American Christianity

What were the factors and influences that enabled the founding fathers to create a constitution and nation with a Christian basis. Even though the founders were involved with different Christian denominations, and some were Deists, all believed there needed to be a Christian basis to have a just society. The ancient Greek republics philosophies and ideas created a foundation for the political aspect, while utilizing the ideas of natural law decried by English philosopher John Locke played a part on the religious aspect of God given rights. The idea of a nation designed with the Bible in mind came to fruition by Thomas Paine in his writing of Common Sense in 1775 advocating independence from Great Britain. Now let us start from the beginning of what influenced the American Christian founding.

One of the main influences was English philosopher John Locke, born in 1632 and died in 1704. While reading the Bible and understanding its teachings and ideas, John Locke established the idea of man being free within the state of nature. He believed man should be governed within the bounds of the law of nature[1]. Man should only judge man based on the terms set out by nature because Locke believed that God gave every man a natural right of freedom.

John Locke

               Natural law derives from the idea of church fathers that positive law is a law designed to promote the rights of an individual. Thomas Aquinas’s theory is that the legal validity of positive law is derived from its rational connection with natural law, and it holds good if its legally valid and not unjust[2]. This is the same concept of American liberty, of having freedom without intervention of the government or legal privileges provided by the government.

  Seventeenth century England was a political time that went from a monarchy to a constitutional monarchy that gave power to parliament. Also, during this time, the church of England was against puritanism, and a clergyman that wanted the God given right of man to preach his belief and decrease suffrage. Thomas Hooker was a preacher that fled to Massachusetts, then settled in Connecticut to form his own congregation. Hooker believed that it is a God given right for anyone to vote and not just relegated to men of the church[3]. His ideas were considered radical at the time but set the precedent for the future concept of a separation of church and state.

Thomas Aquinas

               It was a tumultuous time in Europe during the seventeenth century, and particularly England. The dichotomy and resistance from both Protestants and followers of Catholicism and the difference in doctrine and ideology. Protestantism allowed for ideas such as Locke’s which gave the people independent thought and relationships with God. It allowed for an idea for the law of nature. Catholicism had an authoritarian approach and only allows for the church to interpret scripture and disallow an independent view within a Catholic run area[4]. England’s King Charles II converted to Catholicism in 1673, which poised a threat to Protestants within England.

               This led to the Puritans trekking across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620 and establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony where modern-day Boston Massachusetts is today. John Winthrop was an English Puritan, lawyer and second governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. He had an idea of a godly community and provided a famous sermon about a city upon a hill and how the world will be looking at them and they need to lead by example[5]. The Puritans were intelligent, Godly, and family-oriented. They wanted the followers of their faith to be intelligent, hard working and able to read the Bible and interpret their own meanings. The Puritans created Harvard College in 1636 with primary emphasis on religious studies[6]. Most modern-day Ivy league universities were created in the colonial period with a religious dichotomy in mind.

John Winthrop

               Puritans and early settlers believed church service was imperative to their lives and would devote an entire day to God and church service could last up to six hours. The early colonial settlers from the early 1600’s were considered the original founding fathers that laid the foundations for the religious, intellectual, and social order of the colonies.

               The thirteen British American colonies, although came to America for freedom from religious persecution, separated themselves by religion. All thirteen colonies had some form of state supported religion, which was all Protestant in nature but of different denominations in the different areas. This was due to conflicts of interest and differing opinions on how to govern or believe.

               The New England region was dominated by Congregationalists, including Puritans and Separatists such as the Pilgrims. The Middle region had great religious diversity, with many Lutherans, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Quakers, and members of German and Dutch reformed churches[7]. Therefore, it made it difficult for all the colonies to see eye to eye on certain aspects and all come together as one.

British Colony religion breakdown

               The Great Awakening, that occurred between 1730 and 1755, was influenced in part by George Whitefield. Whitefield was an English minister and one of the founders of Methodism and played a part in the evangelical movement. His extensive travels and powerful sermons helped to unify the American colonies, by preaching to all thirteen colonies and fostering a sense of shared identity.

               His teachings encouraged colonists to think critically about authority and individual rights. The emphasis of personal liberty and resistance to hierarchical control paralleled the mindset of the American revolutionary sentiment[8]. Many of the founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin, were influenced by Whitefield’s ideas. The idea of individual rights and moral responsibility echoed the political philosophies of the time.

               Johnathan Edwards the third president of Princeton University and theologian had a significant impact on American thought and the founding fathers. His movement during the great awakening emphasized personal faith and piety over institutionalized religion which resonated with the values of individual liberty and self-governance[9]. His sermons and writings emphasized the sovereignty of God and the importance of personal morality. Those ideas contributed to a culture that valued moral integrity and accountability. Edwards concept of a national covenant where the community is bound by a moral and spiritual commitment, echoed in the founding fathers’ vision of a united, morally responsible Republic.

               Thomas Jefferson was one of the founding fathers and the third president of the United States of America. In 1774 Jefferson wrote and published A Summary View of the Rights of British America, which explained the grievances against British policies affecting colonist’s rights. There are different aspects and schemes Jefferson focuses on and one of them is the emphasis on natural rights and the concept of the law of nature and rights given by God[10]. Jefferson was hoping to inform the colonists and lead to a negotiate with the crown instead of a potential war. The summary was sent to Philadelphia, New York and London, which opened the eyes of the colonists and led them to believe that a declaration of independence was inevitable.

Thomas Jefferson

               The Constitution itself does not explicitly mention Christianity, the language and concepts used in both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution reflect a worldview that was heavily influenced by Christian thought. The Declaration of Independence famously states that “all men are created equal” and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

               The Constitution’s first amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion and prohibits the establishment of a state religion. This reflects the Christian principle of religious liberty, which was important to many of the founding fathers who sought to avoid the religious conflicts that had plagued Europe.

               The experiment known as America which came from a continent one known as Christendom, now Europe, was thought up over many years utilizing the word of God provided by the Geneva Bible utilized by British Americas original colonists. It came to fruition in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and the brilliant minds of the founding fathers with the use of a Christian basis developed the Constitution in 1787.

[1] Locke, John, and Ian Shapiro. Two Treatises of Government : And a Letter Concerning Toleration. New Haven, Conn. ; Yale University Press, 2003. 16.

[2] Santori, Paolo. Thomas Aquinas and the Civil Economy Tradition : The Mediterranean Spirit of Capitalism. London ; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021. 125.

[3] Shuffelton, Frank. Thomas Hooker, 1586-1647. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977. 151.

[4] Johannes, and Charles II. England’s Alarm, or, A Most Humble Declaration, Address and Fervent Petition to His Most Excellent Majesty, Charles the Second, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and to His Most Honourable and Grand Council the Parliament of England, as Also to the City of London, and the Whole Nation in General Concerning the Great Overtures, Catastrophe’s and Grand Occurrences about to Inundate and Pour in upon Us as the Judgments of Almighty God upon Antichrist and His Adherents, and the Pride, Nauseancy and Errour of Professors in the Years 1680 and 1681. London: Printed for Thomas Pasham ..., 1679. 5.

[5] Van Engen, Abram C. City on a Hill : A History of American Exceptionalism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020. 19.

[6] Vaughan, Alden T, and Inc NetLibrary. The Puritan Tradition in America, 1620-1730. Revised edition. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1997. 245.

[7] Noll, Mark A, Luke E Harlow, and Inc NetLibrary. Religion and American Politics : From the Colonial Period to the Present. Second edition. Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2007. 25.

[8] Scotland, Nigel. George Whitefield : The First Transatlantic Revivalist. Oxford: Lion Books, 2019. 114.

[9] Daniel, Stephen H. (Stephen Hartley), and Inc NetLibrary. The Philosophy of Jonathan Edwards : A Study in Divine Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. 104.

[10] Jefferson, Thomas, and John Dunlap. A Summary View of the Rights of British America : Set Forth in Some Resolutions Intended for the Inspection of the Present Delegates of the People of Virginia, Now in Convention. By a Native, and Member of the House of Burgesses. Philadelphia: Williamsburg: printed: Philadelphia: re-printed by John Dunlap, 1774.