Bedrock Principles of Liberty: Ten Principles America's Founders Believed and Upheld

We find the following principles embedded in the Declaration of Independence. Some are obvious in the Declaration, but many are implied. Americans need to rediscover and embrace all of them. To learn more, check out this Word Foundations series of articles.

1. 1. God exists, has established an ordered and moral universe, and holds humanity accountable.
  2. Absolute truths exist and are knowable.
  3. God and His laws establish the track on which men and nations must travel to attain happiness, fulfillment, and greatness; and to reach their God-given potential.
  4. God has created human beings equal in value, and He intends for them to be treated with dignity and respect.
  5. Rights are inherent and God-given and are rooted in God’s having created members of the human race in His own image.
  6. Equality as used by Jefferson and the rest of the Founders refers to equality of worth and affirmation of natural opportunities, not to equality of outcomes achieved by government manipulation of outcomes, opportunities, or both.
  7. Rights are inextricably linked to God’s laws.
  8. Government does not grant rights but has the responsibility to recognize, maintain, and protect them.
  9. Government has limited authority.
  10. When government oversteps its authority and begins to achieve ends contrary to those it was established and designed by God to accomplish, the people have a right and even a duty to hold it accountable.

A Bible study series that explores the above tenets in the Declaration and in Scripture is now available. It is titled Principles of Liberty: Ten Biblical Truths Embedded in the Declaration of Independence.

- - Here is the article on which the curriculum series is based.
  - Here is the series of which that article is a part.
  - You can access the Bible study series itself here.
  - Here is an introduction to the curriculum in the form of a Word Foundations blogpost article.
  - Here is information about using the curriculum. This brief article contains a list of the ten principles the series covers (listed above).

This page is part of a larger article.

top image credit: Assembly Room, Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; photo by Antoine Taveneaux

Bedrock Principles of Liberty: Ten Principles America’s Founders Believed and Upheld