Declaration of Independence Archives

The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

“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.” Those words are from the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28).

In 1938, the Fourth of July was declared a national holiday, even though only John Hancock and Charles Thompson signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. Most of the others signed it on August 2nd of that year. However, independence from King George III and Britain required eight years of war. One has to wonder what the signers would think if they saw America today.

The two quotes at the head of this article do not contradict each other. They both state an ideal that has yet to be achieved. Denying the Creator and viewing humans as only animals existing by the survival of the fittest has generated conflict threatening the standard stated in the Preamble. Racism and misogyny violate both the Declaration and the Bible. The question is, what should be the role of Christians in a country that has veered away from the beliefs of the founding fathers?

The ancient Roman government was corrupt, immoral, violent, racist, and misogynistic. Both Rome and the Jewish establishment fought the teachings of Jesus that defied all of those violations of God’s will. The government allowed babies to be killed by just throwing them into the street and the government sanctioned prostitution. In Romans 13, the apostle Paul advises Christians living under that corrupt government to “submit to the governing authorities” (Verse 1). Paul also told Christians to pay taxes, give revenue, and give honor to governing authorities (Verses 6-7).

Now in 2023, we are facing similar problems, and Christians must not respond with violence or rebellion. We can vote and let others know of our convictions about equality for all. We can still endorse the statements of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. This July 4th, Independence Day, is an excellent time to reflect on past lessons from God and from our national history.

Reference: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, almanac.com

America's Founding Fathers
There is a continuing effort by atheists and skeptics to claim that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written by men who were deists, agnostics, and atheists. The fact is that of the 54 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 29 were ordained ministers of established churches and most of the others were deeply religious men involved in the Christian faith. That was the character of America’s founding fathers. Those historical documents came from a Christian heritage based on three fundamental Christian values:

CHRISTIAN VALUE # 1 – The equality of all humanity before God. The Christian notion of equality says that people are equal because (1) God made humanity in His image. (2) He loved us enough to sacrifice His son for each of us. That is the basis of, “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.”

CHRISTIAN VALUE # 2 – Human nature is evil. God holds mankind to a higher standard of goodness based on His law, and because of our fallen nature, we fail to reach this standard. The separation of powers and a system of checks and balances were written into the constitution to limit what the government can do and were written by men who knew the nature of humans.

CHRISTIAN VALUE # 3 – God was willing to sacrifice His Son giving each of us an opportunity for salvation. In America, each individual has the right to participate in electing our representatives. The Bill of Rights seeks to protect the rights of the individual. Only a high valuation of the individual could produce a society that granted all people regardless of race, gender, or social position, inalienable rights that no one, not even a king, could take away.

Today our culture attempts to denigrate Christianity, and society attempts to take away the rights that America’s founding fathers wrote into our historical documents. We must not allow the belief system of the founders of our country to be ignored.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
(This article was based on the writings of Dr. Andrew Stebbins published on Reasons to Believe’s Blog. You can read the article at reasons.org.)

Tag: Declaration of Independence

America’s Founding Fathers and Christianity