John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States, once referenced the historic event that led to America’s independence as follows:

“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: that it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

Patrick Henry, Founding Father and first Governor of Virginia, stated:

“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 Jay, one of the three men most responsible for the US Constitution, and the 1st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said:

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

Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, 3rd President of the US, and a theistic rationalist, stated:

“The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion in the world that deals with the heart.”

It was the belief of all these men that God cannot, and should not, be moved from the social and governmental construct of America.¹

Almost 40 years ago, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, sounded this warning to an increasingly secularized nation:

“Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience…. without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure…. If we ever forget that we are one Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under.” ²

While we are not yet “a Nation gone under,” we certainly seem to be a nation that pays lip service to God and Christian principles.

Yes, we have moved far from our nation’s beginnings. Many are unschooled even in our own history. Many today are not even aware of some fundamental facts of our nation’s founding that surround this national holiday on the 4th of July known as Independence Day.

A July 4th Quick Test
Take this little informal poll at your 4th of July gathering this Holiday Weekend. Ask people the following questions:

• What is the Declaration of Independence? Answer: a list of grievances and statements dated July 4, 1776 that the original 13 colonies (ultimately the first states) were no longer under foreign rule and were to be a free and independent nation.
• From whom were Americans declaring independence? Answer: England.
• What’s the difference from the US Constitution? Answer: the Declaration proclaimed an independent nation in 1776, the Constitution laid out the legal foundation by which the new country should run and work. It is considered the supreme law of the country and went into effect in 1789.
• What was the approximate effective tax rate charged to Americans in 1776? Answer: While there was no national income tax until 1913, colonial and early Americans paid approximately 1-1.5% of income in tariffs and excise taxes.
• How many Americans lived in the 13 colonies in 1776? Answer: 2.5 million.
• What hot topic was removed from mention in the Declaration after considerable debate? Answer: Slavery. Jefferson’s paragraph strongly criticizing British promotion of slavery was removed to appease the southern colonies, which were deemed critical to the successful establishment of the new nation.

While “taxation without representation” was a voiced grievance of the original 13 colonies, there were other dynamics going on.

Believe it or not, Christianity was in play here.

54 of 56 Signers Were Christians
Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Christians (54 out of 56). That statement does not mean they were all evangelical Christians as we would think today. And no, they were not all Deists.³ They all acknowledged a higher power in some form. Twenty-seven (27) of them held theology degrees.

The signers intended the document to officiate the separation between America and Great Britain (England). However, they based the Declaration upon a greater foundational belief that God, or as written in the Declaration “Creator,” was the source for men’s irrevocable rights.

These were principled men with a purpose and vision for the birth of a nation that would be free from tyrannical control.

One of the signers, Samuel Adams, said: 

“Just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty, in matters spiritual and temporal, is a thing that all men are clearly entitled to by the eternal and immutable laws of God and nature, as well as by the laws of nations and all well-grounded and municipal laws, which must have their foundation in the former.” ⁴

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration, also believed “God who gave us life gave us liberty.” (Note: as written on the Jefferson Memorial.)

Christian Principled
Again, one should not be so naive as to believe all the signers and founders were saints as men and extremely devout as Christians, or even their families after them. But again, they proclaimed that:

“all men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”

They translated that freedom to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” – including freedom of religion and freedom from state-run religion. Yes, they believed in a Creator and they believed in God’s bestowing human freedom and moral law that arises directly from the Bible. It was George Washington, the nation’s 1st president, in his farewell address who stated: 

“[F]orbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Modern Changes
Sadly, today in America the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians has dropped over 10 points in 16 years, from 78% in 2007 to 70% in 2014, to 68% in 2023. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” now called “Nones” is up to 22% in 2023, up from 17% in 2009.⁵ Other faiths amount to 10% of Americans, up from 8% in 2017.

Is this because God changed or did people’s perceptions of God change?

Certainly the latter. God has not changed – we’ve moved and strayed. But what about Christianity?

Same Christianity as in 1776?
The fundamentals of Christianity, whether we like them, acknowledge them, or believe them, are still the same. They do not change. Society may tweak its beliefs, but Christianity and a Biblical worldview stay the same.

Yes, that same Christianity in play throughout the past 2000 years: during the time of America’s founding (late 1700s), the Reformation (1500s), the Renaissance (1400-1700s), the Crusades (1100-1200s), the founding of Islam (early 600s), the demise of the Roman Empire (late 400s), was and still is essentially as follows despite human distortions and manipulation of Biblical Truth:

• Man and the universe were created by God
• Man sinned and was separated from God
• Jesus Christ died an atoning substitute death for our sins
• We are restored to God through surrendered faith and identity with Christ.
• The Bible is the written inspired Word of God.

Indeed, throughout the thread of human history God/Jesus has been revealed and manifested through faith-intended human endeavors, including the birth of America on July 4, 1776. Our challenge is to return to God, His Word and Truth, and reevaluate our lives against that standard, not that of a secularized culture.

Have a Happy 4th of July!
_______________________________
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. – 1 Peter 2:16

¹ Illustrations and Quotes, in Bible.org; https://bible.org/illustration/quotes-44.

² Ronald Reagan, Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast, August, 1984 https://www.gotquestions.org/kingdom-heaven-God.html.

³ Did America Have a Christian Founding, by Mark David Hall, The Heritage Foundation, June 7, 2011, https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/did-america-have-christian-founding.

⁴ The Rights of the Colonists – The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772, by Samuel Adams, Hanover Historical Text Project,  https://history.hanover.edu/texts/adamss.html.

⁵ American Worldview Inventory, Arizona Christian University, Cultural Research Center, June 2023, https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CRC_AWV12023_Release_05.pdf.