The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits Congress from making laws that establish a religion, impede the free exercise of religion, abridge the freedom of speech or the press, or interfere with the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievancesprohibits Congress from making laws that establish a religion,impede the free exercise of religionprohibits Congress from making laws that establish a religion,impede the free exercise of religionprohibits Congress from making laws that establish a religion,impede the free exercise of religion
To which, I replied:
The Founders wrote the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause to prevent the federal government from establishing a national church like the authoritarian Church of England from which the Christian denominations fled. Christians who did not join the Church of England were imprisoned, exiled, or killed. That's why the clause also prohibits Congress from impeding the free exercise of religion, which perhaps explains why there are so many denominations.The Founders wanted to protect personal conscience and keep government out of church affairs not the other way around. It was even customary to hold church services in government buildings.The original Puritan colonies — Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and Connecticut — called themselves the Bible Commonwealth. The Middle Colonies were populated by Quakers, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews, and Dutch/German Reformed churches, while the Southern Colonies adhered to Anglicanism.
The Congressional Record in 1854 stated:
“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.”
The quote from the Congressional Record was lifted from an article I read on the Huckabee Post by Steve Feazel. The quote actually appeared in an 1854 House Judiciary Committee Report examining the Original Intent of the Establishment Clause. Both the House and Senate were responding to citizen petitions to ban paid chaplains from the military. Congress ruled that the Founder's intent was that Christian principles would serve as the country's moral compass. Consequently, the petitions were denied.
Original Intent has been discarded by left-leaning judges and courts who see themselves as legislators of the law rather than arbiters.
The Founding Fathers drew heavily -- sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly -- from Biblical ideas about human nature, morality, and justice. The Bible shaped their worldview and influenced the Constitution’s structure, assumptions, and safeguards.
Biblical Foundations
The United States Constitution emerged from a unique convergence of intellectual traditions -- classical republicanism, Enlightenment rationalism, English common law, and Biblical teaching. While the Constitution itself does not quote Scripture, the Founders lived in a culture where the Bible was the most widely read, most frequently cited, and most morally authoritative text. Its influence shaped their understanding of human nature, the purpose of government, and the need for checks on power. The Constitution reflects these Biblical assumptions in ways both subtle and profound.
The Founders’ view of human nature was deeply aligned with the Biblical doctrine of the Fall. Scripture teaches that humanity is created in the image of God yet corrupted by sin. This dual reality -- dignity and depravity -- runs through the Constitution.
James Madison captured this concept in Federalist No. 51:
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
This echoes the Biblical understanding that humans are capable of good works but prone to corruption. The Founders rejected utopian visions of man's altruistic nature. Instead, they assumed that even well‑intentioned leaders could be tempted by power. This assumption mirrors passages such as Jeremiah 17:9, which describes the human heart as “deceitful above all things.”
Because of this, the Constitution disperses authority across branches and levels of government. The separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism all reflect a Biblical realism about human nature. Power must be restrained because people -- even virtuous ones -- cannot be trusted with unchecked authority.
This is why the Founders rejected monarchy, distrusted concentrated power, and insisted on written limits. Their design reflects the Biblical warning that rulers can become tyrants, as seen in 1 Samuel 8, where the prophet warns Israel that a king will take their sons and daughters, levy burdensome taxes, and oppress them unjustly.
The Founders were not monolithic in their theology. They ranged from orthodox Christians (e.g., John Witherspoon, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams) to Enlightenment‑leaning theists (e.g., Jefferson, Franklin). Yet across this spectrum, they shared a common assumption: the Bible offered profound insight into human nature, morality, and the dangers of political power.
Moral Law is the Rule of Law
The Founders believed that legitimate government must rest on a moral foundation. While they debated theology, they shared a common belief that moral truth exists and is not created by government. This idea is rooted in Scripture’s teaching of an overarching moral law -- what many Founders called “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.”
The rule of law, a cornerstone of the Constitution, reflects Biblical principles:
- God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), meaning all stand equal before divine law.
- Kings themselves are subject to God’s law (Deuteronomy 17:18–20).
- Justice must be impartial (Leviticus 19:15).
The Constitution’s prohibition of ex post facto laws, its insistence on due process, and its rejection of titles of nobility all reflect this Biblical insistence that no one is above the law.
Even the idea of covenant -- central to the Old Testament -- shaped the Founders’ thinking. The Constitution is a covenantal document: a written, binding agreement among the people, echoing the covenants between God and Israel. Early American political thought was steeped in covenant theology, especially in New England, where pastors preached that societies must be bound by mutual obligations under God.
English common law, which heavily influenced the Constitution, was itself shaped by centuries of Christian moral reasoning. Blackstone’s Commentaries -- the most influential legal text for the Founders -- explicitly grounded law in God’s higher moral order.
Thus, even the Constitution’s secular legal framework rests on a foundation shaped by Biblical moral philosophy.
Biblical Roots of Liberty
The Founders believed that liberty was not merely a political preference but a God‑given right. The Declaration of Independence states that rights are endowed by the Creator, not granted by government. This idea flows directly from Biblical teaching that human beings possess inherent dignity because they are made in God’s image. MSN Now news host Katy Tur seemed ignorant of this fundamental truth.
From the Christian Post:
During a broadcast on MSN Now in May 2026, Tur questioned a statement made by House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson had said that his rights derived from his Creator and Heavenly Father. Tur then asked her panel if Johnson was "putting God over the Declaration of Independence". The clip sparked heavy backlash online. Critics noted that Tur appeared to be historically unfamiliar with the text. The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence itself states that all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights".
Incidentally, Tur graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a degree in philosophy.
UCSB is a hard left campus that pounds Woke ideology into the undeveloped brains of young people, who soak up the indoctrination like a sponge.
The Constitution protects liberty through structural safeguards such as Enumerated rights and Limited federal powers. These safeguards proved to be a thorn in the sides of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Clinton remarked that America needs to move away from individualism and adopt a more collectivist (socialist) approach to government. Obama complained that the Constitution spells out what government cannot do but not what it can do.
Actually, what the federal government can do is clearly expressed. What bothers people who favor Big Government is that the enumerated powers seem very limited.
The Influence of Biblical Literacy
The Founders lived in a society where the Bible was the primary textbook for reading, ethics, and civic instruction. Even those who were not personally devout were Biblically literate. Biblical stories shaped their imagination:
- Moses as a model lawgiver
- Proverbs as a guide to wisdom
- The Exodus as a symbol of liberation
- The Sermon on the Mount as a moral ideal
Historian Donald Lutz’s study of political writings from 1760–1805 found that the Bible was the single most cited source in political discourse -- more than Montesquieu, Locke, or Blackstone.
Political sermons -- sometimes called “election sermons” -- were a major cultural force. Pastors preached on government, liberty, justice, and civic duty, drawing heavily from Scripture. These sermons influenced public opinion and helped shape the political philosophy that culminated in the Constitution.
If pastors today were as purposeful, millions of Christians might not evade their civic duty to vote. Because Christians typically vote Republican, their participation would impactfully change the political landscape.
Checks and Balances as a Biblical Concept
The Founders’ system of separated powers reflects the Biblical idea that authority should be distributed, not concentrated. In the Old Testament, governance was divided among priests, kings, and prophets -- each with distinct roles and the ability to check the others.
Similarly, the Constitution divides power among three branches -- Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. This structure reflects the Biblical warning against unchecked rulers and the need for accountability. The Founders believed that ambition must be checked, not because they distrusted government itself, but because they distrusted human nature -- a profoundly Biblical insight.
Virtue and the Survival of the Republic
The Founders believed that liberty requires virtue. A free people must govern themselves morally if they are to remain free politically. This belief is rooted in Biblical teaching that righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34). May I point out that it is not virtuous to kill millions of babies.
I have quoted John Adams so often but it bears repeating:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.”
This was not a call for theocracy but a recognition that self‑government requires self‑control. Biblical morality -- honesty, fidelity, justice, charity -- was seen as essential to the health of the republic. When we talk about justice, we're not talking about social justice, which is a Marxist precept. Apostate churches pervert Scripture by preaching a social justice gospel. They can be identified by their gay and lesbian pastors, and the rainbow flag that flies atop the church steeple.
These denominations include the Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Church, and some congregations within Episcopalian, Methodist, and Baptist traditions.
The Elephant in the Room
I would be remiss if I didn’t address for the umpteenth time the leftwing mantra regarding the separation of church and state which, by the way, is nowhere written in any of our founding documents.
The phrase is found in an 1802 letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. The church had sent a letter congratulating Jefferson on his election, and to express their concern that the government in Connecticut favored the Congregationalist Church. They feared persecution from their political leaders.
Jefferson wrote back:
… I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.
Contrary to the leftwing narrative, this wall of separation is intended to keep government out of religion, not religion out of government. Banning God from public schools and public spaces was not the Original Intent of our Founders.
Final Thoughts
The Constitution is not a religious document, but it is undeniably shaped by a Biblical worldview. The Founders drew from Scripture in their understanding of human nature, liberty, justice, and the need for limited government. They believed that rights come from God, that rulers must be restrained, and that virtue is essential for freedom. Their design reflects a profound synthesis of Biblical teaching and political wisdom. The result is a constitutional order that protects liberty not by trusting human goodness but by acknowledging human fallenness -- a deeply Biblical insight that continues to shape American governance today.
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Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32).
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