America: A Christian Nation?

On August 28, 1947, President Harry S Truman wrote of America to Pope Pius XII: “Your Holiness, this is a Christian Nation. More than a half century ago that declaration was written into the decrees of the highest court in this land.”

U.S. Supreme Court 1892: America is a Christian Nation

U.S. Supreme Court stated in the 1892 case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, written by Justice David Josiah Brewer (143 U.S. 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226):

President William Taft stated December 6, 1912:

“We are a world power …  Our responsibilities in the Pacific and the Atlantic … require us … to clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power … to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate.”

“Article 22 of the Constitution of Delaware (1776), which required all officers, besides an oath of allegiance, to make and subscribe the following declaration:

‘I, A.B., do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.'”

As I write this, I am aware of the many attempts of modern historians to deny that our nation began as a Christian nation and that it is (was) a Christian nation. President  Obama was famously reported as saying in 2007, “Whatever we once were, we’re no longer a Christian nation.”

Although Christianity was not written into the Declaration of Independence or our Constitution, God, as the Creator, was acknowledged. Certainly not all of our founding fathers were Christians by the evangelical definition, but many of them were. Rather than accepting the statements of modern revisionist historians, let’s see what many of our founding fathers said.  They were there when it happened, participating in the founding of our nation.

Although all of my direct quotes below are derived from a Wallbuilders.com website in an article entitled “The Founding Fathers on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible,” each of the quotes is end-noted with the original source. (143 footnotes-the footnote reference numbers from that article are included).  

Please note that there are many more quotes than I could use in this article. This subject does not lack documentation.

George Washington

JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; “FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY”

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.¹²²

John Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. 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. ¹

Note the following statement from Benjamin Franklin, who was not known as a believer:

Benjamin Franklin

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.²⁹

Patrick Henry

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; “THE VOICE OF LIBERTY”;
RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA

Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.⁴⁸

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed. ⁴⁹

Thomas Jefferson

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.⁶⁴

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ. ⁶⁶

John Jay

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; DIPLOMAT; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS;  ORIGINAL CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U. S. SUPREME COURT; GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK

Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. . . . Blessed be His holy name.⁵⁶

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.⁶²

Benjamin Rush

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; SURGEON GENERAL OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY; RATIFIER OF THE U. S. CONSTITUTION; “FATHER OF AMERICAN MEDICINE”; TREASURER OF THE U. S. MINT; “FATHER OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION”

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools. ¹⁰²

The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life… [T]he Bible… should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness.¹⁰⁵

Many other quotes of equal importance and significance show the lives and intent of our founding fathers.

I’m sure that politicians and historians will never reach agreement on this question. There used to be agreement on this before the modern push to exclude God and the Bible from schools and public life. However, we can reasonably assume that one of the most important freedoms pilgrims sought was freedom of religion. And those pilgrims used the Bible as their guide for instruction to gain independence.

If you have not been interested in or informed about this subject before, I hope this article will motivate you to explore it further. You can access the websites I have linked to in this article, and in addition, a wealth of other information is available.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 33:12)