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Origins of the Constitution

Have We Lost the Source of Truth?

I have seen a number of articles and essays that tell us that our Constitution had its origins from Cicero, Plato and other thinkers and rulers of the Greek and Roman period. They add the thinking of the “enlightenment period” of the eighteenth century that provided the wisdom and teaching that “man is the measure of all things”. Certainly, our founders were well educated in the classics and read the current philosophers and their ideas that we had evolved to new heights of thinking about government. It is a relatively easy search, however, of the records of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the influence of the Declaration of Independence and state constitutions to arrive at the literature that most affected their thinking.

The most quoted source in their arguments was the Bible and particularly the Torah or first five books of the Bible. Some will point out that Blackstone’s work on the law was quoted almost as often, however it must be noted that his conclusions were very much based on the same Biblical standards. John Locke’s writings were important as well and he would rank into the top three of importance but again his arguments were heavily influenced by the truth of scripture/

We don’t have a leader today that takes us back to the vantage point of the American Revolution and the origins of the Constitution. During the Civil War there was Abraham Lincoln who addressed the evils of the hour but addressed them in the light of the Declaration of Independence and “the better angel of the American experiment for all.” We need leaders that talk about what made America “great in the first place”! There is the “master story of freedom” and it came from the Bible. Os Guinness in his book The Magna Carta of Humanity – Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and The Future of Freedom quotes Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who states that, “The book Exodus and the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures as a whole are nothing less than the Magna Carta of humanity”.

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He further states “as a republic of free and equal citizens held together not by hierarchy or power but by the moral bond of covenant.” As John Adams stated that, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” A covenant (or Constitution) is certainly a foundational law, it provides a framework for freedom, and it truly begins with a pledge given at a certain moment in time. Freedom and trust are living truths. Unfortunately, we have lost our trust and faith in leaders on a national and local level. We have lost faith in institutions like the FBI, law enforcement, medicine and so much more. The Pledge of Allegiance dies if it is ever allowed to be trite words in rote order.

Daniel L. Dreisbach has written an insightful book entitled Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers which reinforces our understanding of the human condition. He writes, “The Constitution’s basic design, defined by the separation of powers and checks and balances, reflected an awareness of original sin (Genesis 3) and the necessity to guard against the concentration or abuse of government powers vested in fallen human actors. Madison concurred, “that all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Humankind’s fallen nature was a familiar theme in James Madison’s writings and, more generally, in the political literature of the founding era. Because men are not angels, Madison famously counseled in Federalist 51.”

Our children are not taught about our nature, liberty and freedom and how we need to protect it. The French Revolution in 1789 was the direct opposite of 1776. They attacked Christianity by killing thousands of nuns and priests and turning churches into “Temples of Reason”. The failure of this is self-evident today. Are we going to reform our country by going back to basic principles or are we on our way to 1789?

Recently Senator John Kennedy stumped a Biden judicial nominee for a federal judgeship with some basic questions. Senator Kennedy in his Louisiana, Southern approach can be very disarming and yet get to the heart of the matter. He asked Judge Charnelle Jjelkengren if she could tell him what Article V of the Constitution does? She replied Article V is not coming to mind at the moment. How about Article I he asked? Again, she responded by saying neither is Article I. These are very basic parts of the Constitution which is not very long. You can click on the link to watch the exchange.

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/01/26/watch-sen-john-kennedy-stumps-a-biden-judicial-nominee-with-some-basic-questions-n694136

What is interesting is that Article V was added to the Constitution just before ratification as a means for the States to rein in an out-of-control national government and bureaucracy. Not that we need that now! This is a good time, however, to understand the roots of our Constitution and Article V. Don’t take a nominee for a federal judgeship as your example.

Tucker Carlson had an excellent interview recently with Mark Meckler, the President of the Convention of the States. Whether you agree or not with the movement it is an enlightening discussion. https://conventionofstates.com/news/a-shock-to-the-system-mark-meckler-and-tucker-carlson-discuss-convention-of-states Attache Os Guinness says it best, “Freedom requires virtue, virtue requires faith and faith requires freedom.” Do we know what time it is? Become informed and take action.

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2 replies on “Origins of the Constitution”

More propaganda attempting to “baptize” the Constitution in a futile attempt to make it biblically compatible.

There’s only one moral standard by which everything (including the Constitution) is to be ethically evaluated: By Yahweh’s unchanging morality as reflected in the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments. Anything else is merely fickle man’s capricious humanism – that is man doing what’s right in his own eyes, per Judge 21:25 – aka We the Peopleism.

When the Constitution is actually examined by the biblical standard instead of dead politicians’ cherry picked quotations, it’s found to be anything but biblically compatible. In fact, there’s hardly an Article or Amendment that’s not antithetical, if not seditious, to Yahweh’s sovereignty and morality.

For evidence, see free online book “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective,” in which every Article and Amendment is *examined* by the Bible, at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/blvc-index.html

See also free online book “Biblical Examination of the Declaration of Independence: Declaration of Liberty vs. Declaration of Independence” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/declaration/declaration-index.html

Then find out how much you really know about the Constitution as compared to the Bible. Take our 10-question Constitution Survey in the sidebar and receive a free copy of the 85-page “Primer” of “BL vs. USC.”

As for the oft-parroted use of the separation of powers as alleged evidence for the Constitution being biblically inspired:

“…Isaiah 33:22 is, arguably, today’s Christians’ favorite proof text in attempting to make the Constitution biblically compatible:

‘For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king….’ (Isaiah 33:22)

“Isaiah 33:22 depicts three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial—the same as in the U.S. Constitution. Thus, it’s often parroted that Isaiah 33:22 was the inspiration for the Constitutional Republic’s three-branch government—despite the fact that this claim was never made by even one of the constitutional framers.

“If you were constructing a government based upon Yahweh as its Sovereign and His moral law as supreme would you not go out of your way to acknowledge God and credit His Word for everything in your document inspired by His Word? Of course you would!

“That the constitutional framers didn’t do so proves by itself that neither they nor their Constitution is what Christians wish it to be. It also means today’s Christians are endeavoring to make a silk purse out of sow’s ear.

“Glaring Inconsistencies

“If the United States Constitutional Republic’s three-branch government is biblical, then today’s Constitution of the Russian Federation (adopted on December 12, 1993) is also biblically inspired for the same reason:

‘State power in the … [Russian Federation] shall be exercised on the basis of its division into legislative, executive and judicial authority [even the order is the same as the U.S. Constitution’s]. Bodies of legislative, executive and judicial authority shall be independent [same as with US Constitution].’ (Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 10)

“If the United States Constitution is biblically based because of its three branches of government, then so is Russia’s current Constitution. By this standard, there’s hardly a constitution in existence that’s not biblically inspired including the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Socialist Republics, inspired by Marx and Lenin. Chapters two, five, and nine are devoted to its legislative, executive, and judicial branches and also found in the same order as the United States Constitution and Isaiah 33:22.

“How about a Constitution that quotes Scripture? Certainly a Constitution that quotes the Bible would be biblical.

“If this is true, then, once again, the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Socialist Republics is biblically compatible because 2 Thessalonians 3:10 is found therein:

‘In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principal: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”’ (Chapter 1, Article 12)

“You can also find, among others, the following biblically compatible components in the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation:

“Equality before the law, per Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 9

“Protection for the life of everyone, per Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 20

“Capital punishment for murderers, per Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 20

“Innocence until proven guilty, per Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 49

“The same can be done with any nation’s Constitution.

“Do biblically compatible components mean the Constitution of the Russian Federation is biblically inspired or even biblically compatible? Of course not! And yet similar lists created by wishful Christians have been produced with similar components extracted from the United States Constitution that the compilers, in turn, claim prove the U.S. Constitution is biblically inspired.

“Just because there are biblical components in a Constitution does not make the Constitution biblically compatible, especially when the same document is riddled with components that are not only biblically adverse but biblically seditious. Case in point: the United States Constitution in which there’s hardly an Article or Amendment that’s not biblically egregious….”

For more, see Chapter 12 of free online book “Biblical Examination of the Declaration of Independence: Declaration of Liberty vs. Declaration of Independence” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/declaration/declaration-index.html

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