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(This article was taken from the book “Rediscovering God in America” by Newt Gingrich featuring the photography of Callista Gingrich. This article is the third of many based on that book)
The National Archives is the repository of our nation’s most important documents. Upon walking into the building, you will see an image of the Ten Commandments engrave in bronze on the floor, signifying that our legal system has it’s origin in the Ten Commandments. The Judeo-Christian beliefs brought by the Pilgrims and others to the New World formed the foundation of our Constitution and our system of laws today
Probably the most important documents in American history are kept here, The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Declaration of Independence has four references to God:
-- As Lawmaker “the laws of nature and nature’s God”
-- As Creator “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”
-- As Supreme Judge “the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions”
-- As Protector “the protection of Divine Providence”
President John Quincy Adams raised the connection between Christianity and the Declaration at a speech given on Independence Day 1837 at Newburyport. He queried: Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?
The Declaration of Independence provides the proper context through which to understand the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, with a renewed focus on the nature of the rights these documents were designed to protect.
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Another document housed in the National Archives is the Constitution of the United States. Because of their belief that each person's unalienable rights come from God, the authors of the Constitution began the document with these three historic words: "We the people." Notice that they did not write "we the states" or "we the government." The Founders rejected the notion that such entities were sources of freedom and liberty.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Amendment 1 begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Contrary to those who want to eliminate religious expression from the public square, these important words were written to protect freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The language clearly prohibits the establishment of an official national religion, while at the same time protecting the observance of religion in both private and public spaces. In fact, two of the principal authors of the First Amendment, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who were also our third and fourth presidents, respectively, both attended church services in the Capitol building, the most public of American spaces. During Jefferson's presidency, church services were also held in the Treasury building and the Supreme Court. Therefore, these Founding Fathers clearly saw no conflict in opposing the establishment of an official religion while protecting the freedom of religious expression in the public square.
The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights all show that America's Founding Fathers intended to forge a nation under God. These are only a few of the treasured documents housed in the National Archives, but together they form the foundation for the freedoms all Americans enjoy today.
Ray R Barmore
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