Founding Fathers quotes that mention God

A Great Seal sketch by Benson John Lossing.

Founding Fathers quotes that mention God, Scripture, Christianity and quoted other authors that mentioned the same. In this modern era, liberals are intent on proclaiming to anybody that will listen that the United States was not founded on Christianity. While the USA is not a theocracy, it was colonized by Christians and Christianity was the major influence of its' foundation. Liberals claim that America is secular and that religion has no part in the public conversation due to the separation of church and state. To back up that ridiculous claim, liberals point out that the Founding Fathers were predominately Deist(which had a different meaning at the time) and "not Christian". The truth is that the Founders were predominately devout Christians including the "Deists".[1] Over one-thousand cities in the U.S. have names derived from the Christian bible. A 10-year effort by researchers found that God's Word was directly or indirectly quoted by the Founding Fathers four times more than any other source.[2] Without God, the Bible, the Constitution, the Enlightenment—the United States would not have occurred in present form. America was founded on faith in God.

The quotes below will be exclusive to the mention of God. Many of the "obscure" quotes below are only obscured because government schools do not teach American History anymore.

## Contents

* 1 The list of well-known quotes
* 2 The list of less known quotes
* 3 Founding Era Documents
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## The list of well-known quotes[edit]

* "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” - Declaration of Independence
* "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." - Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; proposal for the Great Seal of the United States.[3]
* "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." - Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, page 170[4]
* "The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave." - Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists, 1772[5]
* "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" - Patrick Henry March 23, 1775 [6]
* "Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."" - George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789
* "Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." - George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

Please add more

## The list of less known quotes[edit]

* “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” - Benjamin Franklin
* "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the bible." - George Washington
* "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts." - John Jay[7]
* "God's hand was on me. God protected me and kept me through the battle." - George Washington[8]
* "And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector in all ages of the world of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its Government and give it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of His providence." - John Adams, Inaugural Address, 1797[9]
* "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which, without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." - Alexander Hamilton[10]
* "The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms and false reasonings is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced, that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice. Civil liberty, is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice; but is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society." - Alexander Hamilton[11]
* "Principally, and first of all, I resign my soul to the Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to the dust, relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of my sins." - Samuel Adams, Last Will and Testament[12]
* "Religion is the solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man towards God." - Robert Morris, Notes on the Form of a Constitution for France, page 3[13]
* "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions … upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves … according to the Ten Commandments of God” - James Madison[14]
* "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations." - Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address, 1805[15]
* "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." - Alexander Hamilton 1787 after the Constitutional Convention [16]
* "In the Name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity." - Treaty of Paris (1783)
* Article 22: Members are required to make and subscribe the declaration of their faith in "God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, One God blessed evermore."[17] "I acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration." [18] \- George Read, signer of the Declaration of Independence, would include the following in Delaware's State Constitution.
* Calls for a national "Day of public humiliation,fasting and prayer, that we may offer up our joint supplications to the All-wise, Omnipotent, merciful Disposer of all Events." - John Hancock, June 12, 1775 proclamation of the Second Continental Congress.
* While Governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock called for a prayer saying, "We think it is incumbent upon this people to humble themselves before God on account of their sins." [19]
* No man to be an Assemblyman unless he believes in God. Is Irreligion then the flourishing growth of Pennsylvania and is Atheism a weed that thrives there? Sure this insinuates as much.[20] \- William Hooper, letter to Samuel Johnston, September 26, 1776
* That God would be pleased to look down with an eye of compassion upon the whole human race, and dispel those clouds of ignorance, superstition and bigotry that overspread so great a part of the world, and that the knowledge of and reverential love and regard to the One God and Father, of all, and a true benevolence and good will to their fellow men, may pervade the hearts, and influence the lives of all mankind, and all Nations, Languages and Tongues be brought to join in singing, Glory to God in the highest, on Earth Peace and good will to men.[21] \- Josiah Bartlett, proclamation issued on October 5, 1793
* I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.[22] Roger Sherman
* Duty to God, to ourselves, to Posterity, enforced by the cries of slaughtered Innocents, have urged us to take up Arms in our Defense. Such a day as this was never before known, either to us or to our fathers. - Matthew Thornton, letter to the Colony of New Hampshire - June 2, 1775
* We will look for the permanency and stability of our new government to Him who bringeth princes to nothing and teacheth senators wisdom. - John Hart address from October 5, 1776
* Thanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment ... principally, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent and Christian like manner ... to receive the same again at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God. - John Hart Last will and testament attested April 16, 1779
* "Yes - If we fear God and repent of our sins" - Conversation with Benjamin Rush about the conflict with Great Britain.
* I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field; and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. - George Washington; Circular letter on his Resignation, June 18th, 1783
* We hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, “that Religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence.” The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. - James Madison; Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, June 20, 1785
* Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governour of the Universe. - James Madison; Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, June 20, 1785
* If this freedom be abused, it is an offence against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered. As the Bill violates equality by subjecting some to peculiar burdens, so it violates the same principle, by granting to others peculiar exemptions. Are the Quakers and Menonists the only sects who think a compulsive support of their Religions unnecessary and unwarrantable? - James Madison; Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, June 20, 1785
* This report was adopted by a majority of the convention, but not without considerable opposition.—It was said, that we had but just assumed a place among independent nations, in consequence of our opposition to the attempts of Great—Britain to enslave us—that this opposition was grounded upon the preservation of those rights, to which God and Nature had entitled us, not in particular, but in common with all the rest of mankind—That we had appealed to the Supreme Being for his assistance, as the God of freedom, who could not but approve our efforts to preserve the rights which he had thus imparted to his creatures—that now, when we scarcely had risen from our knees, from supplicating his aid and protection—in forming our government over a free people, a government formed pretendedly on the principles of liberty and for its preservation, —in that government to have a provision, not only putting it out of its power to restrain and prevent the slave trade, but even encouraging that most infamous traffic, by giving the States power and influence in the union, in proportion as they cruelly and wantonly sport with the rights of their fellow creatures, ought to be considered as a solemn mockery of, and insult to, that God whose protection we had then implored, and could not fail to hold us up in detestation, and render us contemptible to every true friend of liberty in the world.—It was said, it ought to be considered that national crimes can only be, and frequently are, punished in this world by national punishments, and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him, who is equal Lord of all, and who views with equal eye, the poor African slave and his American master! - Luther Martin Genuine Information [23]
* The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence, were the only principles of independence in which that beautiful assembly of young men ["The young men of the City of Philidelphia, the District of Southwark, and the northern liberties", 1798, while America was "engaged, or on the point of engaging. in a war with France"] could unite.... And what were these general principles? I answer, the general principles of Christianity, in which all those sects were united [in education], and the general principles of English and American liberty, in which all those young men united, and which had united all parties in America, in majorities sufficient to assert and maintain her independence.—John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813.[24]
* The highest, the transcendent glory of the American Revolution was this—it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the precepts of Christianity.—John Quincy Adams; letter, Washington D.C., April 27, 1837[25]

## Founding Era Documents[edit]

* "With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly before God and the world Declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties - being with one mind resolved to die FREEMEN rather than to live SLAVES."[26] \- Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, July 5, 1775
* "They have, undoubtedly, antecedent to all earthly government, -- Rights, that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws -- Rights, derived from the great Legislator of the universe." - John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
* "Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker." - John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

Please add more

## See also[edit]

* Natural Law
* Largest American cities named for Christ
* Aitken Bible

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Religious Affiliation of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, Adherents.com
2. ↑ One Nation Under God, Beyond Today
3. ↑ God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, by Thomas S. Kidd
4. ↑ Notes on the State of Virginia
5. ↑ The Rights of the Colonists
6. ↑ Patrick Henry's Liberty Or Death Speech by Jesse Jarnow
7. ↑ Faith and the Founders of the American Republic,
8. ↑ Choose This Day by Buddy Hanson
9. ↑ Inaugural Address of John Adams
10. ↑ Essays on the Constitution of the United States: Published During Its Discussion by the People, 1787-1788
11. ↑ The Farmer Refuted
12. ↑ The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams: Volume 3
13. ↑ The Life of Gouverneur Morris, by Jared Sparks
14. ↑ America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations By William Joseph Federer
15. ↑ In God We Trust By Lenora Gauthier
16. ↑ Words of the Founding Fathers by Steve Coffman
17. ↑ Life and correspondence of George Read, Page 186-187
18. ↑ Life and Correspondence of George Read by William Read
19. ↑ Tyranny Through Public Education William F. Jr Cox
20. ↑ Founding Father's Quotes
21. ↑ Founding Father's Quotes
22. ↑ Founding Father's Quotes
23. ↑ Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Convention Assembled at Philadelphia
24. ↑ Adams, John (1813). "Letter to Thomas Jefferson". The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, ed. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1856), v. 10, pp. 45-6.
25. ↑ The Historical Magazine (July 1860), v. 4, no. 7, p. 193-4.
26. ↑ Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

## External links[edit]

* A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and Early Statesmen on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible, WallBuilders
* American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760-1805, By Charles S. Hyneman and Donald S. Lutz
* Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Library of Congress
* Religious References in the Writings, Addresses, and Military Orders of George Washington, United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission, 1932