I believe America’s Christian heritage should be taught with confidence and gratitude. Scripture, churches, and Christian convictions helped shape the nation’s understanding of liberty, education, law, and public responsibility. The founding documents and the words of the people who established these institutions give us substantial reasons to defend that heritage and pass it on to our children.
We honor that heritage by using the freedoms we have received to worship God, teach His Word, and serve our neighbors. Like every nation, America remains under the Creator’s authority. Paul explained:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
Paul spoke those words in Athens, where he called people away from idols to the living God. The God who made the nations has authority over their people. Americans owe Him obedience and repentance just as the people listening to Paul did. The study on Providence and Provision explains more about His care and direction in human affairs.
The Christian Foundations of American Public Life
Much of colonial America developed within a culture shaped by Protestant Christianity. Its churches, schools, sermons, and public documents show people applying Christian convictions to the way they lived and governed their communities. I agree with WallBuilders’ emphasis on the founders’ Christian convictions: their religious beliefs deserve serious attention when we explain the nation they helped establish. Christianity influenced public institutions as well as personal worship.
Consider the Mayflower Compact. In 1620, before the passengers settled at Plymouth, its signers agreed to form a civil body and submit to laws for their common good. The original signed manuscript has not survived, but early accounts preserve its wording, including this stated purpose:
“Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith.”
Mayflower Compact, 1620
Their agreement to “Covenant and Combine” described a solemn undertaking to govern their community together. They understood public order, mutual responsibility, and the advancement of the Christian faith as obligations before God. This civil undertaking was distinct from the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai.
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639 likewise began by acknowledging God’s providence. The settlers associated as a commonwealth and expressly connected their government with preserving the gospel and ordering their civil affairs. They understood the work of government to include duties before God and responsibility for the people it served.
For these settlers, serving God extended into family life, education, and public conduct. The command God gave Israel expresses the wholehearted devotion that should govern our conduct as well:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
Deuteronomy addressed Israel under the law given through Moses. Its commands about the land, priesthood, sacrifices, and national penalties belonged to that covenant. We can recognize America’s Christian foundations while honoring the particular promises God gave Israel, including the land He promised to Abraham’s descendants. The studies on The Mosaic Covenant and Blessings and Curses explain those obligations and promises in their setting.
That distinction helps us understand a verse often quoted in discussions of America:
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”
The reference to God’s chosen inheritance points to Israel. I do not read it as a declaration that America has taken Israel’s place or as a promise of American prosperity. Scripture does, however, give every nation reason to pursue righteousness and reject corruption, cruelty, and contempt for its Creator:
“Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.”
That proverb gives us reason to pursue righteousness wherever we live. Honest courts, dependable leadership, and respect for God’s commands benefit a nation’s public life. Our children need to understand that liberty depends on people accepting moral responsibility. A community benefits when its people do what is right, even though faithful individuals may still suffer.
The Creator, Human Equality, and Liberty
The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, placed its argument for rights on a foundation above civil government:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Declaration of Independence, 1776
The Declaration also appealed to “the Supreme Judge of the world” and expressed reliance on divine Providence. Its argument was that people possessed rights from their Creator before any government recognized them. A king, legislature, or voting majority therefore had a duty to protect rights it had not created. I regard that acknowledgment of God’s authority as a vital foundation of American liberty.
Scripture gives human dignity a definite basis. God made human beings in His image:
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
The biblical teaching about creation helps explain why each person’s liberty deserves protection. People differ in ability, possessions, office, and opportunity, but those differences do not determine their worth before God. The same Creator made the ruler and the person subject to his rule. Government serves people who already bear His image; it has no authority to treat their lives or consciences as its possessions.
When we teach our children where these rights come from, we help them understand why public authority must have limits. The founders’ appeal to the Creator gives our children a reason to defend liberty and to recognize their duties toward God and other people. We preserve that reasoning by explaining the principles behind the familiar words.
Limited Government and Christian Conviction
The Constitution established a framework for government that limited federal authority in religious matters. Article VI prohibited a religious test for offices or public trusts under the United States. The First Amendment, ratified in 1791, prohibited Congress from making a law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. These provisions limited federal power and protected religious liberty. They did not require federal officeholders to profess Christianity.
The states had different arrangements. Delaware’s 1776 constitution required officeholders to profess faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and acknowledge the divine inspiration of the Old and New Testaments. Pennsylvania’s constitution that year required legislators to affirm belief in one God, divine reward and punishment, and Scripture’s inspiration. New Jersey’s 1776 constitution expressly protected the eligibility of peaceable Protestants for public office. Religious belief thus held an express place in these early state constitutions.
The later limits on federal power need to be read alongside these state provisions if we are to understand the place Christian belief held in the founding era. Neither the federal prohibition of a religious test nor the First Amendment required the American people to remove Christianity from education, public debate, or the exercise of citizenship.
Many leading figures believed free government required moral restraint among the people. In his 1798 letter to the Massachusetts militia, John Adams argued that the Constitution depended on a moral and religious people and could not restrain unchecked human passions by governmental power alone. Washington’s Farewell Address likewise identified religion and morality as supports of political prosperity. They regarded religious conviction and moral restraint as necessary to the republic’s survival.
Their concern is easy to understand. A constitution may forbid abuses that dishonest officials still find ways to commit. If the public rewards that dishonesty, written limits alone cannot preserve good government. Scripture describes the consequences for the people living under such rulers:
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.”
Dividing and limiting governmental power takes human wrongdoing seriously. In Federalist No. 51, Madison explained why people needed government and why government itself needed restraints. I see that concern as consistent with Scripture’s judgment of the human heart:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
The founders drew on experience, legal traditions, and political writings as they framed the Constitution. Their concern about concentrated power also fits Scripture’s teaching that rulers need restraint. Biblical convictions about human nature and accountability help explain why giving someone authority does not make him trustworthy. Isaiah also directs us to the Lord as Judge, Lawgiver, and King:
“For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us.”
Every responsibility exercised in government remains under the Lord’s authority. Judges must administer justice, lawmakers must recognize moral limits, and executive officers must exercise their power responsibly. Isaiah was speaking of the Lord’s rule and saving power; his words give us a biblical basis for holding every human office accountable to God.
God’s authority also explains why Christians should take civil obligations seriously. Peter instructed believers to submit to rulers for the Lord’s sake:
“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors.”
God has given rulers authority to govern, but they remain answerable to Him. If a ruler commands disobedience to God, we must obey God. That limit does not release us from ordinary duties whenever we dislike a policy or an official. We should be honest, peaceable citizens who do good and refuse wrongdoing even when refusal costs us something.
Scripture, Education, and Public Practice
The Bible’s influence extended beyond constitutional provisions. Ministers preached about authority, liberty, justice, repentance, and public duty, and their sermons circulated in print. Political scientist Donald Lutz’s examination of founding-era political literature found the Bible prominent among cited sources, with Deuteronomy especially prominent in the Old Testament. His discussion in The Origins of American Constitutionalism also explains that most biblical citations in his sample came from reprinted sermons. His findings show how ministers brought biblical teaching into public debate, though a count of those citations cannot tell us how much of the Constitution’s wording came from the Bible.
Deuteronomy gave these ministers much to draw from: the character of judges, the danger of bribery, the restraints on kings, and the temptation to forget God when life became comfortable. Moses warned Israel:
“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today.”
Moses was warning Israel about life in the promised land, where the people would enjoy blessings under God’s covenant with them. We can learn from his warning while respecting that setting. People who once depended openly on God can become complacent when they acquire wealth and security. Receiving His gifts gives us reason for gratitude and obedience, not permission to live as though we owe Him nothing.
Moses also required judges to administer justice without favoritism:
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe.”
A judge who takes a bribe lets the person with money purchase an advantage over his neighbor. The victim may have the better case and still lose because the court has been corrupted. We recognize the injustice even when the court operates under a different national system. Reading The Book of Deuteronomy and The Law in context helps us distinguish such moral teaching from civil provisions given specifically to Israel.
Christian convictions also helped establish several early American colleges. Harvard, founded in 1636, developed in Puritan New England, where training an educated ministry was a serious concern. Its early Rules and Precepts directed students toward knowing God and Jesus Christ, appealing to John 17:3 and treating Christ as the foundation of learning. Yale likewise began with the education of ministers and civic leaders in view. Princeton, originally the College of New Jersey, had Presbyterian roots; its president John Witherspoon was a minister and a signer of the Declaration.
Dartmouth’s charter included the Christian education of Native American youth among its purposes. Brown’s founding grew out of Baptist efforts, with liberty of conscience expressly protected in its charter. Rutgers began as Queen’s College, with the training of Dutch Reformed ministers among its aims. These religious purposes helped bring the colleges into existence and shaped the education they offered.
Students studied subjects such as classical languages, theology, and moral philosophy in preparation for ministry and other responsibilities. These colleges connected learning with reverence for God, reflecting the conviction expressed in Proverbs:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
The founders of these colleges approached education as preparation for duties before God. Their stated purposes remain significant even when graduates or later generations depart from those convictions. Learning was expected to form judgment and character as well as equip a person to earn a living. Christians should still ask whether the education we provide teaches people to use their knowledge honestly and responsibly.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 connected religion, morality, and knowledge with good government and public happiness, and called for schools to be encouraged. Its provisions placed public encouragement of religion and education alongside protection for religious liberty. Reading them together helps us understand the place religion held in the public life these lawmakers envisioned.
Public practice supplies further evidence. Congress used prayer and chaplains, and during the Revolution it issued calls for fasting and thanksgiving. The 1776 fast-day proclamation called for confession, repentance, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation urged national gratitude and prayer to God. These leaders openly acknowledged the need for God’s forgiveness and help. Their proclamations called people to respond personally through repentance, gratitude, and prayer.
For Christians, praying for rulers is a biblical duty regardless of whether the rulers share our faith. Paul wrote:
“I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority.”
We can ask God to grant wisdom, restrain evil, protect our neighbors, and allow the gospel to be preached freely. The founding generation’s public calls for prayer and thanksgiving give us examples of leaders acknowledging that the nation needed His help. We can follow their example by thanking God for His provision, asking for His help, and obeying His Word in our own responsibilities.
Preserving and Practicing Our Christian Heritage
The documentary evidence gives us ample reason to defend America’s Christian heritage. We should teach from the actual compacts, constitutions, letters, sermons, and proclamations so readers can see the evidence for themselves. Letting the documents speak clearly gives our children a sound understanding of what earlier generations believed and why they acted on those beliefs.
The founders’ own expressions of faith belong in that teaching. In the documents collected by WallBuilders, Samuel Adams expressed reliance on Jesus Christ for forgiveness, John Jay thanked God for salvation through His Son, and Roger Sherman professed the Trinity, Scripture’s divine revelation, and salvation offered through Christ. These are direct expressions of Christian belief from men who helped establish the nation.
Preserving these convictions includes accepting the responsibilities they place on us. The God who grants life and liberty also judges every person impartially. Wealth and public office give no one an exemption from His commands, and our neighbors’ needs deserve attention regardless of their social standing:
“For there is no partiality with God.”
Because God shows no partiality, our responsibility to our neighbors extends beyond the people who agree with us. We should defend religious freedom, speak truthfully, and treat others fairly, including those whose beliefs differ from ours. The moral standards we ask public officials to uphold must also govern our conduct.
We have received mercies no nation is owed: access to Scripture, churches where the gospel is preached, and considerable freedom to teach our children and serve our communities. We should use those opportunities. A parent who laments the loss of biblical knowledge but never opens Scripture with his children can begin addressing that loss at home. A church that enjoys freedom to preach should be faithful in preaching Christ.
That faithfulness should extend into public life. Christians can vote, speak about laws, defend vulnerable people, and seek just government. We must also pay what we owe and honor lawful authority:
“Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”
Responsible citizenship also calls for informed participation. We should examine candidates’ conduct and policies, speak honestly about public questions, and support laws that protect life, conscience, and lawful liberty. Teaching our children the reasons for these commitments prepares them to exercise their freedoms responsibly rather than take them for granted.
The results of that work will vary. A nation may turn toward God or harden itself, and its institutions may improve or deteriorate. We should work for our neighbors’ good while trusting God’s faithfulness through those changes. Christ’s kingdom will endure, and our hope in Him gives us reason to serve courageously even when our country’s future is uncertain.
The Gospel Above the Nation
A person may admire the Declaration, defend the Constitution, and speak warmly of Providence while still needing forgiveness. National heritage cannot reconcile a sinner to God. America’s deepest need is the same as every other nation’s: people must hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man. Born of a virgin, He lived without sin. Wicked people tortured and killed Him, inflicting real bodily punishment, while He willingly gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Through His shed blood and death He completed His saving sacrifice before He was buried and rose bodily from the dead. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were united in the work of our salvation.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Christ’s provision of salvation is for the whole world, and God’s gracious offer is sincere toward every person. His grace can be resisted; people must respond in repentance and faith. We receive forgiveness by faith because Christ has provided it at His own cost. The person who believes the gospel is born again, indwelt and permanently sealed by the Holy Spirit, and secure in eternal life. Obedience follows as evidence of that new life, rather than payment to earn or keep salvation. The study on The Gospel develops this further.
Just laws, religious liberty, and Christian education are worthwhile. None can give the new birth. The church must preach Christ, teach what He commanded, and worship God in spirit and truth. When we confuse national recovery with salvation, we ask politics to accomplish what only our Savior can do.
My Final Thoughts
America’s Christian foundations give us substantial reasons for gratitude and a responsibility to preserve what we have received. I want our children to know the documents, convictions, and public practices that helped shape their liberty. We should defend religious freedom, teach Scripture faithfully, pray for our leaders, and serve our communities with courage. As we do, our trust remains in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, whose gospel is good news for people of every nation.