Dear colleagues:

The public debate over the significance of the Jamestown founding and 
its legacy is moving into high gear, as evinced by the material on this 
Web site:

http://www.visionforumministries.org/

See especially the material on

http://www.visionforumministries.org/blogs/jq/

--such as the following, which offers a strong, if implicit, dissent 
from the more official academic interpretations:

"Before the arrival of these Protestant Christians and the successful 
planting of the first permanent English settlement, North America was 
dominated by tribes engaged in demonic spiritism, paganism, 
cannibalism, and ritual torture. The coming of Christianity and the 
Holy Scriptures would change the make-up of North America, and would 
provide the free grace offer of the Gospel to men and women immersed in 
soul-destroying demonic activity.

The Jamestown settlers gave the Holy Scriptures a permanent home in 
America. This is perhaps the most enduring legacy of Jamestown. The 
coming of the Bible to America fundamentally changed the history of the 
North American continent. It was the Bible which communicated the hope 
of personal redemption and the basis for stable civilization. This is 
one reason why Jamestown would become the first settlement to establish 
the enduring legacy of Christian Common Law. The Christian common law 
was predicated on the transcendent principles of justice outlined in 
the moral law and the case laws of Scripture, but applied to local 
custom."

See also the linked list of related documentary material, on the right.

As students of Virginia history, we may be asked to engage this debate, 
formally or otherwise, by students, patrons, friends and family, and 
the general public.  Look at it this way: if the anniversary is being 
debated, that means it's not being ignored!

Best wishes--

--Jurretta Heckscher