Understanding Why America is a Christian Nation
This is an edited and updated version of an article I wrote several years ago. I believe strongly in our Constitutional Republic and that it was inspired by the word of God. Yes, we are not and have not been a perfect nation, nor have we properly reflected the ideals of the Christian walk. However, the United States is still the closest and best form of Government that has ever been, flaws and all. To be very clear, I am not advocating for any sort of Christian theocracy. That form of Government would be just as repugnant as an atheist one to our founders. Being Christian is different, in this sense, from religion or any particular denomination.
John Adams, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the Government of any other.”
When President Obama tried to tell the world, “America is no longer a Christian nation,” many saw this act as a nod to the Muslim world; it was a more significant denial of the foundations upon which the American Constitutional Republic was built. President Obama tried to rewrite history in his desire to return to a more authoritarian/centralized government.
Many excellent texts have been written on the origins of Western democracy and the church’s influence. However, to fully understand how the Bible and the true roots of Christianity have impacted not just the Founders but also that philosophical strain still in the American psyche, one must examine the nature of man in relation to his God. Simply put, in his heart, man must only ask for Jesus to enter. A person cannot be coerced, forced, or earn this personal relationship. One must ask, believe, and ask for forgiveness. No one can do this for you, buy it, and pass it down as an inheritance. Why is this so important to this discussion?
The Bible clarifies that no man is divine; we are all sinners and cannot achieve salvation through our works or abilities. It recognizes the pressure to take individual responsibility for simply and humbly accepting the gift of grace required for one’s own salvation, arguably the most essential duty. One begins to see the need for personal independence, freedom, and self-determination. Playing to the idea of Christian Liberty. How, then, can man place this vital duty in the hands of a monarch? God believes in self-governance. In God’s eyes, no ruler is greater than the lowest in society. The point here is that no one is greater than God; no one has a divine right to anything. One must do/accept for oneself in faith. That string of independence runs through the American blood. How did it get there?
If one looks deeply into the history that led to the American Constitution, one must consider the Magna Carta, a covenant between the governed and the monarch; the seeds of liberty, justice, and checks and balances become evident. The Magna Carta imposes constraints on the monarch and establishes a need for the consent of the governed; this was more about economic forces driving this document than religion. However, the underlying driver is the challenge to the monarch’s supposed divinity.
Several hundred years later, religious forces would exacerbate this divide. Henry VIII’s split from Rome, the battles raging over Luther’s reformation, and more led to the desire for “divine” monarchs and greater religious freedom. The Roman Catholic Church persecuted Puritans, Calvinists, Quakers, and others. Horrible crimes were committed against all of the various dominations at various times, including the Catholic Church’s own monasteries.
At various times, these persecuted peoples came to the colonies to escape and establish new governing bodies that guaranteed religious liberty. The colonists never saw a separation of church and state because it could not be practically achieved within their worldview. The colonists wanted the shining city on the hill to enjoy the freedom to exercise their religious liberty. Not a “separation of Church and State” but a wall to protect all Christian denominations, many of whom were at war with the Catholic church and each other.
In looking at one of our founding Grandfathers, it is interesting to read John Winthrop’s words. Below is his sermon from the Arabella, better known as “the Shining City on the Hill” address.
FOUNDING A CHRISTIAN “CITY UPON A HILL
"Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide for our posterity is to follow the Counsel of Micah, to do Justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God, for this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man, we must entertain each other in brotherly Affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others' necessities, we must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality, we must delight in each other, make others Conditions our own rejoice together, mourn together, labour, and suffer together, always having before our eyes our Commission and Community in the work, our Community as members of the same body, so shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his own people and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of his wisdom power goodness and truth then formerly we have been acquainted with, we shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when he shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: the lord make it like that of New England: for we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for Gods sake; we shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into Curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going: And to shut up this discourse with that exhortation of Moses that faithful servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israel Deut. 30. Beloved there is now set before us life, and good, death and evil in that we are Commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his Ordinance, and his laws, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whether we go to possess it: But if our hearts shall turn away so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other Gods our pleasures, and profits, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good Land whether we pass over this vast Sea to possess it; Therefore let us choose life, that we, and our Seed, may live; by obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him, for He is our life, and our prosperity." These words became the spirit of American views on God and Country. Moreover, the idea of a covenant government took hold in the colonies. The Constitution is a covenant with the people to be governed. The concepts surrounding covenant government have their philosophical and authentic biblical applications. God made covenants with his people, setting the example for how people should agree to be governed.
The United States Constitution is based on biblical principles. Obama and others have tried to deny this to continue the misguided jurisprudence philosophy that the Constitution is an evolving construct rather than the strict construct it was meant to be. The phrase “Separation of Church and State” never appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, any debate at the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist Papers, or The Bill of Rights. Yet, most people will tell you that it is in the Constitution. The Supreme Court established the “wall of separation” almost two hundred years later, loosely based on Jefferson’s private writings. The First Amendment states – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”… The intent here was to create a check and balance on the influence of one Christian denomination over another; to deny the Government the power to establish a national religion, in the tradition of Henry VIII; and to balance towards protecting the very Christian values that set the foundations for our form of Government. Our founding fathers were well aware of the Hindus, Muslims, and Atheists, and the truth about many other world religions and their possible impacts on American culture. This was debated at the Constitutional Convention. The European history of religious persecution was fresh on our founders’ minds, including history going back several hundred years.
As mentioned, the Magna Carta, Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen (Bloody) Mary, the Huguenot rebellions in France, and so many more all led our founders to the Free Exercise clause, which was to be/is stronger than the Establishment clause, and for a good reason. The 1947 Supreme Court case turned the Establishment Clause into the dominant one. It changed how the American Government treated religion, specifically Christians. The court cited Jefferson’s 1802 letter to state that the founders intended to give greater weight to the Establishment Clause. The reason for the famous 1802 letter from Thomas Jefferson, which referenced a wall of separation between Church and State, was to keep the theological battles raging at the time among the many Christian denominations from spilling into the political discourse of the day. The best American political foundations cannot be separated from this Christian tradition, no matter how hard Humanist Liberals try. Our founding fathers understood people’s nature and the need to place a higher calling into our governmental process. Understanding Natural law and human sin-nature will allow one to appreciate the heart of our Constitution. Many modern models of political constructs assume that human nature will evolve. It won’t. There are hundreds of great books on this subject. Some books and scholars will try to create a model of the Constitution that is not based on biblical principles. I would argue that to truly understand the depth and breadth of the US Constitution, one must have a solid grasp of the Bible and basic biblical principles, whether one is a Christian or not. American laws have been based on the ethics of the Bible. Other ethical constructs will not work with our Constitution. Acceptance of the Judeo-Christian tradition does not mean that other religions are not permitted, or that there is no room for them at the preverbal Inn. To be American is to accept our Constitution’s ethical construct/covenant with the people; this does not mean one must be a Christian to be an American. One does not have to be anything at all. It is your choice, just as accepting Jesus into your heart is. It is up to you and you alone. However, just as with the laws of nature, the American Constitution is the law based on Biblical principles, and you will be subject to that law. America is a Christian nation, not a theocracy; however, no matter what attempts are made to change that fact.
All Americans, even those who are not Christians, have that covenant government, liberty/independence, and freedom-loving, grace-giving DNA running through them. Whether they want to admit it or not, DNA is weakening with each generation because we do not teach our history in schools or even in our churches. More vulnerable still by not teaching our children to be ethical, honest, and disciplined, weaker still by attempting to erase the basis for our laws, thereby weakening our families and resulting in the loss of the moral true North. Yet, that DNA still resides, and America is still a Christian nation.