The Constitution: Guided by the Bible

To make a summation of the position of Congress and the official documents of the U.S. government at our country’s birth, it would be safe to say that there is a predisposition and presumption of the Founding Fathers towards the principles of human rights, liberty, and morality as found in Christianity as drawn either explicitly from the Bible or implicitly from Montesquieu, Blackstone or Locke. In the notes from the Constitutional Convention, there was over 10,000 references to these four sources by the Founding Fathers. When the whole question of the Christian foundation of the United States was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court one hundred years later in Church of The Holy Trinity v. United States (1892), it was recognized that Christianity is part of common law of our country, and the all of our institutions are based upon the principles of Christianity. This is not to say that any instrument of the government should be in the business of teaching doctrine or theology, but only that our laws, history, and societal standards cannot be understood or interpreted outside of the basic construct of a Providential Christian world-view. Without that basic foundation, the lives and contributions from the first colonists to the Founding Fathers is meaningless. It is of interest to note that our most critical document, our Constitution, owes it’s very existence to one member of the Convention reminding everyone that God had providentially brought them there for a purpose. On June 28th, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was embroiled in a bitter debate on the manner of representation for each state under the constitution. Several delegates had actually left the convention over the controversy. There was more than a chance that the heated debate would actually sound the death knell for the recently freed American states. The American experiment might die in it’s infancy. In the midst of the turmoil, Benjamin Franklin, the aged man of world renown stood up to address the convention. The heart of his request was as such:

Franklin went on to move that prayer should open up the day for all business from the convention. It was moved and seconded, and very quickly the Convention leaped over the impasse that threatened their work. Numerous attendees described the compromise that was worked out as "miraculous". Benjamin Franklin, in an article he wrote later in defense of the Constitution, suggests that the adoption of the Constitution by the thirteen colonies was analogous to the thirteen tribes (counting Mannasseh and Ephraim separately) of the Israelites submitting to the Law of God through Moses. He infers that he attendees were specially directed by God in their work.

The Faith of the Founding Fathers

Since space will not allow a detailed discussion of the specific religious beliefs of many of the Founding Fathers, it will suffice to touch upon some generalities of some of the key individuals.

George Washington was known to be a very devout, yet private individual. He was keenly interested in the civility and virtue of his troops. He was known to spend significant amounts of time in prayer, and always encouraged his soldiers to do the same. He frequently mentioned the providential hand of God protecting him and moving on his behalf and on behalf of the country. He wrote to Brigadier general Thomas Nelson in 1778:

Washington was said by the Lutheran Pastor Henry Muhlenberg to be orthodox in all of his beliefs. Washington also frequently made mention of the nation’s obligation to show gratitude to God via days of national thanksgiving. Although Washington never weighed in on theological debates, there is a significant instance where his devotion to Christ cost him a valuable friend. Thomas Paine was one of the ideological giants in the struggle for independence. Washington had circulated copies of Paine’s Common Sense during the war among his soldiers to help them understand the significant principles of liberty and the limitations of government. Paine, however, took a different tack after the war. His publication The Age of Reason. and his theological works that were critical of Christianity caused a large controversy in England and America. Although Washington was renowned for his tolerance and patience in matters of conscience, he told Paine to destroy his anti-Christian works and their friendship ended. In Paine’s correspondence from France (perhaps the only place he was widely accepted) Paine describes Washington in the most damning and venomous terms, since Washington refused to endorse Paine or help him in some of his trials in Europe.

Perhaps the most misunderstood religious beliefs among the Founding Fathers would be those of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Since they both were Presidents (3rd and 2nd respectively), they both can be cited with numerous references to God in their inaugural addresses, and what might be considered obligatory proclamations, mandated by custom. Can we determine however, what were indeed their core beliefs? Both have been accused of being Deists and Unitarians, but neither label would that be accurate. If we look at their personal correspondence with each other, we find that they both, at least in their own estimation, considered themselves "Christians". Based on their writings, however, we should not assume that their "Christianity" was of the evangelical, Trinitarian sort that mainstream Christians espouse today. They both seemed to agree that primitive Christianity was radically different from the institutionalized Christianity of their day (and also our day!) In a series of very scholastic letters, Adams and Jefferson discuss the numerous schools of thought on the matter, and exchange manuscripts on the subject. Regarding the question of the involvement of Christianity and the State, both Adams and Jefferson saw Christianity as a crucial element for the future of the republic. Jefferson's word's from his letter in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists regarding a "wall of separation" in context, only concerns itself with the propriety of the President getting involved in declaring religious events. Six years later, in a letter addressed to Samuel Miller, Jefferson cited the fact that U.S. government ought not get involved in such events (Days of prayer, etc.) because such powers were retained by the states. This would completely run contrary to the contemporary ideas that there must be a purging any references of God or Christianity from the public sector. Jefferson sought no such thing.

John Adams tended to be more orthodox than Jefferson, and makes a remarkable statement to Jefferson in a letter in 1813 regarding the role of Christianity and the war for independence. He said that regarding the diverse religious elements of those who fought for independence (Baptists, Catholics, Arians, Deists, etc.) they were "all educated in the general principles of Christianity and English liberty" and that it was "these general principles on which the fathers achieved independence…I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God". (June 28th, 1813.)

John Quincy Adams, John Adams grandson and himself the 6^th president of the United States, echoed this sentiment when he said that

Regarding the majority of the other Founding Fathers, their involvement in the Christian religion is significant and devout. John Jay (the first Chief Justice) was President of the American Bible Society. James Madison (primary writer of the Constitution) had one of the most substantial theological libraries in the colonies, believed deeply in Providence and that the basis of all government is religion. It is said that all but two of the 55 attendees of the Constitutional Convention were Christians in good standing.