Introduction to Pirate Money Radio and the Hosts
Foreign.
Welcome to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman, helping you unpack the economic headlines and providing real money solutions.
Kevin Freeman Ahoy, mates. Welcome aboard another voyage of Pirate Money Radio, the show that sails against the storms of fiat tyranny, cultural confusion and counterfeit ideas to chart a course towards liberty, security, and values built on biblical truth. I'm your captain, Kevan Freeman, coming to you from the heart of Texas.
Mike Carter And I'm Mike Carter.
Introducing Guest Eric Metaxas and His New Book on American Founding
We're going to talk about revolution today. and there's a small American in front of that, but it's big American when you read this thing. great to have a guest today, Eric Mataskas. And, we're going to talk about America's founding, and why we should still care, why a family should care about this today.
Kevin Freeman Yeah. We've got Eric Metaxas with us. He wrote Bonhoeffer, the book that put a name on what it costs to tell the truth when the crowd is going the. He also wrote letter to the American Church, which we covered on our economic war room, which asked whether the church in this country would stand up or sit down. And his new book is the Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World. It came out June 2. Odysseus Books. More than 600 pages. Look at this. It's a monster. It's a number one Publisher's Weekly bestseller, a number one Amazon bestseller. It's won all the awards. But number two on the NewSong York Times list, because I think number two, Jill Biden's book, I don't know, it outsold Jill's book, but I don't know how NewSong York Times rigs their polls. But anyway, he also hosts Socrates in the City. Eric welcome to Pirate Money Radio.
Eric Metaxas It is a joy to be here. Kevan, thanks for having me. And I'd love to clarify that. The book, I mean, you know, you hear about this stuff, but when you live it, the book was absolutely the number one bestseller that week. And the NewSong York Times, nonetheless, because we had the official numbers, nonetheless, they put Jill Biden's book at number one. And I thought, I've never seen this before. I've never lived this before, where my book should be the number one NewSong York Times bestseller. But they had to push her book ahead. And they kind of. They hide behind, you know, they say they're curating their list, which means basically they have the right to. To do whatever they want, book sales be damned. So I'm thrilled that the book actually was on the NewSong York Times bestseller list for 11 weeks. I hope it will get back on the list this week as a result of this and other podcasts and patriots who care about our vitally important history.
Kevin Freeman It's a powerful book, and I have not read Joe Biden's book, but I guarantee our audience that it does not deserve the number one spot over Revolution. I mean, you. You just think about what they're doing is telling fluff stories that are fake and made up about Joe Biden. I mean, he was barely there during the presidency, and she's writing about her view from the East Wing or something. It's ridiculous. This book, Revolution, is powerful. I mean, I've read Amazing Grace, Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, and you've done a terrific job with all of them. But this is strong as any book I've read. It's history. And I pick up little vignettes, little tiny stories in there that I remember from, you know, 1960s elementary school. but this tells the whole story with the footnotes, with the reference. And it's beautiful. It's got pictures. You can look at the paintings that are in their full color. I mean, that is a production of a book. Congratulations on it. It's amazing.
Eric Metaxas Thank you. I have to tell you, I'm extremely proud of it. I'm thrilled that Amazon has reduced, the price by 35%. So it's like, a great deal. Because I said to all my friends, listen, you want the hardcover? it's beautiful. It's beautifully made, but, you know, the fact that it's selling well, you know we're going to get into this. I know, but I feel a vital compulsion to get this story to every American. I didn't write this book for history buffs. I wrote it for Americans, part of the way forward. We must know our story. We must know the true story of how America came into being. That has been our strength for 250 years. We've been losing it. The last 50 years since you and I were in grade school, this story has not been told. America's been denigrated. It is absolutely vital. This is not extra credit. This is on the test. Americans need to know this story.
Mike Carter Yeah. And you know what stood out to me, Erica? You know, we take for granted what we have here in America. You know, in other countries, it's shut up and do what we say. Here, we don't realize the freedom we really have, the prices that were paid there. And it's kind of ironic to me, NewSong York Times bestseller was Joe Biden. I think of the COVID shot Maxines. That was kind of a. Shut up. Do what we say. And you've got to counter that here with revolution. What inspired you to write this book?
Eric Metaxas Well, it's interesting. I never ever, and this happens to me with most of my books, I never thought I would write a book like this. I'm, not just saying that. I mean, I simply never thought I would. But about three years ago, a dear friend of mine said that he'd read my book Seven Men. And the first chapter is about George Washington. Or actually, I think he just read that chapter. And he was so moved by the story of Washington in my book that he said, I must write the whole story. I must write the story of the revolution. And usually when friends tell me I got an idea for a book, I tell them, shut up. Books are a lot of work. Go away, leave me alone. I don't need your ideas. When he said this, and I write about this in the acknowledgments of the book, I thought that's, That, that stopped me. I thought, you know, we need a one volume telling of the birth of our nation. Most of us have forgotten the stories. And by the way, it's a story, but it's a story of stories. It's an epic narrative, but with all these characters and these little stories and big epic stories within the epic story. I mean, the story of Jon, of Henry Knox. Oh my gosh. Every American needs to know this stunning story. So I kind of thought, I wonder if God is calling me to write this book. And I, you know, I always do the research and I think, I mean, the market research. Is there a book out there that tells the whole story? And there's not, there's a million books on the revolution, but there isn't one book that tells the whole story how it began. Not with Lexington and Concord. How do we get to Lexington and Concord? And then the story after Lexington and Concord. And it is such a great story. When I really understood it, I thought, okay, I need to do this in time for the 250th. And it was an, it was a huge effort. But I really. The, accolades that the book has gotten that I cannot tell you how many people have said to me, I couldn't put it down. It's a page turner, it reads like a novel. I mean, that's what you want to hear as a writer, you know, and normally you don't hear it. People say it's a good book, but, you know, it was tough. The fact that this book, that the stories kind of carry the reader and that people are saying, I couldn't put it down. That thrills me. Because really and truly, every American must know this. This is, again, this is not extra credit or for history buffs. This is like every American in 1960, let's say, if you put a microphone in their face and you start talking to them, they knew all this stuff. We've forgotten it. And if you want to know how we've lost our liberties, how we've allowed things to get to where they. Where we're in this existential crisis, which we are right now, you know, with Trump in the role of Washington. We are, in this place because we've forgotten what's in this book. And so I felt a compulsion to get the story out, in one volume, even though it's 600 pages. I've only put in there what you need to know.
Mike Carter It's.
Eric Metaxas It could have been 1200 pages. I sort of wanted it to be, but, by the grace of God, I didn't have the time. So I said, I'm just going to put in what we need to know, the most exciting stuff. There's some funny stuff in there. So I just, You know, I think it's incredible.
Kevin Freeman I think it's incredible. In fact, I'd almost strike a bargain, with the left. Any immigrant that wants to come to this country will welcome them in if they actually read this book and then pray about it. I mean, I would almost take any immigrant to understand how special America is, because you have a holy reverence for the nation and the way God found it, once you understand the history of it. And honestly, I look up and reading about Wesley, and he's writing to Lord Dartmouth. And I'm thinking, dartmouth is a college. And then you got to realize, where did the name come from? It came from a real person who was really involved. And so from start to finish, it's an education. And honestly, I'd take any immigrant and I'd give a diploma to any student who would read this and pray about it. That combination have both the reality of reading the history and then the spiritual reality of praying. It goes so far beyond. All right, I want to talk about this, but I also want to talk about there's a whole money element through this, all the way through the book, and we're going to have to hold that. But there are only three things you can do with your money. It, you can spend it, or you can invest it here at Pirate Money. Radio. We work to explain solutions that support all three areas in a way that promotes liberty, security, and values. Patriot Mobile, it's a mobile phone company, supports the Pirate Money radio program. Patriot Mobile uses US carriers, including AT&T, Verizon and T Mobile, and operates on both Apple and Android phones. More information about the economic war room and Patriot Mobile are [email protected] and we're talking with the great Eric Metaxas. We're talking about his Incredible Book Revolution. 600 pages, and it literally is. There are no wasted pages in there.
Mike Carter Mike, can you imagine if this was required reading in history classes in schools today? First of all, kids would love history again. Second would change their philosophy and mind. Instead of all this woke stuff that they're getting out there. It's. It's powerful.
Kevin Freeman Yeah, no, as I said, I would give a, I would give a, degree to anyone who read, read this book and prayed about it. So they invited the living God to participate in the story and the history. Well, history is his story. And this is a part of God's story right here, the book Revolution. All right, we're going to take a break, but Rick's with us for the whole hour and we're going to be talking more, getting into some of the stories that you know about the American founding. It will inspire you, it will thrill you, and it will carry you to the next generation.
Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman And I'm joined by Mike Carter. Mike.
Mike Carter Yeah, Eric I started the show off with. It's just called Revolution. You left the American off the title. what makes this revolution different from other revolutions? When I first saw Revolution. Wow, this is big.
Kevin Freeman Think Beatles. You say you want a revolution or
Mike Carter some kind of radical thing, but, what drove that? What makes this different from other revolutions?
Eric Metaxas It's almost as if I gave you the question, because I would answer that question even if you didn't ask me that question, because very important.
Defining the True Revolution: The Sole Successful Revolution in World History
Why did I title the book Revolution and not American Revolution? I was going to title it American Revolution because I said my, assignment to myself in writing this book is this. I said, I want to write a definitive telling of the story of the American Revolution. Definitive from the beginning all the way through. So I want it to be definitive. So what other title could he give it than American Revolution? It's not about any detail or any angle on the revolution. It's just the story of the revolution. So I was going to title it American Revolution, but then I realized we've all been sold a lie. What is the lie? The lie is, oh, there have been many revolutions, and the French Revolution is similar to the American Revolution. That is baloney. That's the really polite word for what it is. There has only been one revolution in the history of the world that gave the people what it promised. Only one. And everyone needs to know that was our revolution. The French Revolution is a joke. The French Revolution sets out to do the same things that our revolution did. It claims to do the same things. You know, the famous egalit, fraternity, liberte. Oh, yeah. They want equality and they want liberty. They say that what happened in the French Revolution. Well, what happened in the French Revolution is they kicked God out. In our revolution, God was at the center. Most Americans don't even know this story. And again, it's why I wrote the book and why I hope everybody will read it. We'll get it for Christmas. I mean, we have to know God is at the center of our revolution. So what do I mean by that? What I mean is we said. And I can get into this more, but we said in our revolution that we're going to get rid of the king. We're going to get rid of King George iii. Okay, but everyone in the Continental Congress understood this is a transaction. We're getting rid of an earthly king, and we are replacing an earthly king with God as our king. They all understood this, and I can get into that. And the book talks about it. They knew it cannot work if you get rid of a king, an earthly king, you have to. You have to govern yourself by looking to God, by being virtuous and saying that God is our king. So we're going to govern ourselves. That's the only way it can work. The French Revolution, which we often falsely compare to our revolution, they said we're going to kill the king and the queen, which they did. And then they started killing the priests and the nuns. They kicked the church out. They kicked God out. They wanted a secular utopia. A secular utopia that is proto Marxist. That leads up to the Bolshevik Revolution. That leads up to the Chinese Communist revolution. It leads to the nonsense of 1968, this idea that we can have this Kumbaya utopia without God. That has never worked. It did not work in the French Revolution. What happened in the French Revolution that we compare to the American Revolution? Oh, it didn't work out. Turns into a bloodbath, a nightmare where they trade a king and a queen for a dictator emperor named Napoleon. It completely fails to do everything that it set out to do, but they still kind of celebrate it. It's a joke. Our revolution delivered. And it was something that the founders understood. There's only one way we can govern ourselves. If, like, we really think we can do this, there's only one way we're going to go back to the Sinai Covenant. We're going to go back to the Israelites 3,000 years ago. They leave Pharaoh, they're delivered from Pharaoh and Egypt and bondage. We're going to leave slavery, and we're going to look to God as our sovereign king. It's an amazing thing that we in America don't know this because this is how all of the founders understood what we're doing. And I think to myself, look, even if you don't like it, even if you don't agree with it, you have to be intellectually honest, historically honest. And you have to say, they believed this was what they're doing. And when I say they, I don't mean a couple of them. I mean they all got the memo. And again, I can talk about that, in a few minutes, but that is a fact. And, when I uncovered how clear this is, that this is not my interpretation. This is everywhere. I thought, this is a scandal that not every American knows this. How do we not know that all of the men of the revolution were involved in exactly what I just said, that replacing an earthly king with God is our king. It's amazing. And I thought if ever we needed to know this, now we need to know ever.
Kevin Freeman All right, we're going to have to take a break, but that is a amazing reversal. They begged Samuel for a king. We're doing. We did the opposite 250 years ago. All right, we're Eric Metaxas. We'll be right back.
Mike Carter Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security, and values. Welcome back. With your host, Kevan Freeman, I'm joined
Kevin Freeman by Mike Carter, and we're talking with the great Eric Metaxas. And, Eric you start your story at Lexington. you don't start at Lexington. Most historians start at Lexington. You actually started earlier. Where do you start at? And why does that change the nature of the book?
Eric Metaxas Well, when you ask the question. Because when I gave myself this strange assignment, you know, I got to write a book about the revolution. Then you have to answer the question, okay, what is the revolution? When did the revolution start? Jon Adams, who serves really as, kind of a background narrator of the story, even though, I didn't plan that, he ends up in many ways being the hero of the story, apart, of course, from all the heroes, especially George Washington, the great, great hero. But, but Adams is behind from the beginning, all the way to the end. And Adams says there was a revolution before the revolution. There's a war that starts in 1775, April 19th, Lexington and Concord. But, but Jon Adams says there was a revolution before the revolution. What was that revolution? Well, it was a revolution in thinking. And that began really in 1761. the run up through the 1760s, that would lead us to the Boston Tea Party, that would lead to Lexington and Concord, that would lead to all this stuff. So you really have to understand that. And as I said earlier, generations of Americans all understood this, all the names involved, in the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere, all these major figures. Samuel Adams, what a hero. Oh, my gosh, what a hero. The, story of the Boston Massacre, the story of how you go through the 1760s, the stamp. I never thought that I could get excited about the Stamp act, about this idea that we're being taxed and what does it mean? And, and honestly, that is, to my mind, the most exciting part of it, because that's what leads to. I mean, that is where you have Americans who have this rare thing, it's called principles. They have actual principles. Most of the Americans, and this is kind of the subtext of the bigger story. Most of the Americans, and especially the leaders, and especially the leaders in Massachusetts, they were profound men of faith who said, our rights come from God. We are made in the image of God. We are free. We are free. We are only bound to look to God as our king. So when Parliament tells us to do this or this or this, we don't just do it. We ask, is this God's will? Does God want us to pay this tax? Or are we paying. Is this like a blood tax? Is this a tax that will, you know, we'll attack you if you don't give us the money. That's not legitimate. We're men of principle. We will defend ourselves before we will pay, a bribe. So that is the lead up and to see how principled they were. So this idea of no taxation without representation, you know, we learn that in school. But then you think, what does that mean? Why? All it really means has nothing to do with money, has everything to do with freedom, has everything to do with our idea of freedom or liberty. Who we are the men of the revolution, the men of the thirteen colonies. It was a Bible saturated culture. They looked to God as their King. That was fundamental. It was not fundamental in Great Britain. It was not fundamental in Parliament, it was not fundamental, among the cultural elites, in the British Empire. So you have a clash of worldviews that had been really brewing, you know, since 1620, since 1630. The Americans had been left to their own devices for, you know, over 100 years to govern themselves. But suddenly, when the really, the inciting incident, the trigger to all this happens, when the British win the French and Indian War, they think, hey, we've doubled our land in the colonies. we have hugely increased our empire, but we've also increased our debt. Well, now we gotta get serious. So in the 1760s, that's when they say, we've gotta tax the colonies. It's simple. And the colonies say, it's not so simple. We don't think you have the right to tax us, and we are men of principle, and we will not simply pay the tax. Let's discuss it. Well, turns out Parliament was not that interested in discussion or debate. Things come to a head, but it takes years. And it's, so fascinating to me, the riots, the craziness of the 1760s that leads up to this magical moment in the history of the world where we declare our independence. I mean, it is. It really is an epic, heroic tale for everybody in the world. And that's why every American must know the story. We are high. It's high time that every American refreshed our memory, because if you know it, you can't help but be excited.
Kevin Freeman If you don't know the name James Otis, you don't know 1761 and the Boston courtroom. You have to read the book Revolution because it'll tell you America's true history. We'll be right back with Eric Metaxas after this break.
Mike Carter M.
Mike Carter Welcome to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman, helping you unpack the economic headlines and providing real money solutions.
Kevin Freeman I'm joined by the great Mike Carter, and we have the great Eric Metaxas, who's written an incredible book, Revolution. and before we get there, I do want to talk about, just for a moment, a, solutions provider that Mike and I have invested in. Support for this program comes from Glint. It's a financial technology service offering with a debit card and mobile app that enables users to access gold holdings, their own gold holdings, for everyday purchases. With Glint, users maintain ownership of allocated physical gold, which is stored in a managed vault. And at the time of a transaction, gold is sold in real time to cover the purchase amount in local Currency. Glint offers an alternative way to store and use the value. Combining gold and silver with modern payment infrastructure, Glint clients can monitor their gold balance, view transaction history, and manage their accounts through the Glint app, available on major mobile platforms. More details about how vaulted physical gold can be used as money are available@, glintpay.com Gold247 and Mike, this is an incredible book here.
Connecting the Founders' Mission with Gold Holdings and Fair Weights and Measures
Mike Carter It is an incredible book. And as you shared about Glint, we talk about transactional gold in this program all the time. I couldn't help but stand out as I was reading Rick's book, how our founders looked at their mission, their calling. This was a sovereign calling to create America. And I see that same thing with what we're doing with gold. Transactional gold, fair weights and measures. It's bigger than us. God's doing it. And Eric I saw in your book Faith, is throughout the whole book, we're taught to believe. well, they were faith, but they were really just deists. they weren't really Christian. How should a Christian hear this story? tell us a little bit more about that.
Eric Metaxas A lot of Christians, when you read this book, you're going to get angry, as I got angry, because you've been lied to. Really brazenly lied to. And, the point is most of us bought the lie. We bought part of the lie. They were deists, ladies and gentlemen. That is garbage. That is such garbage. It's offensive that we've been lied to. And we should be offended that we bought the lie that. Oh, yes, many of them were deists, ladies and gentlemen. I'm telling you, we. When I did the research, I was astonished. I said, how could I have believed this? Everywhere I look, I see profound Christian faith. not just sort of a sprinkling of Christian faith, profound Christian faith at, the very heart of the whole thing. And I just thought, you know, it happens to me when I write a lot of my books. I think maybe I'm missing something. So I got to look deeper to see more and read more and read more and read more. And I did a lot of research. I thought everywhere I look, it is wall to wall profound Christian faith that led to the revolution, that carried us through the revolution. And everybody was in on it. It's not like, well, there was a small group of Christians. No, no, that's not true. I mean, in fact, all of them were involved in, or I should say, they got the memo, what we're doing, which I said, a couple segments ago. It's a transaction we're going to get rid of God, but going to get rid of an earthly king and replace him with God as our king. Now you have to say, you can't legislate that. So we're a Christian nation, deeply Christian, but it's because we believe in liberty at the heart of the Bible. So we don't believe that you can force Christian faith. We're not Muslims.
Mike Carter Ah.
Eric Metaxas We're not atheists who do try to force their faith on others. We believe in liberty, that God is a God of liberty. So you can't force the Christian faith. However, without Christian faith, without biblical ideas at the heart of everything, you cannot have liberty. So there's a conundrum, there's a paradox. But what amazed me is they all understood this, that we're involved in a transaction. We're going to get rid of an earthly king and, going to replace him with God as our king, just as the Israelites did when they left Pharaoh. And they are in the wilderness, in the Sinai wilderness, and they make this covenant with God. By making the covenant with God, they say, well, now we can govern ourselves because we're going to voluntarily bow to God as our king. And just as you said Kevan before, it's the opposite of what happens in Samuel chapter 12, where they say, we want a king like the other nations. And he says, well, you had a king. It was God. The Lord was your king. So this is, a reversal where the men of the revolution are saying, we want God as our king. We want to be free. And the only way to be free free is to be under God, not under some earthly king that tells you to do things that are wrong or to pay taxes that are wrong. So they make this transaction. They make it official, of course, you know, in. In 1776. But what amazed me was the least religious of the men of the Revolution, the least religious of the men of the Continental Congress. You'd say maybe Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Okay, how do they view this when they were asked to create a seal for the nation? A seal. A picture. What is a picture of what we just done, of the new nation of this United States of America? Well, give us a picture. Benjamin Franklin submits his idea. It is Moses overseeing the parting of the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army drowning. That is Benjamin Franklin's idea of what we're doing. What about Thomas Jefferson? His idea is the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness following the pillar of fire and the cloud. So the least religious members of the Continental Congress, they got the Memo. Everyone got the memo. This is what we're doing. And Samuel Adams, who's one of the great heroes of the story, he says, we have restored the sovereign capital S. Nothing could be more clear. Every single American school kid should be taught this. Even if you don't agree with it, even if you say, well, that's how they did it, then. The fact is, that is how they did it. Then. that is how the country came into being. And every single American needs to know this. You don't have to agree with it, but if you don't know this, you do not know the truth of the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. Everyone needs to know. It needs to confront it, needs to think about it. And when I saw it, I realized I have not been sufficiently reverent of what God did in creating this nation. Because every one of the founders believed God created this nation. They believed this. Again, if you don't believe it, that's fine, but they did. Every one of them believed that this was, a moment in history. Nobody says it better than Thomas Paine that we can make the world new again. it's an opportunity. He says, not since the days of Noah, ah, have we had this opportunity to make the world new. It is so beautiful and apart from God. It would be another utopianist scheme like the French Revolution, like the Bolshevik Revolution that ends in a bloodbath and disaster. But one time in history, it actually worked. One time in history, because they kept their eyes on God, because they did it right, it actually worked. They had the ballast of a biblical worldview to prevent them from. From, you know, careening off into a terror and a bloodbath and a nightmare. This is a big deal. And, again, I didn't know this when I started writing the book, when I started doing the research. So when it comes to your attention, you think, how did I miss this? How have I lived and not understood the truth about the birth of our nation? Okay, now that I know it, I have a passion to get it to every single American.
Mike Carter You shared it. you shared a story in there about Washington, and that stood out to me. Not only are we a Christian nation, but we each have a role in that. Can you tell a little bit more about what he demanded of the troops as they were fighting this war?
Eric Metaxas This is the thing when people want to call Washington a deist. I think, what a lie. I mean, it is such a lie. It just, again, it angers me because I thought, how many times have I heard this Nonsense. And then you do the research. When Washington takes control of the Continental, army. So it's early July, 1775. He comes to Boston. The first thing he does, he strictly orders his officers. He says, I don't want the troops. I don't like the profane cursing and swearing that must stop. The drinking must stop, and they must attend divine services on Sunday. Now, if you wonder why he's doing this, he then goes on to say, because in order to win, this is a sacred cause. This is God's idea. And if we are to participate in fighting for God's idea, we have to behave in such a way that God will smile on our efforts. If we do not behave in a way that's worthy of the sacred cause, God will not smile on our efforts. And on our own, we will lose. The British, they got the cards. They got the army and the navy. We don't. But if God is with us, who can be against us? if God is with us, we can win. We were actually depending on God to help us. Washington makes it explicit many times, not just in the one that I mentioned over and over and over again. He says, God intervened. God was with us. So they actually knew. This is Puritan covenant theology. If we honor God, God will honor us. Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord's. Well, they actually believed this. Washington believed it. And they actually fought as though it were true. In other words, they didn't say, we'll do anything to win. They said, no, no, no. The one thing we can't do is stoop to the barbarity of the British. The British did not look to God. The British said, we got the biggest army, the biggest enemy. We. We will crush you. We've got the. The power to do it. We will do it. The Americans said, we have another idea. Our idea is that this whole concept comes from God. We are obeying God. We're being faithful to God. And if we're faithful to God, if we honor God in how we fight, if we fight honorably, not brutally, not sadistically, the way the British did, we believe God will be with us. And guess what? He was. And you see this over and over again. It really is something that. The fact that I didn't know this, again, it made me mad. I said, we need to know this. This is. It's high time we restore an understanding of how we actually came into being. Every American has to know it, all right?
Kevin Freeman There are a lot of books you can read, and you say, wow, that makes me know the author is brilliant. This is a book you can read and you can walk away and say, wow, I'm brilliant. I know all these things. We'll be right back with Eric from Texas.
Mike Carter welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Mike Carter Yeah.
Kevin Freeman And Mike Carter and I are talking with Eric Metaxas. And Eric the country's born. In your book, you describe the man who kept, who could have kept the power, but he gives it back. Why does that belong in a book about the birth of a nation or revolution?
Eric Metaxas Well, it's what started the whole book. I mentioned that as my friend Seth Ward. I mentioned him in the acknowledgments, of the book page. the story of Washington is the story of somebody so noble, such a beautiful human being, you almost can't believe he existed. And you realize, well, God created this extraordinary man of tremendous virtue and character for such a time as that was. And he was someone who any normal person, any good person, would have probably been tempted to say, yes, I made this happen and I should be the new king of the new nation. And he didn't. And the fact that he didn't more than once, it is actually staggering. When you understand it, you say, wow, this is a big deal. Because any lesser man, and most of us are lesser men, when you compare to Washington, you would have taken the deal. You would have said, well, it only makes sense. I mean, I'm the one that has bled, for eight years and suffered miserably. And now Congress is not paying the troops, and so I need to step in and lead. That was the fear of the Continental Congress. So when they picked Washington, they knew they picked a man of unbelievable character. It was the story of Washington, in my book, Seven Men, that led my friend Seth to say, you know, Eric this is such an amazing story. You got to tell the whole story. And so that is the whole story. It's a story of men of character, at the head of which is George Washington and also Jon Adams, who without them, without this view of the world that is unique, it is a biblical view of things, and it comes into history in a new way, 250 years ago. Without that, you cannot have liberty. And so people need to understand what is liberty. Most Americans don't understand what are the roots of liberty? How does it work? There is no other way that it can work. And we've been kind of, you know, coasting. We've kind of been drifting. We, need to re. Establish. How does it work? How does it not work. Why did it work in the revolution? Why has it been sustained? In the epilogue to the book, I call it what Is the Meaning of America? All of the men of the revolution believed that God had uniquely, providentially called this nation into being, was with us in the revolution. They all believed that. Now, again, if somebody doesn't believe it, then I think, well, see what they said about it. See how they thought that it worked. We need to know this again, this is not extra credit. And we've drifted so far away. We're in the mess that we're in. Having to fight, this existential battle that we're in now with forces of lunacy, you know, Islamo, fascism and anarchy and Marxists, everywhere you look, globalists, they've got a different view of how things should work. How did the men of the revolution think it should work? They believe that this is a biblical idea that entered history when they came to the stage, to the, to the, to the world stage. That they had the opportunity to create a free nation where people govern themselves by looking to God as their sovereign. It is so radical. And you say that is a revolution. That's a real revolution. It's the only time it worked. We need to appreciate this, and if ever there was a time, we need to revisit it in our 250th year. I say this is our super centennial year. It is a magical moment for us to revisit this and to really refresh our understanding of this. It's high time. So, again, I'm hoping that people will read this. A lot of people said we're going to use this in our homeschooling curriculum or in a classical Christian school curriculum. Because if young people know this, it's a game changer. Like, you know, we've missed this. We've been missing this for 50 years.
Kevin Freeman Yeah, nobody tells a story better than you, have told it here, Eric And you're right, if people read this book, and I add the one thing, pray while they're doing it, because you can walk in with a very cynical mind and you'll probably be mentally persuaded. But then there's a spiritual element also. The same spirit that enveloped the founders, that brought us this great nation. If it took over, reading this book, which is renewing, you know, helping to renew our mind with true history and then asking God into our hearts. That combination had saved the world. It saved not just America, it saved the entire world. It's an incredible combination because you tell the story as it is and and it's God's history. And I just honor you, Eric for doing that.
Mike Carter Yeah. And Kevan, you know, we talk about liberty, security and values and protecting that all the time. I'm honored that that's the mission we have here. And, man, I want to make sure people get this book and understand what that really means.
Kevin Freeman All right, the book is Revolution. Our guest is Eric Metaxas. We've had an incredible so far. We've got got a couple of more segments with you, Eric I hope you'll hang on here with us and, and if you're listening, hang on. This is truth and you can get it. We'll be right back.
Mike Carter Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security and values. Welcome back with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman And I'm joined by Mike Carter and Eric Metaxas. I mean, what an amazing thing to say. I'm joined by Eric Metaxas on the radio. That's a really cool thing.
Mike Carter That is cool. So thankful to have you here. So thankful you wrote this book. and as we look at practical application, next steps. I'm a family sitting at the table. what changes at the family table? What conversations? What changes if my family reads this book?
Eric Metaxas Well, I really do think that in some ways it's a shocking narrative because this is what happened to me. You keep thinking, how did I not know this? I love this country. I'm a Christian. How did I not really understand this until I did the research on this book? Or if you get the book, until I read the book, how is that possible? And that's when you realize, hey, folks, you've been lied to for decades. The secular left has pushed a secular lie and says that liberty is possible without God. That's what the French revolutionaries believed. It didn't work. it never works. It cannot work. It doesn't work in history. Over and over and over again. That's why, you know, how can you elect imamdani? I live in NewSong York City. How can people fall for this? How can people fall for socialism, communism? How can they fall for it? Because you've not been told the truth of how liberty works, what it is, how it works. It's God's idea. And even that, like, people think, oh, I think it comes out of the Enlightenment. Baloney. It doesn't come out of the Enlightenment. What ideas are there in the Enlightenment that are worth anything unless they come from the Bible itself? This idea that liberty, we can govern ourselves. the idea that we're created equal. Where does that idea come from? From the Quran? From Voltaire or other atheist philosophers? No, it only comes from one place. Prove me wrong. Show me where it comes from. Comes from the Bible period. Where does the idea that, you know, racial, racism is wrong, slavery is wrong. Where do those ideas come from? Those are great ideas. Where they come from. They only come from the Bible. We've been lied to forever that, well, these ideas come from the Enlightenment. They would just kind of happened. No, no, it did not just happen. They come from the Bible period. And again, you can hear it as I say this, my passion, because I was outraged at how even I had bought the lie that, oh, it comes out of British common law. It comes out of. Where did those ideas come from in British common law and in the Enlightenment? What Enlightenment? Not the French Enlightenment. Where did the good ideas come from? They come from the Bible. All of this comes from the Bible. The men of the revolution understood this and it has been forgotten. I say to people, God forbid you watch the PBS Ken Burns version of the Revolution. It was a 12 hour American Revolution documentary. I was forced to watch it. I said, I gotta do my research, see what's out there. For 12 hours they avoid this issue and a couple of times actually spout nonsense about it. They say though they were deists and they were. They say this, all this stuff over and over and over. And I think it's one of the reasons that Jefferson is pushed so much because they've, kind of acted like, well, he's our guy and you know, he had these French Enlightenment values and you know, he was not an orthodox Christian and so he's our guy. Well, let me tell you, first of all, it's basically not true about Jefferson. But even if it were true, you can't get there from m here. You cannot get liberty from those ideas. So Jon Adams to me is the hero apart from Washington. He should be a thousand times more famous than Thomas Jefferson. The more I looked into it, the more I was just astonished. Americans need to know the truth. And I say this again, this is high time. This is like we're at the edge of the abyss.
Mike Carter Every American, let's go back to that dinner table again. I'm at dinner, I pray, I bless my food. I'm not sure I'm praying for thanking God for the liberty. What is the dinner table? What's the dinner table? What would you want? People read the book. What can families do to make sure they really take this in? It's not just read it and forget about It. But how do they apply it to
Eric Metaxas understand what is liberty? Do we even know what it is? I think most Americans, we kind of don't know. We don't know what it is. And I think what I keep saying is that circumstances occurred in the 1770s that it forced the people of these 13 colonies to kind of squeeze the Bible because they had these different denominations and stuff, and they felt if we really squeeze it out, pops this idea of liberty. What is at the heart of the Bible? Liberty. We are each free before God to reject him, to accept him. We're free. And it's. It's a scary thing, and it's a beautiful thing, and it's at the heart of the word of God. And it leads to this idea of government that had never existed. I mean, it is such a beautiful, wild idea. It's a sacred idea. It's God's idea in history. That's how they understood it. So we need to refresh our memory if, if we ever knew this. But if Americans don't understand this, liberty is lost and the nation is lost.
Kevin Freeman The book is Revolution. the author is Eric Metaxas. Ericmataxas.com Revolution is the place to find it. Thank you, real life audience. Stay faithful, stay free. Otherwise, stay tuned.
The Founding Was Intentional: Men and Women Dedicated to God
Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman If you're joining on American Family Radio or podcast, thank you. Thank you for staying with us. You know, what we're learning from this book, Mike, is that the founding wasn't an accident. It was mental. And women dedicated to God who have incredible stories, and we just gloss over them. You know, Betsy Ross made the flag, George Washington crossed the Delaware, and you're done, right? No, that's not how the revolution happened. And Eric Metaxas has gone into great detail telling all the various stories in the book, Revolution. Eric any final thoughts?
Eric Metaxas Well, I say this, this is kind of a funny thing, right? But I, I really do say I hope people will, read the book. I hope people will buy the book, and give it to people who read books. But this is kind of the funny thing is, like, a lot of people say, well, I listened to it on audio. Like, they're apologizing, like, I didn't really read it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you get it on audio, it's no different than reading the book. You don't get credit for running your eyes over the page. I read the audiobook, and when I was reading the audiobook, I was actually thinking, I hope people will get the audiobook. Because it's kind of fun. When I read it, I put the intonation where I think it needs to be. But I just think, okay, so let's say you listen to it while you're at the gym or while you go on your walk or whatever. The bottom line is we need to know the story. And I say this shamelessly because it's not about selling books. It's about how do we restore the Republicans. The first thing we have to do is we have to understand what is the Republic. How did it come into being? Who were the men who suffered, My goodness, how they suffered. We owe them. Knowing their story, we owe them, ah, a debt. So to me, this is like an assignment, that we have as a nation. And I believe God led me to write the book. I don't say that lightly. And that we have an assignment and that if enough Americans will know the story, that is the way forward. And that God has allowed us to come to this place where we didn't know the story or we knew little bits and pieces of it. And it really did amaze me. I'm not kidding. When people would say to me, oh, you're writing book of the revolution. What's your angle? I said, oh, I have no angle. I just want to tell the story because we need to know the story. But then as I wrote it, the angle that we've been talking about came out more and more and more and more. God was at the center. The Americans, the thirteen colonies, it was a Bible saturated culture. These were men of God who understood what they were doing. And the British, we haven't talked about this, but the British were just the opposite. They were not men of the Bible. They were godless, they were barbaric, they were sadistic in how they fought the war. It's a culture war. Dramatically different cultures. It's like the Hollywood elites and the Manhattan elites and the Washington elites, the bureaucrats in Europe. That worldview, a secular worldview versus a Bible based worldview. I've never seen it so clearly. And obviously it's not what the book is about, but it's all through the book. Americans need to know it.
Kevin Freeman Oh, thank you so much, Eric
Prayer for a Nation Conceived in Liberty and the Courage to Tell the Truth
It's an incredible book, Revolution by Eric Metaxas. I want to close with prayer and I want to say, father, thank you for a nation conceived in liberty. Thank you for the men and women who paid to keep it. Give us honest weights, clean hands and the courage to tell the truth. Bless our guest, Eric and our, listeners and our homes in Jesus name. If you have questions, if you have prayer needs, if you have comments, email [email protected] and we need to pray for America, pray for the world to return to God's principles. And we need to read great stories like this. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. It's Kevan Freeman and Mike Carter and our Taxes for Pirate Money Radio.
Introduction to Pirate Money Radio and the Hosts
Foreign.
Welcome to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman, helping you unpack the economic headlines and providing real money solutions.
Kevin Freeman Ahoy, mates. Welcome aboard another voyage of Pirate Money Radio, the show that sails against the storms of fiat tyranny, cultural confusion and counterfeit ideas to chart a course towards liberty, security, and values built on biblical truth. I'm your captain, Kevan Freeman, coming to you from the heart of Texas.
Mike Carter And I'm Mike Carter.
Introducing Guest Eric Metaxas and His New Book on American Founding
We're going to talk about revolution today. and there's a small American in front of that, but it's big American when you read this thing. great to have a guest today, Eric Mataskas. And, we're going to talk about America's founding, and why we should still care, why a family should care about this today.
Kevin Freeman Yeah. We've got Eric Metaxas with us. He wrote Bonhoeffer, the book that put a name on what it costs to tell the truth when the crowd is going the. He also wrote letter to the American Church, which we covered on our economic war room, which asked whether the church in this country would stand up or sit down. And his new book is the Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World. It came out June 2. Odysseus Books. More than 600 pages. Look at this. It's a monster. It's a number one Publisher's Weekly bestseller, a number one Amazon bestseller. It's won all the awards. But number two on the NewSong York Times list, because I think number two, Jill Biden's book, I don't know, it outsold Jill's book, but I don't know how NewSong York Times rigs their polls. But anyway, he also hosts Socrates in the City. Eric welcome to Pirate Money Radio.
Eric Metaxas It is a joy to be here. Kevan, thanks for having me. And I'd love to clarify that. The book, I mean, you know, you hear about this stuff, but when you live it, the book was absolutely the number one bestseller that week. And the NewSong York Times, nonetheless, because we had the official numbers, nonetheless, they put Jill Biden's book at number one. And I thought, I've never seen this before. I've never lived this before, where my book should be the number one NewSong York Times bestseller. But they had to push her book ahead. And they kind of. They hide behind, you know, they say they're curating their list, which means basically they have the right to. To do whatever they want, book sales be damned. So I'm thrilled that the book actually was on the NewSong York Times bestseller list for 11 weeks. I hope it will get back on the list this week as a result of this and other podcasts and patriots who care about our vitally important history.
Kevin Freeman It's a powerful book, and I have not read Joe Biden's book, but I guarantee our audience that it does not deserve the number one spot over Revolution. I mean, you. You just think about what they're doing is telling fluff stories that are fake and made up about Joe Biden. I mean, he was barely there during the presidency, and she's writing about her view from the East Wing or something. It's ridiculous. This book, Revolution, is powerful. I mean, I've read Amazing Grace, Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, and you've done a terrific job with all of them. But this is strong as any book I've read. It's history. And I pick up little vignettes, little tiny stories in there that I remember from, you know, 1960s elementary school. but this tells the whole story with the footnotes, with the reference. And it's beautiful. It's got pictures. You can look at the paintings that are in their full color. I mean, that is a production of a book. Congratulations on it. It's amazing.
Eric Metaxas Thank you. I have to tell you, I'm extremely proud of it. I'm thrilled that Amazon has reduced, the price by 35%. So it's like, a great deal. Because I said to all my friends, listen, you want the hardcover? it's beautiful. It's beautifully made, but, you know, the fact that it's selling well, you know we're going to get into this. I know, but I feel a vital compulsion to get this story to every American. I didn't write this book for history buffs. I wrote it for Americans, part of the way forward. We must know our story. We must know the true story of how America came into being. That has been our strength for 250 years. We've been losing it. The last 50 years since you and I were in grade school, this story has not been told. America's been denigrated. It is absolutely vital. This is not extra credit. This is on the test. Americans need to know this story.
Mike Carter Yeah. And you know what stood out to me, Erica? You know, we take for granted what we have here in America. You know, in other countries, it's shut up and do what we say. Here, we don't realize the freedom we really have, the prices that were paid there. And it's kind of ironic to me, NewSong York Times bestseller was Joe Biden. I think of the COVID shot Maxines. That was kind of a. Shut up. Do what we say. And you've got to counter that here with revolution. What inspired you to write this book?
Eric Metaxas Well, it's interesting. I never ever, and this happens to me with most of my books, I never thought I would write a book like this. I'm, not just saying that. I mean, I simply never thought I would. But about three years ago, a dear friend of mine said that he'd read my book Seven Men. And the first chapter is about George Washington. Or actually, I think he just read that chapter. And he was so moved by the story of Washington in my book that he said, I must write the whole story. I must write the story of the revolution. And usually when friends tell me I got an idea for a book, I tell them, shut up. Books are a lot of work. Go away, leave me alone. I don't need your ideas. When he said this, and I write about this in the acknowledgments of the book, I thought that's, That, that stopped me. I thought, you know, we need a one volume telling of the birth of our nation. Most of us have forgotten the stories. And by the way, it's a story, but it's a story of stories. It's an epic narrative, but with all these characters and these little stories and big epic stories within the epic story. I mean, the story of Jon, of Henry Knox. Oh my gosh. Every American needs to know this stunning story. So I kind of thought, I wonder if God is calling me to write this book. And I, you know, I always do the research and I think, I mean, the market research. Is there a book out there that tells the whole story? And there's not, there's a million books on the revolution, but there isn't one book that tells the whole story how it began. Not with Lexington and Concord. How do we get to Lexington and Concord? And then the story after Lexington and Concord. And it is such a great story. When I really understood it, I thought, okay, I need to do this in time for the 250th. And it was an, it was a huge effort. But I really. The, accolades that the book has gotten that I cannot tell you how many people have said to me, I couldn't put it down. It's a page turner, it reads like a novel. I mean, that's what you want to hear as a writer, you know, and normally you don't hear it. People say it's a good book, but, you know, it was tough. The fact that this book, that the stories kind of carry the reader and that people are saying, I couldn't put it down. That thrills me. Because really and truly, every American must know this. This is, again, this is not extra credit or for history buffs. This is like every American in 1960, let's say, if you put a microphone in their face and you start talking to them, they knew all this stuff. We've forgotten it. And if you want to know how we've lost our liberties, how we've allowed things to get to where they. Where we're in this existential crisis, which we are right now, you know, with Trump in the role of Washington. We are, in this place because we've forgotten what's in this book. And so I felt a compulsion to get the story out, in one volume, even though it's 600 pages. I've only put in there what you need to know.
Mike Carter It's.
Eric Metaxas It could have been 1200 pages. I sort of wanted it to be, but, by the grace of God, I didn't have the time. So I said, I'm just going to put in what we need to know, the most exciting stuff. There's some funny stuff in there. So I just, You know, I think it's incredible.
Kevin Freeman I think it's incredible. In fact, I'd almost strike a bargain, with the left. Any immigrant that wants to come to this country will welcome them in if they actually read this book and then pray about it. I mean, I would almost take any immigrant to understand how special America is, because you have a holy reverence for the nation and the way God found it, once you understand the history of it. And honestly, I look up and reading about Wesley, and he's writing to Lord Dartmouth. And I'm thinking, dartmouth is a college. And then you got to realize, where did the name come from? It came from a real person who was really involved. And so from start to finish, it's an education. And honestly, I'd take any immigrant and I'd give a diploma to any student who would read this and pray about it. That combination have both the reality of reading the history and then the spiritual reality of praying. It goes so far beyond. All right, I want to talk about this, but I also want to talk about there's a whole money element through this, all the way through the book, and we're going to have to hold that. But there are only three things you can do with your money. It, you can spend it, or you can invest it here at Pirate Money. Radio. We work to explain solutions that support all three areas in a way that promotes liberty, security, and values. Patriot Mobile, it's a mobile phone company, supports the Pirate Money radio program. Patriot Mobile uses US carriers, including AT&T, Verizon and T Mobile, and operates on both Apple and Android phones. More information about the economic war room and Patriot Mobile are [email protected] and we're talking with the great Eric Metaxas. We're talking about his Incredible Book Revolution. 600 pages, and it literally is. There are no wasted pages in there.
Mike Carter Mike, can you imagine if this was required reading in history classes in schools today? First of all, kids would love history again. Second would change their philosophy and mind. Instead of all this woke stuff that they're getting out there. It's. It's powerful.
Kevin Freeman Yeah, no, as I said, I would give a, I would give a, degree to anyone who read, read this book and prayed about it. So they invited the living God to participate in the story and the history. Well, history is his story. And this is a part of God's story right here, the book Revolution. All right, we're going to take a break, but Rick's with us for the whole hour and we're going to be talking more, getting into some of the stories that you know about the American founding. It will inspire you, it will thrill you, and it will carry you to the next generation.
Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman And I'm joined by Mike Carter. Mike.
Mike Carter Yeah, Eric I started the show off with. It's just called Revolution. You left the American off the title. what makes this revolution different from other revolutions? When I first saw Revolution. Wow, this is big.
Kevin Freeman Think Beatles. You say you want a revolution or
Mike Carter some kind of radical thing, but, what drove that? What makes this different from other revolutions?
Eric Metaxas It's almost as if I gave you the question, because I would answer that question even if you didn't ask me that question, because very important.
Defining the True Revolution: The Sole Successful Revolution in World History
Why did I title the book Revolution and not American Revolution? I was going to title it American Revolution because I said my, assignment to myself in writing this book is this. I said, I want to write a definitive telling of the story of the American Revolution. Definitive from the beginning all the way through. So I want it to be definitive. So what other title could he give it than American Revolution? It's not about any detail or any angle on the revolution. It's just the story of the revolution. So I was going to title it American Revolution, but then I realized we've all been sold a lie. What is the lie? The lie is, oh, there have been many revolutions, and the French Revolution is similar to the American Revolution. That is baloney. That's the really polite word for what it is. There has only been one revolution in the history of the world that gave the people what it promised. Only one. And everyone needs to know that was our revolution. The French Revolution is a joke. The French Revolution sets out to do the same things that our revolution did. It claims to do the same things. You know, the famous egalit, fraternity, liberte. Oh, yeah. They want equality and they want liberty. They say that what happened in the French Revolution. Well, what happened in the French Revolution is they kicked God out. In our revolution, God was at the center. Most Americans don't even know this story. And again, it's why I wrote the book and why I hope everybody will read it. We'll get it for Christmas. I mean, we have to know God is at the center of our revolution. So what do I mean by that? What I mean is we said. And I can get into this more, but we said in our revolution that we're going to get rid of the king. We're going to get rid of King George iii. Okay, but everyone in the Continental Congress understood this is a transaction. We're getting rid of an earthly king, and we are replacing an earthly king with God as our king. They all understood this, and I can get into that. And the book talks about it. They knew it cannot work if you get rid of a king, an earthly king, you have to. You have to govern yourself by looking to God, by being virtuous and saying that God is our king. So we're going to govern ourselves. That's the only way it can work. The French Revolution, which we often falsely compare to our revolution, they said we're going to kill the king and the queen, which they did. And then they started killing the priests and the nuns. They kicked the church out. They kicked God out. They wanted a secular utopia. A secular utopia that is proto Marxist. That leads up to the Bolshevik Revolution. That leads up to the Chinese Communist revolution. It leads to the nonsense of 1968, this idea that we can have this Kumbaya utopia without God. That has never worked. It did not work in the French Revolution. What happened in the French Revolution that we compare to the American Revolution? Oh, it didn't work out. Turns into a bloodbath, a nightmare where they trade a king and a queen for a dictator emperor named Napoleon. It completely fails to do everything that it set out to do, but they still kind of celebrate it. It's a joke. Our revolution delivered. And it was something that the founders understood. There's only one way we can govern ourselves. If, like, we really think we can do this, there's only one way we're going to go back to the Sinai Covenant. We're going to go back to the Israelites 3,000 years ago. They leave Pharaoh, they're delivered from Pharaoh and Egypt and bondage. We're going to leave slavery, and we're going to look to God as our sovereign king. It's an amazing thing that we in America don't know this because this is how all of the founders understood what we're doing. And I think to myself, look, even if you don't like it, even if you don't agree with it, you have to be intellectually honest, historically honest. And you have to say, they believed this was what they're doing. And when I say they, I don't mean a couple of them. I mean they all got the memo. And again, I can talk about that, in a few minutes, but that is a fact. And, when I uncovered how clear this is, that this is not my interpretation. This is everywhere. I thought, this is a scandal that not every American knows this. How do we not know that all of the men of the revolution were involved in exactly what I just said, that replacing an earthly king with God is our king. It's amazing. And I thought if ever we needed to know this, now we need to know ever.
Kevin Freeman All right, we're going to have to take a break, but that is a amazing reversal. They begged Samuel for a king. We're doing. We did the opposite 250 years ago. All right, we're Eric Metaxas. We'll be right back.
Mike Carter Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security, and values. Welcome back. With your host, Kevan Freeman, I'm joined
Kevin Freeman by Mike Carter, and we're talking with the great Eric Metaxas. And, Eric you start your story at Lexington. you don't start at Lexington. Most historians start at Lexington. You actually started earlier. Where do you start at? And why does that change the nature of the book?
Eric Metaxas Well, when you ask the question. Because when I gave myself this strange assignment, you know, I got to write a book about the revolution. Then you have to answer the question, okay, what is the revolution? When did the revolution start? Jon Adams, who serves really as, kind of a background narrator of the story, even though, I didn't plan that, he ends up in many ways being the hero of the story, apart, of course, from all the heroes, especially George Washington, the great, great hero. But, but Adams is behind from the beginning, all the way to the end. And Adams says there was a revolution before the revolution. There's a war that starts in 1775, April 19th, Lexington and Concord. But, but Jon Adams says there was a revolution before the revolution. What was that revolution? Well, it was a revolution in thinking. And that began really in 1761. the run up through the 1760s, that would lead us to the Boston Tea Party, that would lead to Lexington and Concord, that would lead to all this stuff. So you really have to understand that. And as I said earlier, generations of Americans all understood this, all the names involved, in the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere, all these major figures. Samuel Adams, what a hero. Oh, my gosh, what a hero. The, story of the Boston Massacre, the story of how you go through the 1760s, the stamp. I never thought that I could get excited about the Stamp act, about this idea that we're being taxed and what does it mean? And, and honestly, that is, to my mind, the most exciting part of it, because that's what leads to. I mean, that is where you have Americans who have this rare thing, it's called principles. They have actual principles. Most of the Americans, and this is kind of the subtext of the bigger story. Most of the Americans, and especially the leaders, and especially the leaders in Massachusetts, they were profound men of faith who said, our rights come from God. We are made in the image of God. We are free. We are free. We are only bound to look to God as our king. So when Parliament tells us to do this or this or this, we don't just do it. We ask, is this God's will? Does God want us to pay this tax? Or are we paying. Is this like a blood tax? Is this a tax that will, you know, we'll attack you if you don't give us the money. That's not legitimate. We're men of principle. We will defend ourselves before we will pay, a bribe. So that is the lead up and to see how principled they were. So this idea of no taxation without representation, you know, we learn that in school. But then you think, what does that mean? Why? All it really means has nothing to do with money, has everything to do with freedom, has everything to do with our idea of freedom or liberty. Who we are the men of the revolution, the men of the thirteen colonies. It was a Bible saturated culture. They looked to God as their King. That was fundamental. It was not fundamental in Great Britain. It was not fundamental in Parliament, it was not fundamental, among the cultural elites, in the British Empire. So you have a clash of worldviews that had been really brewing, you know, since 1620, since 1630. The Americans had been left to their own devices for, you know, over 100 years to govern themselves. But suddenly, when the really, the inciting incident, the trigger to all this happens, when the British win the French and Indian War, they think, hey, we've doubled our land in the colonies. we have hugely increased our empire, but we've also increased our debt. Well, now we gotta get serious. So in the 1760s, that's when they say, we've gotta tax the colonies. It's simple. And the colonies say, it's not so simple. We don't think you have the right to tax us, and we are men of principle, and we will not simply pay the tax. Let's discuss it. Well, turns out Parliament was not that interested in discussion or debate. Things come to a head, but it takes years. And it's, so fascinating to me, the riots, the craziness of the 1760s that leads up to this magical moment in the history of the world where we declare our independence. I mean, it is. It really is an epic, heroic tale for everybody in the world. And that's why every American must know the story. We are high. It's high time that every American refreshed our memory, because if you know it, you can't help but be excited.
Kevin Freeman If you don't know the name James Otis, you don't know 1761 and the Boston courtroom. You have to read the book Revolution because it'll tell you America's true history. We'll be right back with Eric Metaxas after this break.
Mike Carter M.
Mike Carter Welcome to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman, helping you unpack the economic headlines and providing real money solutions.
Kevin Freeman I'm joined by the great Mike Carter, and we have the great Eric Metaxas, who's written an incredible book, Revolution. and before we get there, I do want to talk about, just for a moment, a, solutions provider that Mike and I have invested in. Support for this program comes from Glint. It's a financial technology service offering with a debit card and mobile app that enables users to access gold holdings, their own gold holdings, for everyday purchases. With Glint, users maintain ownership of allocated physical gold, which is stored in a managed vault. And at the time of a transaction, gold is sold in real time to cover the purchase amount in local Currency. Glint offers an alternative way to store and use the value. Combining gold and silver with modern payment infrastructure, Glint clients can monitor their gold balance, view transaction history, and manage their accounts through the Glint app, available on major mobile platforms. More details about how vaulted physical gold can be used as money are available@, glintpay.com Gold247 and Mike, this is an incredible book here.
Connecting the Founders' Mission with Gold Holdings and Fair Weights and Measures
Mike Carter It is an incredible book. And as you shared about Glint, we talk about transactional gold in this program all the time. I couldn't help but stand out as I was reading Rick's book, how our founders looked at their mission, their calling. This was a sovereign calling to create America. And I see that same thing with what we're doing with gold. Transactional gold, fair weights and measures. It's bigger than us. God's doing it. And Eric I saw in your book Faith, is throughout the whole book, we're taught to believe. well, they were faith, but they were really just deists. they weren't really Christian. How should a Christian hear this story? tell us a little bit more about that.
Eric Metaxas A lot of Christians, when you read this book, you're going to get angry, as I got angry, because you've been lied to. Really brazenly lied to. And, the point is most of us bought the lie. We bought part of the lie. They were deists, ladies and gentlemen. That is garbage. That is such garbage. It's offensive that we've been lied to. And we should be offended that we bought the lie that. Oh, yes, many of them were deists, ladies and gentlemen. I'm telling you, we. When I did the research, I was astonished. I said, how could I have believed this? Everywhere I look, I see profound Christian faith. not just sort of a sprinkling of Christian faith, profound Christian faith at, the very heart of the whole thing. And I just thought, you know, it happens to me when I write a lot of my books. I think maybe I'm missing something. So I got to look deeper to see more and read more and read more and read more. And I did a lot of research. I thought everywhere I look, it is wall to wall profound Christian faith that led to the revolution, that carried us through the revolution. And everybody was in on it. It's not like, well, there was a small group of Christians. No, no, that's not true. I mean, in fact, all of them were involved in, or I should say, they got the memo, what we're doing, which I said, a couple segments ago. It's a transaction we're going to get rid of God, but going to get rid of an earthly king and replace him with God as our king. Now you have to say, you can't legislate that. So we're a Christian nation, deeply Christian, but it's because we believe in liberty at the heart of the Bible. So we don't believe that you can force Christian faith. We're not Muslims.
Mike Carter Ah.
Eric Metaxas We're not atheists who do try to force their faith on others. We believe in liberty, that God is a God of liberty. So you can't force the Christian faith. However, without Christian faith, without biblical ideas at the heart of everything, you cannot have liberty. So there's a conundrum, there's a paradox. But what amazed me is they all understood this, that we're involved in a transaction. We're going to get rid of an earthly king and, going to replace him with God as our king, just as the Israelites did when they left Pharaoh. And they are in the wilderness, in the Sinai wilderness, and they make this covenant with God. By making the covenant with God, they say, well, now we can govern ourselves because we're going to voluntarily bow to God as our king. And just as you said Kevan before, it's the opposite of what happens in Samuel chapter 12, where they say, we want a king like the other nations. And he says, well, you had a king. It was God. The Lord was your king. So this is, a reversal where the men of the revolution are saying, we want God as our king. We want to be free. And the only way to be free free is to be under God, not under some earthly king that tells you to do things that are wrong or to pay taxes that are wrong. So they make this transaction. They make it official, of course, you know, in. In 1776. But what amazed me was the least religious of the men of the Revolution, the least religious of the men of the Continental Congress. You'd say maybe Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Okay, how do they view this when they were asked to create a seal for the nation? A seal. A picture. What is a picture of what we just done, of the new nation of this United States of America? Well, give us a picture. Benjamin Franklin submits his idea. It is Moses overseeing the parting of the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army drowning. That is Benjamin Franklin's idea of what we're doing. What about Thomas Jefferson? His idea is the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness following the pillar of fire and the cloud. So the least religious members of the Continental Congress, they got the Memo. Everyone got the memo. This is what we're doing. And Samuel Adams, who's one of the great heroes of the story, he says, we have restored the sovereign capital S. Nothing could be more clear. Every single American school kid should be taught this. Even if you don't agree with it, even if you say, well, that's how they did it, then. The fact is, that is how they did it. Then. that is how the country came into being. And every single American needs to know this. You don't have to agree with it, but if you don't know this, you do not know the truth of the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. Everyone needs to know. It needs to confront it, needs to think about it. And when I saw it, I realized I have not been sufficiently reverent of what God did in creating this nation. Because every one of the founders believed God created this nation. They believed this. Again, if you don't believe it, that's fine, but they did. Every one of them believed that this was, a moment in history. Nobody says it better than Thomas Paine that we can make the world new again. it's an opportunity. He says, not since the days of Noah, ah, have we had this opportunity to make the world new. It is so beautiful and apart from God. It would be another utopianist scheme like the French Revolution, like the Bolshevik Revolution that ends in a bloodbath and disaster. But one time in history, it actually worked. One time in history, because they kept their eyes on God, because they did it right, it actually worked. They had the ballast of a biblical worldview to prevent them from. From, you know, careening off into a terror and a bloodbath and a nightmare. This is a big deal. And, again, I didn't know this when I started writing the book, when I started doing the research. So when it comes to your attention, you think, how did I miss this? How have I lived and not understood the truth about the birth of our nation? Okay, now that I know it, I have a passion to get it to every single American.
Mike Carter You shared it. you shared a story in there about Washington, and that stood out to me. Not only are we a Christian nation, but we each have a role in that. Can you tell a little bit more about what he demanded of the troops as they were fighting this war?
Eric Metaxas This is the thing when people want to call Washington a deist. I think, what a lie. I mean, it is such a lie. It just, again, it angers me because I thought, how many times have I heard this Nonsense. And then you do the research. When Washington takes control of the Continental, army. So it's early July, 1775. He comes to Boston. The first thing he does, he strictly orders his officers. He says, I don't want the troops. I don't like the profane cursing and swearing that must stop. The drinking must stop, and they must attend divine services on Sunday. Now, if you wonder why he's doing this, he then goes on to say, because in order to win, this is a sacred cause. This is God's idea. And if we are to participate in fighting for God's idea, we have to behave in such a way that God will smile on our efforts. If we do not behave in a way that's worthy of the sacred cause, God will not smile on our efforts. And on our own, we will lose. The British, they got the cards. They got the army and the navy. We don't. But if God is with us, who can be against us? if God is with us, we can win. We were actually depending on God to help us. Washington makes it explicit many times, not just in the one that I mentioned over and over and over again. He says, God intervened. God was with us. So they actually knew. This is Puritan covenant theology. If we honor God, God will honor us. Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord's. Well, they actually believed this. Washington believed it. And they actually fought as though it were true. In other words, they didn't say, we'll do anything to win. They said, no, no, no. The one thing we can't do is stoop to the barbarity of the British. The British did not look to God. The British said, we got the biggest army, the biggest enemy. We. We will crush you. We've got the. The power to do it. We will do it. The Americans said, we have another idea. Our idea is that this whole concept comes from God. We are obeying God. We're being faithful to God. And if we're faithful to God, if we honor God in how we fight, if we fight honorably, not brutally, not sadistically, the way the British did, we believe God will be with us. And guess what? He was. And you see this over and over again. It really is something that. The fact that I didn't know this, again, it made me mad. I said, we need to know this. This is. It's high time we restore an understanding of how we actually came into being. Every American has to know it, all right?
Kevin Freeman There are a lot of books you can read, and you say, wow, that makes me know the author is brilliant. This is a book you can read and you can walk away and say, wow, I'm brilliant. I know all these things. We'll be right back with Eric from Texas.
Mike Carter welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Mike Carter Yeah.
Kevin Freeman And Mike Carter and I are talking with Eric Metaxas. And Eric the country's born. In your book, you describe the man who kept, who could have kept the power, but he gives it back. Why does that belong in a book about the birth of a nation or revolution?
Eric Metaxas Well, it's what started the whole book. I mentioned that as my friend Seth Ward. I mentioned him in the acknowledgments, of the book page. the story of Washington is the story of somebody so noble, such a beautiful human being, you almost can't believe he existed. And you realize, well, God created this extraordinary man of tremendous virtue and character for such a time as that was. And he was someone who any normal person, any good person, would have probably been tempted to say, yes, I made this happen and I should be the new king of the new nation. And he didn't. And the fact that he didn't more than once, it is actually staggering. When you understand it, you say, wow, this is a big deal. Because any lesser man, and most of us are lesser men, when you compare to Washington, you would have taken the deal. You would have said, well, it only makes sense. I mean, I'm the one that has bled, for eight years and suffered miserably. And now Congress is not paying the troops, and so I need to step in and lead. That was the fear of the Continental Congress. So when they picked Washington, they knew they picked a man of unbelievable character. It was the story of Washington, in my book, Seven Men, that led my friend Seth to say, you know, Eric this is such an amazing story. You got to tell the whole story. And so that is the whole story. It's a story of men of character, at the head of which is George Washington and also Jon Adams, who without them, without this view of the world that is unique, it is a biblical view of things, and it comes into history in a new way, 250 years ago. Without that, you cannot have liberty. And so people need to understand what is liberty. Most Americans don't understand what are the roots of liberty? How does it work? There is no other way that it can work. And we've been kind of, you know, coasting. We've kind of been drifting. We, need to re. Establish. How does it work? How does it not work. Why did it work in the revolution? Why has it been sustained? In the epilogue to the book, I call it what Is the Meaning of America? All of the men of the revolution believed that God had uniquely, providentially called this nation into being, was with us in the revolution. They all believed that. Now, again, if somebody doesn't believe it, then I think, well, see what they said about it. See how they thought that it worked. We need to know this again, this is not extra credit. And we've drifted so far away. We're in the mess that we're in. Having to fight, this existential battle that we're in now with forces of lunacy, you know, Islamo, fascism and anarchy and Marxists, everywhere you look, globalists, they've got a different view of how things should work. How did the men of the revolution think it should work? They believe that this is a biblical idea that entered history when they came to the stage, to the, to the, to the world stage. That they had the opportunity to create a free nation where people govern themselves by looking to God as their sovereign. It is so radical. And you say that is a revolution. That's a real revolution. It's the only time it worked. We need to appreciate this, and if ever there was a time, we need to revisit it in our 250th year. I say this is our super centennial year. It is a magical moment for us to revisit this and to really refresh our understanding of this. It's high time. So, again, I'm hoping that people will read this. A lot of people said we're going to use this in our homeschooling curriculum or in a classical Christian school curriculum. Because if young people know this, it's a game changer. Like, you know, we've missed this. We've been missing this for 50 years.
Kevin Freeman Yeah, nobody tells a story better than you, have told it here, Eric And you're right, if people read this book, and I add the one thing, pray while they're doing it, because you can walk in with a very cynical mind and you'll probably be mentally persuaded. But then there's a spiritual element also. The same spirit that enveloped the founders, that brought us this great nation. If it took over, reading this book, which is renewing, you know, helping to renew our mind with true history and then asking God into our hearts. That combination had saved the world. It saved not just America, it saved the entire world. It's an incredible combination because you tell the story as it is and and it's God's history. And I just honor you, Eric for doing that.
Mike Carter Yeah. And Kevan, you know, we talk about liberty, security and values and protecting that all the time. I'm honored that that's the mission we have here. And, man, I want to make sure people get this book and understand what that really means.
Kevin Freeman All right, the book is Revolution. Our guest is Eric Metaxas. We've had an incredible so far. We've got got a couple of more segments with you, Eric I hope you'll hang on here with us and, and if you're listening, hang on. This is truth and you can get it. We'll be right back.
Mike Carter Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security and values. Welcome back with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman And I'm joined by Mike Carter and Eric Metaxas. I mean, what an amazing thing to say. I'm joined by Eric Metaxas on the radio. That's a really cool thing.
Mike Carter That is cool. So thankful to have you here. So thankful you wrote this book. and as we look at practical application, next steps. I'm a family sitting at the table. what changes at the family table? What conversations? What changes if my family reads this book?
Eric Metaxas Well, I really do think that in some ways it's a shocking narrative because this is what happened to me. You keep thinking, how did I not know this? I love this country. I'm a Christian. How did I not really understand this until I did the research on this book? Or if you get the book, until I read the book, how is that possible? And that's when you realize, hey, folks, you've been lied to for decades. The secular left has pushed a secular lie and says that liberty is possible without God. That's what the French revolutionaries believed. It didn't work. it never works. It cannot work. It doesn't work in history. Over and over and over again. That's why, you know, how can you elect imamdani? I live in NewSong York City. How can people fall for this? How can people fall for socialism, communism? How can they fall for it? Because you've not been told the truth of how liberty works, what it is, how it works. It's God's idea. And even that, like, people think, oh, I think it comes out of the Enlightenment. Baloney. It doesn't come out of the Enlightenment. What ideas are there in the Enlightenment that are worth anything unless they come from the Bible itself? This idea that liberty, we can govern ourselves. the idea that we're created equal. Where does that idea come from? From the Quran? From Voltaire or other atheist philosophers? No, it only comes from one place. Prove me wrong. Show me where it comes from. Comes from the Bible period. Where does the idea that, you know, racial, racism is wrong, slavery is wrong. Where do those ideas come from? Those are great ideas. Where they come from. They only come from the Bible. We've been lied to forever that, well, these ideas come from the Enlightenment. They would just kind of happened. No, no, it did not just happen. They come from the Bible period. And again, you can hear it as I say this, my passion, because I was outraged at how even I had bought the lie that, oh, it comes out of British common law. It comes out of. Where did those ideas come from in British common law and in the Enlightenment? What Enlightenment? Not the French Enlightenment. Where did the good ideas come from? They come from the Bible. All of this comes from the Bible. The men of the revolution understood this and it has been forgotten. I say to people, God forbid you watch the PBS Ken Burns version of the Revolution. It was a 12 hour American Revolution documentary. I was forced to watch it. I said, I gotta do my research, see what's out there. For 12 hours they avoid this issue and a couple of times actually spout nonsense about it. They say though they were deists and they were. They say this, all this stuff over and over and over. And I think it's one of the reasons that Jefferson is pushed so much because they've, kind of acted like, well, he's our guy and you know, he had these French Enlightenment values and you know, he was not an orthodox Christian and so he's our guy. Well, let me tell you, first of all, it's basically not true about Jefferson. But even if it were true, you can't get there from m here. You cannot get liberty from those ideas. So Jon Adams to me is the hero apart from Washington. He should be a thousand times more famous than Thomas Jefferson. The more I looked into it, the more I was just astonished. Americans need to know the truth. And I say this again, this is high time. This is like we're at the edge of the abyss.
Mike Carter Every American, let's go back to that dinner table again. I'm at dinner, I pray, I bless my food. I'm not sure I'm praying for thanking God for the liberty. What is the dinner table? What's the dinner table? What would you want? People read the book. What can families do to make sure they really take this in? It's not just read it and forget about It. But how do they apply it to
Eric Metaxas understand what is liberty? Do we even know what it is? I think most Americans, we kind of don't know. We don't know what it is. And I think what I keep saying is that circumstances occurred in the 1770s that it forced the people of these 13 colonies to kind of squeeze the Bible because they had these different denominations and stuff, and they felt if we really squeeze it out, pops this idea of liberty. What is at the heart of the Bible? Liberty. We are each free before God to reject him, to accept him. We're free. And it's. It's a scary thing, and it's a beautiful thing, and it's at the heart of the word of God. And it leads to this idea of government that had never existed. I mean, it is such a beautiful, wild idea. It's a sacred idea. It's God's idea in history. That's how they understood it. So we need to refresh our memory if, if we ever knew this. But if Americans don't understand this, liberty is lost and the nation is lost.
Kevin Freeman The book is Revolution. the author is Eric Metaxas. Ericmataxas.com Revolution is the place to find it. Thank you, real life audience. Stay faithful, stay free. Otherwise, stay tuned.
The Founding Was Intentional: Men and Women Dedicated to God
Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman.
Kevin Freeman If you're joining on American Family Radio or podcast, thank you. Thank you for staying with us. You know, what we're learning from this book, Mike, is that the founding wasn't an accident. It was mental. And women dedicated to God who have incredible stories, and we just gloss over them. You know, Betsy Ross made the flag, George Washington crossed the Delaware, and you're done, right? No, that's not how the revolution happened. And Eric Metaxas has gone into great detail telling all the various stories in the book, Revolution. Eric any final thoughts?
Eric Metaxas Well, I say this, this is kind of a funny thing, right? But I, I really do say I hope people will, read the book. I hope people will buy the book, and give it to people who read books. But this is kind of the funny thing is, like, a lot of people say, well, I listened to it on audio. Like, they're apologizing, like, I didn't really read it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you get it on audio, it's no different than reading the book. You don't get credit for running your eyes over the page. I read the audiobook, and when I was reading the audiobook, I was actually thinking, I hope people will get the audiobook. Because it's kind of fun. When I read it, I put the intonation where I think it needs to be. But I just think, okay, so let's say you listen to it while you're at the gym or while you go on your walk or whatever. The bottom line is we need to know the story. And I say this shamelessly because it's not about selling books. It's about how do we restore the Republicans. The first thing we have to do is we have to understand what is the Republic. How did it come into being? Who were the men who suffered, My goodness, how they suffered. We owe them. Knowing their story, we owe them, ah, a debt. So to me, this is like an assignment, that we have as a nation. And I believe God led me to write the book. I don't say that lightly. And that we have an assignment and that if enough Americans will know the story, that is the way forward. And that God has allowed us to come to this place where we didn't know the story or we knew little bits and pieces of it. And it really did amaze me. I'm not kidding. When people would say to me, oh, you're writing book of the revolution. What's your angle? I said, oh, I have no angle. I just want to tell the story because we need to know the story. But then as I wrote it, the angle that we've been talking about came out more and more and more and more. God was at the center. The Americans, the thirteen colonies, it was a Bible saturated culture. These were men of God who understood what they were doing. And the British, we haven't talked about this, but the British were just the opposite. They were not men of the Bible. They were godless, they were barbaric, they were sadistic in how they fought the war. It's a culture war. Dramatically different cultures. It's like the Hollywood elites and the Manhattan elites and the Washington elites, the bureaucrats in Europe. That worldview, a secular worldview versus a Bible based worldview. I've never seen it so clearly. And obviously it's not what the book is about, but it's all through the book. Americans need to know it.
Kevin Freeman Oh, thank you so much, Eric
Prayer for a Nation Conceived in Liberty and the Courage to Tell the Truth
It's an incredible book, Revolution by Eric Metaxas. I want to close with prayer and I want to say, father, thank you for a nation conceived in liberty. Thank you for the men and women who paid to keep it. Give us honest weights, clean hands and the courage to tell the truth. Bless our guest, Eric and our, listeners and our homes in Jesus name. If you have questions, if you have prayer needs, if you have comments, email [email protected] and we need to pray for America, pray for the world to return to God's principles. And we need to read great stories like this. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. It's Kevan Freeman and Mike Carter and our Taxes for Pirate Money Radio.
What made the American Revolution unlike any revolution before it? Eric Metaxas joins Kevin Freeman and Mike Carter to uncover the faith, courage, and extraordinary ideas behind America’s founding. Discover why our rights come from God—not government—why Washington surrendered power, and why preserving liberty begins not in Washington, but with families who understand what was entrusted to them.
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