By the Authority of Heaven: Fort Ticonderoga, Moral Courage, and the Source of Liberty
In this episode of GodNAmerica, Dr. Perry Greene examines a question that follows every act of courageous resistance to wrongful power: who has the right to act? By looking at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Ethan Allen’s appeal to God and representative authority, he connects American liberty to moral conviction rather than force alone. Readers will see how Dr. Greene links history, Scripture, and daily civic responsibility around the question of true authority.
Dr. Perry Greene begins with a question that often rises in moments of crisis: who gave someone the right to act? It is the question asked when a whistleblower defies orders, when a pastor risks his position by confronting Christian apathy in an ungodly culture, or when a citizen protests unjust power. In each case, the challenge is not merely about behavior. It is about authority. By whose authority does a person speak, resist, confront, or stand?
For Dr. Greene, that question reaches beyond politics and into the moral foundation of a society. He explains that when earthly authority collapses or becomes corrupt, men and women frequently appeal to something higher than the immediate command of rulers. They may appeal to conscience, to natural law, or ultimately to God Himself. The point is not that every act of defiance is automatically righteous. The point is that legitimate courage often appears before courts, constitutions, or public opinion have fully caught up. In those moments, a person must decide whether obedience belongs only to human power or whether there is a higher authority that governs the conscience.
That is the frame Dr. Greene brings to the bold capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775. The American colonies were already in a dangerous and unsettled place. Lexington and Concord had been fought only weeks earlier. Blood had been spilled, yet independence had not been declared. The Continental Congress had not yet authorized a standing army. The political order was not settled, but the crisis was already real.
Along the rugged frontier between New York and Canada stood Fort Ticonderoga. Dr. Greene describes it as lightly guarded but strategically priceless. Inside the fort were more than 60 cannons, weapons desperately needed by the colonial cause. Before Congress could fully act, men on the ground saw both the danger and the opportunity. The situation forced the very question Dr. Greene raises at the beginning: when authority is uncertain and action is urgent, what gives courage the right to move?
In the early morning hours, a small force of Green Mountain Boys crossed Lake Champlain. They were led by Ethan Allen and accompanied by Benedict Arnold, who held a commission from the Continental Congress. Dr. Greene notes the difference between the two men. Allen was a rough frontier leader, deeply religious in his own unconventional way. Arnold was disciplined, ambitious, and already thinking in national terms. They argued over command, but they marched together.
When they stormed the fort and confronted the stunned British commander, Captain William Delaplace, the question of authority became immediate. Delaplace demanded to know under whose authority Allen had come. Allen’s answer, as Dr. Greene presents it, became legendary: “In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.”
Dr. Greene treats that sentence as more than a dramatic line from the American Revolution. He sees it as a window into the American mindset in 1775. Before independence had been declared and before a national government had been established, the appeal was already being made in two directions: to heaven and to representative authority. Allen did not claim authority merely from anger, ambition, or force. The declaration pointed upward to God and outward to a representative cause.
The fort was taken without shots being fired. The cannons would later be hauled by Henry Knox to Boston, helping force the British evacuation of the city. In Dr. Greene’s presentation, the capture of Fort Ticonderoga was not merely a military success. It was a lesson in the moral meaning of liberty. Force may seize a position, but force alone cannot justify a cause. Liberty, as Dr. Greene explains, rests on moral conviction rather than mere power.
That is why he connects Ethan Allen’s declaration to a biblical pattern older than the United States. When God’s people faced unjust authority, Dr. Greene explains, they consistently appealed beyond kings and empires. Acts 5:29 becomes central to that point: Peter and the apostles stood before earthly rulers and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” The issue was not rebellion for the sake of rebellion. The issue was whether human authority could command disobedience to God.
Dr. Greene is careful to hold two biblical truths together. Romans 13 affirms legitimate government. Earthly authority has a rightful place, and Scripture does not teach casual defiance or disorder as a virtue. At the same time, Acts 5 reminds believers that the legitimacy of human authority has limits. According to Dr. Greene, legitimacy ends where obedience to God is forbidden. When human authority contradicts divine truth, faith demands courage.
This distinction matters because it keeps liberty from becoming lawlessness. Dr. Greene is not describing courage as personal preference dressed up in religious language. He is describing courage under authority — the authority of God. Ethan Allen may not have been a theologian, Dr. Greene notes, but his instinct was biblical. Authority is not self-created. It is derived.
That claim brings the message closer to the life of Jesus. Dr. Greene points to Matthew 21:23, where the chief priests and elders challenged Jesus as He taught in the temple: “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Dr. Greene observes that they should have known the answer, but they turned a blind eye to God. Their question was not only a political or religious challenge. It exposed their failure to recognize true authority when it stood before them.
By connecting Fort Ticonderoga, Acts 5, Romans 13, and Matthew 21, Dr. Greene frames authority as both civic and spiritual. The question is not only what a government permits. The deeper question is what God commands and what truth requires. That is why he states the faith and freedom truth plainly: “Liberty is a gift from God, but it is preserved only by people willing to live under His authority.”
That idea carries direct application for modern life. Dr. Greene asks the same question in present terms: by whose authority do people speak, vote, teach, and live? If the answer is only cultural approval, the foundation is weak. If the answer is only political power, the foundation is also weak. Cultural approval can shift quickly. Political power can be abused. Neither can provide the moral weight needed for faithful courage.
Dr. Greene points instead to truth, conscience, and accountability before God. Courage grows when people are grounded in something deeper than popularity or control. That does not make every public disagreement righteous, and it does not turn every strong opinion into biblical conviction. It does mean that Christians must examine whether their words and actions are anchored in God’s authority rather than personal impulse, fear, or partisan pressure.
The capture of Fort Ticonderoga also reminds readers that faith was not added later to the story of American liberty. In Dr. Greene’s telling, faith was present at the very first steps. The appeal to “the great Jehovah” stood beside an appeal to the Continental Congress. The spiritual and civic dimensions were not treated as enemies. They stood together as part of a moral claim about liberty, justice, and rightful authority.
That is why Dr. Greene closes with the image of “authorized courage.” Courage is not simply boldness. It is not noise, outrage, or defiance for its own sake. It is the willingness to stand when authority is questioned and conviction is required. True courage remembers where authority begins. It acts not because power has become convenient, but because truth, conscience, and obedience to God require faithfulness.
Application
Readers can apply Dr. Greene’s message by beginning with the authority question before speaking, voting, teaching, leading, or resisting: by whose authority is this being done? That question can slow impulsive reactions and bring decisions back to truth, conscience, and accountability before God.
A practical response also includes respecting legitimate authority while remembering that human authority is not ultimate. Dr. Greene’s use of Romans 13 and Acts 5 provides a balanced framework. Government is not dismissed as meaningless, but neither is it treated as supreme. Faithful citizenship requires both order and moral discernment.
The message also invites Christians to practice courage before a crisis arrives. Courage becomes stronger when daily choices are already shaped by obedience to God. Speaking truth with humility, refusing cultural pressure, confronting apathy, and living consistently under God’s authority are ordinary ways to prepare for extraordinary moments.
Finally, Dr. Greene’s message calls readers to examine whether their foundation is cultural approval, political power, or divine truth. A life built only on approval or power will shift when pressure rises. A life grounded in God’s authority can stand with steadier conviction.
TL;DR
Dr. Perry Greene frames the episode around one central question: by whose authority does a person act?
He connects that question to the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.
Ethan Allen’s declaration, “In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress,” represents an appeal to both heaven and representative authority.
Dr. Greene explains that liberty rests on moral conviction rather than mere force.
Acts 5:29 shows believers appealing to God’s authority when human rulers contradict divine truth.
Romans 13 affirms legitimate government, while Acts 5 clarifies that human authority has limits.
Matthew 21:23 shows Jesus being questioned about authority, exposing the blindness of leaders who failed to recognize God’s authority.
Dr. Greene’s faith and freedom truth is that liberty is a gift from God and is preserved by people willing to live under His authority.
The application for today is to speak, vote, teach, and live from truth, conscience, and accountability before God.
Discussion + Reflection Section
Discussion Questions
Why does the question “By whose authority do you act?” matter in moments of crisis?
How does Dr. Greene distinguish moral courage from rebellion for rebellion’s sake?
What does Ethan Allen’s appeal to “the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress” reveal about Dr. Greene’s understanding of early American liberty?
How do Romans 13 and Acts 5 work together in Dr. Greene’s message about authority?
In what areas of daily life might cultural approval or political power become a weaker foundation than truth and accountability before God?
Apply It This Week
Before making one important decision, ask: “By whose authority am I doing this?”
Identify one place where cultural approval may be influencing speech, silence, or action more than biblical conviction.
Read Acts 5:29 and Matthew 21:23, then reflect on how both passages address authority.
Practice one act of faithful courage with humility, clarity, and accountability before God.
Prayer Prompt
Lord, help Your people recognize where true authority begins. Give courage to obey You rather than men when human pressure conflicts with divine truth, and teach Your people to live with humility, conviction, and faithfulness under Your authority. Amen.