America’s Godly Heritage Part 7 by David Barton

Political science professors believed that this question could be answered by examining a broad spectrum of writings from the Founding Era with the goal of identifying the sources cited in those writings. The researchers assembled 15,000 representative writings from that period and isolated 3,154 direct quotes in those writings. At the end of ten years, they had traced the quotes back to their original sources, thereby identifying the most frequently-cited sources of the Founding Era. (The results of that study may be found in the book The Origins of American Constitutionalism)

The individual who was cited most often in the writings of the Founding Era was political philosopher Charles Montesquieu, with 8.3 percent of the quotes being taken from his writings. 46 Legal scholar William Blackstone was next, with 7.9 percent of the quotes; 47 and political philosopher and theologian John Locke was third, with 2.9 percent. 48 These were the three most frequently-cited individuals during the Founding Era, but the single most-cited source was the Bible, with 34 percent of the quotes coming from the Scriptures. 

Significantly, that percentage is even higher when the source of the ideas used by individuals such as Montesquieu, Blackstone, and Locke are identified and included. Consider, for example, a primary source of Blackstone’s ideas.

montesquieu (left), blackstone (middle), and locke (right)

Blackstone’s most famous work was his Commentaries on the Laws. First introduced in 1766, it became the final word in American courts and remained a primary legal authority until well into the twentieth century: it was quoted to define words, establish procedure, and settle disputes. A primary source of Blackstone’s ideas is evident even through a superficial examination of his writings, but the testimony of Charles Finney (1792-1875) also provides a clear confirmation.  Finney, a university president, educator, and civil rights leader, was probably best known as a famous revivalist during America’s Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s. In his autobiography, Finney recounted his early desire to become an attorney, so like all other law students at that time, he commenced a study of Blackstone’s Commentaries. As Blackstone covered the various legal concepts, he frequently presented the Biblical ideas on which the laws were based. Finney stated that in the process of studying Blackstone, he read so much of the Bible that he became a Christian and received his call to the ministry.

Clearly, then, a primary source of Blackstone’s ideas was the Bible; and a survey of the writings of Montesquieu and Locke confirms a similar (and sometime even stronger) Biblical influence on their writings. Therefore, while thirty-four percent of the quotes in the representative writings of the Founding Era came directly from the Bible, many of the other quotes were taken from writers who, like Blackstone, had used the Bible to help arrive at their own conclusions. The Bible therefore was far and away the most influential source of ideas in the Founding Era.

Consequently, it is not surprising that the Constitution reflects many Biblical principles. For example, Isaiah 33:22 sets forth three distinct branches of government; the logic for the separation of powers was based on teachings derived from Jeremiah 17:9; the basis of tax exemptions for churches (exemptions originated by the Founding Fathers 51) can be found in Ezra 7:24; and there are many other examples of American government applying Biblical patterns and precedents.

The Biblical underpinnings of America were so obvious to previous generations that in 1892, even the U. S. Supreme Court had no difficulty in rendering a unanimous decision declaring:

No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. . . . This is a Christian nation.

What would lead the U. S. Supreme Court to conclude that America was a Christian nation? The simple answer is, America’s own history.

The Court’s decision was only sixteen pages long, but even in that short span, the Court provided almost eighty different historical precedents. The Court cited statements of the Founding Fathers, acts of Congress and state governments, and numerous others official documents, even noting that there were many additional volumes of historical precedents also proving that America was a Christian nation. Eighty precedents in a case is not only impressive but it is also important, for courts seek to base their decisions on precedent; this enables them to be consistent from ruling to ruling, thus contributing to a stable society.

Significantly, that 1892 Court decision was by no means the only Supreme Court decision that recognized and preserved America’s Biblical heritage; similar decisions were rendered both before and after that ruling. For example, in 1844, a school run by the city of Philadelphia adopted a policy prohibiting Christian ministers from setting foot on campus. That school, originally founded by a wealthy French immigrant, was operated on the philosophy dominant in France during the French Enlightenment (and embraced by many public schools today) that students could successfully learn morality apart from Christianity or the Bible.

This policy, perceived as an attempt to keep the Bible from students, became an issue at the U. S. Supreme Court. The Court’s ruling on that subject was animous and was delivered by Justice Joseph Story, called a “Father of American jurisprudence” and placed on the Court by President James Madison. In that decision, the Court declared:

Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament . . . be read and taught as a divine revelation in the school – its general precepts expounded . . . and its glorious principles of morality inculcated? . . . Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?