Faith Throughout The U.S. Constitution

Happy Constitution Day!

Did you know? The Constitution almost didn’t happen. Five weeks into the Convention, it was falling apart until Benjamin Franklin called all those present to prayer.

The delegates took three days off, after which, they came back and cooperation began!

Unfortunately, there is an all out war against the Constitution by our media, politicians and those in education.

Many in these sphere manipulate, distort and/or completely ignore several quotes from our founding fathers. Why? They directly point back to our Creator God.

There’s much work for us to see a restoration in this country and a reliance on Divine Providence is where we must begin.

We need to heed the words of Benjamin Franklin who quoted Psalm 127:1 during the drafting process of the Constitution: “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it,” and “that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel.”

The principles that were true and necessary centuries ago for building nations are equally true and necessary today.

And as such, we wanted to share that which was spoken at the Constitutional Convention and to share a bit about those who wrote the Constitution itself as this information is highly significant to our national identity that is being ignored.

At the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Hamilton said, “For my own part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution a system which, without the FINGER OF GOD [referencing Exodus 31:18], never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.”

James Madison said, “The real wonder is that the Constitutional Convention overcame so many difficulties. And to overcome them with so much agreement was as unprecedented as it was unexpected. It is impossible for the pious man not to recognize in it a finger of that Almighty Hand which was so frequently extended to us in the critical stages of the Revolution.”

George Washington, the first President of these United States, wrote to his adopted son: “As to my sentiments with respect to the new Constitution, it appears to me little short of a miracle. It demonstrates as visibly the finger of Providence as any possible event in the course of human affairs can ever designate it.”

Benjamin Franklin had been working for years to bring America together into a nation. What many don’t know is that he actually began referring to our great union as the United States of America back in 1754, 33 years before the Constitution was signed!

Franklin said, “I beg I may not to be understood to infer that our general Convention was Divinely inspired when it formed the new federal Constitution … I must own I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence that I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance should be suffered to pass without being influenced, guided and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in Whom all inferior spirits live and love and have their being.” Acts 18

God in the Constitution

Interesting facts you about the Constitution you probably weren’t taught in government school:

America has the longest standing Constitution – 237 years! The average constitution globally has a life span of a mere 17 years.

The Bible was the most cited book by the founders (the Bible influenced our founders the most) with many using direct quotes from Scripture in their personal and professional communications.

Separation of Church and State

Article I, Section 7 (READ HERE: Congress.gov | Library of Congress has within it the Sunday Exception Clause which recognizes the Christian Sabbath.

Another inconvenient fact about the so-called “separation of church and state” is how, on Thursday, September 4, 1800 (2 weeks after government was moved into the capitol building we know today) “The speaker informed the House that the chaplains had proposed that a divine service every Sunday in their chambers”.

As a result, the capitol building in Washington D.C. we see today was actually used as a Christian church on Sundays!

By 1867, there were more than 2,000 people going to church in the House of Representatives with an incredible four different churches meeting in the capitol.

Prayer in the Government House

The election of the Reverend William Linn as Chaplain of the House on May 1, 1789, continued the tradition established by the Continental Congresses of each day’s proceedings opening with a prayer by a chaplain.

The early House Chaplains alternated duties with their Senate counterparts on a weekly basis. The two conducted Sunday services for the Washington community in the House chamber every other week.

Oath Clause of the Constitution

Rufus King helped form the oath clauses and to them he said this: “In the oath which our laws prescribe, we appeal to our Supreme Being to deal with us hereafter to as we observe the obligation of our oaths…The Pagan world were and are without the mighty influence of this principle which is proclaimed in the Christian system.”

Ever wonder where the tradition of raising of the right hand comes from? It comes from Isaiah 62:8 and how about the phrase “so help me God?” This portion of oaths comes from Deuteronomy 10:20!

An interesting note is how Congress may not require religious tests for an office under the United States. Thus, Congress may include the customary words “so help me God” in an oath, but an individual would be under no compulsion to utter them, as such a requirement would constitute a religious test.

Religious freedom for the win!

At present, the oath administered is as follows:

– I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. [So help me God.]

Founding Father John Witherspoon said that an oath implies a belief in God and His Providence and is indeed an act of worship. For it is an appeal to heaven.

George Washington’s final words of advice to the nation upon leaving office was that if one tried to remove religion and morality from government, he wouldn’t allow that person to call themselves a patriot.

He saw this removal as subversion of fundamental pillars of these United States.

Washington said that if our oaths became secular, there would be no guarantee of our property or any aspect of life.

Attestation Clause – Article VII

When all was said and done, those present at the Convention said, “Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names….”

Saying “Year of the lord” was the norm, however, the Founding Fathers personalized it and said in the year of OUR lord.

Separation of Powers

John Adams stated, “The Word of God informs us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). There is no man so blind as not to see that to found a government upon a supposition that bodies of men left to themselves will practice a course of self denial is either to babble like an unprincipled imposter.”

The three branches of government established by way of the Constitution wasn’t brought forward by accident or coincidence, it was by divine inspiration.

And the final point in this running tally of fascinating facts that we have on this Constitution Day for you is to debunk the current societal talking points that the founders weren’t faithful men.

Many of the founders didn’t explicitly call themselves “Christians,” however, many did rely upon the Word of God and took direction from its authority, recognizing their dependence upon God.

Here are just a few examples:

At 21, Abraham Baldwin was a minister and founding father who was offered a professorship at Yale Divinity School.

Rufus King helped found a Bible society for Anglicans.

Charles Pinckney and John Langdon founded the American Bible Society.

James Wilson and William Patterson were placed on the Supreme Court and they had prayer over juries in the U.S. Supreme Court room.

John Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister who signed the Declaration of Independence and helped draft the Articles of Confederation.

Gouverneur Morris is a fascinating individual to point to as he was sent to France as an ambassador.

France wanted to be like America and upon being present in the country, he stated that if the French wanted to be stable like America, they couldn’t have secular schools like they did. He also stated that they needed religion in their schools!

Morris spoke 170X at the Convention and was the penman of the Constitution. This man knew the necessity of God’s Word in the public forum.

All in all, our nation needs God, a fact recognized by our founders who saw it right and good for all the generations to come to stay true to the values and morals found in the Bible.

So on this Constitution Day, may we dig deeper into understanding this foundational document and all that it contains and all that it means for us as a nation.

May God bless these United States!

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