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A speaker says friends argued the country was not founded on Christian principles, claiming instead that it was founded on common law: the Declaration of Independence refers to God four times, while the Constitution does not refer to God and only sets up the structure of government.
The next speaker responds that the U.S. began as a collection of states and colonies, so state constitutions must be considered. They claim that at founding, 9 of the original 13 states required Bible-believing Christians to serve in government, and that 13 of 13 required a declaration of faith. They add that 9 of 13 required adherence to Protestantism (with Maryland being Catholic but still requiring a declaration of faith). They also claim that almost every original state constitution, including Pennsylvania, included an explicit profession that the person’s Lord and savior was Jesus Christ.
The speaker further claims that 55 out of 56 of the original signers of the Declaration were Bible-believing, church-attending Christians. On common law, they say it was inherited from Blackstone, who was Christian, and that common law is an outgrowth of scripture. They list three “common law” principles—presumption of innocence, due process, and trial by jury—describing all as biblical principles. They connect these to a broader biblical principle from Leviticus 19: in administering justice, you shall not favor the rich or the poor, immediately before the command to love your neighbor as yourself. They also claim this relates to human equality reflected in the idea “neither slave nor Greek nor Jew” and that these are biblical ideas rather than “enlightenment” ideas.
They address the Declaration’s references to God by pointing to “Laws of nature and nature’s God” and say the final paragraph reads as a prayer, appealing to the supreme judge of the universe, whom they identify as Jesus Christ, referencing Revelation.
They add that Deuteronomy was the most quoted book in the founding era when creating constitutional material. They describe Deuteronomy as containing laws, customs, and traditions and as Moses’s farewell address, providing guidance on setting up a form of government.
Quoting John Adams, they claim Adams said the Constitution was written for a moral and religious people and that it was inadequate for any other. They argue that a “Christian form of government” without a Christian population causes constitutional crisis and that liberty requires a Christian population.
The speaker then discusses the First Amendment, saying “separation of church and state” is not in the U.S. Constitution and instead comes from a 1807 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Convention. They contrast this with claims attributed to the Warren Court and Burger Court in the 1960s, and they focus on the Establishment Clause and a “free exercise” provision as expressed in the Constitution. They also claim early Congress funded Bible printing and distribution and that church services were held in the Supreme Court building as late as the Jackson presidency in the 1820s.
They argue the concept is not biblical because there is no neutral morality, and they say morality comes from somewhere, with the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) described as the core morality for society. They conclude by claiming that if the founders were not Bible-believing church-telling Christians, they would not have put Leviticus on the Liberty Bell, specifically citing Leviticus 25:19 about proclaiming liberty throughout the land. They describe the idea that the founders were “enlightenment” common law deists as an “unsubstantiated lie,” and they end by saying returning to Christian roots is America’s best hope for revival and a great future.