; and

A DEMOCRACY is a form of government.

Just because you type something on your computer and post it on the internet does not make it a fact.

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language lists the following as definition number one for DEMOCRACY: "government by the people, directly or through representatives." It also translates the original Greek words as meaning "the people + to rule." So a democracy is supposed to be a government ruled by the people. This could also be considered "mob rule" or "rule by the majority."

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language lists the following as definition number one for REPUBLIC: "a state or government, specif. one headed by a president, in which the power is exercised by officials elected by the voters." This sounds more like what the U.S. is to me: we have a president, and we, as voters, elect officials (congress).

The original posting certainly had nothing to do with our current president, so there isn't any reason to cry about President Bush here. Feel free to create your own blog to spout anti-Bush, anti-government, or anti-Fox News ramblings. As you know, President Bush is not a synonym for Government. The low ratings of the president are not any worse than for congress, which has the other party as the majority anyway. Besides, President Bush will be done in over a year, so it is pointless to keep whining about him. I'm not here to talk about politics, so please leave this topic to other sites.

Focus on the future, not the past.

Can this country return to how it was originally set up? No. Should we dwell on this fact? No. Should we paint a revisionist view of U.S. history for our own agenda? No.

JONAH 2:8 (Bible memorization verse #6)

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. (NIV)

or

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. (KJV)

Is the United States a DEMOCRACY? and What is a Republic?

It's amazing how many people are under the false impression that the United States is a democracy. I have accumulated recently from various sources some information to back up this claim. I have attached this information below. Please take the time to read this material, especially if you genuinely think that the U.S. has always been a democracy.



Republic vs. Democracy
Rule by Law vs. Rule by Majority
Just after the completion and signing of the Constitution, in reply to a woman's inquiry as to the type of government the Founders had created, Benjamin Franklin said, "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Not only have we failed to keep it, most don't even know what it is.
A Republic is representative government ruled by law (the Constitution). A democracy is direct government ruled by the majority (mob rule). A Republic recognizes the inalienable rights of individuals while democracies are only concerned with group wants or needs (the public good).
Lawmaking is a slow, deliberate process in our Constitutional Republic requiring approval from the three banches of government, the Supreme Court and individual jurors (jury-nullification). Lawmaking in our unlawful democracy occurs rapidly requiring approval from the whim of the majority as determined by polls and/or voter referendums. A good example of democracy in action is a lynch mob. A more recent example was the failure of the US Senate to uphold their oath "to do impartial justice" and remove bill clinton from office. Those Senators should be removed themselves, for failure to uphold their oath and for aiding and abetting a known criminal.
Democracies always self-destruct when the non-productive majority realizes that it can vote itself handouts from the productive minority by electing the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury. To maintain their power, these candidates must adopt an ever-increasing tax and spend policy to satisfy the ever-increasing desires of the majority. As taxes increase, incentive to produce decreases, causing many of the once productive to drop out and join the non-productive. When there are no longer enough producers to fund the legitimate functions of government and the socialist programs, the democracy will collapse, always to be followed by a Dictatorship.
Even though nearly every politician, teacher, journalist and citizen believes that our Founders created a democracy, it is absolutely not true. The Founders knew full well the differences between a Republic and a Democracy and they repeatedly and emphatically said that they had founded a republic.
Article IV Section 4, of the Constitution "guarantees to every state in this union a Republican form of government".... Conversely, the word Democracy is not mentioned even once in the Constitution. Madison warned us of the dangers of democracies with these words,
"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths...",
"We may define a republic to be ... a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure for a limited period, or during good behavior. It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans and claim for their government the honorable title of republic." James Madison, Federalist No. 10, (1787)
"A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Our military training manuals used to contain the correct definitions of Democracy and Republic. The following comes from Training Manual No. 2000-25 published by the War Department, November 30, 1928.
DEMOCRACY:
• A government of the masses.
• Authority derived through mass meeting or any other form of "direct" expression.
• Results in mobocracy.
• Attitude toward property is communistic--negating property rights.
• Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate, whether is be based upon deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice, and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences.
• Results in demogogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.
REPUBLIC:
• Authority is derived through the election by the people of public officials best fitted to represent them.
• Attitude toward law is the administration of justice in accord with fixed principles and established evidence, with a strict regard to consequences.
• A greater number of citizens and extent of territory may be brought within its compass.
• Avoids the dangerous extreme of either tyranny or mobocracy.
• Results in statesmanship, liberty, reason, justice, contentment, and progress.
• Is the "standard form" of government throughout the world.
The manuals containing these definitions were ordered destroyed without explanation about the same time that President Franklin D. Roosevelt made private ownership of our lawful money (US Minted Gold Coins) illegal. Shortly after the people turned in their $20 gold coins, the price was increased from $20 per ounce to $35 per ounce. Almost overnight F.D.R., the most popular president this century (elected 4 times) looted almost half of this nation's wealth, while convincing the people that it was for their own good. Many of F.D.R.'s policies were suggested by his right hand man, Harry Hopkins, who said,
"Tax and Tax, Spend and Spend, Elect and Elect, because the people are too damn dumb to know the difference".
United States Constitution
Art. 4 Sec. 4 Par. 1

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government.” [Not a democracy.]

Pledge of Allegiance – “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands …”

As Benjamin Franklin was leaving the building where, after four months of hard work, the Constitution had been completed and signed, a lady asked him what kind of government the convention had created. A very old, very tired, and very wise Benjamin Franklin replied; “A Republic, ma’am if you can keep it.” (Webster’s dictionary definition: a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.)
Democracy: Operates by direct majority vote of the people. When an issue is to be decided, the entire population votes on it; the majority wins and rules. A democracy is rule by majority feeling (what the Founding Fathers described as “mobocracy”). Example: in a democracy, if a majority of the people decides that murder is no longer a crime, murder will no longer be a crime.
Republic: Where the general population elects representatives who then pass laws to govern the nation … a republic is rule by law. Our republic is a form of government where power is separated, [our Founding Fathers knew that people are basically weak, sinful and corruptible, (Jeremiah 17:9)], pitting men against each other, making it difficult to pass laws and make changes.
WARNINGS
John Witherspoon, signer - “Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far into the departments of state – it is very subject to caprice and the madness of popular rage.”
Zephaniah Swift, author of America’s first legal text - “It may generally be remarked that the more a government resembles a pure democracy the more they abound with disorder and confusion.”
Benjamin Rush, signer - “ a simple democracy … is one of the greatest of evils.”
John Quincy Adams - “The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived.”
Noah Webster - “In democracy … there are commonly tumults and disorders … Therefore a pure democracy is generally a very bad government. It is often the most tyrannical government on earth.”
James Madison - “Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
John Adams - “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
Fisher Ames, author of the House language for the First Amendment - “A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way. The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the ambitious call, and the ignorant believe to be liberty !! NOTE … look at today’s sexual freedoms.
Gouverneur Morris, signer and penman of the Constitution - “We have seen the tumult of democracy terminate … as [it has] everywhere terminated, in despotism … Democracy! savage and wild. Thou who wouldst bring down the virtuous and wise to the level of folly and guilt.”
Samuel Adams – “… it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds …”
End of Warnings
What is the source of law for the American republic? According to Founder Noah Webster: “Our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.”
In our republic, murder will always be a crime, for it is always a crime according to the Word of God. In the American republic, principles that do not change and which are certain and universal in their operation upon all the members of the community of man were the principles of Biblical natural law … the basis of our Declaration, Constitution and legal system.
Professor Montesquieu, a French professor, author and legal philosopher who wrote the highly influential book, The Spirit Of The Laws, (which was read and studied intently in America) was the source of our division of power in our government. Baron Charles Montesquieu was the second most frequently quoted source, next to the Holy Bible, out of all the references used by our Founding Fathers.He was the source of our division of power in government; (i.e.. legislative, administrative, judicial) claiming Isaiah 33:22 as the source; the Lord is our King, the Lord is our Judge and the Lord is our Lawgiver. Montesquieu identified the rule of law as “natural law” which is based on the Holy Bible. He identified the rule of law as “principles that do not change”. Natural Law is the law God gave His people through the Bible and the Ten Commandments.
In 1748, Montesquieu wrote; “Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separated from legislative power and from executive power. If it [the power of judging] were joined to legislative power, the power over life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for the judge would be the legislature if it were joined to the executive power, the judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same … body of principal men … exercised these three powers.
Our Founding Fathers gave us an Electoral College because we are a Republic … not a democracy. The Electoral College follows the principle of elected representation. It was designed to further promote the ideals of balance, and of separation of powers. It gives the smaller States true representation in a fair and just manner by allowing their voices (as well as rural America) to be heard. It prevents the control of the Nation by highly populated urban centers, thus reducing the risk of elections being bought or won by fraud where power could be consolidated.
Noah Webster - “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a Republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a Republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect their divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer laws.”
Jedediah Moore, Founding educator -“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation … in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom …All efforts to destroy the foundations of our Holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown our present Republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
George Mason, father of Bill of Rights - “We are now to rank among the nations of the world; but whether our independence shall prove a blessing or a curse must depend upon our own wisdom or folly, virtue or wickedness …Justice and virtue are the vital principles of a republican government.”
GOD’S LAW All our laws are arranged into two different classes.
1. Divine – coming from God’s natural laws and His ten commandments.
2. Human – Matters that are not commanded or forbidden by God’s natural law.
U.S. Supreme Court, 1892 – “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.”
Benjamin Franklin – “We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”
James Madison, Father of the U.S. Constitution - “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to The Ten Commandments of God.”
George Washington, father of our country – “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
AT THE CONVENTION
On the fourth of July 1787, the entire convention was assembled in the Reformed Calvinistic Church, assembled there by the direction of Edmond Randolph of Virginia. The sermon and prayer was conducted by Rev. William Rogers – a portion of his prayer; “We fervently recommend to the Fatherly notice … our Federal Convention … Favor them, from day to day, with Thy inspiring presence; be their wisdom and strength; enable them to devise such measures as may prove happy instruments in healing all divisions and prove the good of the whole; … that the United States of America may form one example of a free and virtuous government…
May we … continue, under the influence of Republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and Christian society.”
John Witherspoon, signer, member of the Continental Congress, served on over 100 committees, a teacher who influenced students who included; a President -James Madison, a Vice President, three Supreme Court Justices, 10 Cabinet members, 12 Governors, 21 Senators, 39 Representatives as well as numerous delegates to the Constitutional Convention and state conventions. He served as President of Princeton University. His quotes;
1.“Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.”
2.“Whoever is an avowed enemy of God; I scruple not [do not hesitate] to call him an enemy of his country.”
3. John Adams at Witherspoon’s death said: “A true son of liberty. So he was. But first, he was a son of the Cross.”
John Hancock, signer –“The very existence of the Republic … depends much upon the public institutions of religion.”
Alexis deTocqueville, the Principle of Sovereignty of the People in America - “ It dominates the whole of American society. The Americans applied this principle even before their Revolution. Its growth was a result of the Revolution … in America the sovereignty of the people is neither hidden nor sterile as with most other nations; mores recognize it, and the laws proclaim it; it spreads with freedom and attains unimpeded its ultimate consequences.”
Chairman’s comment; Our Founding Fathers chose a Republic over a Democracy for many reasons; primarily because they remembered the most infamous “democratic” vote in all history. [i.e.] The lesson of a bureaucrat some 2000 years ago who turned to a crowd and asked which prisoner should be released – the crowd yelled - “give us Barabbas”. The ‘will of the people’ spoke that day. When the bureaucrat asked the people what should be done with this innocent, this Jesus, the crowd responded with a loud – CRUCIFY HIM.
Jesus was crucified by a majority vote exercising pure democracy which was the emotional, changing rule of the mob or as we call it today mobocracy. This is the reason our Founding Fathers wanted a Republic, a government based on the rule of law which could not be changed by the whims of the people.
Samuel Huntington, signer and Governor of Connecticut - “While the great body of freeholders are acquainted with the duties which they owe to their God, to themselves, and to men, they will remain free. But if ignorance and depravity should prevail they will inevitably lead to slavery and ruin.”

In the Pledge of Allegiance we all pledge allegiance to our Republic, not to a democracy. "Republic" is the proper description of our government, not "democracy." I invite you to join me in raising public awareness regarding that distinction.
A republic and a democracy are identical in every aspect except one. In a republic the sovereignty is in each individual person. In a democracy the sovereignty is in the group.

Republic. That form of government in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whome those powers are specially delegated. [NOTE: The word "people" may be either plural or singular. In a republic the group only has advisory powers; the sovereign individual is free to reject the majority group-think. USA/exception: if 100% of a jury convicts, then the individual loses sovereignty and is subject to group-think as in a democracy.]

Democracy. That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. [NOTE: In a pure democracy, 51% beats 49%. In other words, the minority has no rights. The minority only has those privileges granted by the dictatorship of the majority.]


The distinction between our Republic and a democracy is not an idle one. It has great legal significance.
The Constitution guarantees to every state a Republican form of government (Art. 4, Sec. 4). No state may join the United States unless it is a Republic. Our Republic is one dedicated to "liberty and justice for all." Minority individual rights are the priority. The people have natural rights instead of civil rights. The people are protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority. One vote in a jury can stop all of the majority from depriving any one of the people of his rights; this would not be so if the United States were a democracy. (see People's rights vs Citizens' rights)
In a pure democracy 51 beats 49[%]. In a democracy there is no such thing as a significant minority: there are no minority rights except civil rights (privileges) granted by a condescending majority. Only five of the U.S. Constitution's first ten amendments apply to Citizens of the United States. Simply stated, a democracy is a dictatorship of the majority. Socrates was executed by a democracy: though he harmed no one, the majority found him intolerable.
SOME DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS
Government. ....the government is but an agency of the state, distinguished as it must be in accurate thought from its scheme and machinery of government. ....In a colloquial sense, the United States or its representatives, considered as the prosecutor in a criminal action; as in the phrase, "the government objects to the witness." [Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, p. 625]
Government; Republican government. One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whome those powers are specially delegated. In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627. [Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, p. 626]
Democracy. That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, pp. 388-389.
Note: Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, can be found in any law library and most law offices.
COMMENTS
Notice that in a Democracy, the sovereignty is in the whole body of the free citizens. The sovereignty is not divided to smaller units such as individual citizens. To solve a problem, only the whole body politic is authorized to act. Also, being citizens, individuals have duties and obligations to the government. The government's only obligations to the citizens are those legislatively pre-defined for it by the whole body politic.
In a Republic, the sovereignty resides in the people themselves, whether one or many. In a Republic, one may act on his own or through his representatives as he chooses to solve a problem. Further, the people have no obligation to the government; instead, the government being hired by the people, is obliged to its owner, the people.
The people own the government agencies. The government agencies own the citizens. In the United States we have a three-tiered cast system consisting of people ---> government agencies ---> and citizens.
The people did "ordain and establish this Constitution," not for themselves, but "for the United States of America." In delegating powers to the government agencies the people gave up none of their own. (See Preamble of U.S. Constitution). This adoption of this concept is why the U.S. has been called the "Great Experiment in self government." The People govern themselves, while their agents (government agencies) perform tasks listed in the Preamble for the benefit of the People. The experiment is to answer the question, "Can self-governing people coexist and prevail over government agencies that have no authority over the People?"
The citizens of the United States are totally subject to the laws of the United States (See 14th Amendment of U.S. Constitution). NOTE: U.S. citizenship did not exist until July 28, 1868.
Actually, the United States is a mixture of the two systems of government (Republican under Common Law, and democratic under statutory law). The People enjoy their God-given natural rights in the Republic. In a democracy, the Citizens enjoy only government granted privileges (also known as civil rights).
There was a great political division between two major philosophers, Hobbes and Locke. Hobbes was on the side of government. He believed that sovereignty was vested in the state. Locke was on the side of the People. He believed that the fountain of sovereignty was the People of the state. Statists prefer Hobbes. Populists choose Locke. In California, the Government Code sides with Locke. Sections 11120 and 54950 both say, "The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them." The preambles of the U.S. and California Constitutions also affirm the choice of Locke by the People.
It is my hope that the U.S. will always remain a Republic, because I value individual freedom.
Thomas Jefferson said that liberty and ignorance cannot coexist.* Will you help to preserve minority rights by fulfilling the promise in the Pledge of Allegiance to support the Republic? Will you help by raising public awareness of the difference between the Republic and a democracy?
"Indisputably, this nation was founded as a republic and its leaders were justifiably afraid of a democracy,
lest it destroy the nation they had risked their lives to establish"
The author is secretary of Sons of Liberty (P.O. Box 44673, Boise, ID 83711-0673; phone 208-322-7863), a network of activist patriots whose goals is "the full and permanent restoration of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as their authors intended them" — The editors.
It was long ago speculated that the reason why so many Americans — especially new (naturalized) and working class Americans — register and vote as Democrats instead of Republicans is that they think this nation is a democracy. After all, that's what they've been told all their lives, and, wanting to be "good Americans," they opt to call themselves Democrats.
As a person who has never been able to understand how so many people with, supposedly, common sense would identify with and slavishly support the very party that bleeds their pocketbooks dry while enacting interminable tax loopholes for their very rich campaign contributors, that theory makes better sense than anything I have been able to come up with.
Alexander Hamilton said: "Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate government."

The redefining of "democracy" is one of the most disastrous and potentially fatal blows America has ever suffered, and the most frustrating thing about it is that it is such a blatant lie. The simple truth is that America is not now, never was, and was never intended to be a "democracy."
The political systems known as "democracy" and "republic" were created and named concurrently about 3,000 years ago in ancient Greece in what are known as "city-states": cities that were in bare-knuckle competition with each other even though their citizens were all the same nationality, Greek.
The one thing both systems had in common was the idea of self rule; that is, the absence of a "king" by any name. The distinction between them was that, in democracies, the qualified voters (which included every "free" citizen — yes, the ancient Greeks had their helots; lower, "serf" class people) met together and enacted all laws and made all decisions directly for the state. In the republics, the qualified voters elected representatives who, in turn, met together and enacted all laws and made all decisions for the state. Obviously, any political unit that got too large for all its qualified voters to meet together at one time in one place could not be a democracy, even if it wanted to be.
Also, keep in mind the fact that, contrary to what every 20th Century "liberal" (closet communist) propagandist tells you, "democracies" have never been classless societies, and have never been governments "of all the people."
Furthermore, even then, even 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, the dangers and failures of a democracy had revealed themselves, as shown by writers of the times.
About 370 BC, Plato wrote: "A democracy is a state in which the poor, gaining the upper hand, kill some and banish others, and then divide the offices among the remaining citizens equally."
About 126 BC, Polybius wrote: "The common people feel themselves oppressed by the grasping of some, and their vanity is flattered by others. Fired with evil passions, they are no longer willing to submit to control, but demand that everything be subject to their authority. The invariable result is that government assumes the noble names of free and popular, but becomes in fact the most execrable thing, mob rule."
And about 63 BC, Seneca, a Roman wrote: "Democracy is more cruel than wars or tyrants."
More than 2,000 years before this nation was founded, democracy had been recognized by its creators for the political and economic failure it is.
Colonial American Experience — Subsequent to declaring their independence from Britain, the colonies established their own, individual governments and, apparently in the enthusiasm of independence, most of them incorporated "democratic" standards for qualifying voters in their systems. According to some of the framers of the Constitution and to many 20th Century historians, this act very nearly caused the political death of the infant nation.
Specifically, most of the colonies voted themselves all manner of benefits without any apparent reflection on the ramifications of their acts. As a result, the individual colonies as well as the Confederation were confronted with massive debts and zero funds with which to pay them off. They had no credit — either financial or psychological — anywhere in the world. They were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and facing the very real threat of being taken over by some European nation.
This crisis, created by the financial and social irresponsibility of "democracy," compelled the convening in 1787 — barely four years after wining their war for independence — of the convention that led to the writing of our Constitution. During those debates, the danger and failure of democracy as a political system was known and pointed out.
Edmund Jennings Randolph, in debate, stated: "Our chief danger arises from the democratic parts of our constitutions."
Alexander Hamilton, in debate, said: "Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate government."
Elbridge Gerry, in debate, said: "The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are the dupes of pretended patriots."
And after the Constitution had been adopted: Alexander Hamilton, in Senate: "It has been observed that a pure democracy, if it were practicable, would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny: their figure deformity."
James Madison said: "...democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

John Adams, in a letter to John Taylor, wrote: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
James Madison said: "...democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."
Thomas Jefferson, in the drafts of the Kentucky Resolutions, wrote: "In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
(Yes, Democratic Party propagandists and their dupes insist that Thomas Jefferson was a Democrat. And he did, in a response to a European correspondent, say, "...we are all democrats; we are democratic Republicans and democratic Federalist..." and explained that, to him, "democratic" was not a political system but a political condition; specifically, a system in which the government recognizes no social classes and creates no social classes. Where, as far as law go, "all men are created equal." Jefferson, of course, acknowledged that all humans are not equal, in hardly any way — he was just adamant that the laws should make no acknowledgment of these differences, should bestow no benefit or civil advantage to a part of the citizenry because of differences. That was as far as his "democratism" went, which, obviously, is the exact opposite of what "Democrats" today believe.)
John Adams, in a letter to William Cunningham in March 1804, wrote: "Democracy is Lovelace and the people is Clarissa" (an allegoric reference to popular literature of the time, in which Lovelace "did Clarissa wrong").
Not only were our Founding Fathers adamantly opposed to creating a "democratic" system, they were unanimous in giving this nation a republic as its political system.
Alexander Hamilton, June 26, 1788, stated: "There are few positions more demonstrable than that there should be in every republic some permanent body to correct the prejudices, check the intemperate passions, and regulate the fluctuations of a popular assembly."
Alexander Hamilton, also in 1788: "It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of society against the injustice of the other part."
George Washington, April 30, 1789: "The...destiny of the republican model of government (is) justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally stacked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."
Thomas Jefferson, March 11, 1790: "The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind."
Thomas Jefferson, 1791: "Government in a well constituted republic requires no belief from man beyond what his reason authorizes."
Thomas Jefferson, July 30, 1795: "The revolution forced them (the "people of America" — author) to consider the subject for themselves, and the result was an universal conversion to republicanism."
Thomas Jefferson, March 12, 1799: "The body of the American people is substantially republican. But their virtuous feelings have been played upon by some fact with more fiction, they have been the dupes of artful manoeuvres, & made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging chains for themselves."
Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801: "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form..."
Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 18, 1802: "The body of our people ... have ever had the same object in view, to wit, the, maintenance of a federal, republican government..."
Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 13, 1813: "This is my belief of it; it is that on which I have acted...to administer the government according to its genuine republican principles..."
Thomas Jefferson, in the Anas: "He (John Adams — author) has since thoroughly seen that his constituents were devoted to republican government..."
Thomas Jefferson, in the Anas: "...and I fondly hope ... that the motto of the standard to which our country will forever rally, will be ‘federal union, and republican government..."
As historians Charles Austin Beard and Mary Ritter Beard wrote (1939): "At no time, at no place, in solemn convention assembled, through no chosen agents, had the American people officially proclaimed the United States to be a democracy. The Constitution did not contain the word or any word lending countenance to it, except possibly the mention of ‘We the people,' in the preamble ... When the Constitution was framed, no respectable person called himself a democrat."
Justifiably Afraid Of ‘Democracy' — Indisputably, this nation was founded as a republic and its leaders were justifiably afraid of "democracy," lest it destroy the nation they had risked their lives to establish.
And thus it officially was for a century and a half. As recently as in a 1928 U.S. Army training manual it was described thusly:
"Democracy: A government of the masses. Authority derived through mass meeting or any form of ‘direct' expression. Results in mobocracy. Attitude towards laws is that the will of the majority shall regulate, whether it is based upon deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice or impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences. Results in demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy."
It is stated (I have been unable to verify it — author) that Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president who gave control of this nation's money to the Federal Reserve Bank and thus put America's economic destiny in the hands of foreign bankers, was the first public figure to proclaim this nation a "democracy."
One of the 1993 Merriam-Webster's definitions of "democracy" is: "the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges." Yet today, "democratic" America is riven by class distinction, class envy, and class warfare, and all of it has been deliberately created and fomented by "liberal" (closet communist) Democrats in order to facilitate their personal possession of political power! Not a single day passes today but some Democrat politician somewhere deliberately agitates the masses in class envy, ethnic envy, economic envy, etc. — all in the name of "democracy" which, by their modern definition, forbids the very sociopolitical condition they advocate."
While our "democracy" and its accompanying social self destruction are the planned and deliberate handiwork of the "liberal" enemies of free people, so successful has their redefinition of "democracy" been that the leaders of the opposition, i.e., "conservatism," aid and abet the liberals by their constant reinforcement of the idea that this nation is a democracy and that there is nothing wrong with that.
All of the "conservative" and Republican icons of the past 50 years — William Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Robert Dole, Newt Gingrich, Phil Gramm, Dick Armey, Rush Limbuagh, and Gordon Liddy, to name just a few — invariably refer to this nation as a "democracy" without hesitation.
Today, America is 220 years old, and to call Congress' fiscal policy "loose" is an understatement of monumental proportions. Today, America's debt is several times as large as its total worth (in fact, America's total debt today — over $13 trillion — is, according to Ibbotson Associates, equal to 30 to 35 percent of the entire world's total worth) while chaos prevails in her streets and, like the cancer it is, is spreading to he countryside.
And all because of the successful definition and sanitization of the word "democracy."
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" — George Santayana.
It may be too late to save America from its historically mandated fate, but that doesn't mean we can't try. And one thing we can all do is to quit propagating the "democracy" lie. We who know better can quit calling America a democracy and we can try to educate those who don't know any better. Oh, yes. We can also call on those public leaders who keep repeating the lie to cease to do so. When the very people who invented "democracy" learn the error of their ways, what excuse can a modern educated person have for not knowing?
Many people are under the false impression our form of government is a democracy, or representative democracy. This is a complete falsehood. The Founders were extremely well educated in this area and feared democracy as much as monarchy. James Madison (the acknowledged Father of the Constitution) said in the Federalist #10:
... there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.
The members of the Constitutional Convention understood that the only entity that can take away the people's freedom is their own government, either by being too weak to protect them from external threats or by becoming too powerful and taking over every aspect of life. The debates raged long and hard on how to structure a government strong enough to protect us, without it being too powerful to control, and we wound up with a Constitutional Republic.
A Constitutional Republic is similar to democracy in that it uses democratic processes to elect representatives and pass new laws, etc. The critical difference lies in the fact that a Constitutional Republic has a Constitution that limits the powers of the government. It also spells out how the government is structured, creating checks on its power and balancing power between different branches. The idea was to hold the entire government in check by utilizing the jealousies of the people in each branch over their own areas.
It is also limited to certain specific areas. These are contained in Article 1, Section 8, and range from the power to coin money and regulate its value, to establishing a post office and roads. A lot of bad legislation has been passed using the supposed "general welfare" clause. Once again we go to the Federalist Papers, this time #41. James Madison again clarifies the original intent with this:
It has been urged and echoed, that the power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States," amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alleged to be necessary for the common defense or general welfare. ... For what purpose could the enumeration of particular powers be inserted, if these and all others were meant to be included in the preceding general power?
As you can see, they gave Congress this directive, here is what we want you to do, and these are the powers you have to accomplish it, hence the so-called general welfare clause is only half-cited, as the rest of it limits the powers of Congress.
While majority rule sounds good on the surface, only our Constitutional Republic protects each individual's rights without regard to social or economic circumstances.
We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny. If we've become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision. The founders intended, and laid out the ground rules, for our nation to be a republic.
The word "democracy" appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution – two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Constitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government." Moreover, let's ask ourselves: Does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to "the democracy for which it stands," or does it say to "the republic for which it stands"? Or do we sing "The Battle Hymn of the Democracy" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"?
So what's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.
In recognition that it's Congress that poses the greatest threat to our liberties, the framers used negative phrases against Congress throughout the Constitution such as: shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied. In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. All citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect its citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange.
Contrast the framers' vision of a republic with that of a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of government. Unlike that envisioned under a republican form of government, rights are seen as privileges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government.
How about a few quotations demonstrating the disdain our founders held for democracy?
• James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 10: In a pure democracy, "there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual."
• At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, " ... that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy."
• John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
• Chief Justice John Marshall observed, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."
In a word or two, the founders knew that a democracy would lead to the same kind of tyranny the colonies suffered under King George III.
The framers gave us a Constitution that is replete with undemocratic mechanisms. One that has come in for recent criticism and calls for its elimination is the Electoral College. In their wisdom, the framers gave us the Electoral College so that in presidential elections large, heavily populated states couldn't democratically run roughshod over small, sparsely populated states.
Here's my question: Do Americans share the republican values laid out by our founders, and is it simply a matter of our being unschooled about the differences between a republic and a democracy? Or is it a matter of preference and we now want the kind of tyranny feared by the founders where Congress can do anything it can muster a majority vote to do? I fear it's the latter.
An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic
It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government--that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically--is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy--a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government--needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.
These two forms of government: Democracy and Republic, are not only dissimilar but antithetical, reflecting the sharp contrast between (a) The Majority Unlimited, in a Democracy, lacking any legal safeguard of the rights of The Individual and The Minority, and (b) The Majority Limited, in a Republic under a written Constitution safeguarding the rights of The Individual and The Minority; as we shall now see.
A Democracy
The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.
This is true whether it be a Direct Democracy, or a Representative Democracy. In the direct type, applicable only to a small number of people as in the little city-states of ancient Greece, or in a New England town-meeting, all of the electorate assemble to debate and decide all government questions, and all decisions are reached by a majority vote (of at least half-plus-one). Decisions of The Majority in a New England town-meeting are, of course, subject to the Constitutions of the State and of the United States which protect The Individual’s rights; so, in this case, The Majority is not omnipotent and such a town-meeting is, therefore, not an example of a true Direct Democracy. Under a Representative Democracy like Britain’s parliamentary form of government, the people elect representatives to the national legislature--the elective body there being the House of Commons--and it functions by a similar vote of at least half-plus-one in making all legislative decisions.
In both the Direct type and the Representative type of Democracy, The Majority’s power is absolute and unlimited; its decisions are unappealable under the legal system established to give effect to this form of government. This opens the door to unlimited Tyranny-by-Majority. This was what The Framers of the United States Constitution meant in 1787, in debates in the Federal (framing) Convention, when they condemned the "excesses of democracy" and abuses under any Democracy of the unalienable rights of The Individual by The Majority. Examples were provided in the immediate post-1776 years by the legislatures of some of the States. In reaction against earlier royal tyranny, which had been exercised through oppressions by royal governors and judges of the new State governments, while the legislatures acted as if they were virtually omnipotent. There were no effective State Constitutions to limit the legislatures because most State governments were operating under mere Acts of their respective legislatures which were mislabelled "Constitutions." Neither the governors not the courts of the offending States were able to exercise any substantial and effective restraining influence upon the legislatures in defense of The Individual’s unalienable rights, when violated by legislative infringements. (Connecticut and Rhode Island continued under their old Charters for many years.) It was not until 1780 that the first genuine Republic through constitutionally limited government, was adopted by Massachusetts--next New Hampshire in 1784, other States later.
It was in this connection that Jefferson, in his "Notes On The State of Virginia" written in 1781-1782, protected against such excesses by the Virginia Legislature in the years following the Declaration of Independence, saying: "An elective despotism was not the government we fought for . . ." (Emphasis Jefferson’s.) He also denounced the despotic concentration of power in the Virginia Legislature, under the so-called "Constitution"--in reality a mere Act of that body:
"All the powers of government, legislative, executive, judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice."
This topic--the danger to the people’s liberties due to the turbulence of democracies and omnipotent, legislative majority--is discussed in The Federalist, for example in numbers 10 and 48 by Madison (in the latter noting Jefferson’s above-quoted comments).
The Framing Convention’s records prove that by decrying the "excesses of democracy" The Framers were, of course, not opposing a popular type of government for the United States; their whole aim and effort was to create a sound system of this type. To contend to the contrary is to falsify history. Such a falsification not only maligns the high purpose and good character of The Framers but belittles the spirit of the truly Free Man in America--the people at large of that period--who happily accepted and lived with gratification under the Constitution as their own fundamental law and under the Republic which it created, especially because they felt confident for the first time of the security of their liberties thereby protected against abuse by all possible violators, including The Majority momentarily in control of government. The truth is that The Framers, by their protests against the "excesses of democracy," were merely making clear their sound reasons for preferring a Republic as the proper form of government. They well knew, in light of history, that nothing but a Republic can provide the best safeguards--in truth in the long run the only effective safeguards (if enforced in practice)--for the people’s liberties which are inescapably victimized by Democracy’s form and system of unlimited Government-over-Man featuring The Majority Omnipotent. They also knew that the American people would not consent to any form of government but that of a Republic. It is of special interest to note that Jefferson, who had been in Paris as the American Minister for several years, wrote Madison from there in March 1789 that:
"The tyranny of the legislatures is the most formidable dread at present, and will be for long years. That of the executive will come it’s turn, but it will be at a remote period." (Text per original.)
Somewhat earlier, Madison had written Jefferson about violation of the Bill of Rights by State legislatures, stating:
"Repeated violations of those parchment barriers have been committed by overbearing majorities in every State. In Virginia I have seen the bill of rights violated in every instance where it has been opposed to a popular current."
It is correct to say that in any Democracy--either a Direct or a Representative type--as a form of government, there can be no legal system which protects The Individual or The Minority (any or all minorities) against unlimited tyranny by The Majority. The undependable sense of self-restraint of the persons making up The Majority at any particular time offers, of course, no protection whatever. Such a form of government is characterized by The Majority Omnipotent and Unlimited. This is true, for example, of the Representative Democracy of Great Britain; because unlimited government power is possessed by the House of Lords, under an Act of Parliament of 1949--indeed, it has power to abolish anything and everything governmental in Great Britain.
For a period of some centuries ago, some English judges did argue that their decisions could restrain Parliament; but this theory had to be abandoned because it was found to be untenable in the light of sound political theory and governmental realities in a Representative Democracy. Under this form of government, neither the courts not any other part of the government can effectively challenge, much less block, any action by The Majority in the legislative body, no matter how arbitrary, tyrannous, or totalitarian they might become in practice. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of Representative Democracy and of the potential tyranny inherent in its system of Unlimited Rule by Omnipotent Majority. This pertains only to the potential, to the theory, involved; governmental practices there are irrelevant to this discussion.
Madison’s observations in The Federalist number 10 are noteworthy at this point because they highlight a grave error made through the centuries regarding Democracy as a form of government. He commented as follows:
"Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed, that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."
Democracy, as a form of government, is utterly repugnant to--is the very antithesis of--the traditional American system: that of a Republic, and its underlying philosophy, as expressed in essence in the Declaration of Independence with primary emphasis upon the people’s forming their government so as to permit them to possess only "just powers" (limited powers) in order to make and keep secure the God-given, unalienable rights of each and every Individual and therefore of all groups of Individuals.
A Republic
A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general. The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate.
The people adopt the Constitution as their fundamental law by utilizing a Constitutional Convention--especially chosen by them for this express and sole purpose--to frame it for consideration and approval by them either directly or by their representatives in a Ratifying Convention, similarly chosen. Such a Constitutional Convention, for either framing or ratification, is one of America’s greatest contributions, if not her greatest contribution, to the mechanics of government--of self-government through constitutionally limited government, comparable in importance to America’s greatest contribution to the science of government: the formation and adoption by the sovereign people of a written Constitution as the basis for self-government. One of the earliest, if not the first, specific discussions of this new American development (a Constitutional Convention) in the historical records is an entry in June 1775 in John Adams’ "Autobiography" commenting on the framing by a convention and ratification by the people as follows:
"By conventions of representatives, freely, fairly, and proportionately chosen . . . the convention may send out their project of a constitution, to the people in their several towns, counties, or districts, and the people may make the acceptance of it their own act."
Yet the first proposal in 1778 of a Constitution for Massachusetts was rejected for the reason, in part, as stated in the "Essex Result" (the result, or report, of the Convention of towns of Essex County), that it had been framed and proposed not by a specially chosen convention but by members of the legislature who were involved in general legislative duties, including those pertaining to the conduct of the war.
The first genuine and soundly founded Republic in all history was the one created by the first genuine Constitution, which was adopted by the people of Massachusetts in 1780 after being framed for their consideration by a specially chosen Constitutional Convention. (As previously noted, the so-called "Constitutions" adopted by some States in 1776 were mere Acts of Legislatures, not genuine Constitutions.) That Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts was the first successful one ever held in the world; although New Hampshire had earlier held one unsuccessfully - it took several years and several successive conventions to produce the New Hampshire Constitution of 1784. Next, in 1787-1788, the United States Constitution was framed by the Federal Convention for the people’s consideration and then ratified by the people of the several States through a Ratifying Convention in each State specially chosen by them for this sole purpose. Thereafter the other States gradually followed in general the Massachusetts pattern of Constitution-making in adoption of genuine Constitutions; but there was a delay of a number of years in this regard as to some of them, several decades as to a few.
This system of Constitution-making, for the purpose of establishing constitutionally limited government, is designed to put into practice the principle of the Declaration of Independence: that the people form their governments and grant to them only "just powers," limited powers, in order primarily to secure (to make and keep secure) their God-given, unalienable rights. The American philosophy and system of government thus bar equally the "snob-rule" of a governing Elite and the "mob-rule" of an Omnipotent Majority. This is designed, above all else, to preclude the existence in America of any governmental power capable of being misused so as to violate The Individual’s rights--to endanger the people’s liberties.
With regard to the republican form of government (that of a republic), Madison made an observation in The Federalist (no. 55) which merits quoting here--as follows:
"As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust: So there are other qualities in human nature, which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government (that of a Republic) presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political jealousy of some among us, faithful likenesses of the human character, the inference would be that there is not sufficient virtue among men for self government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another." (Emphasis added.)
It is noteworthy here that the above discussion, though brief, is sufficient to indicate the reasons why the label "Republic" has been misapplied in other countries to other and different forms of government throughout history. It has been greatly misunderstood and widely misused--for example as long ago as the time of Plato, when he wrote his celebrated volume, The Republic; in which he did not discuss anything governmental even remotely resembling--having essential characteristics of--a genuine Republic. Frequent reference is to be found, in the writings of the period of the framing of the Constitution for instance, to "the ancient republics," but in any such connection the term was used loosely--by way of contrast to a monarchy or to a Direct Democracy--often using the term in the sense merely of a system of Rule-by-Law featuring Representative government; as indicated, for example, by John Adams in his "Thoughts on Government" and by Madison in The Federalist numbers 10 and 39. But this is an incomplete definition because it can include a Representative Democracy, lacking a written Constitution limiting The Majority.
From The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles.