Originally from Pennsylvania where he helped his father fill the pulpits of several Lutheran churches scattered throughout the area that didn’t have a full-time pastor, Peter Muhlenberg accepted a pastorate in Virginia in 1772.
By 1774, the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain was at a breaking point. The people of Dunmore County saw in their new pastor, not only a capable parson, but an exceptional leader and they nominated him to represent them in the House of Burgesses. Among this group of delegates was Colonel George Washington, representing Fairfax County and Patrick Henry, who in 1775 would deliver the iconic speech that concluded with the words, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
The sessions continued through January of 1776 and it was then that the appointment of officers in the newly formed Continental Army were announced.
At 29 years of age, with very little military experience, Peter Muhlenberg was nevertheless appointed a Colonel and given a command.
While he had served briefly in the British army, his appointment was due more to his capacity to lead than it was his knowledge of military tactics.
It proved to be a good decision, however, in that by the end of war, Peter Muhlenberg was a Major General.
What makes this significant is that Muhlenberg didn’t just pray for the soldiers in the Continental Army, he became one. And he didn’t just encourage them in battle, he led them in combat.
He and his men would see action throughout the war. They would be with Washington at Valley Forge, and it would be Muhlenberg who would assist in keeping Cornwallis contained at Yorktown which would ultimately lead to the surrender of the British army.
Faith in the absence of action is considered to be “dead” according to James 2:17.
There is a time for all things, even a time for war (Ecc 3:8). Joshua had to defeat Jericho, David had to fight Goliath and God made certain that those in Israel who had not participated in the Conquest of the Promised Land would still have to contend with sinister nations in order that they may learn how to function in a combat situation (Jud 3:1-2).
Muhlenberg saw the holy task represented by standing in the gap between tyranny and the populace it would subjugate. He didn’t regulate Christ’s reference to a sword in the New Testament as a metaphor but as a reinforcement of the way in which God sometimes both condones and empowers violence in order to defeat evil.
Obedience is not always convenient and sometimes it requires a significant amount of courage (Josh 1:9).
There is a time for war and when that time comes, you want to take your cue from Muhlenberg and those like him in that you don’t keep your distance from the battle and call it piety…
Rather, you run to the battle line and call on Him.
“The Fighting Parson of the American Revolution: A Biography of General Peter Muhlenberg” Edward Hocker, Lawrence Knorr, Sunbury Press, Inc. Mechanicsburg, PA, 1936, 2019