While some revisionists try to portray the nation’s Founding Fathers as being nominally Christian, Hice says the historical record paints a different picture.

For example, few Americans know that the nation’s first Congress founded the American Bible Society and paid for the purchase and importation of 20,000 copies of Scripture for U.S. citizens. Even fewer Americans know that Thomas Jefferson was the founding chairman of the society.

The following was provided by Ten Commandments – Georgia in its role of informing society about the Christian nature of the nation’s early patriots.

For a look at the opening preambles of the 50 state constitutions and their references to God, go to www.christianindex.org and clink on the link related to this week’s coverage of the Ten Commandments.

 

• In 1776, Patrick Henry wrote: “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 that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”

 

• Thomas Jefferson never called himself a Diest as some claim, but did proclaim his belief in Christ when he stated: “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator.”

 

• On July 4, 1821, President John Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” America’s founders did not intend for there to be a separation of God and state, as shown by the fact that all 50 states acknowledge God in their constitutions, Hice adds.