Quotations
from the Founding Fathers about Religion
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(Hobby
Lobby Ad - 7/4/2013)
[Editorial
Note: These quotations document the views of many founding fathers and others
showing their respect for religion and morality. We quote it mainly to show
that our country was established by men who generally believed that government should
respect and encourage morality, decency, religion, and Bible teaching. They
would be shocked to observe modern attempts to limit religious freedom or to
exclude God or Biblical morality from influencing our laws and officials. (This
is the text of an ad placed by Hobby Lobby in many newspapers across the
country on the weekend of July 4, 2013. It apparently appeared in various
forms. We have attempted to quote it as it appeared in our local paper.) – DP]
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"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 to implore His
protection and favor." - George Washington: Commander-in-Chief in the
American Revolution; Signer of the Constitution; First President of the United
States
"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: Signer of the Declaration of Independence; One of
Two Signers of the Bill of Rights; Second President of the United States
"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." - James Madison: Signer of
the Constitution; Fourth President of the United States
"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 of
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." - Thomas Jefferson: Signer and the Principal Author of the
Declaration of Independence; Third President of the United States
"Is
it not that in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly
linked with the birthday of the Savior? - that it forms a leading event in the
progress of the Gospel dispensation? 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?" - John Quincy Adams:
Statesman; Diplomat; Sixth President of the United States
Founding Fathers
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"An
appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!... Sir, we are
not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath
placed in our power... Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will
raise up friends to fight our battles for us... Is life so dear, or peace so
sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me
liberty or give me death!" - Patrick Henry: Patriot and Statesman
"I've
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 men. If a sparrow cannot
fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise
without His aid? We've been assured in the sacred writings that unless the Lord
builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, and I
also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this
political building no better than the builders of Babel." - Benjamin
Franklin: Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Supreme Court Justices
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"The
Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the
way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it
and to regulate your life by its precepts." "Providence has given to
our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the
privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians
for their rulers." - John Jay: Co-Author of the Federalist Papers; First
Chief-Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
"Human
law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is
Divine ... Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters,
friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other."
- James Wilson, Signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution; Original justice on the U.S. Supreme Court
"One
of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is
a part of the Common Law ... There never has been a period in which the Common
Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations ... I verily
believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society." - Joseph
Story: U.S. Supreme Court Justice; "Father of American Jurisprudence,"
Placed on the Court by President James Madison
Congress
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"We
are a Christian people ... not because the law demands it, not to gain
exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities, but from choice and
education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected,
what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity?" Senate
Judiciary Committee Report, January 19,1853
"At
the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal
sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged...In this age there can be
no substitute for Christianity...That was the religion of the founders of the
republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their
descendants." House Judiciary Committee Report, March 27, 1854
Education
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"Let
every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the
main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is
eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only
foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth
wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of
Him (Proverbs 2, 3). Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the
Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his
proficiency therein." Harvard 1636 Student Guidelines
"All
the scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to
the rules of God's Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, that fountain
of Divine light and truth, and constantly attending all the duties of
religion." Yale 1787 Student Guidelines
Supreme Court Rulings
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"There
is no dissonance in these [legal] declarations...These are not individual
sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic [legal,
governmental] utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people...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." Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S., 1892 Unanimous Decision
Declaring America a Christian Nation Significantly, the U. S. Supreme Court
cited dozens of court rulings and legal documents as precedents to arrive at
this ruling; but in 1962, when the Supreme Court struck down voluntary prayer
in schools, it did so without using any such precedent.
"Why
may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment,
be read and taught as a divine revelation in [schools] - its general precepts
expounded, its evidences explained and its glorious principles morality
inculcated? ... Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so
clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?" Vidal v. Girard's
Educators, 1844 Unanimous Decision Commanding and Encouraging the Use of the
Bible in Government-Run Schools
Foreigners
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"The
Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in
their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the
other." "Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect
of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I
stayed there, the more did I perceive the great political consequences
resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I
had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom
pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found
that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same
country." Alexis de Tocqueville French observer of America in 1831, author
of Democracy in America
There
is no country in which the people are so religious as in the United States ...
The great number of religious societies existing in United States is truly
surprising: there some of them for everything; for instance, societies to
distribute the Bible; to distribute tracts; to encourage religious journals; to
convert, civilize, educate ... to take care of their widows and orphans; to
preach, extend, purify, preserve, reform the faith; to build chapels, endow
congregations, support seminaries ... to establish Sunday schools... to prevent
drunkenness, etc. Achille Murat French observer of America in 1832
Scripture
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Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD Psalm 33:12a
If My
people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My
face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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