Tuesday, January 31, 2023

It is the 31st of January 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Jacob Duche in 1738, the son of Mary and Jacob Sr. Duche’s life is fascinating. Not only was he a kind of academic wunderkind, but he would also twice commit treason acts (against two different countries) and would become the first chaplain of the Congress of the United States. Before we get to his life, have you ever wondered why we have chaplains in the government and how this federal and religious position doesn’t violate the establishment clause in the first amendment?

This question has been asked since at least the 1850s. After all, it’s always been a Protestant minister hired and paid by the government to pray an invocation before congressional business. The one challenge to reach the supreme court came in the 1983 case of Marsh v. Chambers. This case originated in Nebraska when State Senator Ernie Chambers argued that state funds should not pay for such a position. The state of Nebraska agreed with the plaintiff, and the case was appealed until it came to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the defendant. It ruled that a paid chaplaincy wasn’t a violation of church/state separation because it was “deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country.” Chief Justice Warren Burger further wrote that the first Chaplain, Jacob Duche, was hired just three days before the first Amendment was written. So obviously, the founding fathers had no objection to such a position as a violation of that amendment. 

This first chaplain, Jacob Duche, was a good fit for the first Congress on account of his background. He was a student in the inaugural class of the College of Pennsylvania (today, the University of Pennsylvania). There he wrote a poem that caught the attention of Benjamin Franklin, who published it and hired the young Duche to be his secretary. Duche graduated and went to Clare Hall, Cambridge, for his graduate degree. There he also received Holy Orders from his church back home and was ordained by the Bishop of London. Duche returned home, where he served at Christ Church Philadelphia and served as the youngest faculty member at his alma mater.

In 1775 Samuel Adams asked the young minister to give a prayer before the Continental Congress. He did and apparently satisfied with the various factions of deists and evangelicals such that he was asked to give a sermon- the American Vine Sermon later that summer. The sermon was based on Psalm 80 and focused on this passage:

You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.

Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
    its shoots as far as the River

His ability to preach both theologically and patriotically, all the while avoiding partisan theological language- along with his friendship with the deist Franklin-made him the selection for the nation’s first chaplaincy in 1776.

With the Declaration of Independence, Anglican Church authorities decided to omit the prayers for the King of England from the book of Common Prayer- Duche complied and thus was guilty of treason.

But within a year, Duche- whose conservatism saw stability as the greater good for a nation- wrote a letter to George Washington, then at Valley Forge. The letter argued for Washington to negotiate peace and withdraw the claim to independence. Duche believed that the war would destroy the colonies. Washington, then fighting dissent in his own ranks, sent the letter to members of the Continental Congress, and Jacob Duche was charged with treason, this time by his own country.

Duche fled for England and was not brought up on charges of the treasonous act of omitting the King’s name from the book of Common Prayer. He lived in England and served as a chaplain at the Magdalen hospital before being allowed to return to Philadelphia in 1792. He would die there in 1798. Born on this day in 1737, Jacob Duche was 61 years old.

The last word for today comes from Psalm 37:

Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For those who are evil will be destroyed,
    but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 31st of January 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite chaplains include Jacob Duche, Chaplain Tappman from Heller’s Catch 22, and Father Mulcahy from M.A.S.H. He is Christopher Gillespie. 

The show is written and read by a man who reminds you that the annual Heisman, Outland, and Badnarik awards are named after graduates from the Penn Quakers football team. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.