Christian Nation: Quotes From Our Forefathers

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"Don't let anyone
   claim to be a true American. Don't let them claim the tribute of
   American patriotism if they ever attempt to remove religion from
   politics." George Washington's farewell address

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens, George Washington's farewell address

First chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote:

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty ... of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." (1816)

William Penn

"Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

Justice David Brewer said this:

"This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation ... We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth ... 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. (1892)

As recently as 1952 Justice William O. Douglas wrote:

"We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."

Even liberal Supreme Court chief justice, Earl Warren, wrote in 1954:

"I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses ... Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia ... or to the Charter of New England ... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ... or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ... the same objective is present ... a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people ... I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."

Supreme Court justices were certainly not the only political figures who wrote such things either. George Washington wrote a prayer addressed to "O most glorious God, in Jesus Christ" and ended it like this:

"... Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word ... Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land."

Washington also said:

"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

"It is impossible to rightly govern . . . without God & the Bible."

"You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all the religion of Jesus Christ." to a group of Indian chiefs.

Roger Sherman:

". . . all civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination."

John Adams wrote:

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with passions unbridled by morality and religion."

"Religion & virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society."

"Statesmen, my dear sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand."

Thomas Jefferson, the man "blamed" for the wall of separation between church and state said:

"I have always said, and will always say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens."

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever."

"No power over the freedom of religion . . .[is] delegated to the United States by the Constitution."

"Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus."

"I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other." Letter to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803

James Madison:

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not on the power of government...[but] upon the capacity of each and every one of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

"Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe."

John Quincy Adams:

"The greatest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

"No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible."

"Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

Abraham Lincoln:

"Unless the great God who assisted [President Washington], shall be with me and aid me, I must fail. But if the same omniscient mind, and Almighty arm, that directed and protected him, shall guide and support me, I shall not fail ... Let us pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now."

Grover Cleveland:

"All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship."

Teddy Roosevelt:

"In this actual world, a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at, or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid down-grade."

Woodrow Wilson:

"America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of the Holy Scripture."

Calvin Coolidge, speaking of the founding fathers:

"They were intent upon establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance with the principle of self-government. They were an inspired body of men. It has been said that God sifted the nations that He might send choice grain into the wilderness ... Who can fail to see it in the hand of Destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?"

Benjamin Franklin

"Whoever will introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world."

Mr. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, one of the framers of the Constitution, published his diary in which he said: "Dr. Benjamin Franklin, a venerable figure weighted down by years and wisdom, leaned one hand op his staff, the other on the table and said: "There is a greater menace to these United States of America than the strictly Roman . . . This greater menace, gentlemen, is the Jew!"

John F. Kennedy:

"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."

Gerald Ford, quoted a speech made by Dwight Eisenhower in 1955:

"Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first--the most basic--expression of Americanism. Thus, the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God's help, it will continue to be."

The Supreme Court ruling in the case of McDaniel vs. Patyark back in 1978 should make clear that Christians still have the same rights as everyone else whether we are or were a Christian nation or not:

"The Establishment Clause does not license government to treat religion, and those who teach or practice it, simply by virtue of their status as such, as subversive of American ideals and therefore subject to unique disabilities ... In short, government may not as a goal promote "safe-thinking" with respect to religion and fence out from political participation those, such as ministers, whom it regards as over-involved in religion. Religionists no less than members of any other group enjoy the full measure of protection afforded speech, association, and political activity generally. The Establishment Clause, properly understood, is a shield against any attempt by government to inhibit religion ... it may not be used as a sword to justify repression of religion or its adherents from any aspect of public life."

Noah Webster

"No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."

Gov. Morris

"Religion is the only solid basis for good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, & the duties of man toward God."

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Did the Founding Fathers Believe Christianity Was the Basis of American Government?

Do you think our Founding Fathers believed in God and founded America as a Christian nation? The Supreme Court answered this question in 1892 and cited fifty historical examples to prove America was indeed a Christian nation. These are just a few:

Governor Bradford, in writing of the Pilgrims` landing, describes their first act: "Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven...."

The New England Charter, signed by King James 1, confirmed the goal of the first settlers to be: "to advance the enlargement of Christian religion, to the glory of God Almighty."

The goal of government based on Scripture was affirmed by individual counties, such as is found in the Rhode Island Charter of 1683, which begins: "We submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given us in His holy Word."

Benjamin Franklin stood and addressed the Continental Congress with these words: "In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor....Have we now forgotten this powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"

George Washington, in his inaugural address to Congress as the first president of the nation stated: "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...."

One of George Washington`s first official acts was the first Thanksgiving proclamation, which reads, "Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor..." It goes on to call the nation to thankfulness to Almighty God.

Thomas Jefferson said: "Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever."

President John Quincy Adams: "The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."

Andrew Jackson: "Go to the Scriptures...the joyful promises it contains will be a balsam to all your troubles."

From President Abraham Lincoln`s Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, April 30, 1863: "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 undroken 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."

The Supreme Court Decision 1892---Church of the Holy Trinity Vs. The United States: "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of The Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian....This is a religious people. This is historically true."

President Woodrow Wilson: "...the Bible...is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature and need of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation."

In spite of these statements, many people today say that the Founding Fathers never intended for religious principles to be part of public life or public affairs. They add: Doesn`t being a Christian nation really threaten pluralism? Interestingly, the Founding Fathers discuss that and they felt that it enhanced it.

Patrick Henery made a very clear statement: "It cannot be emphasized too often or too strongly that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians; not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ....It is for this reason that people of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here."

It must be concluded that our Founding Fathers did believe in God and founded America as a Christian nation.

Rev. Greenfield

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Modified Friday, April 10, 2009