How Did The Bible Influence The U.S. Constitution?

Today, Facebook reminded me that I had posted the article below one year ago today.  I was going to "Share" it again in honor of Independence Day that we are celebrating.  But, now that link has too many pop-up adds giving us really relevant information such as "Well known actor's wife divorces him again!"  Well, duh, as if that is what is really important to us today, the Fourth of July.

So, I decided to copy/paste the article, but giving the URL link - so that you might verify what what I have posted is accurate to the original article.  And, also for anyone who is really interested in which "famous actor's" wife has divorced him again.

Every day we have non-believers, atheists, humanists, secularists, and even some Liberal Christian brethren telling us, "America is not a Christian nation!" and "The founding fathers were not all Christians!" and "God and the Bible have nothing to do with the Constitution!" and on and on, ad infinitum.  Well, they are wrong!  There was indeed reference to God in our founding documents: 

The Mayflower Compact, 1620, begins: "IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN.  We, whose names are underwritten, . . . .  Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith.  .  ."

The Declaration of Independence, 1776, tells us:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  .  ."

"Okay, Bill, we agree that those two documents mention God.  But, how do you find God in the Constitution?"    

Glad you asked!  Read the article below and I believe this lady will help correct your misunderstanding of God, America, and our Constitution.

How Did The Bible Influence The U.S. Constitution?

By Tamara Christine Van Hooser, eHow Contributor
http://www.ehow.com/info_11384841_did-bible-influence-us-constitution.html

Christians and critics hotly debate how the Bible influenced the U.S. Constitution.  Secularists argue that contrary to popular opinion, the Founding Fathers were "deists" at best and never intended any religious influence in matters of government. 

Many Christians counter that, while there were certainly theological differences and variations in the level of Christian commitment between the men who framed the Constitution, the principles upon which it is founded reveal foundational assumptions of a Christian worldview, even though the document does not explicitly refer to God nor the Bible. 

A look at the words of the Constitutional Convention delegates themselves provides insight into how their thinking was influenced by the Bible and Christian principles when framing the laws of the new nation.

The laws set forth in the U.S. Constitution did not emerge out of a moral vacuum unrelated to the writers' own beliefs, but rather are the product of the reasoning of those who created it.  By their own words, the Founding Fathers were not neutral on the question of religion as the basis of government and society.

For example, in a letter to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, John Adams writes, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Noah Webster stated, "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.  All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

Delegate Governor Morris of Pennsylvania forthrightly professed, "I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals, and that morals are the only possible support of free governments.  Therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God."

Origins of Constitutional Law:

While the Constitution does not explicitly refer to God, the concepts of law which it contains stem from the cultural assumptions of basic Biblical truths widely held by the people of that time, regardless of their actual piety towards God.  In other words, it is an inarguable fact that not all Americans of that era actually held to the Christian faith, yet they held to the commonly accepted morals, ethics, and standards of behavior derived from English Common Law, which drew from Biblical law given to the Hebrews by God.

Underlying Biblical Principles:

The rule of law laid out in the Constitution descends from the Ten Commandments.  As they suffered at the hands of corrupt human authorities, the Constitutional delegates were aware of the flawed nature of human beings as shown in Genesis 3 and Jeremiah 17:9.  Thus, they designed a system of checks and balances and separation of powers to prevent one individual or group from abusing the citizens through self-serving power ploys.

The three branches of government are reminiscent of the roles of God as described in Isaiah 33:22.  The exception for Sundays in the time limit for the president to sign a bill into law in Article VII, Section 2, hints at the assumption that Sunday was a day of rest as set forth in Exodus 20.

Exodus 18 reveals that before Israel demanded that God give them a king, the Hebrews had a representative form of republican government, not unlike the system created in the Constitution.

Both Leviticus 19:34 and Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution require uniform treatment of immigrants.  Deuteronomy 17:15 warns the Hebrews not to let a foreigner rule over them just as the Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen of the U.S.

The requirement in Article III, Section 3, to establish guilt in cases of treason by the testimony of at least two witnesses recalls the Biblical instruction in Deuteronomy 17:6 to have the testimony of two or three witnesses before putting a man to death.

Separation of Church and State:

Contrary to the popular conception of many, the words "separation of church and state" do not actually appear in the U.S. Constitution.  The sole reference to religion in the Constitution is Article VI, Section 3, "...no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

The Bill of Rights was added later to include First Amendment protections, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  Critics argue that these words indicate the Founding Fathers wanted to establish an entirely secular form of government, wholly uninfluenced by religion of any stripe.

Christians point out, however, that the many writings of the early Americans in the era of the birth of the Constitution contain numerous quotations and ideas which can be traced back to a Biblical source.  They assert that the Constitutional delegates so took for granted the necessity of a Biblical foundation for government - that they would not have conceived of conducting government completely removed from any influence of religion. 

Rather, they wanted to make sure that government could never again interfere with or oppress religious freedoms or establish one Christian denomination over another as the religion of state to the detriment of all others.

References:

Library of Congress:  Religion and the Founding of the American Republic"

"The Influence of the Bible on America" - David Barton; January 2008

American Heritage Alliance, "God and You and Government" - Murray Hornsby

"Grace, Christianity, and the American Constitution" - Rev. Robert Benn Vincent

National Center for Constitutional Studies: "Judeo-Christian Roots of America's Founding Ideals and Documents"

History 2 U, "Birth of the Independent Nation" - Brian Hardesty; 2005

 
I pray that all my Friends and Brethren are having a blessed and safe Independence Day.  And, I pray that our God is continuing to bless and protect you and your families.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill