The TOTAL TRUTH Solution for a Fractured America Big Picture Answers for America's Big Problems - Rebuilding on America's Original Worldview by Leonard Ransil Section 4: America Founded on a Christian Worldview |
Chapter 28 Our Founding Documents |
"Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: ...Only one other nation has ever looked to the Bible to find a warrant for is very existence: Israel, ...America's History Investigated This book has already documented that a large majority of America's Founders and early settlers held a Christian Worldview that was intentionally cultivated by a Bible-based education. Even though Secularists insist that our Founders gave us “a godless Constitution”, it is easy to document that the colonists arrived with and based their new nation upon their Christian Worldview. There are two extensive investigations into America’s true roots that yield more significant proof of our Christian heritage. Findings of the Courts A ten year investigation of over 500 founding documents was conducted by the United States Supreme Court and concluded in a famous ruling in Holy Trinity Church v. United States, dated February 29,1892. In preparing its opinion, the court found it necessary to survey key historical documents back to the time of Christopher Columbus to get a sense of the Worldview which guided the formation of the American colonies. After a lengthy description of the many documents, the court summed up their findings regarding America’s religious and political foundation in the following quote from two consecutive paragraphs near the end of the verdict: “... the case assumes that we are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply ingrafted upon Christianity .... ‘it is also said, and truly, that the Christian religion is a part of the common law of Pennsylvania.’"The verdict mentioned the then forty-four state constitutions that referenced the Christian Worldview and mirrored conclusions reached previously by the Maryland Supreme Court in 1799 and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1824: "By our form of government the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon equal footing, and they are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.”3Findings of a Major University Study The second notable investigation was conducted by Dr. Donald S. Lutz*, a professor of political philosophy at the University of Houston, and his research associate, Dr. Charles Hyneman. They conducted a groundbreaking 10-year study of the ideas that shaped our republic and published their findings in The American Political Science Review in 1984. Lutz and Hyneman examined nearly 15,000 writings of the 55 writers of the Constitution, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books and monographs. Their article, "The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought", revealed that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed to 34 percent of all direct quotes made by the Founders. When indirect Bible citations were included, the percentage increased even more.5 Regarding the Houston study, "The three most quoted individuals were French philosopher Montesquieu (8.3 percent), English jurist William Blackstone (7.9 percent) and English philosopher John Locke (2.9 percent). But Biblical citations dwarfed them all. Ninety-four percent of the founding fathers quotes were based on the Bible--34 percent directly from its pages and 60 percent from men who had used the Bible to arrive at their conclusions."6 (emphasis added)More statements in America's founding documents came from the Bible than any other single source. However, English and French natural-law scholars and philosophers, William Blackstone, John Locke and Charles Secondat de Montesquieu also played a vital role. Renew America analyst Stephen Voigt puts their significance and Christian influence in context: "Blackstone, Locke, and Montesquieu were not simply important to the foundation of our law and our nation; they were critically important. These natural law scholars and their writings, which were grounded in faith, influenced James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and nearly all of the leaders of the Revolution and the framers of our Constitution.Undeniable Conclusion It is the clear trumpet of objective and scholarly investigations such as the two cited above that easily drown out the din of Secularist noise. No other country in history has placed its foundation so squarely on the bedrock of the whole Bible. As the truth of America’s Christian heritage becomes clear, so too will the Secularist mantra of “separation of church and state” be seen for the subversive lie that it is. The next chapter will confront that lie head on with more “inconvenient” truth. * Dr. Donald S. Lutz is professor of political science at the University of Houston. He is author of The Origins of American Constitutionalism and A Preface to American Political Theory; editor of Colonial Origins of the American Constitution: A Documentary History, and co-editor with Charles S. Hyneman of American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760-1805. For a review of the latter book, see George W. Carey's "Moral and Political Foundations of Order". 1 Origin of Nations/History Research Projects, http://www.originofnations.org/books,%20papers/quotes%20etc/quotes.htm, retrieved August 26, 2007. |