The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum First Amendment & the Constitution

I heard the following statement today in relation to the American Constitution.


The context here has to do with a thread that was starting concerning the “separation of Church and State”. This person hates any mention of Christianity or the Judeo-Christian ethic that America was founded on.
It was a while ago now, I heard a sermon by Voddie Baucham (I think it was him) where he talked a bit about this.
He quoted from Americas founding documents as well as documents from a few States.
They sounded very clear on this issue.

Can someone with knowledge please speak to this?


Tom

In Congress, July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of the United States

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

It wasn't long after the Declaration and the Constitution that the Union recognized God in various ways:
1. The capitalized form "IN GOD WE TRUST" first appeared on the two-cent piece in 1864 and initially only appeared on coins, but it gradually became accepted among Americans. Much wider adoption followed in the 1950s. The first postage stamps with the motto appeared in 1954.
2.There are numerous displays of the Ten Commandments and similar religious symbols on federal property, including in federal court- houses, the United States Capitol, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, national monuments, and national park lands.
3. While the U.S. Constitution does not mention God, nearly all state constitutions reference either God or the divine, according to a 2017 analysis. God also appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and on U.S. currency.

Admittedly, the beliefs held by the founders in regard to "god" were not the God of Scripture, e.g., Deism was popularly held by some. But nearly all recognized there was a 'divine power' that existed and to whom/which all men were to confess and regulate their lives accordingly. The United States was never a theocracy and was never intended to be one. OT Israel is the ONLY theocracy that has been established by God and it was cast off by God and shall never exist again. The New Earth shall be the next and perfect theocracy and it shall never end. The Constitution does not mention God or Creator due to the nature of the document itself which was written as to establish a government and not as a statement of religious beliefs.