‘We shall be as a city on a hill.’
“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.”
Today, we hear those words and nod our heads in agreement because throughout our entire lives the sentiments expressed in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence are simply accepted as fact.
But it was not always so. At the time of its signing the Declaration of Independence was literally, philosophically, and religiously a revolutionary document. Up until that time the king or queen was sovereign, individuals did not possess “unalienable rights.” But as our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in support of this dramatic departure in the affairs of mankind, they were simply returning to the Christian roots so many of them espoused.
“Endowed by their Creator” – Those poetic words changed the power paradigm. Rights were not derived from the reigning monarch, but from God the Creator. Ultimate political power now resided in people, not kings – and more importantly the people possessed political power because it was now recognized as having been given to them directly from God Almighty.
As we celebrate the 229th anniversary of the founding of America, I would like to take a look back at the role the religious beliefs of our forefathers have played in the development of our nation. We’ll begin with Founding Fathers such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Patrick Henry. From there we’ll look at how faith has shaped the actions of Presidents throughout the history of the United States.
Congress actually voted to approve the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776, and on July 4th John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress signed the document. It was first read from the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 8th following the ringing of the Liberty Bell. Interestingly, the inscription around the top of the Liberty Bell comes from Leviticus 25:10 which says: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof.” It was a month later, on August 8th, that the remaining members of the Continental Congress gathered again in Independence Hall where they all signed the Declaration.
An article last year on FreeRepublic.com looked at the Declaration of Independence through the eyes of one of its framers: John Adams, and the thoughts of his son, President John Quincy Adams.
John Adams said “The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”Perhaps the clearest identification of the spirit of the American Revolution was given by the elder Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail the day after Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. He wrote her two letters on that day; the first was short and concise, jubilant that the Declaration had been approved. The second was much longer and more pensive, giving serious consideration to what had been done that day. Adams cautiously noted: “This day will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”
FreeRepublic.com notes it is amazing that on the very day they approved the Declaration, Adams was already foreseeing that their actions would be celebrated by future generations. Adams contemplated whether it would be proper to hold such celebrations, but then concluded that the day should be commemorated –but in a particular manner and with a specific spirit. As he told Abigail: “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” Such was the spirit of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of those who led it.
In 1837, when he was 69 years old, John Quincy Adams delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts. He asked: “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?” He answered his own question saying: “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior . . . 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”?
According to John Quincy Adams, Christmas and the Fourth of July were intrinsically connected. On the Fourth of July, the Founders simply took the precepts of Christ which came into the world through His birth (Christmas) and incorporated those principles into civil government.
His father, John Adams, would have agreed. He once observed: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people . . . it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams frequently found himself at odds with Thomas Jefferson. In fact the two famous clashed in a decade’s long feud that reached its high point when Jefferson ousted Adams from the White House after the elder Adams had served just one term. Later in life, however, they reconciled and in one of the biggest ironies in American history both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away within hours of each other on July 4, 1826 – exactly 50 years after having given birth to our nation.
Like Adams, Jefferson was strongly influenced by the precepts of Christianity in writing the Declaration of Independence. He voiced those sentiments many times during his Presidency. Years after the adoption of the Constitution, many religious leaders were concerned about the meaning of the First Amendment which provided that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
Having received an inquiry from a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, Jefferson responded: “The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one directional wall; it keeps the government from running the church, but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.”
Interestingly, those who today fight to keep religion out of government often point to Jefferson’s letter to argue that the Founding Fathers meant for the First Amendment to provide for the “separation” of church and state. The amendment itself only prohibits the “establishment” of a state religion, something Jefferson verifies in his letter to the Baptists. Somehow, those seeking to separate religion from government today never read Jefferson’s complete quote wherein the founder says “it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.”
Among the Founding Fathers one was known for being particularly outspoken in his belief that religion should play a role in the new government. Patrick Henry was more radical than most in his beliefs once saying that religion is “infinitely more important than politics.”
Patrick Henry came by his strong religious beliefs honestly. His uncle, the Reverend Patrick Henry, helped to educate him and taught him Anglican catechism. As a result, he was baptized into the Anglican Church and remained a member throughout his life. He helped to found a number of Christian colleges.
Early in his political career Patrick Henry was the champion of religious toleration. When Virginia formally claimed independence from England and drafted her own Bill of Rights, Henry helped frame the fifteenth and sixteenth articles, which state that liberty rests on virtue, and that men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion.
The “great pillars of all government and of social life . . . (are) . . . virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor . . . that renders us invincible” to all our enemies. But “if we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed.”
When financial support for the church dried up during and in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, Patrick Henry proposed a measure in the Virginia Assembly calling for a moderate tax assessment for the support of any Christian religion. The measure passed two of three sessions, before being derailed by James Madison in the absence of Patrick Henry, who by then had left the legislature to become Virginia’s first governor.
Even on his deathbed Henry continued to witness for Christ. Just moments before he died he “asked the doctor to observe how great a reality and benefit that religion was to a man about to die.” He ended his will: “This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed. If they had that and I had not given them one shilling, they would, be rich; and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.”
And so it has continued throughout history. Our Presidents have at various times famously and privately relied on God to guide their actions. George Washington knelt in prayer at Valley Forge. Abraham Lincoln rededicated us as a nation “under God” in his address at Gettysburg.
Some Presidents, like Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, are very public about their religious beliefs. Just this past week former President Bill Clinton renewed his friendship with Billy Graham as America’s pastor conducted his final crusade in New York City.
Ronald Reagan was one President who leaned on the everlasting arms even when his faith was not obvious. In retrospect, his upbringing pointed to an individual who would make Jesus Christ the centerpiece of his life. Reagan’s mother, Nelle Reagan was noted in her community for her activities in the Disciples of Christ Church.
Paul Kengor in his book God and Ronald Reagan observed: “Nelle Reagan had a heart for God, and she did her best to impart that faith to her son Ronald. It was her aspiration that he should one day take that faith to the world.”
That faith guided Ronald Reagan throughout his Presidency, but even more so after an assassin’s bullet came within a fraction of an inch of hitting his heart. While recuperating he told New York’s Terence Cardinal Cook that “I have decided that whatever time I have left is for Him.”
Not long after that Ronald Reagan met Mother Teresa who made a point of saying she and another Sister had stayed up for two straight nights praying for him upon learning of the assassination attempt. As Paul Kengor recounts the story: “Reagan thanked her, but Mother Teresa wasn’t finished pursuing her point. She looked at Reagan directly, and addressed him dramatically: ‘You have suffered the passion of the cross and have received grace. There is a purpose to this. Because of your suffering and pain you will know understand the suffering and pain of the world.’ Her words were uncannily resonant with his own private beliefs: ‘This has happened to you at this time because your country and the world need you.’ Nancy Reagan dissolved into tears; the President was almost speechless.”
Ronald Reagan was fond of referring to America as a “shining city on a hill.” He often quoted John Winthrop who, while standing on the deck of the Arabella in 1630 off the Massachusetts coast looked upon the new land and said “we shall be as a city on a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”
Winthrop’s comments have a Biblical origin. Refer to Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may praise your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
As Winthrop concluded: “The basis of (America’s) ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.
Ronald Reagan could not have agreed more. As early as 1952 he wrote: “I believe that God in shedding his grace on this country has always in this divine scheme of things kept an eye on our land and guided it as a promised land.” It was that certainty which gave him the personal fortitude to confront the Soviet Union and ultimately prevail over the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in our life times.
The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, summed up well what our Founding Fathers and great leaders have all come to learn: “I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests – and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning – and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteous did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”