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Here recently a couple of posters seem to be of the opinionthat America does not have much of a Christian history or that our Foundersweren’t Christian, etc.
But our Founding Fathers were Christian.
And while the Constitution may be the foundation for thiscountry’s government, Christianity is the foundation of this country as ourFounding Fathers believed that the basis of freedom and liberty was religionand morality.
John Adams
“Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religionand morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which Freedom cansecurely stand.”
- Letter of June 21, 1776
Benjamin Rush
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in religion. Without thisthere can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and libertyis the object and life of all republican governments.”
“…Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion asmankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise andhappy.”
- Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical, 1798
Samuel Adams
“Religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty andhappiness.”
- Letter to John Trumbell, October 16, 1778
Charles Carroll (signer of the Declaration)
“Without morals, a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they, therefore,who are decrying the Christian religion…are undermining the solid foundation ofmorals, the best security for the duration of free government.”
- Letter to James Mettenry, November 4, 1800
“The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality,and religion. This is the armor…and this alone, that renders us invincible.”
- Letter to Archibald Blair, January 8, 1799
Now I don't know if Benjamin Franklin was a Christian. I don't think he was.But he definitely believed in God.
Benjamin Franklin
“…only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt andvicious, they have more need of masters.”
- Letter to Messrs. The Abbes Chalut and Arnaud, April 17, 1787
Noah Webster
“…the moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to formthe basis of all our civil constitutions and laws…
All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition,injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising orneglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
- History of the United States,1833
John Adams
“We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passionsunbridled by morality and religion…
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequateto the government of any other.”
- Address to the Officers of the Massachusetts Militia, 1798
Daniel Webster
“To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests onreligion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When thepublic mind becomes corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions are a wastepaper.”
- Oration at Hanover, N.H., July 4, 1800
George Washington
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claimthe tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars ofhuman happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Themere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherishthem. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and publicfelicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, forreputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oathswhich are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let uswith caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained withoutreligion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education onminds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expectthat national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
- Farewell Address, 1796
James Wilson (signed U.S. Constitution and Supreme CourtJustice)
“Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that lawwhich is Divine…
Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friendsand mutual assistants.”
But even aside from what our Founding Fathers had to say, the early days of ournation was one clearly dominated by Christianity. Alexis De Tocqueville was aFrenchman who came to this country and wrote a two volume literary piece calledDemocracy and America.As an independent source, these were some of his observations…
Alexis De Tocqueville
“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and liberty so intimately intheir minds that it is impossible to make them conceive one without the other.”
“The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck meupon my arrival in the U.S.In France,I had seen the spirits of religion and freedom almost always marching inopposite directions, in America,I found them intimately linked together and joined and reigned over the sameland…”
“Religion should therefore be considered as the first of their politicalinstitutions. From the start, politics and religion have agreed and have notsince ceased to do so.”
- Democracy and America
So tightly knit was Christianity tied to this idea of Liberty that Isaiah 33:22was the justification for the three separate but equal branches of government.
Isaiah 33:22“For the LORD is our judge, (judicial branch)
The LORD is our lawgiver, (legislative branch)
The LORD is our king…” (executive branch)
And please note our own Declaration of Independence…
The Declaration of Independence
“W hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people todissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and toassume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to whichthe Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to theopinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impelthem to the separation.”
The term “the law of nature” was a very specific term coined by Sir EdwardCoke…
Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)
“The law of nature is that which God at the time of creation of the nature ofman infused into his heart, for his preservation and direction…the moral law,called the law of nature.”
This same term was later used by William Blackstone who wrote a law textbook.If you were a lawyer, as was Thomas Jefferson, you studied Blackstone.
William Blackstone
“…as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary thathe should, in all points, conform to his Maker’s will. This will of his Makeris called the law of nature…This law of nature…dictated by God Himself is, ofcourse, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe,in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity incontrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and alltheir authority…from this original.”
“Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation,depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered tocontradict these.”
- Commentaries on the Law (A lawtextbook / 2,500 copies sold in Americaprior to the Revolutionary War)
But our Founding Fathers were Christian.
And while the Constitution may be the foundation for thiscountry’s government, Christianity is the foundation of this country as ourFounding Fathers believed that the basis of freedom and liberty was religionand morality.
John Adams
“Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religionand morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which Freedom cansecurely stand.”
- Letter of June 21, 1776
Benjamin Rush
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in religion. Without thisthere can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and libertyis the object and life of all republican governments.”
“…Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion asmankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise andhappy.”
- Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical, 1798
Samuel Adams
“Religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty andhappiness.”
- Letter to John Trumbell, October 16, 1778
Charles Carroll (signer of the Declaration)
“Without morals, a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they, therefore,who are decrying the Christian religion…are undermining the solid foundation ofmorals, the best security for the duration of free government.”
- Letter to James Mettenry, November 4, 1800
“The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality,and religion. This is the armor…and this alone, that renders us invincible.”
- Letter to Archibald Blair, January 8, 1799
Now I don't know if Benjamin Franklin was a Christian. I don't think he was.But he definitely believed in God.
Benjamin Franklin
“…only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt andvicious, they have more need of masters.”
- Letter to Messrs. The Abbes Chalut and Arnaud, April 17, 1787
Noah Webster
“…the moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to formthe basis of all our civil constitutions and laws…
All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition,injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising orneglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
- History of the United States,1833
John Adams
“We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passionsunbridled by morality and religion…
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequateto the government of any other.”
- Address to the Officers of the Massachusetts Militia, 1798
Daniel Webster
“To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests onreligion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When thepublic mind becomes corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions are a wastepaper.”
- Oration at Hanover, N.H., July 4, 1800
George Washington
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claimthe tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars ofhuman happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Themere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherishthem. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and publicfelicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, forreputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oathswhich are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let uswith caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained withoutreligion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education onminds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expectthat national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
- Farewell Address, 1796
James Wilson (signed U.S. Constitution and Supreme CourtJustice)
“Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that lawwhich is Divine…
Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friendsand mutual assistants.”
But even aside from what our Founding Fathers had to say, the early days of ournation was one clearly dominated by Christianity. Alexis De Tocqueville was aFrenchman who came to this country and wrote a two volume literary piece calledDemocracy and America.As an independent source, these were some of his observations…
Alexis De Tocqueville
“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and liberty so intimately intheir minds that it is impossible to make them conceive one without the other.”
“The religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck meupon my arrival in the U.S.In France,I had seen the spirits of religion and freedom almost always marching inopposite directions, in America,I found them intimately linked together and joined and reigned over the sameland…”
“Religion should therefore be considered as the first of their politicalinstitutions. From the start, politics and religion have agreed and have notsince ceased to do so.”
- Democracy and America
So tightly knit was Christianity tied to this idea of Liberty that Isaiah 33:22was the justification for the three separate but equal branches of government.
Isaiah 33:22“For the LORD is our judge, (judicial branch)
The LORD is our lawgiver, (legislative branch)
The LORD is our king…” (executive branch)
And please note our own Declaration of Independence…
The Declaration of Independence
“W hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people todissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and toassume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to whichthe Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to theopinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impelthem to the separation.”
The term “the law of nature” was a very specific term coined by Sir EdwardCoke…
Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)
“The law of nature is that which God at the time of creation of the nature ofman infused into his heart, for his preservation and direction…the moral law,called the law of nature.”
This same term was later used by William Blackstone who wrote a law textbook.If you were a lawyer, as was Thomas Jefferson, you studied Blackstone.
William Blackstone
“…as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary thathe should, in all points, conform to his Maker’s will. This will of his Makeris called the law of nature…This law of nature…dictated by God Himself is, ofcourse, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe,in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity incontrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and alltheir authority…from this original.”
“Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation,depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered tocontradict these.”
- Commentaries on the Law (A lawtextbook / 2,500 copies sold in Americaprior to the Revolutionary War)
Part I of IV
