Looking at the Founder’s own writings, we find powerful indications they believed in the Bible and the God of the Bible. Yet we cannot conclude that all were Christians. Even though it is reasonable to assume that many were, the evidence sometimes varies regarding just how many were, and just how devout each one was in practicing his Christianity. However,
[t]here is little doubt that the principles upon which the United States was founded are indeed found in the Bible. Equality, liberty, and justice are all biblical principles. The faith of the founders, on the other hand, will continue to be debated. Did the founders respect God and the Christian religion? Absolutely. Were they influenced by the Bible? Surely. Were they all born-again believers in Jesus Christ? No.
We noted the following in a previous post.
Writing for the Heritage Foundation, Mark David Hall addresses the question “Did America Have a Christian Founding?” He essentially answers by saying, “It depends on what is meant by ‘a Christian founding,’” but affirms the answer is yes if the phrase means biblical principles and ideas strongly influenced America’s architects. “I believe,” Hall writes, “that an excellent case can be made that Christianity had a profound influence on the Founders.” He cites five specific examples, including these.
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- Their faith taught them that humans were sinful.…
- They firmly believed that God ordained moral standards, that legislation should be made in accordance with these standards, and that moral laws took precedence over human laws.
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The idea of absolute truth, therefore, was an important principle informing and guiding America’s Founders as they led the Colonies to separate from Great Britain and as they drafted the US Constitution. Although it didn’t originate in the United States, the affirmation of absolute truth can rightly be called an American ideal.
Two More Items—Racism and America’s Departure from Her Heritage
But why, someone will ask, if the Founders really believed that “all men are created equal,” did they allow slavery to continue to exist? This is an important question, and one we have addressed extensively in previous posts. Go here to access a series of articles on this topic. Also see the notations below regarding the top image and the “Betsy Ross Flag.”
One more aspect to the nation’s Christian heritage is how Americans have squandered it and trampled on it in recent years. We have done this to our own peril. See a previous post titled “Aimlessly Adrift.”
This page is part of a larger article.
top image: Betsy Ross presenting the first American flag to George Washington, by Edward Percy Moran, c. 1917 Although some recently have sought to associate this flag with racism, it has nothing to do with racism at all. Go here for an article on the matter, and here to read a black gentleman’s response to the controversy.
Copyright © 2019 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.