It is assumed that the United States was never Christian in its basic ideals and values because the Constitution does not specifically mention Christianity.
In fact, the Constitution is not devoid of Christian references. For example, the Constitution acknowledges Sunday as a day of rest: "If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law. . ." (Article I, section 7). Moreover, there is a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Constitution: "DONE in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our Names."
From Christopher
Columbus' Book of Prophecies:
"It was the Lord who put into my
mind-I could feel His hand upon me . . ..All who heard of my project rejected
it with laughter, ridiculing me...There is no question that the inspiration was
from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous
illumination from the Holy Scriptures...For the execution of the journey. . .
did not make use of intelligence, mathematics, or maps. It is simply the
fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied.. .No one should fear to undertake
any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if the intention is
purely for His Holy service. ..the fact that the Gospel must still be preached
to so many lands in such a short time-this is what convinces me."
The Mayflower
Compact, from William Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation":
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal
subjects of our dread sovereign lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, etc., having
undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and the
honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the
northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the
presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of
the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute and frame such
just and eclual laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to
time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the
colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness
whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of
November, in the reign of our sovereign lord King James of England, France and
Ireland, the eighteenth and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini,
1620."
Various Colony Declarations
New
England
"The synod of the New England churches met at Cambridge,
Mass, Sept 30, 1648, and defined the nature of civil government, the functions
of the civil magistrate, and the duties of the citizens, as follows:
I.
God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil
magistrates to be under him, over the people, and for his own glory and the
public good; and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword for
the defense and encouragement of them that do well, and for the punishment of
evil-doers.
II. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the
office of magistrate when called thereunto. In the management whereof, as they
ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the
wholesome laws of the Commonwealth, so for that end they may lawfully now,
under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions.
III.
They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or
the lawful exercises of it, resist the ordinances of God,. . .may be called to
account and proceeded against by the censure of the church and by the power of
the civil magistrate.
IV. It is the duty of the people to pray for
magistrates, to honor their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to
obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority for
conscience's sake."
Massachusetts
"In the
charter granted to Massachusetts, in 1640, by Charles I., the Colonies are
enjoined by 'their good life and orderly conversation to win and invite the
natives of the country to a knowledge of the only true God and Savior of
mankind, and the Christian faith which, in our royal intention and adventurer's
free possession, is the principal end of this plantation"'
Connecticut
"In
Connecticut the first organization of civil society and government was made, in
1639, at Quinipiack, now the beautiful city of New Haven...A constitution was
formed, which was characterized as 'the first example of a written
constitution; as a distinct organic act, constituting a government and defining
its powers."' Listed below are some of the articles which made up the
constitution of Connecticut:
I. That the Scriptures hold forth a perfect
rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties which they are
to perform to God and men, as well in families and commonwealths as in matters
of the church.
II. That as in matters which concerned the gathering and
ordering of a church, so likewise in all public offices which concern civil
order,-as the choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws,
dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature,-they would
all be governed by those rules which the Scripture held forth to them.
III. That all those who had desired to be received free planters had settled in
the plantation with a purpose, resolution, and desire that they might be
admitted into church fellowship according to Christ.
IV. That all the free
planters held themselves bound to establish such civil order as might best
conduce to the securing of the purity and peace of the ordinance to themselves,
and their posterity according to God.'
"The governor was then charged by
the Rev. Mr. Davenport, in the most solemn manner, as to his duties, from Deut.
i. 16, 17:-'And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes
between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother,
and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment,
but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the
face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you,
bring it unto me, and I will hear it'. The General Court, established under
this constitution, ordered,-'That God's word should be the only rule for
ordering the affairs of government in this commonwealth"'.
New
Hampshire
"In 1679, NEW HAMPSHIRE, was separated from Massachusetts
and organized as an independent province. The colonists, having been so long a
part of the Christian commonwealth of Massachusetts, constituted their
institutions on the same Christian basis. Its legislature was Christian, and
the colony greatly prospered and increased in population".
Pennsylvania
"The first
legislative act, December, 1682, "announced the ends of a true civil
government. 'Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the
reason and end of government, and, therefore, government in itself is a
venerable ordinance of God..."' And it is the purpose of civil government to
establish "laws as shall best preserve true Christian and civil liberty, in
opposition to all unchristian, licentious, and unjust practices, whereby God
may have his due, Caesar his due, and the people their due, from tyranny and
oppression".
". . . . . But religion, as a life, as an inward principle,
though specially developed and fostered by the Church, extends its domain
beyond the sphere of technical worship, touches all the relations of man, and
constitutes the inspiration of every duty. The service of the Commonwealth
becomes an act of piety to God. The State realizes its religious character
through the religious character of its subjects; and a State is and ought to be
Christian, because all its subjects are and ought to be determined by the
principles of the Gospel. As every legislator is bound to be a Christian man,
he has no right to vote for any laws which are inconsistent with the teachings
of Scriptures. He must carry his Christian conscience into the halls of
legislation" (The Collected Writings of James Henley Thomwell, Vol. IV, p.
517).
From the "First
Charter of Virginia:"
"We, greatly commending and graciously
accepting of their desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may,
by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of His Divine
Majesty, in propagating of Christian religion to such people, as yet live in
darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and
may in time...."
Various State Constitutions
The Connecticut
Constitution (until 1818):
"The People of this State...by the
Providence of God. . .hath the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves
as a free, sovereign, and independent State. . . and forasmuch as the free
fruition of such liberties and privileges as humanity, civility, and
Christianity call for, as is due to every man in his place and
proportion...hath ever been, and will be the tranquility and stability of
Churches and Commonwealth; and the denial thereof, the disturbances, if not the
ruin of both."
The Delaware
Constitution (1831):
"...no man ought to be compelled to attend any
religious worship..." but it recognized "the duty of all men frequently to
assemble together for the public worship of the Author of the Universe." The
following oath of office was in force until 1792: "I. ..do profess faith in God
the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God,
blessed for evermore; I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments to be given by divine inspiration."
The Maryland
Constitution (until 1851):
"That, as it is the duty of every man to
worship God in such a manner as he thinks most acceptable to him; all persons
professing the Christian religion, are equally entitled to protection in their
religious liberty; wherefore no person ought by any law to be molested...on
account of his religious practice; unless, under the color [pretense] of
religion any man shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or
shall infringe the laws of morality. . .yet the Legislature may, in their
discretion, lay a general and equal tax, for the support of the Christian
religion." The Constitution of 1864 required "a declaration of a belief in the
Christian religion" for all State officers.
The Massachusetts
Constitution (until 1863):
This state Constitution included the
"right" of "the people of this commonwealth to. . . invest their Legislature
with power to authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts,
and other bodies-politic or religious societies to make suitable provision, at
their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God and for the
support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and
morality in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntary."
The North Carolina
Constitution (until 1876):
"That no person who shall deny the being
of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of the
Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with
the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or
place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State."
Past Presidents of the United States
From George
Washington's "Inaugural Speech to Both Houses of Congress," April 30,
1789:
"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience
to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly
improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that
Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of
nations and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His
benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the
United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential
purposes....No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand
which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.
Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent
nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. .
. . We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can
never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and
right which Heaven itself has ordained and since the preservation of the sacred
fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are
justly considered as deeply, perhaps finally, staked on the experiment...."
In Thomas
Jefferson's Second Inaugural Address of March 4, 1805, he made the following
comment:
"In matters of
religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the
Constitution independent of the powers of the General Government. I have
therefore undertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercise
suited to it; but have left them, as the Constitution found them, under the
direction and discipline of state and church authorities acknowledged by the
several religious societies".
From Abraham
Lincoln's "Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day," March 30,
1863:
"Whereas, the Senate of the United States devoutly recognizing
the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God in all the affairs of
men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate
and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation:
And whereas, it
is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the
overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble
sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and
pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures
and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the
Lord:
And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like
individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world may we
not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the
land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the
needful end of our national reformation as a whole people; We have been the
recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these
many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power
as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten
the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and
strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined,, in the deceitfulness of our
hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and
virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too
proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then to humble
ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray
for clemency and forgiveness. [. . . ]
All this being done, in sincerity
and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine
teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered
with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration
of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity
and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed. By the President: Abraham Lincoln.
Warren G. Harding
It is
my conviction that the fundamental trouble with the people of the United States
is that they have gotten too far away from Almighty God.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The
purpose of a devout and united people was set forth in the pages of The Bible
… (1) to live in freedom, (2) to work in a prosperous land… and (3)
to obey the commandments of God… This Biblical story of the Promised land
inspired the founders of America. It continues to inspire us.
Ronald Reagan
All are
free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, but
those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply
moral teaching to public questions… Tolerant society is open to and
encouraging of all religions, and this does not weaken us; it strengthens
us… Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the
conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that
tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of
the society and without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.
