Did none of those 24 heed the words of Romans 13:1-7?
Unless one of the founding fathers has written about Romans 13 and how the cause of American independence was aligned with Scripture in this context, we will never know what they were thinking. I personally know Christians who believe the founding fathers were wrong to oppose British tyranny and I also know others who believe that not only was their cause correct, but that it was only by God’s providence and protection that the fledgling band of revolutionary fighters could possibly wage a winning battle against the most powerful military in the world at that time. Of course, if we take a literal interpretation of Romans 13, and we should, then every government and every leader that has ever existed was and is appointed by God. So the mere fact that the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution exist and that George Washington was the first president of the United States means that the actions and government established by the founders was pre-ordained by God.
The debates about what could or should have been done back in 1770’s can go on forever. The point is that it is a documented fact that a large portion of the signers of the Declaration were Christian and they were fully committed to founding a nation that offered freedom and a voice to its citizens to live, worship and engage in commerce without an overburdened and overly powerful centralized government. There have been many books written about how the founding fathers used the principles of Scripture to construct what has now become the longest-running and most replicated constitution ever to exist in the world. It’s an exceptional form of government, current corruptions and insolvency notwithstanding, and the men who authored the documents deserve our gratitude and respect. And, we should not try to discount their personal beliefs in God because it is no longer fashionable in a now secular nation to admit to faith in God or the influence that faith may have on the public square.
I would challenge anyone to find a biblical basis for Freedom of Speech.
Well, first of that is in the Bill of Rights, not the Constitution so the authorship is not reflected in the same. Nevertheless on this and the other points you made, we would be wise to remember that the Bible is not a textbook, with all of the answers for life provided therein. The important information about knowing, loving and serving God in faith is certainly there, but we don’t find information about what time to get up in the morning, how to brush our teeth, or any other such information about how to form and run a representative republic should we ever have the opportunity to do so. It’s the difference between Interpretation and Application. First we interpret the text, then we seek to apply the true interpretation in any and all aspects of life. God didn’t tell Adam and Eve which fruit they should eat, He simply told them that they may freely eat except for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave them nearly unlimited freedom within the limits of His one restriction.
Simply because the Fathers uttered or penned it does not make is so. These were men, and as such were subject to the same tendency towards weakness, error, prejudice and interest that inflict us all. Even the most like-minded of them would disagree on finer details, and many made prophecies and prognostications that never came to be. Given that many worked and wrote over the course of their lives it's no surprise that we can find contradictory or confused quotes coming from the same person or groups of people. We must keep in mind also that these men lived an an era in which the lack of scientific understanding made the ascribing of natural phenomena to the will of god all the easier. The upshot of this paragraph being, just because the Founders credit god as the grantor of liberty to does not make it unquestionably true; these were not prophets espousing revelation but professionals stating opinion and rousing popular sentiment for a cause.
I agree; the actions and statements made by these men were entirely subject to human fallibility and error, unlike Scripture which is not. However, what these men penned was ultimately ratified through a constitutional process and it is now the law of the land.
My purpose here is to combat the notion that religious faith or belief in a god is somehow requisite or otherwise necessary to enjoy American rights, or the idea that disbelief in and of itself is mutually exclusive or inherently opposed to freedom. I believe the opposite is true. Some say non-believers can't make good Americans, I say those that hold such an opinion don't understand the true nature or depth of the American concept of Liberty.
I agree here too. Many people with no concept of God enjoy the rewards of living in this nation. No one is suggesting that people somehow be forced into a religious system they don’t believe in. There are faiths and countries around the world, mostly in the middle east, that do follow such a course of action (religion by force), but not the US. There is no shortage of unbelievers who are model citizens, though there eternal destiny is in peril; similarly, there is also unfortunately no shortage of believing Christians who are miserable citizens, but because they have their faith and hope in the one true Savior, their eternal position is secure. Jesus didn’t die to make bad men good; He died to freely give eternal life to all who believe in Him.
