Abraham Keteltas' God Arising and Pleading His People's Cause - Old Corner Bookstore

Many Revolutionary War clergy argued that the war against Britain was approved by God. There were many notable sermons printed and circulated by colonial patriots. There are quite a few references noted in this tour under different churches, however some clergy were not tied to one location and still had sermons that excited the people to rebel against British rulership.

In this 1777 printed sermon called God Arising And Pleading his People's Cause; Or The American War…Shewn To BE The Cause of God; Abraham Keteltas celebrated the American effort as "the cause of truth, against error and falsehood . . .the cause of pure and undefiled religion, against bigotry, superstition, and human invention . . .in short, it is the cause of heaven against hell--of the kind Parent of the Universe against the prince of darkness, and the destroyer of the human race."

Abraham Keteltas studied theology at Yale and received his preacher’s license in 1756. He served as an itinerant Presbyterian Preacher across NJ, NY, MA, and CT. By 1776, Keteltas was elected to the Provincial Congress and became such a vociferous defender of the American cause that he feared for reprisals when British troops landed on Long Island. Of his patriotic sermons, three deserve to be singled out. The Religious Soldier (1759), preached to American and British forces in 1759, exhorts his audience to moral conduct in warfare and patriotic service of their country. God Arising And Pleading his People's Cause; or The American War…Shewn to BE The Cause of God (1777) and his Reflections on Extortion (1778) are bold expressions of American Independence.

(See Trinity Church Original Location for details on Election Day Sermons)

What fruitage did these spiritual leaders produce? Mt 7:15-20. Consider John 17:16 vs Acts 20:29, 30. What would Jesus have said seeing this?

-Source Links-

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/30/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Keteltas