{"id":43235,"date":"2017-07-04T13:42:29","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T19:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=43235"},"modified":"2017-07-04T13:42:29","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T19:42:29","slug":"american-independence-freedom-exodus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/07\/american-independence-freedom-exodus.html","title":{"rendered":"American Independence, Freedom, and the Exodus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/a>
An 1856 visualization of an unused design for the Great Seal of the United States (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On 4 July 1776, the same day that it approved the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress of the United States of America appointed a committee \u2014 made up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson \u2014 to create an official \u201cGreat Seal\u201d for the new nation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first design, shown above, was principally the conception of Benjamin Franklin, although the other two approved it. \u00a0(Jefferson liked the slogan around the edge so much that he adopted it for his own personal seal.) \u00a0It was never used.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But you will readily recognize it as a reference to the biblical book of Exodus: \u00a0Moses and the children of Israel stand on the far bank of the Red Sea, as pharaoh and his pursuing army drown. \u00a0At the top stands the column of flame that represents the protective presence of God.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exodus and Passover (and the Jewish Passover seder<\/em>) are often used as metaphors for political freedom and liberation. \u00a0Martin Luther King famously used such imagery in, among other things, the remarkable last\u00a0speech that he delivered, given on the night before he was assassinated.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve Been to the Mountaintop\u201d (a 2:37 excerpt)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 On 4 July 1776, the same day that it approved the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress of the United States of America appointed a committee \u2014 made up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson \u2014 to create an official \u201cGreat Seal\u201d for the new nation. \u00a0 The first design, shown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Independence, Freedom, and the Exodus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    On 4 July 1776, the same day that it approved the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress of the United States of America\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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