Influence of the Bible on America, part 3

Rick Green

Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's WallBuilders. We're taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective, and this week, specifically biblical, we're hitting historical and constitutional as well. But our series this week is the influence of the Bible in America. Phenomenal, phenomenal foundation America has.

We have a nation that is built on truth. We know that in the Declaration it says we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their Creator. So we know that life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, all of these things flow from God. And because they flow from God, government can't take them away, your neighbor can't take them away. But the system only works if we build it on truth. We hold these truths. Well, where do you find those truths? In God's Word, and that's why the Bible was such a great influence in America and that's why it must be restored. I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach, here with David and Tim Barton, and today we are on day three of the influence of the Bible in America and we're going to jump right in where we left off yesterday.

David Barton

Addressing George Washington, president of the convention, Franklin declared

God governs in the affairs of men, and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground 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 build the house, they labor in vain that 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. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.

Significantly. This so-called least religious founding father invoked from memory several scriptural passages to make his point, including James 1 and Genesis 11 and Psalms 127 and Matthew 10. Today, over two centuries later, congress still has daily prayer, and the precedent for that daily prayer has a scriptural basis, another demonstration of the influence of the Bible on America. And despite the relentless efforts of special interest groups like the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League, people for the American Way, and the efforts of so many other similar groups to remove prayer from all public events and governmental institutions, such clearly was never the intent when this country's governing documents were instituted. As a result of the document produced at the Constitutional Convention, America now has become the longest ongoing constitutional republic in the history of the world. Significantly, our Constitution was an original and uniquely American document. It was not a compilation of the best clauses of other constitutions from across the world. Our Constitution contained ideas that had never before been embodied in a written Constitution. Politically new and novel practices such as the separation of powers, checks and balances and full republicanism. But where did the founders get their ideas for this most successful of all constitutions?

In an attempt to answer this question, political scientists embarked on an ambitious project to analyze some 15,000 writings from the founding era. Those writings were examined with the goal of isolating and identifying the specific political sources quoted in the time period surrounding the establishment of American government. If the sources of those quotes from that period could be identified, then the origin of their ideas could be determined. So in the 15,000 writings selected, the researchers identified some 3,154 direct quotations and over the next 10 years they documented the original sources of those quotations. The research revealed that the single most cited authority in the writings of the founding era are you ready? Was the Bible. Thirty four percent of the documented quotes were taken from the Bible, a percentage almost four times higher than the second most quoted source. In fact, signers of the Constitution, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, acknowledged that the principle undergirding the separation of powers was the same principle found in Jeremiah 17.9, a principle concerning the depravity of man that had been the subject of numerous sermons during the founding era.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond a cure. Who can understand it?

Because man was naturally depraved, they understood that care must be taken to safeguard his having absolute or unrestricted power. Thus separation of powers and checks and balances were installed. Many other Bible verses and principles also found embodiment in the Constitution. For example, compare the Article 1, section 8 constitutional provision on uniform immigration laws with Leviticus 19:34.

Leviticus 19:34 states the alien living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.

Significantly, article 1, section 8 of the Constitution reads the Congress shall have power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization.

And compare the Article 2, section 1, constitutional provision that a president must be a natural-born citizen with Deuteronomy 17.15. Deuteronomy 17.15. states.

Be sure to appoint over you the king, the Lord, your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you.

Embodying that principle, article 2, section 1 of the Constitution declares no person except a natural-born citizen or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the office of president.

Then compare the Article 3, section 3 constitutional provision regarding witnesses and capital punishment with Deuteronomy 17:6.

Deuteronomy 17.6 states On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

And the Constitution similarly states.

No person shall be convicted of treason, a capital offense that resulted in death, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.

Or compare the article 3, section 3, constitutional prohibition against attainder, that is, against punishing the whole family for the acts of one of its members. Compare that with Ezekiel 18:20.

Ezekiel 18:20 states the soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.

And the Constitution incorporates this policy, stating the Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

And notice that Isaiah 33: 22 defines the three branches of government.

For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king.

And Ezra 7: 24 establishes the type of tax exemptions that the founders gave to our churches, tax exemptions that still exist today.

You're also to know that you have no authority to impose taxes, tribute or duty on any of the priests, Levite, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at this house of God.

And the concept of republicanism set forth in Article IV, section 4 of the Constitution, that is, of electing our leaders at the local and county and state and federal levels. That concept finds its origins in Exodus 18:21.

But select capable men from all the people, men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 

In fact, Noah Webster, the founder personally responsible for language, in Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution specifically cites Exodus 18-21. And George Washington and John Jay also attributed God's providence as the reason that America elected its own leaders. There is much else that could be cited, but at the bottom line, there is no question that the Bible and its teachings have had a huge influence on American life and government.

Consequently, it is not surprising that founding fathers such as John Adams declared the general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. Now I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.

The general principles of Christianity of which John Adams spoke were not the principles of any particular denomination of Christians.

Rather, they were the general principles espoused in the full scriptures what today we describe as Judeo-Christian principles. Let's move next to 1791, and let's look at Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who served in three different presidential administrations. In 1791, Benjamin Rush started the Sunday school movement in America, using the Bible to teach young people how to read. Dr. Rush was already a famous educator at that time, having been a professor of chemistry and written America's first chemistry textbook. He was among the first founding fathers to propose nationwide public schools, for which he may be titled the father of public schools under the Constitution. Dr. Rush also helped found five colleges, three of which still exist today, and he was one of the first educators in America to promote academic education for women and for African Americans. In 1791, Dr. Rush penned this work explaining why the Bible should be the primary textbook in our schools. After sending forth nearly a dozen reasons, he closed that piece with a succinct word on what would happen in America if the Bible were ever removed from schools.

He warned:

In contemplating the political institutions of this United States, I lament, that if we remove the Bible from schools, we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them. For this Devine book, above all others favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws and those sober and frugal virtues which constitute the soul of our government.

Unfortunately, Dr. Rush's rather prophetic warnings have come to pass in this generation. The Bible had a tremendous impact on American education and government and it also had a tremendous impact on American law. Let me give you one quick example involving James Wilson. James Wilson was the signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. He was also an original justice of the US Supreme Court, placed there by President George Washington. James Wilson started the first organized legal training in America.  In fact, in 1792, he actually taught his law school while simultaneously being in justice on the US Supreme Court, and it was Wilson who wrote this legal text. This text was used in that early legal education. In this text James Wilson taught his students.

Human law must rest its authority, ultimately, upon the authority of that law, which is divine. Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. Our all-gracious Creator, Preserver and Ruler has been pleased to discover and enforce His laws by a revelation given to us immediately and directly from Himself. This revelation is contained in the Holy Scriptures.

James Wilson taught students that God was the source of human law and that the proper basis of human law was the divine law set forth in the Scriptures. By the way, it was because divine law was the basis of American law that the Ten Commandments are more frequently found in civil buildings than in religious ones. Yet today, many courthouses have been ordered to remove from public view any displays of divine laws, any displays of the Ten Commandments. Things have certainly changed, but not for the better, for it's never better to expunge God or his principles from any aspect of life or living. Fisher Ames was a framer of the Bill of Rights and he was the member of Congress who proposed the final warning for the First Amendment, as passed in the US House of Representatives in 1789. In 1801, he penned an article found in this work. It's an article entitled School Books, in which he commented on a growing trend that he had observed in American education.

Ames noted it has been the custom of late years to put a number of little books into the hands of children, containing fables and moral lessons. This is very well, because it is right first to raise curiosity and then to guide.

Ames approved of putting moral children's books into the classroom, but he also pointed out a dangerous unintended consequence of that practice. He explained that each time a new book was added to the classroom, time understandably was spent on that new book, but the growing amount of time spent on the many new books could eventually reduce the time that students spent on the Bible.

To this possibility Ayn strongly objected, urging why, then, if these books for children must be retained as they will be, why should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the sacred book that is thus early impressed lasts long and probably, if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind.

Rick Green

All right, quick break, folks. Stay with us. You're listening to the WallBuilders Show. It's day three of the Influence of the Bible in America. You can get the entire program at our website today at wallbuilders.com. Stay with us.

Tim Barton

Hey guys, it's Tim Barton and I want to let you know about an opportunity coming up for pastors and ministry leaders. We are doing our annual pastor's briefing in Washington DC and we do this every year. We do one in the spring, we do one in the fall. This spring it's April 16th and 17th. This fall it is September 10th and 11th. This is one of the most significant things we do to encourage and challenge pastors in this culture we live in.

It's in Washington DC and Tuesday night we do an after-hours tour of the US Capitol where we introduce pastors and ministry leaders to the history of the nation. The following day we have congressmen come and they give a briefing on what they're doing and how God is challenging and motivating and using them. And, frankly, most pastors, most ministry leaders, they don't know the rich spiritual heritage of the nation or what God is still doing moving in the hearts and lives of leaders in this nation. I would encourage you if you're a pastor, ministry leader, you need to come to this. It's one of the best things we do at WallBuilders. To find out more, go to wallbuilders.com and look for the pastor's briefing.

Rick Green

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on the WallBuilders Show. Just going to jump right back in to the influence of the Bible in America.

David Barton

So here's the primary author of the First Amendment, the amendment that critics wrongly claim is about separation of church and state and the secularization of the public sphere. Here's the author of that amendment, warning that the Bible must never be pushed to the back of the classroom, much less completely out of it. Yet today the Bible has been pushed both out of the classroom and even out of schools, allegedly in the name and by the authority of those who, like Fisher Ames, created the First Amendment. Let's move forward a few years to 1809. It was in this year that Dr Benjamin Rush helped establish America's first Bible Society, the Bible Society of Philadelphia. This is the original Constitution of that Bible Society. The Philadelphia Bible Society is responsible for printing this book. This is America's first stereotyped or mass-produced Bible.

That first 1809 Bible Society gave rise to many more. In fact, over the next eight years, 121 additional Bible societies were established in America, many with the help of the same founding fathers who had written the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Consider, for example, the Baltimore Bible Society, which continues today under the name of the Maryland Bible Society. The Baltimore Bible Society was founded by James McHenry. James McHenry was a signer of the Constitution and he was the Secretary of War under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. In fact, fort McHenry in Maryland is named for James McHenry. You may recall that Fort McHenry is the famous fort that became the inspiration for our national anthem. Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner as he watched Fort McHenry being bombarded by the British in 1814. Founding father James McHenry, for whom that fort was named, was a man who deeply desired that the Bible be made available to every individual, for he believed that the Bible was the best security for the very government that he had helped create.

As he explained, the Holy Scriptures can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw protections around our institutions.

Several other founding fathers also helped establish Bible societies, just as James McHenry had done. As a result of so many state and local Bible societies being birthed, in 1816, America's first national Bible society was formed, the American Bible Society. This is the original constitution of that Bible Society, A Bible Society that, by the way, still exists today. It's one of the largest Bible societies in the world and it distributes some 250 million Bibles every year. It's very instructive to examine the original founders and officers of the American Bible Society who are listed in this document.

The very first president of the American Bible Society was Elias Boudinot. Elias Boudinot was a distinguished founding father. He was president of Congress during the American Revolution. He signed the peace treaty with Great Britain to end the American Revolution. He was a member of the first federal Congress and a framer of the Bill of Rights. He was the director of the US Mint and he was the first attorney admitted to the Supreme Court bar to practice law before the US Supreme Court. Throughout each of these accomplishments, Elias Boudinot remained a serious student of the Bible. Elias Boudinot was 76 years old when he became president of the American Bible Society and even though he had already read the Bible numerous times. What did this eminent statesman, at his advanced age, think about the Bible?

He explained For nearly half a century I have anxiously and critically studied the Bible and I still scarcely ever take it up that I do not find something new.

I love this. He's saying I've been through the Bible 50 or so times and I still find something new every time I read it. That's the way it is with the Bible, and this is why the Bible uses the term unsearchable in describing God and His Word. No matter how many times you search the Scriptures, you will still find something new every time, as Romans Chapter 11 explains.

O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor, who has ever given to God that God should repay him For? From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

God's Word truly is unsearchable. No matter how many times we read it, we still find new applications each time. Boudinot understood this and he continued.

Were you to ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the world, I should fix on the Bible as the most instructive, both to the wise and the ignorant.

Boudinot is saying I don't care how much you think you know or how much you think you don't know. I urge you to go to the Bible. That is no matter your level of knowledge. The Bible is still the place to go. Boudinot continued.

He said Were you to ask me for one book affording the most rational and pleasing entertainment to the inquiring mind, I would still say the Bible. And should you ask again about the best philosophy or the most interesting history, I would urge you to look into your Bible. I would make it, in short, the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.

Boudinot says if you're looking for something important to read, read the Bible. Or if you want something entertaining to read, read the Bible. Or if you're looking for a good philosophy book or a good history book or a good whatever book, read the Bible. This is still excellent advice almost two centuries after he first gave it. So distinguished statesman Elias Boudinot was the first president of the American Bible Society. Who were the other founders of the American Bible Society who served as vice presidents under Elias Boudinot? At the top of the list is John Jay, the original Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and an author of the Federalist Papers, and there was Matthew Clarkson, a major general in the American Revolution and a leading figure in New York education and politics. And Smith Thompson, the Secretary of the Navy, who became a Justice on the US Supreme Court. And John Langdon, a signer of the US Constitution and the Governor of New Hampshire. Another Vice President was Caleb Strong, a member of the Constitutional Convention, who helped write the Constitution and who then became Governor of Massachusetts. And Bushrod Washington, a justice on the US Supreme Court. And William Work, the Attorney General of the United States. And Charles Cosworth Pinckney, a major general in the American Revolution and a signer of the US Constitution. Other vice presidents included John Quincy Adams, president of the United States, and John Marshall, chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. These are the individuals who founded and headed the American Bible Society. And notice, this is not a group of gospel ministers who founded this organization to distribute the Bible. No, it was Supreme Court justices, US presidents, military leaders, business leaders, governors, attorneys, educators. They all understood the importance of the Bible to American society. Let's move ahead to the years 1828 and 1833. These two years are auspicious for the influence of the Bible in America and both of them relate to the same individual, Noah Webster.

Noah Webster is probably most famous for the dictionary that bears his name, webster's Dictionary. However, most don't realize that Noah Webster was also a founding father. He had been a soldier during the American Revolution, a legislator and a judge following the Revolution, and he was one of the first to call for the Constitutional Convention that produced the US Constitution. In fact, Noah Webster directly impacted the final wording of that document, and his writings motivated citizens to embrace the plan of government outlined in the Constitution. Webster was also a famous educator, helping found Amherst College and authoring scores of school textbooks on a variety of different subjects. In fact, his impact on education was so profound that he has been titled the Schoolmaster to America.

It was in 1828 that he first published the magnum opus of all of his works, his masterpiece, the Dictionary of the English Language. It took him two decades to complete this massive two-volume work, and he traveled the world and learned over 20 different languages in the preparation of this dictionary, so that he could tell us whether each word being defined had its roots in the French or the Latin or the Russian or Greek or Spanish or some other foreign language. This dictionary contained a total of 70,000 words, with 12,000 words and 40,000 definitions not found in any previous dictionary. That dictionary had a profound impact on American language and thus on America itself. In fact, only two decades after the dictionary had been published, a reviewer commented on the impact that it had already had on Americans. He said, on the impact that it had already had on Americans.

He said Webster has left us the standard of the English language which will guide all successive ages. Noah Webster grew up with his country and he molded the intellectual character for people.

Rick Green

All right, folks, we're out of time for day three. We're in the middle of a four-part series. If you happen to join us right in the middle of the program today and didn't hear the setup at the beginning, this is day three of a four-part series called the Influence of the Bible in America. Now, that's actually a full program with some great graphics. If you get the video, go to wallbuilders.com and check that out. It is a really good program and it will equip and inspire you. But I'm telling you need to show it to the whole family. Show it to your children. Make sure they understand the secret sauce that made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. This was day three of that four-part series. All of it will be available at our website, wellbuilders.com. Check it out today and make sure you join us tomorrow for the conclusion of the influence of the Bible in America.