Today the Democratic Party has done about everything possible to alienate Bible-believing Christians–from materialistic economic programs to a stubborn defense of perversion and the murdering of the unborn. But it may surprise believers that the man largely responsible for setting the party in its liberal bent was a God-fearing, forthright believer.
After the Civil War, the Democratic Party had both lost its kick and been kicked. But it persevered, hoping for some shining knight to appear to the rescue and reshape and rededicate the battered donkey. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) was that man.
Dubbed the Great Commoner, Democrat Bryan ran for the Presidency of the United States (though never elected) in 1896, 1900 and again in 1908. It was William Jennings Bryan who called for the nomination of Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and was Secretary of State under Wilson.
Bryan had trusted Christ as a young teenager, and throughout his life as a lawyer, congressman, editor, and statesman, he remained an active Presbyterian and a sought-after preacher.
An example of how Bryan could stir biblical themes into the political pot was his “Cross of Gold” speech at the Chicago Democratic convention of 1896. Bryan was a member of the Nebraska delegation. There “the boy orator of the Platte” addressed the throng, rising to an impassioned crescendo. He railed on the restrictive gold standard, “Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard, saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!”
Bryan believed implicitly in the inerrant, inspired Word of God, and in the fundamental truths of Christianity. He often lectured on “temperance.” (The effort to outlaw the liquor trade was as much a movement at the turn of the century as the pro-life movement is today.) He also was the chief prosecutor in the landmark “Scopes monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. Scopes had violated the law by teaching evolutionary theory in a public school in Tennessee. Bryan won the Scopes case, but the victory had a hallow ring to it. Bryan died of a heart attack a few days after the verdict, Scopes was politely slapped on the wrist, and subsequently the press (and Hollywood) canonized John Scopes as a martyr worthy of scientific sainthood.
What can we conclude about Bryan’s dynamism in the political world? A man of outstanding gift and abilities, he lent those spiritual powers to further a political organization. Bryan’s agenda promoted economic liberalism, not theological or moral liberalism. He was a man of uncompromising integrity. But where has his economic liberalism led? I believe if he could make a special guest appearance at the podium of the Democratic National Convention, he would disown that organization with tears of regret.
No matter how sincere one’s intentions, like someone trying to turn the river around, attempting to work within the system in the end only promotes the system.