John Witherspoon – May 17, 1776 (Part I)

Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.

It’s May 17, 1776. I’m at Princeton University. Its president, John Witherspoon, has just finished giving a stirring sermon, calling for Americans to defend liberty.

JG: “Reverend Witherspoon, why were you so impassioned today?”

JW: “God sees and knows all and He has called us to preserve life and liberty. My sermon is being published throughout the colonies, spreading the ideas of freedom.”

Reverend Witherspoon was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776. His Biblical principles helped establish the basis for liberty in America.

Read the full text of John Witherspoon’s sermon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, which he preached at Princeton on May 17, 1776.

John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.

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