OF CHRISTIANITY
BY DAVID BARTON
This instability was common even two centuries ago when America was birthed. That era, which historians call the Age of Revolution, included not only the American Revolution, but also the French, Russian, Italian, Greek, and several other revolutions. But while America has had only one form of government, France has had several, and Italy has gone through literally dozens.
Since the same ideas were available to all governments at that time through the writings of political philosophers like Montesquieu, Locke, Hooker, Grotius, Puffendorf, Blackstone, and others, what did America do that was so different? How did she achieve such stability? Perhaps John Adams, one of the chief figures in the establishment of American government, best answered that question when he declared:
The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . Now I will avow that I then believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.1
The eternal and immutable principles of Christianity offered a stable, time-tested foundation for any system of government established on those principles, and it was the incorporation of these principles into our government that made America unique. Certainly, no other nation of that day could, or would, make a similar boast as to its political foundations.
Critics today argue that times have changed-that America is very different from what she was at the time of the Founders-that we are pluralistic while they were homogeneous in religious belief and practice. This, however, is not true. In fact, John Adams listed literally dozens of different religions residing, working, and sharing their faith in America in his day.2 And with all of those religions from which they might choose, our Founders still chose Christianity. Why? John Adams explained that it was because they were "all educated in the general principles of Christianity."3
Interestingly, Adams' declaration described a fundamental tenet of American education that endured for generations. For example, nearly three-quarters of a century after the Founding Fathers, petitions arrived in Congress seeking an end to all public religious expressions, including the removal of chaplains from the House, Senate, Army, Navy, etc. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees investigated to determine if Christian principles could or should be eradicated from American public life. In 1853-1854, the final reports were delivered, and the House Judiciary Committee emphatically announced:
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.4
The Senate Judiciary Committee similarly affirmed:
We are Christians, not because the law demands it. . . but from choice and education. . . . But they [the Founders] had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people. . . they did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistic apathy.5
The fact that our public life, and particularly our public education, inculcated the principles of Christianity is also confirmed through the holdings of the Department of Education in Washington D. C. Its old textbook library houses a collection of every text used in American education from 1775 to 1900. Even a short perusal of its tens of thousands of holdings demonstrate how difficult it is to find any textbook from any curricular field of study which did not have Christian teachings infused throughout.
This element of our educational philosophy certainly distinguished America from other nations at that time. In fact, their dogmatic avoidance of even any theistic acknowledgments (much less Christian acknowledgments) in their educational approach drew strong criticism from Thomas Paine, certainly one of the least religious of America's Founders. In a 1787 address in Paris, Paine condemned their approach, declaring:
It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy and all the other sciences and subjects of natural philosophy as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the Author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles; he can only discover them, and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.
When we examine an extraordinary piece of machinery, an astonishing pile of architecture, a well-executed statue, or a highly-finished painting where life and action are imitated, and habit only prevents our mistaking a surface of light and shade for cubical solidity, our ideas are naturally led to think of the extensive genius and talents of the artist. When we study the elements of geometry, we think of Euclid. When we speak of gravitation, we think of Newton. How is it then, that when we study the works of God in the creation, we stop short, and do not think of God? It is from the error of the schools in having taught those subjects as accomplishments only and thereby separated the study of them from the Being who is the Author of them. . . .
The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator Himself, they stop short and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of His existence. They labor with studied ingenuity to ascribe everything they behold to innate properties of matter and jump over all the rest by saying that matter is eternal. . . .
And when we speak of looking through nature up to nature's God, we speak philosophically the same rational language as when we speak of looking through human laws up to the Power that ordained them.
God is the power of first cause, nature is the law, and matter is the subject acted upon.
But infidelity, by ascribing every phenomenon to properties of matter, conceives a system for which it cannot account, and yet it pretends to demonstrate.6
The records are clear that our Founders deliberately chose Christian education for America and Christian principles for American government. (For a more exhaustive documentation of this fact, see Original Intent by the author.) Perhaps the best explanation for the reason that our Founders chose Christian principles was given by DeWitt Clinton (U. S. Senator, Governor of New York, and the driving force behind the 12th Amendment) who declared:
| Christianity must be contemplated in two important aspects. . . . its influence on this world, and its reference to our destiny in the world to come.7 |
Currently, much of the rhetoric accompanying the debate over the presence of Christian principles in the public arena is directed toward theological considerations. That is, Christianity is one view of life-afterdeath, and if someone personally embraces its views then he is welcome to practice its beliefs - privately; just don't try to introduce them into the pluralistic public square. Yet, it is the influence of Christianity on day-today life which is often overlooked in the present tunnel-vision debate that Christianity is only one of the many smorgasbord life-after-death theologies available for an individual to choose - should he want to.
The Founders, unlike many today, recognized that the societal benefits of Christianity were salient to the public realm and extended far beyond any theological debates. That is, even if Christianity offered no life-after-death benefits, the Founders still would have chosen to include its principles in the public arena and in public education simply for the tangible benefits it produced. It is the Founders' beliefs on the practical benefits of Christianity which are worthy of review.
However, the fact that this writing will focus primarily on the Founders' beliefs about Christianity's "influence on this world" does not preclude the fact that our Founders understood its powerful "reference to our destiny in the world to come." For example, John Dickinson, a General during the American Revolution and a signer of the Constitution, declared:
Rendering thanks to my Creator . . . to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity.8
And Samuel Adams, called the Father of the American Revolution, similarly declared:
| I rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.9 |
| On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on His merits; not on the works that I have done in obedience to His precepts.10 |
| Unto Him who is the Author and Giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. . . . Blessed be His holy name!11 |
| My soul I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, Whose tender mercies are all over His works, . . . humbly hoping from His unbounded mercy and benevolence through the merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins.12 |
| I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my existence, in full belief of His providential goodness and His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through Whom I hope for never-ending happiness in a future state.13 |
| I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. . . . that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God. . . . that God did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer.14 |
| My only hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the cross. Nothing but His blood will wash away my sins. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!15 |
These type of evangelical declarations might seem surprising to many today since the current widespread revisionist teaching is that our Founders were a collective group of secularists who didn't believe in God-that they were atheists, agnostics, and deists. In reality, this characterization is true for only a few (e.g., Charles Lee, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, Henry Dearborn, William Eaton, Joel Barlow, etc.) of the more than two-hundred men we call Founding Fathers; the writings of the vast majority of Founders prove they believed otherwise.
In addition to their many overt declarations (like those above), their works also confirm their strong Christian faith. For example, among the signers of the Declaration, the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon was responsible for two American translations of the Bible including America's first fam- ily Bible; Charles Thomson was responsible for Thomson's Bible, the first translation of the Greek Septuagint into English; Benjamin Rush not only produced the first stereotyped (mass-produced) Bible in America but he also founded America's first Bible Society and the Sunday School movement in America; Francis Hopkinson, a church music director, produced the first purely American hymn book, setting the Book of Psalms to music; and many others were also responsible for similar Christian works.
This same type of Christian involvement was apparent among the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution. For example, John Langdon and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney founded the American Bible Society; Rufus King was a founder of the New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society; James McHenry founded the Maryland Bible Society; and Alexander Hamilton formed the Christian Constitutional Society to elect people to office who would support the Christian religion and the Constitution of the United States.
Clearly, the overwhelming majority of our Founders personally embraced what DeWitt Clinton had called Christianity's "reference to our destiny in the world to come," but what did they believe about its "influence on this world"? The Founders believed that Christian principles produced five distinct societal benefits.
First, they believed that Christian principles produced a civilized society. They insightfully understood that civilized behavior was not the result of either good constitutions or good laws. As Samuel Adams astutely observed:
[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.16
The pivotal word in Adams' statement is "manners" - defined in Webster's original 1828 dictionary as "moral deportment; civility; decent and respectful behavior."
Manners, taught vigorously to youth two centuries ago, have generally been a declining focus of instruction in recent years. Nevertheless, some parts of the nation continue to practice the cultural remnants of manners, still voicing phrases such as "thank you," "no sir," or "please ma'am," and even opening the door, pulling out a chair, or stepping aside for another to pass.
Why were manners so long a focus of education for youth? Because manners taught citizens to think about someone other than themselves - to have concern for other people.
But what have manners to do with a civilized society? Once individuals in a society begin thinking only of themselves, that society becomes ruled by what John Quincy Adams described as the "law . . . of the tiger or the shark."17 A society where only the roughest and toughest survive, and where governance is by brute force and raw power, is not a civilized society. It is, in short, a society without manners.
Our Founders understood the intrinsic importance of manners to a civilized society. As John Hancock explained in his 1780 Inaugural Address as Governor of Massachusetts: Manners, by which not only the freedom but the very existence of the republics are greatly affected, depend much upon the public institutions of religion.18
Religion was the general source of manners, and the Founders believed that the Bible was the best specific source of manners. As Declaration Signer Robert Treat Paine explained:
| I believe the Bible to be the written word of God and to contain in it the whole rule of faith and manners.19 |
Because our Founders understood the importance of manners, Samuel Adams thus properly concluded:
| A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous, they cannot be subdued, but when once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.20 |
Second, our Founders believed that our specific form of government would not survive without Christian principles. Why? Recall that America is described as a self-governing nation, and the key to any selfgoverning nation is self-governing citizens. If citizens do not control themselves, then government control must increase and as a consequence, limited government correspondingly decreases.
Our Founders correctly believed that Christian principles were the source of individual self-government rather than any laws passed by man. They realized that although civil laws attempted to regulate and restrain outward conduct, those laws could not address the heart, the actual source of misbehavior. According to Constitution signer Abraham Baldwin, this influence over the heart was "an influence beyond the reach of laws and punishments and can be claimed only by religion and education."21
This was confirmed by John Quincy Adams who, as U. S. Senator, U. S. Representative, and President, had spent much of his life enacting human laws. Adams understood the limitations of those human laws, wisely recognizing:
| Human legislators can undertake only to prescribe the actions of men: they acknowledge their inability to govern and direct the sentiments of the heart. . . . It is one of the greatest marks of Divine favor. . . that [God] gave them rules. . . for the government of the heart.22 |
| The precepts of philosophy and of the Hebrew code laid hold of actions only. He [Jesus] pushed His scrutinies into the heart of man, erected His tribunal in the region of His thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head.23 |
Understanding this, John Adams explained why our form of government - despite its worthy documents - was insufficient for governing immoral or irreligious citizens. He declared:
| [W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry [hypocrisy] would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.24 |
| Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or a power without them, either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or the bayonet.25 |
The third "influence on this world" which the Founders believed was produced by Christian principles was good citizenship. Interestingly, what was possibly the most persuasive argument on this point was made by one whom many consider to be among the least religious Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin.
While Franklin was not a believer in the divinity of Christ,26 he was nevertheless a strong believer in instructing youth in the principles of Christianity. In fact, when he authored the plan of education for the school system in Pennsylvania, Franklin declared that the Christian religion must be the basis of any successful system of education for youth.27 Thus, while Franklin did not agree with the theology of Christianity, he did agree with its principles and the effect that they had on society. This was vividly demonstrated in an exchange between Franklin and Thomas Paine shortly before Franklin's death.
Thomas Paine - with Franklin's help - had immigrated from England to America in 1772. Paine quickly won the respect of many of the Founders by authoring the political pamphlet, Common Sense, setting the tone for the American Revolution. Fifteen years later, however, Paine decided to reveal his religious views, unleashing a specific attack on Christianity and a general attack on religion in his Age of Reason. Unfortunately, his arguments are still repeated today: society would be much better if there were no religion; but if there must be religion, keep it out of public life-separate from education, government, law, etc.
Before publishing the Age of Reason, Paine sent a summary of his thoughts on the subject to Franklin, seeking his candid opinion. After reading Paine's work, Franklin responded:
| At the present I shall only give you my opinion that. . . the consequence of printing this piece will be a great deal of odium [hate] drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind spits in his own face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine any good would be done by it?. . . [T]hink how great a portion of mankind. . . have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, to support their virtue. . . . I would advise you therefore not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person. . . . If men are so wicked with religion what would they be if without it? I intend this letter itself as proof of my friendship.28 |
Paine had claimed that his life demonstrated honorable character traits (e.g., honor, integrity, morality, courage, etc.) and that he had attained these virtues without the benefit of religion. This was a direct affront to many Americans - and many of the Founders - who believed that such virtues were the result of religion. But Franklin pointedly reminded Paine of what Paine had evidently forgotten, telling him:
| [Y]ou are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself.29 |
This lesson from the life of Thomas Paine actually helps make an important distinction. In the civil sphere, I care not if my neighbor is an atheist or an infidel; however, if he will conduct his behavior by basic religious standards, standards like those in the Ten Commandments - that is, if he will not kill me, steal my property, take my wife, etc. - he will make a good neighbor. Similarly, he may not agree with me that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the World, but if he nevertheless will practice Jesus' behavioral teachings on the Golden Rule and the Good Samaritan, he will make an excellent citizen.
Daniel Webster confirmed this truth in a speech he delivered at the laying of the cornerstone for the addition to the Capitol on July 4, 1851. Speaking to the thousands gathered there at the Capitol that day, Webster explained:
| Man is not only an intellectual but he is also a religious being, and his religious feelings and habits require cultivation. Let the religious element in man's nature be neglected - let him be influenced by no higher motives than low self-interest, and subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil authority - and he becomes the creature of selfish passion or blind fanaticism. The spectacle of a nation [France], powerful and enlightened, but without Christian faith, has been presented. . . as a warning beacon for the nations. On the other hand, the cultivation of the religious sentiment represses licentiousness, incites to general benevolence and the practical acknowledgment of the brotherhood of man, inspires respect for law and order, and gives strength to the whole social fabric.30 |
The fourth "influence on this world" was the elevation of science, literature, knowledge, and national stature which the Founders believed that history consistently proved had accompanied the open promotion of Christian principles. And the Founders truly were excellent students of history. One striking confirmation of this fact was offered by Benjamin Franklin during the Constitutional Convention when he acknowledged:
| We have gone back to ancient history for models of government and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all around Europe.32 |
And what lessons had our Founders learned from their studies in history? John Witherspoon, a President of Princeton and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, concluded:
| It is certain, I think, that human science and religion have kept company together and greatly assisted each others progress in the world.34 |
| [T]he greatest discoveries in science have been made by Christian philosophers and. . . there is the most knowledge. . . where there is the most Christianity.35 |
Now, two hundred years later, the belief that "there is the most knowledge where there is the most Christianity" can be proved true statistically. For example, in the three or so decades since the Courts first mandated the removal of Christian principles from education and the public arena,36 violent crime has risen nearly 700 percent;37 teen pregnancies have increased nearly 700 percent;38 academic achievement scores have plummeted;39 America now consistently places among in the last in the world in international testing in math and science;40 and American literacy has fallen from the best in the world to a deplorable 48th41 - the worst of any industrial nation.
On the other hand, testing results demonstrate that students who attend Christian schools - regardless of their demographic locations or socioeconomic stratas - score several grade levels higher than their counterparts in public school on the identical academic tests.42 And students attending Christian schools average forty to eighty points higher on the college-bound SAT test.43
Why the academic difference? After all, the Civil War takes place the same years in a Christian school as it does in a public school; and algebra is no different simply because it is taught at a Christian school. Nevertheless, students learning in an environment which openly encourages Christian principles consistently attain higher results-demonstrating what the Founding Fathers observed 200 years ago: the open promotion of Christian principles results in increased academic achievement.
Finally, the Founders believed that teaching Christian principles produced a cohesive value system necessary for the successful governance of a nation composed of millions of individuals from scores of diverse backgrounds and different ethnic and religious groups. In fact, individuals like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson who rejected fundamental tenets of orthodox Christian theology still embraced and promoted the common value system provided by Christianity.
These common Christian values were inculcated throughout society in a number of manners. One was by public education. For example, in addition to the educational policies already covered in this work was the law signed by President George Washington on August 7, 1789, declaring that schools were to teach the "religion, morality, and knowledge" which was "necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind."44 And Founding Fathers like Constitution signers George Washington,45 William Samuel Johnson,46 Gouverneur Morris 47 Declaration signers Samuel Adams,48 Benjamin Rush,49 and many others,50 affirmed that Christian principles were to be inculcated throughout American education. In fact, in a unanimous decision in 1844, the U. S. Supreme Court held that a public school must instruct in the general principles of Christianity.51
Another method for infusing these common values throughout society was by the use of public sermons preached on public occasions before public gatherings. These sermons included the Annual Election Sermon (preached at the Capitol each year following the civic elections), the Annual Fast Sermon (preached each year following the official proclamation of a day for prayer and fasting), the Annual Thanksgiving Sermon (preached each year following the official proclamation of a day for prayer and thanksgiving), the Annual Artillery Sermon (preached each year to the militia on the selection and promotion of its military officers), the Annual Commencement Sermon (preached each year to the graduating class of the college or university), the Execution Sermon (preached on the occasion of a public execution), the Century Sermon (preached on the hundredth anniversary of important civic events), the Topical Sermon (preached on specific topics, like the Battles of Lexington and Concord, etc.), and a plethora of other public, civic sermons.
The result of this infusion of a common value system throughout society was that whether an individual was a pagan or an evangelical Christian, a Universalist or a Buddhist, each still knew what was right and what was wrong, societally speaking.† That is, every individual knew exactly what to expect - that murder would be punished, that theft was wrong, that courage and integrity were right, etc. Whatever your personal religious or theological beliefs - if you had any - you still knew what was right behavior because everyone had been taught the same set of values.
This is certainly not true today. Perhaps the best example of how rapidly rights and wrongs currently change is illustrated in the judiciary. For example, in 1984 when the U. S. Supreme Court was asked whether it was permissible to display a créche (a nativity scene of the birth of Jesus) at Christmas time, the Court determined that it was completely permissible, declaring:
| [T]he créche. . . is no more an advancement or endorsement of religion than the congressional and executive recognition of the origins of Christmas. . . . It would be ironic if. . . the créche in the display, as part of a celebration of an event acknowledged in the Western World for 20 centuries, and in this country by the people, the Executive Branch, Congress, and the courts for two centuries, would so "taint" the exhibition as to render it violative of the Establishment Clause.52 |
The display of a créche - a representation of the nativity of Jesus. . . conveys an endorsement of religion, in violation of the establishment of religion clause of the Federal Constitution's First Amendment and therefore must be permanently enjoined [prohibited].53
Amazingly, within a matter of only five years, what was emphatically constitutional had become emphatically unconstitutional.
Similarly, in 1992 in Jones v. Clear Creek,54 the courts determined that it was permissible for a public school to have a student invocation at graduation if it had been the decision of the students themselves. But then in 1994 in Harris v. Joint,55 the courts determined that there could not be a student invocation at graduation, even if it had been the unanimous decision of the students. Again, in the space of only two years, what was completely right became completely wrong.
†Significantly, while the Founders did pass laws encouraging Christian principles and behavior, they did not pass laws on matters of Christian theology - on the mode of baptism (immersion or sprinkling), or the form of communion (transsubstantiation or consubstantiation), or the method of church governance (congregational or episcopal, rulership by a bishop or a deacon board), or forms of church discipline, etc. The Founders were able to make the important distinction between Christianity as a religion and Christianity as a societal philosophy of life.
How can national stability and cohesiveness be maintained when there is no common understanding of right and wrong - or if what is right and wrong changes so dramatically from year to year? And more importantly, what is the societal consequence of having no common transcendent values? Perhaps the answer to this question was best offered by the Colorado State Board of Education only three weeks after the student massacre at Columbine High School near Denver. In a brutally honest self-critique, the State Board candidly confessed:
| As we seek the why behind this infamous event, we must find answers beyond the easy and obvious. How weapons become used for outlaw purposes is assuredly a relevant issue, yet our society's real problem is how human behavior sinks to utter and depraved indifference to the sanctity of life. As our country promotes academic literacy, we must promote moral literacy as well, and it is not children, but adults in authority who are ultimately responsible for that. Our tragedy is but the latest -albeit the most terrifying and costly - of a steadily escalating series of schoolhouse horrors that have swept across the nation. The senseless brutality of these calamities clearly reveals that a dangerous subculture of amoral violence has taken hold among many of our youth. . . . [W]e must remember, respect, and unashamedly take pride in the fact that our schools, like our country, found their origin and draw their strength from the faith-based morality that is at the heart of our national character. Today our schools have become so fearful of affirming one religion or one value over another that they have banished them all. In doing so they have abdicated their historic role in the moral formation of youth and thereby alienated themselves from our people's deep spiritual sensibilities. To leave this disconnection between society and its schools unaddressed is an open invitation to further divisiveness and decline.56 |
| [Y]ou are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself.57 |
Three final quotes will provide an excellent summation of the Founders' views on the practical benefits of Christianity. The first is by Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story.
Story was the son of one of the "Indians" at the Boston Tea Party; was the founder of Harvard Law School; was called "the foremost of American legal writers";58 and was nominated to the Supreme Court by President James Madison. Story, considered a "Father of American Jurisprudence," succinctly declared:
| I verily believe that Christianity is necessary to support a civil society and shall ever attend to its institutions and acknowledge its precepts as the pure and natural sources of private and social happiness.59 (Emphasis added.) |
Consider next a declaration made by President George Washington in his final public speech. Closing his fifty-year career of service to his nation, and having properly earned the title "The Father of His Country," Washington emphatically declared:
Of all the habits and dispositions which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.60 (emphasis added)
Washington admonished that if we wanted our politics to continue to prosper and our government to endure, we must continue to operate it on the dual supports of religion and morality.
Finally, John Jay, original Chief-Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, openly advised:
I. . . recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.61 (emphasis added)
It is time that America once again benefited from the amazing wisdom and sagacious foresight of our Founders, recognizing and enjoying afresh throughout our society the practical benefits of Christianity.
1John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.
2John Adams, Works (1851), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.
3John Adams, Works (1851), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.
4Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the First Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1854), pp. 8-9.
5The Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States for the Second Session of the Thirty-Second Congress, 1852-53 (Washington: Robert Armstrong, 1853), pp. 1-4.
6Thomas Paine, Life and Writings of Thomas Paine, Daniel E. Wheeler, editor (New York: Vincent Parke and Company, 1908), Vol. 7, pp. 2-4, 8, "The Existence of God," A Discourse at the Society of Theophilanthropists, Paris.
7William W. Campbell, The Life and Writings of DeWitt Clinton (New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849), p. 305, in an address delivered to the American Bible Society on May 8, 1823.
8John Dickinson's last will and testament.
9Sam Adams' last will and testament.
10From an autographed letter in our possession written by Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, Esq., on September 27, 1825, from Doughoragen, Maryland.
11John Jay's last will and testament.
12George Mason's last will and testament.
13Robert Treat Paine's last will and testament.
14Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1896), pp. 272-273.
15Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, George Corner, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press for the American Philosophical Society, 1948), p. 166, "Travels Through Life, An Account of Sundry Incidents & Events in the Life of Benjamin Rush."
16William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1865), Vol. I, p. 22, quoting from a political essay by Samuel Adams published in The Public Advertiser, 1748.
17John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn: James M. Alden, 1848), pp. 22-23.
18Abram E. Brown, John Hancock: His Book (Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1898), p. 269, Hancock's Inaugural Address as Governor of Massachusetts, 1780.
19Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 49, Robert Treat Paine's Confession of Faith, 1749.
20Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1905), Vol. IV, p. 124, to James Warren on February 12, 1779.
21Charles C. Jones, Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1891), pp. 6-7.
22John Quincy Adams, Letters . . . to His Son on the Bible, p. 62.
23Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830), Vol. III, p. 509, from Jefferson's "Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus Compared with Those of Others," to Dr. Benjamin Rush on April 21, 1803.
24John Adams, Works (1851), Vol. IX, p. 229, to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts on October 11, 1789.
25Robert Winthrop, Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1852), p. 172, from an Address Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Bible Society in Boson, May 28, 1849.
26Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Wittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 424, to Ezra Stiles on March 9, 1790.
27Benjamin Franklin, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1749), p. 22.
28Benjamin Franklin, Works (1840), Vol. X, pp. 281-282, to Thomas Paine in 1790.
29Benjamin Franklin, Works (1840), Vol. X, p 282, to Thomas Paine in 1790.
30Daniel Webster, The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853), Vol. II, pp. 614-615, An Address delivered at the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Addition to the Capitol on July 4, 1851.
31Daniel Webster, Works (1853), Vol. I, p. 44, ADiscourse Delivered at Plymouth, on December 22, 1820.
32James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, Henry D. Gilpin, editor (Washington: Langtree and O'Sullivan, 1840), Vol. II, p. 984, Benjamin Franklin on June 28, 1787.
33From James Madison's manuscripts in the Library of Congress, in his preparations for the Constitutional Convention.
34John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IX, p. 140, part of a speech in Congress upon the Confederation.
35Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and William Bradford, 1806), p. 84, Thoughts upon Female Education, Accommodated to the Present State of Society, Manners, and Government, in the United States of America, Addressed to the Visitors of the Young Ladies' Academy in Philadelphia, July 28, 1787, at the Close of the Quarterly Examination, and Afterwards Published at the Request of the Visitors."
36Examples of such actions by the Court include its taking prayer out of schools (Engel v. Vitale, 1962), the Bible out of schools (Abington v. Schempp, 1963), the Lord's Prayer out of schools (Murray v. Curlett, 1963), the teaching of creation out of schools (Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968), the Ten Commandments out of schools (Stone v. Graham, 1980), and many other revolutionary decisions restricting religious freedoms in schools as guaranteed by the First Amendment and as originally introduced into education under the watchful eye of the Founding Fathers.
37Based on data in the Statistical Abstract of the United States from 1962-1993.
38David Barton, America: To Pray? Or Not To Pray? (Texas: WallBuilders Press, 1994), p. 28.
39David Barton, America, pp. 57-83.
40Christopher Farley, "Our teens outclassed in math, science," USA Today, February 1, 1989; see also David Barton, America, pp. 69-70.
41Texas Literacy Council, Developing Human Capital, p. 2, 1991.
42David Barton, America, pp. 64-66.
43David Barton, America, pp. 62-64.
44Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America Begun and Held at the City of New York on Wednesday the Fourth of March in the Year 1789 (Hartford: Hudson & Goodwin, 1791), p. 104, August 7, 1789; see also The Constitutions of the United States of America With the Latest Amendments (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), p. 364, "An Ordinance of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio," Article III.
45George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge, 1796), pp. 22-23.
46Edwards Beardsley, Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1886), pp. 141-142.
47Jared Sparks, The Life of Governeur Morris (Boson: Gray and Bowen, 1832), Vol. III, p. 483, from his "Notes on the Form of a Constitution for France."
48The Independent Chronicle (Boston), January 20, 1794, Address to the Legislature of Massachusetts on January 17, 1794; see also William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, Vol. III, pp. 324-328.
49Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p. 294, to John Armstrong on March 19, 1783; see also James Henry Morgan, Dickinson College: The History of One Hundred and Fifty Years 1783-1933 (Pennsylvania: Dickinson College, 1933), p. 11.
50Additional examples include Noah Webster, A Collection of Papers on Political, Literary, and Moral Subjects (New York: Webster and Clark, 1843), p. 291, from his "Reply to a Letter of David McClure on the Subject of the Proper course of Study in the Girard College, Philadelphia, New Haven, October 25, 1836"; Daniel Webster, Works (1853), Vol. II, pp. 107- 108, remarks to the Ladies of Richmond, October 5, 1840; Joseph Story in Vidal v. Girard's Executors, 43 U. S. 126, 200 (1844); Vice-President Daniel Tompkins in The Speeches of the Different Governors to the Legislature of the State of New York, Commencing with Those of George Clinton and Continued Down to the Present Time (Albany: J. B. Van Steenbergh, 1825), p. 108, on January 30, 1810.
51Vidal v. Girard's Executors, 43 U. S. 126, 198, 200 (1844).
52Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U. S. 668, 669-670 (1984).
53County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 106 L. Ed. 2d 472, 475 (1989).
54"What Is To Be Done: Searching for Meaning in Our Tragedy" The Colorado Board of Education on the Columbine Tragedy, May 13, 1999.
55Harris v. Joint School District, 41 F. 3d 447 (9th Cir. 1994).
56Jones v. Clear Creek Independent School District, 977 F. 2d 963 (5th Cir. 1992).
57Benjamin Franklin, Works (1840), Vol. X, p. 282, to Thomas Paine in 1790.
58Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. "Story, Joseph."
59Joseph Story, Life and Letters of Joseph Story, William W. Story, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. I, p. 92, March 24, 1801.
60George Washington, Address . . . Preparatory to His Declination, pp. 22-23.
61William Jay, The Life of John Jay: With Selections From His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers (New York: J. J. Harper, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 457-458, to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York on June 29, 1826.
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