Founding Father Quotes
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"Freedom of religion" or "freedom from religion"?
It would do us well to read their own words to understand if this was really the intent of the
Founding Fathers. Here are a few samplings. You be the judge.
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government
- far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions 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."
- James Madison
"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. For this
very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of
worship here."
- Patrick Henry
"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the
privilege of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
- John Jay, First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
- President George Washington
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the
strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other."
- President John Adams
(Speaking of July 4, 1776):
"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by generations as the great anniversary festival.
It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty."
- President John Adams
"The rights to freedom being the gift of God Almighty...'The Rights of the Colonists as
Christians' may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great
Law Giver, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."
- Samuel Adams
"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated
but with His wrath?"
- President Thomas Jefferson
"Have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His
assistance? I have lived, Sir (Madison) a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot
fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that 'except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this: and I also believe that without His concurring
aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."
- Benjamin Franklin, speaking to the Constitutional Convention
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness."
- Declaration of Independence
It would do us well to read their own words to understand if this was really the intent of the
Founding Fathers. Here are a few samplings. You be the judge.
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government
- far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions 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."
- James Madison
"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. For this
very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of
worship here."
- Patrick Henry
"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the
privilege of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
- John Jay, First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
- President George Washington
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the
strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other."
- President John Adams
(Speaking of July 4, 1776):
"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by generations as the great anniversary festival.
It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty."
- President John Adams
"The rights to freedom being the gift of God Almighty...'The Rights of the Colonists as
Christians' may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great
Law Giver, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."
- Samuel Adams
"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated
but with His wrath?"
- President Thomas Jefferson
"Have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His
assistance? I have lived, Sir (Madison) a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot
fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that 'except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this: and I also believe that without His concurring
aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."
- Benjamin Franklin, speaking to the Constitutional Convention
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness."
- Declaration of Independence
Win the lost - Win the race
Purpose Baptist Church