TEXAS, THE BIBLE & THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

The inclusion of Bible stories in Texas Public School curriculum is being challenged with the claim that it violates the U. S. Constitution. This, however, is a fallacious claim, based on a contorted interpretation of the First Amendment wrenched from its historical setting.

The truth is that the Bible in public schools is in complete harmony with the thinking of America’s founding generation. This is obvious from the following examples from America’s early history.

The first English Bible printed in America in 1782 included an endorsement from Congress. The producer of this Bible, Robert Aitken, called it, “a neat Edition of the Scriptures for the use in schools.” Congress enthusiastically responded to his request for an endorsement and offered the following recommendation, which was included in this first English Bible printed in America.

Resolved: That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion as well as an instance of the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.

This was neither surprising nor controversial for the Bible was the most popular book in America at the time of its founding. America’s founding generation found in the pages of the Bible its moral compass, its guide for ethics, and the intellectual underpinnings for its worldview.

This is why, on September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress opened with the reading of the entire 35th Psalm followed by an extended time of prayer. John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, of the impact of the Bible reading on the delegates, which included himself, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and other founding fathers. He wrote,

It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read that day. I saw tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave pacific Quakers of Philadelphia. I must beg you to read that Psalm (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 108).

A ten-year study to determine where the founders got their ideas for America’s founding documents discovered that they quoted the Bible far more than any other source (Hyatt, 1726: The Year thatDefined America, 167-68). This is why no one was surprised when George Washington took the first presidential oath of office with his hand on a Bible by which he made clear that he saw this public act as a sacred oath before God.

A December 27, 1982 article in Newsweek magazine, entitled “How the Bible Made America,” highlighted this profound impact of the Bible on America’s founding generation. The authors wrote,

For centuries, the Bible has exerted an unrivaled influence on American culture, politics, and social life. Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a special, sacred nation, a people called by God to establish a model of society, a beacon to the world.

The First Amendment, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise thereof,” was formulated to block Congress from ever establishing a government-run national church. That it was created to keep the Bible out of the public arena, is a new and novel concept rooted in a secularist worldview.

The First Amendment was created to keep government influence out of the church, not the other way around. We must remember the words of John Adams, who as America’s second president, declared, “Our constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (Hyatt, 1726:The Year that Defined America, 168).

This article is derived from Eddie Hyatt's book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, and is available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. He is the founder of the "1726 Project" whose purpose is to recover America's Godly Heritage of faith and freedom.