Patrick Henry cautioned; “We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth …For my part, whatever anguish of the spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst; and to prepare for it.” As we near this nation’s celebration of Independence there are three truths that need to be told. First. We are not supposed to be a democracy; we are supposed to be a Constitutional Republic. Second. We find ourselves today a secular society but we were formed as a Christian nation. Third. Americans have been taught to believe the concept that “a wall of separation of church and State” exists between religion and government. The truth is our founding fathers did not want any one Christian church to be preferred (have power) over another. Religion was fundamental to every aspect of life. They did not want religion out of government—they wanted government out of religion!

America is prosperous, powerful and leader of the free world because of the principles upon which she was founded. These principles are America’s heritage. Because knowledge of our heritage is being lost, America is losing her way. We are fast becoming a socialist nation surrendering the principles and freedom upon which our nation is based.

What is the source of these principles for the American Republic? According to Noah Webster, who defined the meaning of words used in our founding documents: “Our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament.” Jedediah Moore, another noted educator, added this: “Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”

Politicians, professors, and news commentators constantly remind us of our wonderful ‘democracy’, but our founding documents call us a ‘constitutional republic’. Why did our founding fathers create a ‘republic’ rather than a ‘democracy’? John Adams, America’s second President tells us, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Constitution stated, “A simple democracy is one of the greatest of evils.” The founders remembered that most infamous democratic vote in history when the ‘will of the people’ cried – “Crucify Him.” This would not have happened in a Republic because a Republic is ‘rule of law’ not the rule of the mob.

A republican form of government is where citizens elect representatives who will then pass the laws by which we are to be governed. In forming our republic the framers of the Constitution cited nearly 15,000 references, but the three main reference sources were: the King James Bible - Spirit Of The Laws, by Baron Charles Montesquieu and - Commentaries On The Laws Of England, by Sir William Blackstone. All three identify the ‘rule of law’ as “Principles that do not change”. The rule of law was based on ‘natural law’, which is the law God gave His people through the Bible and the Ten Commandments. 

Taking from Isaiah 33:22, “God is our King, God is our lawgiver, God is our Judge”- the founders gave us the very formation of our government – thus the Executive, the Legislative and Judicial branches. Historians are now beginning to realize that the Bible is the basis for our American system of Jurisprudence and Constitution.

Lastly, there is no “Wall of separation of church and state”. That phrase is not found anywhere in our founding documents. When signing the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, the father of the Revolution declared; “We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun – let His Kingdom come.” James Madison, the father of the Constitution said, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it…but upon the capacity of mankind for self government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to The Ten Commandments of God.”

In the immortal words of Patrick Henry: “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”. John Adams, our second President said, “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 … I could therefore safely say … that I believe they (the people) would never make discoveries in contradiction to these general principles.”

Historical information from 1776 gives us the following facts. 98% of the people then in America professed themselves to be Protestant Christians; 1.8 % declared themselves to be Roman Catholic Christians; and only two- tenths of one percent said they were of the Jewish faith. Christianity was basically the only religion in America. Thomas Jefferson called the Bible the cornerstone for American liberty and wanted it placed in our schools as the light that should lead the way.

In 1846 the Supreme Court of South Carolina declared – “Christianity is a part of the common law of the land, with liberty of conscience to all. It has always been so recognized… it is the foundation of those morals and manners upon which our society is formed; it is their basis. Remove this and they would fall. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1892 ruled – “Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.” Again the Supreme Court in 1952 stated – “We are a religious people whose institutions all presuppose a Supreme Being …”.

These quotations are representative of many which support the facts; that this is supposed to be a Constitutional Republic - based entirely upon Christian principles – with no separation of Church and State. Since our very form of government and legal system were formed from, and based on, God’s natural law and the Bible, then how can we separate church from State? We cannot. The heart cannot be removed from the body without the death of that body. Unfortunately and to our shame, none of this is being taught in our schools today. We will either educate our children to be the enemies of freedom and independence - as we are currently doing – or, we can educated them in the truths and visions of our Founding Fathers – raising future patriots for America.