FOUNDING FATHERS, Faith Of

QUOTES OF FOUNDING FATHERS:

Eleven of the thirteen colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence already had state constitutions. ALL eleven required any person seeking public office to take a solemn oath of orthodox Christian belief. And twelve of the thirteen colonies taxed their citizens to support the preaching of the Gospel and to build churches. Nine of the thirteen recognized one denomination to the exclusion of all others.

Thus, historian Robert Flood wrote, "The concept of a secular state was virtually non-existent in 1776 as well as in 1787, when the Constitution was written, and no less so when the Bill of Rights was adopted. To read the Constitution as the charter for a secular state is to misread history, and to misread it radically. The Constitution was designed to perpertuate a Christian order."

WHO SAID EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:

(We)...."having undertaken, for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith and the honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do...in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic..."-- the Mayflower Compact, 1620.

"...where Christianity, and civilization, and letters made their first lodgement in a vast extent of country covered with a wilderness...Our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits. Living under the heavenly light of revelation, they hoped to find all the social dispositions, all the duties which men owe to each other and to society, enforced and performed. Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens." -- Daniel Webster speaking at Plymouth on Dec. 22, 1820, at the 200th anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock by the pilgrims.

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” -- William Penn

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason people have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom to worship here." -- Patrick Henry

"And have we forgotten that powerful friend> or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs the affairs of men. And if the sparrow cannot fall to ther gournd without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord builds the House, they labor in vain who build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest. I therefore beg leave that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business." -- Ben Franklin, in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, when it had reached an impasse and was in danger of breaking up without a Constitution to unite the 13 colonies into a new nation.

"A republic once equally poised must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty." John Witherspoon, only pastor to sign the Declaration of Independence, on the first National Day of Thanksgiving declared by Congress as soon as the war for independence had been won.

"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." -- John Adams

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for its rulers." -- John Jay, first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispendable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all the connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for prosperity, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? ?And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..." -- George Washington's farewell address, Sept. 17, 1796. Elsewhere, Washington summed it up: "It is impossible to govern rightly without God and the Bible."

"It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe: ...We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man's right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society, and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance." -- James Madison

"...the belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it." -- James Madison

"I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them to His holy keeping." -- George Washington in his resignation on Dec. 23, 1783 from his commission as General of the Army.

"Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, humbly to implore his protection and favor ...that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplication the the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed..." George Washington, October 3, 1789, in the first proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving.

"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power. ... Good and wise men, in all ages...have supposed that the Deity, from the relations we stand in to Himself, and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is indispensably obligatory to all mankind, prior to any human institutions whatsoever." Alexander Hamilton at age of 17 writing in "The Farmer Refuted" to defend a war of independence.

"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the mids of the people that these liberties are...the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?" -- Thomas Jefferson, "Notes On Virginia, 1781.

"May that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the univerrse lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

"I join in addressing Him whose Kingdom ruleth over all, to direct the administration of affairs to their own greatest good." -- Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801

"I shall need...the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessities and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence, and our riper years with His wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations." -- Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address, 1805