"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...",

Our founding fathers said in the First Amendment to the Constitution,
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...",
they were making it clear that they would not live under a national state church
or establishment which could demand their membership and financial support.

It was tyranny of religious conformity that they opposed.
But to say that they intended a secular state
in which religion would play no part is to fly in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

They never envisioned a secular state where God's moral laws
would be systematically and deliberately flouted.

Yet this has come to pass.

Our State governments and the federal government were built
largely upon principles which the Founders derived from their study of the Scriptures.
The form of our republic still remains,
but the spirit - which is Christianity - has bees stifled.
Without this animating spirit, the letter is dead.

To understand the American Christian Constitution as the Christian form of government,
it is necessary to consider its two spheres - the spirit and the letter - the internal and the external.
Both spheres must be active in order that
the Constitution function to preserve the basic republican spirit of individual liberty.

Today we still have the letter of the Constitution.
That is, we still go through most of the legal processes
of the structure of the Constitution in enacting legislation,
and in the executive and judicial branches.

But the spirit which was intended and understood by our Founding Fathers is missing -
and has been for the last one hundred years.
That spirit was the Christian foundation of our Constitution
- the Faith of our Fathers -
and as our nation has fallen away from its foundation
- the essence of that faith -
our Constitution has become a hollow shell.

We have allowed the subtle transformation of the doctrine
of separation of church and state into separation of religion and state,
so that now Christianity can no longer receive a hearing in our schools,
prayer and Bible reading are prohibited,
laws legalizing abortion are passed and upheld by the judiciary;
the rights of Christian pastors to express their convictions on governmental matters in the pulpit
- as our Colonial pastors did -
are curtailed and penalized in an attempt to prevent all meaningful criticism of the secular state.

Because our form of government is derived in all its parts from Biblical principles,
it cannot be understood without comprehending those principles,
nor can it be made to work like our Founding Fathers intended.
Our failure to grasp their intentions may be seen in the erosion of individual rights.

This decline would never have come to pass
if the American Christian had not stepped aside from the apolitical arena
and retreated into purely personal religion
leaving the field of civil government largely to the secular humanists.

Of course,
if we had known the distinctively Christian nature of the elements of our government,
we would not have turned our backs on our heritage.

All the forms of civil polity have been tried by mankind,
except one,
and that seems to have been reserved in Providence to be realized in America ...
That wonder was a unique kind of republic
.. a democratical polity for millions,
standing upon the broad basis of the people at large,
amply charged with property. But first the stage had to be set.
The Bible was put in the hands of individuals.
This gave them the desire for liberty and taught them the art of self-government,
which in turn safe-guards liberty.

Second,
a land had to be provided that was separate from the Old World
despotism of monarchs and from religious skepticism.

third,
A people had to be prepared who shared a Biblical world view
of the nature of man and government.
The Biblical view lead them to develop a form of  government
that would neither depend blindly upon the will of the masses
nor give absolute power to one man.

They knew that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

They understood the sin nature of man.

They learned representative government from Moses and his father in law Jethro.
Exod. 18:13-21
And the instructions to new testament churches to choose elders and deacons (representatives)
based on qualifications laid out in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1:6-9

A republic is a form of government where sovereign power
is lodged in representatives elected by the people.
Our founding Fathers shared the Christian view that man,
a sinner,
could not be trusted with unlimited power.

Interpreting Scripture and the script of human experience,
Witherspoon spoke often about human nature ...
His view of human nature must be seen in relation to his view of 'Dominion of Providence'
On the basis of this dependence,
Witherspoon could emphasize human depravity as universal and inevitable
without excluding or minimizing man's obvious potential for good.
The latter possibility was evidence of the preserving providence of God,
who was continually working to fulfill his promises and purposes.
Madison translated the views of Witherspoon on the nature of man into a political instrument.

Because our system of representative government was created by godly men,
like Madison and Witherspoon,
it needs the leavening of godly men and women to make it work -
whether acting as voters or as those elected to office.
This is not to say men must be perfect in order to have good government.
Such a hope is unrealistic,
But men - and women m- who understand and support the Biblical view
of man and government are needed to represent the people at all levels of government.

As Samuel Adams observed,
"He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country
who tries most to promote its virtue,
and who, so far as his power and influence extend,
will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust
who is not a wise and virtuous man ...
The sum of all is,
if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven,
let us become a virtuous people."

We twentieth century Americans have journeyed
far from the principles of our Founding Fathers.
No longer understanding our Constitution,
we have allowed the human desire for unchecked power
to circumvent constitutional law through executive orders,
judicial decrees,
or legislation that intrudes on the legitimate rights of the people.

Our Founders knew that the sin nature of man
required society to be protected from concentration of power in a few hands.
But they also knew that man had been created in the image and likeness of God and that,
with the aid of Divine Providence,
he was capable of self-government.

Thus James Madison wrote
concerning the plan of government finally agreed upon at the Constitutional Convention:
"The first question that offers itself is whether the general form
and aspect of the government be strictly republican.
It is evident that no other form would be reconcilable
with the genius of the people of America;
with the fundamental principles of the Revolution;
or with the honorable determination which animates every votary of freedom,
to rest all our political experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government."

The Biblical basis of this dual form of government
is derived from the Two Commandments of our Lord (Matt. 22:37-40)
"Our national sense, as Americans,
is predicated upon our willingness to be God-governened - the first commandment.
This is the basis for Christian Self-Government.
Our federal sense, as Christians, Washingtonians, Oregonians, etc. -
is predicated upon the second commandment.
The individual's relation to God and to man are hereby stated,
and for the Christian, there must be consistency in his behavior -
whether dealing with one neighbor - or two hundred million."

No other nation in history has accepted those of varying faiths and creeds
as has the United States of America.
Coercion is not the Christian way,
but persuasion and love.
"Come now and let us reason together" Isa.1:18).
Our warning is to the Christian community,
for if we do not persuade our fellow Americans
through our loving words and actions of the necessity for maintaining our nation's Biblical roots,
all of us
- both believers and unbelievers -
will be led down the well traveled path to slavery.

If Christians in America will learn to reason from principles (ideas)
to the issues of life (consequences) then they will be ready for battle and for victory.

God's critical path for the rebuilding of our nation begins with the self-governing Christian.
A godly nation is not simply prayed for and received;
it is built "line upon line,
precept upon precept"
(Is 28:10)
The self governing Christian is God's building-block for a Christian nation.

In Scripture,
the Christian is seen as more than a person who does good and avoids evil.
He has within him all the power necessary to bring all areas of life into submission to God,
which is his ordained purpose (I Cor. 10:31, II Cor. 10:5).
United with the Word of God and faith,
he will accomplish all that His Lord has commanded (Ps. 8:3-6)

"Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin.
Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion.
They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope.
They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society,
and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions,
civil, political, or literary.

Let us cherish these sentiments,
and extend this influence still more widely;
in the full conviction,
that that is the happiest society
which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity."

When the righteous are in authority. the people rejoice;
but when the wicked bearth rule, the people mourn.

is

Published by:

Rhine Publishing Co.

If you would like to have your essay published
as part of the American Wisdom Series
submit your manuscript to Rhine Publishing Co
at the address above for consideration, or e-mail us
at the address shown on our home page.

Click Here to Return to "The American Wisdom Series" home page.