The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, May, 1880

In Short

The Christian Foundation, or, Scientific and Religious Journal is a collection of essays and commentary from May 1880 that functions as an ideological battleground. It aims to reconcile biblical tradition with an "intellectual period" of history by refuting the arguments of prominent contemporary skeptics and freethinkers. The journal remains significant not for its academic neutrality, but for its preservation of a fervent, argumentative, and highly localized religious discourse that sought to define the moral identity of the United States through a strict adherence to the New Testament.

The Story

The narrative arc of this volume is one of mounting urgency, positioning the reader at the center of a cultural struggle between the "emotional religion" of the past and the "intellectual investigation" of the present. The text begins by establishing a firm doctrinal boundary regarding the Old and New Covenants. It argues that the Decalogue and the Mosaic Law were local, temporary institutions for the children of Israel, now superseded by the universal "Law of Christ." This distinction is the bedrock upon which the journal builds its defense: by moving the goalposts from a literalist interpretation of Jewish law to a broader, spirit-based Christian ethos, the contributors attempt to immunize their faith against scientific and rationalist criticism.

As the argument progresses, the focus shifts from internal theological housekeeping to an external offensive against the "infidel." The journal identifies Thomas Paine and Colonel Robert Ingersoll as the primary catalysts for a dangerous, encroaching secularism. It characterizes their skepticism not as legitimate inquiry, but as a "Doubting Castle"—a prison of negative emotion and moral apathy. The tone becomes increasingly combative as it details the alleged physical and moral decline of Thomas Paine, contrasting his life with the enduring, regenerative power of the character of Jesus.

The final phase of the journal’s argument is a call to arms for the American public. It paints a vivid, terrifying picture of what would happen should the "Tiger"—unbelief—be unchained from its social and religious restraints. The contributors argue that without the "pillar" of Christian morality, the nation will succumb to the same chaos that characterized the French Revolution. The book concludes with a pivot toward the practical: it champions the necessity of education, Sunday schools, and the dissemination of "solid" religious literature to meet the skepticism of the age with counter-arguments. It does not merely wish for the survival of the faith; it demands a rationalized, proactive defense of it, insisting that because the current age demands the "whys and wherefores," Christians must learn to provide them through rigorous study and logic.

How It Unfolds

Defining the Covenant The journal opens by dissecting the legalistic interpretations of the Bible, specifically challenging Sabbatarians who cling to the Old Testament law. It asserts that the transition from the law of Moses to the law of Christ is an evolution from a restrictive, local code to a universal, spiritual mandate.

The Critique of Skepticism The text turns its focus to the "infidel," labeling their reliance on doubt as a philosophical dead end. It argues that because skeptics offer no viable moral substitute for the gospel, their critiques are merely malicious distractions from the truth.

The Case of Thomas Paine By contrasting Paine’s revolutionary contributions with his later life and writings, the journal attempts to discredit his character. It presents anecdotes of his physical squalor and alleged deathbed misery as empirical evidence against the validity of his rejection of Christianity.

The Preservation of Society The argument culminates in a stark warning about the moral consequences of atheism. It utilizes historical references to the French Revolution to suggest that a society without a religious foundation is inherently destined for violence and dissolution.

The People

The central figures are primarily ideological archetypes, though real historical individuals are cited to ground the arguments. Thomas Paine is the primary antagonist; his intellectual contributions to the American Revolution are acknowledged, but they are consistently undermined by the journal's focus on his post-revolutionary personal decay and his rejection of the Bible. Colonel Robert Ingersoll serves as the modern face of the enemy, an "infidel" whose fame the authors begrudgingly acknowledge while dismissing his philosophy as a collection of empty, contradictory slogans. The "Sabbatarian" represents a specific, internal foil—a fellow believer whose reliance on the Old Testament law is viewed as a misinterpretation that obscures the "new and living way" of Christ. The Editor and contributors, meanwhile, position themselves as the necessary intellectual vanguard. They are men who want to modernize their religion, moving away from the "ignorance" of old-fashioned revivalism toward a faith that can withstand the scrutiny of logic, reason, and the emerging sciences.

In Its Own Voice

The truth is this, the Lord made a covenant in the sense of a “Testament” or institution.

The writer explains that the Bible acts as a legal will or inheritance, rather than a mere list of conditional agreements between humans and God.

He that can believe this is not to be reasoned with.

This is the author's sharp dismissal of the Roman guards' claim that the disciples stole the body of Jesus while they were sleeping.

We are “complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.”

This quote emphasizes the belief that the New Testament, under the authority of Christ, provides everything necessary for salvation without needing to rely on Jewish laws.

What It's Really About

The journal is a study in the intersection of theology and 19th-century American identity. It deals with the foundational question of whether a modern nation can survive without a singular, dominant religious moral framework. Beneath the arguments about the Old Covenant or the character of Thomas Paine lies a deeper anxiety: that the Enlightenment's gift of "intellectual liberty" would inevitably lead to the dismantling of the social order. It is an argument for a "reasoned" faith, suggesting that Christianity must adapt its rhetoric to the age of the printing press and the free school, or lose the next generation to the "quagmire" of secular skepticism.

Why Read It Today

Reading this today is an act of historical immersion. You will encounter a voice that is unapologetically partisan, fiercely protective of its tradition, and deeply suspicious of the secular currents that define the modern world. For those interested in the history of religion in America, or the evolution of apologetics, this book is an invaluable primary source that shows exactly how 19th-century believers wrestled with the onset of modernity.

Be prepared for a style that is dense with biblical citation and prone to the high-flown, sometimes biting rhetoric characteristic of the period's polemics. The authors do not shy away from moralizing or using personal attacks to score points—a practice that reflects the high stakes they felt were involved in the public debate. You will find their attitudes toward other faiths and non-believers to be rigid and, at times, starkly intolerant by modern standards. However, if you are looking to understand the intellectual landscape of the post-Civil War American frontier, or simply curious about the "struggle" between faith and reason as it existed in 1880, you will find this journal to be a candid, if often challenging, artifact of that intellectual war.