Continental Congress Members' Religious Background

• Elias Boudinot (President of CC) - Founder and first President of the American Bible Society; President of N.J. Bible Society; board member of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; member of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. To his daughter: "You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature - the absolute necessity of a change of heart, and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ ­p; of salvation thro' His meritorious righteousness only - and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."


• Francis Dana - Member of the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others


• John Lowell - Member of the Society for the Propagating of the Gospel among the Indians and Others.


• John Treadwell - Member of the Missionary Society of Connecticut


• William Samuel Johnson - Speaking as President of Columbia University to the first graduating class after the Revolutionary War: "Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God."

Signers of the Declaration of Independence - Christian Background

Many question whether our Founders really were Christians. Here are some facts about the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (See also the post from 10/25 about signers of the Constitution.)

• Adams, John - Congregationalist and later a Unitarian (he did not accept the Trinity). He said, "To enable me to maintain this declaration I rely, under God, with entire confidence on the firm and enlightened support of the national legislature and upon the virtue and patriotism of my fellow citizens." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Adams, Samuel - Congregationalist. "We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come." Also: "The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Bartlett, Josiah - Bartlett was a Congregationalist. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Braxton, Carter - Braxton was a member of the Episcopal church. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Carroll, Charles - Roman Catholic. Carroll said, "Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Chase, Samuel - Chase was an Episcopalian. As a Supreme Court Justince he said, "Religion is of general and public concern, and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people. By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Clark, Abraham - Clark was a Presbyterian, and said once, ""Nothing short of the Almighty Power of God can Save us-it is not in our Numbers, our Union, or our Valour that I dare trust." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Clymer, George - Was both a Quaker and an Episcopalian (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Ellery, William - Ellery was known as a Congregationalist and a devout Christian. From Lossing's "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" we hear, "As a patriot and a Christian, his name will ever be revered." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Floyd, William - Floyd was a Presbyterian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Gerry, Elbridge - Gerry was an Episcopalian. Promoted Massachusetts' Religious Freedoms Act. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Gwinnett, Button - Gwinnett was an Episcopalian and a Congregationalist. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hall, Lyman - Hall was a Congregationalist and served as a minister in Connecticut. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hancock, John - Hancock was a Congregationalist. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Harrison, Benjamin - Harrison was a member of the Episcopal church. He professed that religion was necessary to society and that government should support it. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hart, John - Hart was a Presbyterian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hewes, Joseph - Hewes was a Quaker and an Episcopalian. He was the son of a pious and well-to-do Quaker farmer and received a strict religious upbringing. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Heyward, Thomas - Heyward was a member of the Episcopal church. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hooper, William - Hooper was an Episcopalian. He was trained at Harvard as a minister. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hopkins, Stephen - He was a Quaker with an active interest in the church. He believed in the divinity of the Christian religion. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Hopkinson, Francis - Hopkinson was an Episcopalian. He became a Church music director and edited a hymnal that set all of 150 psalms to music. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Huntington, Samuel - He was a Congregationalist. According to B. J. Lossing's “Signers of the Declaration of Independence,” it is known that “Governor Huntington lived the life of the irreproachable and sincere Christian... as a devoted Christian and a true patriot, he never swerved from duty...” (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Jefferson, Thomas - Jefferson was probably best called a Deist, but he is also claimed by Unitarians and some Christian denominations. He was the one who penned the idea that our rights come from God (“Creator”) (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Lee, Francis Lightfoot - Lee was an Anglican and a devout Christian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Lee, Richard Henry - Lee was an Anglican and known as a sincere Christian. He professed that religion was necessary to society and that government should support it. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Lewis, Francis - Lewis was an Episcopalian. His father was an Episcopal clergyman, his mother was a clergyman's daughter. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Livingston, Philip - Livingston was a Presbyterian and belonged to an eminent Christian family. He followed the Christian religion. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Lynch, Thomas - Member of the Episcopal Church (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Madison, James - Member of the Episcopal Church. He said, "The belief in a God, all powerful, wise, and good, [is] essential to the moral order of the world, and to the happiness of man." (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• McKean, Thomas - McKean was a member of the Presbyterian Church. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Middleton, Arthur - Member of the Episcopal Church (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Morris, Lewis - Morris was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Morris, Robert - Member of the Episcopal Church (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Morton, John - Member of the Episcopal Church. In his will he said, “...for the settling of such temporal estate as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life...” (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Nelson, Thomas Jr. - Nelson was a member of the Episcopal church. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Paca, William - Paca was an Episcopalian and a consistent Christian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Paine, Robert - Paine left Calvinism to become a Unitarian. He served as a military chaplain. He said, "I am constrained to express my adoration of . . . the Author of my existence . . . [for] His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Penn, John - Penn was a member of the Episcopalian church. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Read, George - Read was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Signer of Constitution)


• Rodney, Caesar - Rodney was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Rush, Benjamin - Rush was a Presbyterian. He was founder and manager of the Philadelphia Bible Society (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Ross, George - Ross was an Anglican. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Rutledge, Edwards - Rutledge was an Anglican. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Smith, James - Smith was a Presbyterian. He was quite strick that those in his presense should not speak ill of Christianity. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Stockton, Richard - Stockton was a Presbyterian. He said, "I think it proper here not only to subscribe to . . . doctrines of the Christian religion . . . but also, in the bowels of a father's affection, to exhort and charge them [my children] that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Stone, Thomas - Stone was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Taylor, George - Taylor was a Presbyterian and the son of a clergyman. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Thornton, Matthew - Thornton was a member of the Presbyterian Church and known as a devout Christian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Walton, George - Walton was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Whipple, William - . (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Williams, William - Williams was a Congregationalist and a devout Christian. He studied for the ministry. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Witherspoon, John - Witherspoon was a Presbyterian. He said, "[S]hun, as a contagious pestilence,... those especially whom you perceive to be infected with the principles of infidelity or [who are] enemies to the power of religion" (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Signer of Constitution)


• Wolcott, Oliver - He was a Congregationalist and a devout Christian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence)


• Wythe, George - Wythe was a member of the Episcopal church. He helped draft instructions for an embassy in Canada, which said, "You are further to declare that we hold sacred the rights of conscience, and may promise to the whole people, solemnly in our name, the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion. And...that all civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination." (Signer of Declaration of Independence)

Church Can Not Open Charter School in New York

The State of New York does not permit a church to run a charter school. A clergyman want to do just that, but does not want to have to "hide" the church association by running it through a separate non-profit organization. He has started a lawsuit against the state to get permission to open his school. The story is here:

Harlem Clergyman Wants To Establish a New School

Laws such as New York's usually claim to be upholding the First Amendment. But the Amendment bars the Federal Government from establishing a religion. If you apply the same principle to the State Governments, there is still a difference between avoiding establishing a religion and actually prohibiting a religious group from operating with freedom.

One should remember that Thomas Jefferson, whose private letter is often referred to when someone is putting forth the idea of separation of church and state, was the president of the Washington, D.C. school system. During his tenure he specified that the primary reading materials used in the school system would be the Bible and the Watts Hymnal. It seems clear he did not mind Christian ideas being presented in school.

In the story linked above, note that the church does not want to teach about religion in this proposed charter school.

Christian Background of Signers of the Constitution

Here are some of the Signers of the Constitution who had pretty strong Christian convictions:

• Baldwin, Abraham - Chaplain in the American Revolution (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Bassett, Richard - Participated in writing the Constitution of Delaware, which states: "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust... shall... make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: 'I, ____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, an din the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.'" (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Bedford, Gunning - Funeral oration on the death of Washington: "Now to the triune God, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Blair, John - Member of the Episcopal Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Blount, William - Member of the Presbyterian Church. Helped draft the Tennessee Constitution, which said, “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State.” (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Brearly, David - A warden of St. Michael's Church, a compiler of the Protestant Episcopal Prayer Book, and a delegate to the Episcopal General Convention in 1786 (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Broom, Jacob - Writing to his son: "[D]on't forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head and I hope an indelible impression is made. " (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Butler, Pierce - Member of the Episcopal Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Carroll, Daniel - A Catholic who studied under the Jesuits at the College of St. Omer in Flanders (one of two Roman Catholics to sign the Constitution) (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Clymer, George - Was both a Quaker and an Episcopalian (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Dayton, Jonathan - Member of the Episcopal Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Dickinson, John - From his will: "To my Creator I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Few, William - Few was a devout Methodist and was known to donate generously to philanthropic causes. (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Fitzsimons, Thomas - Member of the Roman Catholic Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Franklin, Benjamin - Considered much more a Deist than a Christian. He was nonetheless a follower of the Bible, and said: "I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- God Governs in the Affairs of Men, And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, Is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid?...Except the Lord build the house, They labor in vain who build it." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Gilman, Nicholas - Gilman was a Congregationalist. (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Gorham, Nathaniel - A Congregationalist who helped write the Massachusett's Constitution, which required this in the oath for office: "...I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Hamilton, Alexander - Proposed formation of the Christian Constitutional Society to spread Christian government around the world. After the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he stated: "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." - from Diffine, D.P., One Nation Under God - How Close a Separation? (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Ingersoll, Jared - Member of the Presbyterian Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Johnson, William Samuel - Speaking as President of Columbia University to the first graduating class after the Revolutionary War: "Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• King, Rufus - Selected as manager of the American Bible Society. In a speech made before the Senate at the time Missouri was petitioning for statehood, he said: "I hold that all laws or compacts imposing any such condition [as involuntary servitude] upon any human being are absolutely void because contrary to the law of nature, which is the law of God." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Langdon, John - Vice President of the American Bible Society (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Livingston, William - Said, "I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, without any foreign comments or human explanations... I believe that he who feareth God and worketh righteousness will be accepted of Him..." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Madison, James - Member of the Episcopal Church. He said, "The belief in a God, all powerful, wise, and good, [is] essential to the moral order of the world, and to the happiness of man." (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• McHenry, James - President of the first Bible Society in Baltimore. In soliciting funds for distribution of Bibles, he wrote: "...Consider also, the rich do not possess aught more precious than their Bible, and that the poor cnnot be presented by the rich with anything of greater value." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Mifflin, Thomas - Known as both a Quaker and a Lutheran (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Morris, Gouverneur - [T]he most important of all lessons [from the Scriptures] is the denunciation of ruin to every State that rejects the precepts of religion (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Morris, Robert - Member of the Episcopal Church (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Paterson, William - Supreme Court Justice and a signer of the Constitution, declared that `Religion and morality ... [are] necessary to good government, good order, and good laws'; (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth - President of the Charleston Bible Society; Vice President of the American Bible Society (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Read, George - Read was an Episcopalian. (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Signer of Constitution)


• Rutledge, John - Member of the Episcopal Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Sherman, Roger - (Signer of all 4 of our founding documents). When asked by his church, White Haven Congregational, to help revise the wording of their creed: "I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Spaight, Richard Dobbs - Member of the Episcopal Church (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Washington, George - Member of the Episcopal Church. In his prayer at Valley Forge he said, "Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant, who humbly prorate myself before Thee." (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Wilson, James - Wilson was an Episcopalian and a Presbyterian. Supreme Court Justice. He declared that "Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine ... Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants" (Delegate to Constitutional Convention, Signer of Constitution)


• Witherspoon, John - Witherspoon was a Presbyterian. He said, "[S]hun, as a contagious pestilence,... those especially whom you perceive to be infected with the principles of infidelity or [who are] enemies to the power of religion" (Signer of Declaration of Independence, Signer of Constitution)

The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact, signed before the voyagers came ashore, is the first governing document of the U.S. Note that in the hard to read old English style below, the founders declared that they were here for the "glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith."

"In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord King James by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c. Haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick; for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof, to enacte, constitute, and frame shuch just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye .11. of November, in ye year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord King James of England, France, & Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom .1620."