By John Stallings
I’ve never recommended a book, other than the Bible, but I want to tell you about a book I’ve just finished reading called The 5,000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World.
I’m indebted to talk show host Glenn Beck for making me aware of this book. I’m not a follower of talk radio in the sense that I let it shape my opinions, but I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit to occasionally listening to conservative talk radio over the years, as maybe many of you do, especially while traveling in my car.
I enjoy Rush Limbaugh now and then, but I can’t take too much of him at one sitting. I get especially nervous when Rush says, “Talent on loan from God.” But I am grateful for these independent voices in this hour of American history. My attitude toward all radio talkers can best be summed up in the words my mother used to use with a twinkle in her eye when she wanted to stress that a good man isn’t always right; she’d say, “His mouth isn’t exactly a prayer book.”
The 5,000 Year Leap was written by a man named, W. Cleon Skousen
Interestingly enough, President Ronald Reagan held this book in such high regard, he wanted it to be taught in our public schools.
The concept of the book is the men God used over 230 years ago to establish this great country were able by His grace and 28 tremendous God-given principles to give mankind the ingredients with which to leap, in a relatively short length of time, 5,000 years ahead of all the progress civilized man had made up to that time.
Mr. Skousen uses extraordinary and unique thought processes to break down into simple conceptual blocks each of these 28 principles step by step from thought to action.
I believe many people will agree with me that America is going through a great season of unrest, and stands at this moment on a slippery slope that could change our destiny and wipe out the progress that good men and women have bled and died for. All of us, especially today’s politicians need a refresher course on what made the USA great, and this book will certainly accomplish that for the reader.
Recently, the president of France called President Obama a “light weight,” this coming from a nation who’d probably lay down their arms and surrender if their next door neighbors in Germany had a loud party.
The head of our Homeland Security recently took the word “Terrorist” out of her department’s lexicon, no longer allowing anyone in her department to use the word, while at the same time sending a memo warning about the “Taxpayer Tea Parties,” using the word terrorist twice, and saying outright that any soldier who has fought for this country returning home should be viewed as a potential “terrorist.”
The deep integrity with which The 5,000 Year Leap is written fuels our rightful pride in our country by reintroducing us to the men who shaped our nation, and what lay in their background and breeding that enabled them to give us the Constitution that catapulted us 5,000 years forward.
I’ll list these 28 principles from the book in a moment, but first here are some thoughts from the first part of the book that will set the stage. I will be mostly quoting from the book doing only a little paraphrasing.
The most surprising thing about Jamestown, the first town established in our fledgling new country, was the similarity to the ancients who built settlements 5,000 years earlier, and the shocking little progress man had made during all of the last fifty centuries.
Jamestown, established in 1606, was the capital of the colony from 1616-1698. The settlers of Jamestown had come in a boat no fancier than the boats of the ancient sea kings. Their tools were axe, hoe, and a stick plow, which weren’t much better than the ones used in China, Persia and Greece. They wore clothes spun on a wheel, their medicines were concoctions based on superstitions rather than science, and their transportation was cart and oxen.
But Jamestown was potentially different because there communal economics were tried by these European immigrants, and a system of free enterprise principles began.
It was here where a sufficiently large population finally congregated to permit the setting up of the first legislative assembly in the western hemisphere.
These Virginia settlers were the ones who produced the intellects who would later structure the framework for the new civilization known as the United States. From among them came: Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence; James Madison, “father” of the Constitution; George Washington, hero general of the War for Independence; George Mason, author of the first American Bill of Rights in Virginia. Virginia was the largest of the thirteen colonies with half-a-million inhabitants, and she furnished four of the first five presidents of the United States.
Mr. Skousen, author of the 5,000 Year Leap, has basically one purpose, and that is to present the 28 principles used by these founders as simply as possible, mostly in their own words, because they’re the ones who made the fantastic 5,000-year leap. If you read the book, I believe you’ll be shocked and amazed at how far our country has strayed from the way our forefathers set it up. Consequently we’ve lost and are in the process of losing many of our freedoms.
The following is a brief overview of the 28 principles found in the 5,000 Year Leap. These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years, and must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom.
1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is natural law.
Natural law is God’s law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe and as Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men, which are “The laws of nature and of nature’s God.”
2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain morally strong.
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” —Benjamin Franklin.
3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.
“Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. —Samuel Adams
4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
“…And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained with religion.” —George Washington
5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him mankind are all equally dependent and to Him are equally responsible.
“The American Founding Fathers felt a person who boasted he or she was an atheist had just simply failed to apply divine capacity for reason and observation.”
6. All mankind were created equal.
“The Founders knew that in three ways all mankind are treated theoretically equal; equal before God, equal before the law, and equal in their rights.”
7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal rights.
“People can’t delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves.”
8. Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.
“No human legislation has the power to abridge or destroy each person’s rights unless the owner shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture.” —William Blackstone
9. To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.
“The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures.” —William Blackstone.
10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
“The fabric of the American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people.” —Alexander Hamilton
11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
“When a long train of abuses designed to place the people under despotism, it is the people’s right and duty to throw off such a government.” —Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence.
12. The United States shall be a republic.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands….” [Excerpt of US Pledge of Allegiance]
13. A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their leaders.
“If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary….” —James Madison
14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.
John Locke reasoned that God gave the earth and everything in it to the whole human family as a gift.
15. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
- Freedom to try.
- Freedom to buy.
- Freedom to sell.
- Freedom to fail.
16. The government should be separated into three branches—Executive, Legislative, Judicial.
17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.
“It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectively restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” —James Madison
18. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.
“The structure of the American system is set forth in the Constitution of the United States.”
19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.
20. Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but the constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
“Every man by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority and to be bound by it.” —John Locke
21. Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving freedom.
“The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many….” —Thomas Jefferson
22. The Rule of Law — A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
“The end of the law is not to abolish or restrain but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” —John Locke
23. Education — A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad and efficient program of education.
“They made an early provision by law that every town consisting of so many families should be always furnished with a grammar school…..A native American who can’t read and write is as rare…as a comet or an earthquake.” —John Adams
24. Military strength and readiness.
A free people will not survive unless they maintain a strong military to protect itself from external military aggression and attempts of hegemony.
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” —George Washington
25. Nationalism, Isolationism, Non-Interventionalism, International Laissez-faire Policy (a.k.a. Monroe Doctrine)
“Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none.” —Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address.
26. The fundamental sanctity and importance of the family unit.
The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.
“There is no country in the world where the ties of marriage are more respected than in America.” —Alexis De Tocqueville
27. Financial independence and freedom of debt.
“The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.” —Thomas Jefferson
28. The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God’s law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.
The Founders sensed from the very beginning that they were on a divine mission. Their great disappointment was that it didn’t all come to pass in their day, but they knew that someday it would.
John Adams wrote:
I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.
Friends, I’ve given you an outline of the great book, The 5,000 Year Leap, but I’d encourage you to get your hands on the book if at all possible, and read it through. I believe if you do, you will recognize in a new way the bottomless pit into which America is sinking.
The Tea Parties are but a cry emanating from the heart of Americans who love their country, and instinctively understand the trouble she’s in. They want to see their beloved country survive.
Someone once told a story of a vision they had in which they were allowed to walk into the throne room of heaven. They were permitted to walk up to the throne of God and ask God the question, “What if your redemptive plan for Man doesn’t work?” God looked at His Son sitting at His right hand, and said to the visitor, “Then there is no other plan.” We who’ve read the Bible understand that truth. God has one plan; there is no other one!
Likewise, among the nations of the world, if America stumbles and falls, and the damage is serious enough, the last best hope for men and women yearning to breathe free will disappear from the earth.
Let us pray for our country that God will guide us, and let us humble ourselves and request of Heaven, God Save The Republic!###
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This article is a republication by permission first published on the author’s blog. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of Spirit Life Magazine (SLM) concerning the book reviewed, its content, or its author. SLM has not reviewed or evaluated the book reviewed in this article, and therefore cannot endorse it, but neither do we discourage anyone from reading it, but only with the caveats expressed. We find nothing in this article with which to disagree. It is important to note that, though we recognize his obvious patriotism and passion for informing the American people about the nascent erosions of the foundations of America, Glenn Beck is an avowed Mormon (LDS) devotee’ and so also was W. Cleon Skousen, and in fact a LDS minister and theologian. Indeed, the Wikipedia biography states: “He was also a prolific popularizer among Latter-day Saints of their theology.” SLM is adamantly and thoroughly opposed to Mormon views, and consider them anti-Christ and anti-Christian, and thus makes no endorsements of the book reviewed in this article or any of the books written by W. Cleon Skousen, nor of the commentary of Glenn Beck. Some minor editing of the original article was made for this post.
Click here to read Wikipedia Biography of Williard Cleon Skousen.
Click here to go to a website dedicated to W. Cleon Skousen’s life and life’s work.
Click here
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John Stallings was an award-winning Southern Gospel songwriter, who wrote numerous classics such as: Learning To Lean, Love Grew Where The Blood Fell, Touching Jesus, One Day I Will, You’re All Invited To My Mansion, Blessing After Blessing, Light The Light, Angels Camping All Around Me, God’s Gonna Do It, and many more. His songs have been recorded by many well-known Gospel artists, including, The Blackwood Brothers, The Speers, The Stamps Quartet, J.D. Sumner, Wanda Jackson, Del Reeves, Wendy Bagwell, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, among many others. His singing career was launched at the young age of six in a citywide revival at famed Soldier Field in Chicago. At the age of sixteen he began preaching. John was Nashville’s prestigious Dove Award recipient in 1977, as well as many other awards over the years. He was also a pastor, evangelist, and church-planter, and travelled with his wife, Juda, as singing evangelists. John’s twin-daughters, Mary Alessi and Martha Munizzi, are both award-winning Gospel recording artists and songwriters. John Stallings passed into glory on November 24, 2008, only a few months following the death of Juda.
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