The most recent issue of Imprimis has a neat description of the circumstances surrounding the death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the 4th of July, 1826.
But it also has a neat description of the creation of the Great Seal of the United States, both sides of which appear on the back side of the one dollar bill.
Take out a dollar bill if you have one. Turn to the back; and on the left side, you will see a picture of a pyramid. That is one side of the Seal. There is a depiction of an eye at the top of the pyramid; and above it are the Latin words “Annuit Coeptis”.
Here is the author’s description of its meaning:
Over the Eye these words ‘Annuit Coeptis’ [which means ‘He approves of what has been started’]…
The Eye over it & the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause…
Like the unfinished pyramid under the eye of God, the earthly work of American freedom, aspiring to be worthy of divine approval, is always unfinished. We have, since 1776, experienced many more “signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause.”
The Great Seal, commissioned and completed around the time of the Revolution, invokes and recognizes God’s favor on the American experiment, and his interventions on our behalf at that time.
Pretty cool.
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