The Christian Heritage of The United States of America

"The religion which has introduced civil liberty

is the religion of Christ and His Apostles....
This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe

our free constitutions of government."

(Noah Webster, History of the United States, 1832, public school textbook.)

There are those who will tell us that our founding fathers - the writers and signers of the Declaration of Independence were not believers in God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Nonsense! And shame on them for their attempts to diminish these men ~ steeped in their Christian upbringing ~ men who unashamedly confessed their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is reported that 52 of the 55 signers of The Declaration of Independence were deeply committed Christians. The other three of which believed in the Bible as the divine truth from God, and His personal intervention.

Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth when he wrote,

"The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."

Shortly after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import some 20,000 copies of the Holy Bible for the people of this nation.

This is the same congress that formed the American Bible Society some years later in New York as a union of 28 local Bible societies in the year 1816; their goal was the placing of a Bible in every home.

In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."

Thomas Jefferson wrote on the front of his well - worn Bible:

"I am a Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator and, I hope, to the pure doctrine of Jesus also."

Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death." But in current textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is the full context of what he said:

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry was a Christian.

The following year, 1776, he wrote:

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."

Did You Know?

"The U.S. Supreme Court opens its business with the words "God save the United States and this honorable court." And need I mention that all the US currency is emblazoned with "In God We Trust." In the wake of the terrorist attacks on our nation, Americans are returning to their religious roots and finding that it can be beneficial to their mental health as they seek healing."
--Congressman Terry Everett

Did You Know?

"At the base of our freedom is our faith in God and the desire of Americans to live by His will and by His guidance. As long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail. To remind all of us of this self-evident truth, it is proper that our currency should carry these inspiring words, coming down to us through our history: 'In God We Trust.'" --Representative Bennett (Sponsor of the legislation in 1955 mandating the inscription of "In God We Trust" on all coins and paper currency.)

George Washington, the Father of our Nation, was a Christian. In his farewell speech on September 19, 1796 he said,

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Consider these words from his personal prayer book:

"Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ."

In an address to military leaders John Adams, our second president, who also served as chairman of the American Bible Society said,

"We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

And our first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay stated that when we select our national leaders, if we are to preserve our Nation, we must select Christians.

"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 Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams, was the sixth U.S. President and was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role.

On July 4, 1821, President Adams said,

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

The First Institution of Higher Learning in The United States
Harvard University

The Founding Fathers placed a strong priority on higher education with the Bible as the cornerstone. On September 26, 1642 the guidelines that would govern Harvard University, our nation's first college, were established. They read, in part,

"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)."

The motto of Harvard was Christi Gloriam (Christ be glorified) and the college was later dedicated Christo et Ecclesiae (for Christ and for the Church). The founders of Harvard believed that "All knowledge without Christ was vain."

William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the Nation."

Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey:

"The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our notions on character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible I make no apology."

When you consider the the principles, precepts and laws this great country was founded on - remember that these God fearing men and the women who supported them gave their all for our generation and we have a responsibility to honor their sacrifice for God and country.