Declaration Of Independence P4

Last week I began talking about the faith of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Reading both the public and private writings of those who signed the Declaration of Independence confirms the strong Christian faith so many of them held. Notice how many directly referenced specific Bible verses and Christian doctrines when speaking or writing about their faith. Here are a few representative examples.

Richard Stockton: I subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God (Genesis 1:1); the universal defection and depravity of human nature (Romans 3:23); the Divinity of the person (John 1:14) and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior (Ephesians 1:7); the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit (John 16:8-14); of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life (Ephesians 2:8-10); and the universality of the Divine Providence (Psalm 22:28).

I exhort and charge (my children) that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), that the way of life held up in the Christian system its calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state, (and) that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or consequentially—-even in this life.”

Another representative example of strong Christian faith in a Signer is Charles Carrol; On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits, not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts (Ephesians 2:8-9). I am grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ our Lord, He has conferred on my beloved country. 

More on this next week for another American Moment.

Sourced From The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton.