The Bible – America’s Founding Document

The cover of the December 27, 1982 issue of Newsweek magazine boldly stated The Bible in America with the subtitle: How one book unites us, divides us, and still defines us. That issue featured an article by Kenneth L. Woodward and David Gates entitled How the Bible Made America which included these revealing quotes:

“Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: …Only one other nation has ever looked to the Bible to find a warrant for is very existence: Israel, …”

“In 1776 Benjamin Franklin proposed to the Continental Congress that the great seal of the United States bear the image of Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea. Jefferson …wanted the new nation represented by an Israel led through the wilderness by the Biblical pillar of cloud and fire.” [i]

America’s History Investigated

This book has already documented that a large majority of America’s Founders and early settlers held a Christian Worldview that was intentionally cultivated by a Bible-based education. Even though Secularists insist that our Founders gave us “a godless Constitution”, it is easy to document that the colonists arrived with and based their new nation upon their Christian Worldview. There are two extensive investigations into America’s true roots that yield more significant proof of our Christian heritage.

Findings of the Courts

A ten year investigation of over 500 founding documents was conducted by the United States Supreme Court and concluded in a famous ruling in Holy Trinity Church v. United States, dated February 29, 1892. In preparing its opinion, the court found it necessary to survey key historical documents back to the time of Christopher Columbus to get a sense of the Worldview which guided the formation of the American colonies. After a lengthy description of the many documents, the court summed up their findings regarding America’s religious and political foundation in the following quote from two consecutive paragraphs near the end of the verdict:

“… the case assumes that we are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply ingrafted upon Christianity …. ‘it is also said, and truly, that the Christian religion is a part of the common law of Pennsylvania.’

“If pass beyond these matters to a view of American life, as expressed by its laws, its business, its customs, and its society, we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. Among other matters note the following: The form of oath universally prevailing, concluding with an appeal to the Almighty; the custom of opening sessions of all deliberative bodies and most conventions with prayer; the prefatory words of all wills, “In the name of God, amen;” the laws respecting the observance of the Sabbath, with the general cessation of all secular business, and the closing of courts, legislatures, and other similar public assemblies on that day; the churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town, and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices; the gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe. These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation. … “[ii] (emphasis added)

The verdict mentioned the then forty-four state constitutions that referenced the Christian Worldview and mirrored conclusions reached previously by the Maryland Supreme Court in 1799 and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1824:

“By our form of government the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon equal footing, and they are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.”[iii]

“No free government now exists in the world, unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country.”[iv]

Findings of a Major University Study

The second notable investigation was conducted by Dr. Donald S. Lutz[v], a professor of political philosophy at the University of Houston, and his research associate, Dr. Charles Hyneman. They conducted a groundbreaking 10-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic and published their findings in The American Political Science Review in 1984. Lutz and Hyneman examined nearly 15,000 writings of the 55 writers of the Constitution, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books and monographs. Their article, The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought, revealed that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed to 34 percent of all direct quotes made by the Founders. When indirect Bible citations were included, the percentage increased even more.[vi] (emphasis added)

Regarding the Houston study:

The three most quoted individuals were French philosopher Montesquieu (8.3 percent), English jurist William Blackstone (7.9 percent) and English philosopher John Locke (2.9 percent). But Biblical citations dwarfed them all. Ninety-four percent of the founding fathers quotes were based on the Bible–34 percent directly from its pages and 60 percent from men who had used the Bible to arrive at their conclusions.[vii] (emphasis added)

According to Lutz, the U.S. Constitution is a political document that is the product of a constitution-making tradition that can be traced to colonial charters and which is modeled on the biblical covenant—a solemn agreement between God and man. The colonists ‘didn’t come over with John Locke in hand,’ said Lutz. ‘They came over with the Bible in hand.’ While many of their technologies were ill-suited to the New World, the idea of constitution-making insured their success. ‘It was the perfect technology,’ said Lutz. ‘It was the technology that mattered and allowed them to survive all up and down the coast.’[viii] (emphasis added)

More statements in America’s founding documents came from the Bible than any other single source. However, English and French natural-law scholars and philosophers, William Blackstone, John Locke and Charles Secondat de Montesquieu also played a vital role. Renew America analyst Stephen Voigt puts their significance and Christian influence in context:

“Blackstone, Locke, and Montesquieu were not simply important to the foundation of our law and our nation; they were critically important. These natural law scholars and their writings, which were grounded in faith, influenced James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and nearly all of the leaders of the Revolution and the framers of our Constitution.”

“Blackstone, Locke, and Montesquieu were not alone in influencing the founding fathers, but their influence and the influence of other natural law scholars including Algernon Sidney, Baron Samuel de Puffendorf, and Sir Edward Coke is undeniable. …”

“The complete list of citations in Lutz’s study includes over 180 names, with most garnering only a fraction of a single percentage point of the total number of citations. Plainly, the fact that over one third of all citations were to the Bible is not a statistic you will find in many textbooks! As for the influence of Blackstone, Montesquieu, and Locke, imagine the remainder of the percentages trickling down over 180 other names and you will begin to understand the magnitude of their influence on American political thought in the founding era.”[ix]

Undeniable Conclusion

It is the clear trumpet of objective and scholarly investigations such as the two cited above that easily drown out the din of Secularist noise. No other country in history has placed its foundation so squarely on the bedrock of the whole Bible. As the truth of America’s Christian heritage becomes clear, so too will the Secularist mantra of “separation of church and state” be seen for the subversive lie that it is. The next chapter will confront that lie head-on with more “inconvenient” truth.

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[i] Origin of Nations/History Research Projects, http://www.originofnations.org/books,%20papers/quotes%20etc/quotes.htm, retrieved August 26, 2007.

[ii] Vine & Fig Tree, The Supreme Court of the United States, Holy Trinity Church v. The United States 143 U.S. 457, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226 February 29, 1892, http://members.aol.com/EndTheWall/TrinityHistory.htm, retrieved August 26, 2007.

[iii] Bible Law Course, Runkel v Winemiller 4 Harris & McHenry 276, Supreme Court – Maryland October Term 1799, http://www.moseshand.com/studies/RvW.htm, retrieved August 26, 2007.

[iv] The Founders’ Constitution, Vol. 5, Amendment I (Speech and Press), Updegraph v. Commonwealth 11 Serg. & Rawle 394 Pa. 1824, The University of Chicago Press, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/print_documents/amendI_speechs30.html, retrieved August 26, 2007.

[v] Dr. Donald S. Lutz is professor of political science at the University of Houston. He is author of The Origins of American Constitutionalism and A Preface to American Political Theory; editor of Colonial Origins of the American Constitution: A Documentary History, and co-editor with Charles S. Hyneman of American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760-1805. For a review of the latter book, see George W. Carey’s Moral and Political Foundations of Order.

[vi] American Minute, William J. Federer, http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-09-17, retrieved August 27, 2007

[vii] Alliance for Life Ministries, “America’s Christian Heritage, Part II: The Revolution and Beyond”, http://www.alliance4lifemin.org/categorized_articles/heritage/ach_part2/ach_part2.htm, retrieved August 27, 2007.

[viii] Coral Ridge Ministries, Impact Newsletter, “Crosses and Constitutions: Documenting America’s Christian Heritage”, July, 2005, http://www.coralridge.org/imp/impact07056.aspx, retrieved August 27, 2007.

[ix] EarsToHear.net, Stephen Voigt, “How I learned about the root of law…but not in law school”, December 22, 2005, http://earstohear.net/Separation/rootoflaw.html, retrieved August 27, 2007.