We Hold These Truths...

(This column originally appeared in The Town Talk on Sunday, July 1, 2018.)

One of the best-known sentences in the English language is the second sentence of the Declaration. It opens by stating there are times when one people must separate themselves politically from other people and that when this happens, there should be an explanation. The second sentence then establishes the core value behind the Declaration:

“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, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are held forth as being basic rights of all men, and the Declaration goes on to explain all the ways that Great Britain had violated these basic rights. It contained a whole list of charges against King George III, basically attempting to show how he violated the colonists’ rights and was therefore unfit to be their ruler.

All of the stated reasons for declaring independence from England were based in a core value held by our founding father. The underlying belief of those brave signers of the Declaration of Independence was that rights were given, not by men, nor by governments, but by the Creator!

For the founding fathers, the most important core value of all was a belief in a Creator God. That was a truth that was “self-evident” – that is to say, universally accepted as true, just as we accept that the sun is hot and rain is wet. No one has to prove these things – they just are.

While it is fashionable among some to point to a few of the founding fathers as “deists,” it is undeniable that the Judeo-Christian faith and ethic had a tremendous impact on the founding of our country, which we celebrate this week. Allow me to share just a couple of examples.

John Adams, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, and the second president of these United States, wrote the following to Thomas Jefferson: “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, in reflecting back on an anniversary of the Declaration of Independence said, “The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.”

James Madison, another signatory of the Declaration of Independence, and the fourth president of the United States, wrote these words 2 years after signing that famous document: “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

This is the same James Madison who conceived the three branches of government while reading the words of the prophet Isaiah who said, “For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us.” (Is 33:22 NASB)

There are countless more quotes from our founding fathers that demonstrate a foundation of faith that underscored their actions. While not all were professing Christians, there was a common understanding that God’s hands were involved in directing the affairs of men.

The point is simply this – we would not have this great nation if it had not been for the core values of faith in God held by our founding fathers. So as we celebrate the 4^th of July this week, let’s think back to the purposes God may have had for our nation and thank Him the faith of the founding fathers. And may we hold dearly to the self-evident truths that they enshrined in that amazing Declaration of Independence some 242 years ago this week. Happy 4^th of July, y’all!