3. Understanding the Times
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…of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;
– 1 Chronicles 12:32
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“They did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all might be condemned (damned in KJV) who did not believe the truth.
– II Thessalonians 2:10-12
WEEK THREE: Understanding The Times
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But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
– Revelation 21:8
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Recommended resources for further study:
- The Full 10-Week Constitution Alive! Series (PatriotAcademy.com)
- The Full Foundations of Freedom Series (WallBuilders.com)
- The 5,000-Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen
- The Heritage Guide to the Constitution by Edwin Meese, Dr. Matthew Spalding, and Dr. David Forte
- Constitutional Literacy with Mike Farris
- Stansbury’s Catechism on the Constitution (PatriotAcademy.com)
WEEK THREE: Understanding The Times
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“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”3
– Thomas Jefferson
“I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable [constitution], more than for a faithful, exercise of its powers. What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense.”
– James Madison
“What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense.”
– James Madison
“The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it.”
– James Wilson
“The first and fundamental rule in the interpretation of all documents is to construe them according to the sense of the terms and the intentions of the parties.”4
– Joseph Story
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In Appendix D of your workbook you will find The Constitution Made Easy by Michael Holler. This has the original text on the left and the plain-language amended version on the right.
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THIS WEEK’S BONUS VIDEOS TO WATCH ON YOUR OWN:
- John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890), Vol. I, pp. 163–164, from his “Charge to the Grand Jury of Ulster County” on September 9, 1777.
- Abraham Lincoln, Draft of the Gettysburg Address: Nicolay Copy, November 1863; Series 3, General Correspondence, 1837-1897; The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D. C.: American Memory Project, [2000-02])
- Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of
Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and
Bowen, 1830), Vol. IV, p. 373, to Judge William Johnson on June 12,
1823. - Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1833), Vol. I, p. 383, § 400.