"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" Deuteronomy 4:7-8.

Divine Inspiration Behind the United States Constitution

Through separation of powers (executive, legislative, and judicial) the framers of our Constitution worked to construct a document that would make it difficult for an arbitrary government to come into existence. This would prevent government intrusion into the personal lives of its citizens (i.e. the Bill of Rights). The document which was hammered out in Philadelphia during the Constitutional Convention (in the summer of 1787) can only be described as "divinely guided" for it established for the first time in this world's history a nation where freedom reigns, and where God's people can live at peace.

After the Constitution was written, it was sent out to the 13 states for reading and ratification. Many of the states were reluctant to sign because there was no mention of God or state endorsement of religion in the entire document. This is not to be construed to mean that the framers were without a personal knowledge of God and His providence in establishing America as a free nation. The intent of the framers was to compose a document that would mandate freedom in the broadest terms so that America's citizens could all worship according to the dictates of their individual consciences without fear of government coercion. It was never their intent to create a country without a God.

Our founding fathers were very aware of the ease with which religions and denominations tended to array themselves against one another over theological points and Biblical interpretation. Jefferson was especially adamant about avoiding the state's involvement in religion through government sponsorship or other entanglement. He knew that historically, state involvement in religion led to injustice, discrimination, and persecution. The history of the early colonial period and of Britain's history since the time of Henry VIII had taught him these vital lessons. The American Constitutional founders thought man should be able to question his religion as well as his government without retribution from either.

Remembering the history of the Dark Ages and the Protestant Reformation (which conflict arose due, in part, to the entanglement of the church in the affairs of the state), and the early years of this country (which involved problems of the state imposing laws regarding religious practices and matters of conscience), both Jefferson and Madison spoke out against union of the state with religion, pointing out that religious monopoly and religious oppression are never far apart. Freedom is only maintained when all persons are equally free under the law of the land. Therefore, the founders of our country and framers of the most politically correct document ever penned were opposed to any entanglement of government and religion.

These men knew that if such a government was formed as some of the states were advocating, the free nation would not long exist. No nation could be formed successfully nor long endure if each individual state insisted upon being sovereignly self-existent and independent from every other state, including harboring its individual ideas about state enforced religion, slavery, and economic matters. Any direct mention of God was purposely left out of the Constitution, and only after some further consideration did the framers of the document add the protection clause of the first amendment guaranteeing that no religion shall dominate the state, and neither shall the state dictate to, nor support any religion in particular, nor be hostile toward religion in general. Both state and church are thus protected from each other's involvement in their separate affairs.

Across the Atlantic Ocean a second experiment in government was coming to a head in France. Attempting to model the American Revolution, while incorporating the God-less philosophy of the Enlightenment, the French people soon learned the devastating results of what government without God could become. During the "reign of terror" that swept through France from 1793-1794, 40,000 French men and women were executed for "crimes against the state," which included refusing to denounce all religion and swear complete allegiance to the state. A nation without God will soon fall.

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