AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE HOMEPAGE
Week 2 - American Law: Biblical Foundations and Godly Beginnings
A) Thomas Jefferson: Christian or deist?
Letter From Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Rush 4/21/1803: �My views�are the result
of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-christian system
imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of
Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I
am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be; sincerely attached to
his doctrines in preference to all others.�
B)Why did the Founders not establish Christianity as the law of the land?
In 1785 session of the General Assembly of the state of Virginia, there was debate over
a proposed bill to enact Christianity as the law of the sate.
James Madison wrote in his Religious Freedom, A Memorial and Remonstrance,
�Because to policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The
first wish of those who ought to enjoy this precious gift, ought to be, that it may be
imparted to the whole race of mankind. Compare the number of those who have as yet
received it, with the number still remaining under the dominion of false religions, and
how small is the former! Does the policy of the bill tend to lessen the disproportion?
No; it at once discourages those who are strangers to the light of Truth, from coming
into the regions of it. �Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess
and to observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an
equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has
convinced us. If this freedom is abused, it is an offense against God, not against man:
To God, therefore, not to man, must an account be rendered.�
According to McGruder�s American Government, a textbook used in high schools around
the country by William McClenaghen, and published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster, the
origin of America is recorded as follows: �In terms of the American political system, the
most significant of the theories of the origin of the state is the �social contract.�
Philosophers such as John Locke, James Harrington, and Thomas Hobbes in England and
Jean Jacques Rousseau in France developed this theory in the 17th and 18th centuries.�
Rousseau taught that, while people were by nature evil, they are incapable of functioning
on their own without assistance from the State. That is NOT what America�s founders
believed.
4) What did 20th Century Presidents have to say about it?
Harry Truman stated on July 29, 1951 �The fundamental basis of this nation�s laws was
given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from
the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don�t
think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don�t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe
in rights for anybody except the state!�
5) Comparing American Law and Government to the Bible and God's standards:
1) American Law : Form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure
the Blessings of Liberty (From Preamble to the Constitution)
Biblical Principle and Reference: Galatians 5:13 - You, my brothers,
were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;
rather, serve one another in love.
2) American Law : Three branches of government: judicial, legislative, executive.
Biblical Principle and Reference: Isaiah 33:22 � �For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.�
3) American Law : Power shared between central government and local officials.
Biblical Principle and Reference: Exodus 18:13-26�Moses appoints judges
over the people but still hears difficult cases himself (acts as �president�). Retold in
Deuteronomy 1:9-18. There was no need for a legislative body because all Laws came
directly from God. Officials served as judges.