In July 1776, a new nation was born. She was (and still is) a nation like no other. Her birth was a direct result of the diligent study and courageous action of generations of Godly men of the previous centuries, whose eyes God had opened to His Word and the golden truths found there about how men should be governed. Our founders mined these treasures from God’s Word and set them in place in light of the history of human governments and the countless lessons learned through the ages.
There are many lies being spread today about what was or wasn’t important to our founding fathers, and why they were risking everything to forge a new nation. These lies are propagated by those who hate our form of government and wish to destroy it. These enemies of our nation have diligently rummaged through collateral documents and personal writings of our founders to find nuggets that could be taken out of their original context and twisted to fit their wicked agenda. The lies of these thieves are not the subject of this article. We will instead look at the truth as our founders presented it with beauty and eloquence.
The motives of our founders
In order to find the true motives of our founders and why they did what they did, we have only to look to the document they gave us. In fact, they didn’t just give it to us – they declared it to the world on July 4, 1776. For everyone’s convenience, it is boldly listed in the first document we ever published as an independent nation, the Declaration of Independence, our national birth certificate. The amazing introduction of this wonderful document begins…
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Declaration of Independence
If we want to know the causes which impelled our founders to separate from Great Britain… we don’t have to wonder, they are about to be listed… the document continues with what is truly the foundational statement of truth of our nation…
“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. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
We can take several important truths from these early couple of sentences:
- There is a Creator
- Our Creator made us equal
- Our Creator gave us rights
- Purpose of government is to “secure” rights already given to us by God
- Government derives its “just” powers from the consent of the governed.
Let’s briefly consider each of these important ideas.
There is a Creator
So many of the lies which threaten out nation today could be corrected if we understood this. Our founders began – literally began the paragraph right after the intro with this idea of our Creator and what He has done for us. Notice this fact is among the first things listed as “Self-evident” truths. They did not feel they needed to explain this idea of our Creator. It was well understood. The fact that we have a God who made us is “self-evident”. I remember once my oldest children and I had the opportunity to meet Michael Farris at an event where he was speaking, and he joked with my children that in 1776, they said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident”, and today we would just say, “duh…”. We laughed together about this, but truly, that’s what this means… “Duh…” of course, we were created by God! That needs no explanation!
Our Creator made us equal
This one is perhaps harder for us to really understand because we have lived in this nation all our lives. Imagine a world that believes all authority and power flow first to an all-powerful king. Then that king divvies out to the people only those privileges and rights that he sees fit. Our nation turned that idea completely upside down. We realized and formed our nation upon the idea that we were all made by God, and He made us equal. There was no royalty or class that had a special access to God, or rights above and beyond what the rest of us had. This idea was radically different than anything the world had seen before.
Our Creator gave us rights
Rights come to people not from government – they come from God. Wow, what a truth! Even now as I write this, our society is either celebrating or protesting the fact that less than two weeks ago, the Supreme Court overturned the murderous legal precedent of Roe vs Wade. Those who are protesting it argue that the Supreme Court is taking away their “right” to an abortion. When we examine the foundation of our country, and the fact that rights come from God – not government, then for us to declare we have a “right”, then that right should be consistent with God’s Word. A casual examination of God’s Word, and verses like “Thou shalt not kill”, clearly show the right protected by God’s Word is the right to live. As Americans, we recognize even from our Declaration of Independence that our legitimate rights come from God – not government. Government has no authority to grant a new “right” that is inconsistent with the rights given by God.
Purpose of government is to “secure” rights already given to us by God
What is the purpose of government? According to our Declaration, the purpose of government is to secure rights already given to us by God. If we continue with the example of life we used above, God gives us the right to live, therefore it is illegal to take life. He does not give us the right to kill, and in fact, He specifically prohibits it. If we take life away from someone else then we take what God has given to that person… that is the definition of murder. For this reason, murder is illegal in our nation. It is in this way that government “secures” the right to life that God has given to each of us. It is illegal for one person to take rights away that God has given to someone else. God doesn’t give a “right” to abortion. He gives a “right” to life. That right to life should be secured by government.
Government derives its “just” powers from the consent of the governed.
This one makes sense, but it has become kind of buried in our modern thinking so you might have to think about it a little. Since God created all of us equal, and He gave us our rights, and the purpose of government is to secure those rights, then the only legitimate, or “right”, or “just” powers of government are those consented to by the people. Since God gave me life and I would like to have that life protected, then I will give my consent to a government that passes laws that make it illegal to kill other people. This also means that if I kill someone, I should expect the government to come after me! As another example, I could constantly watch my home for any evidence of a fire and keep buckets of water and hoses on hand to protect my property from fire. But I might rather pay for a fire department to help manage this for me – or at least be a big ally in the protection of my property. Then if a fire breaks out, they will be here to help very quickly. I would give my consent to this type of service and agree to some city taxes etc. to pay for it.
These principles found up front and early in our Declaration of Independence formed the foundation of our nation. Our Constitution went on to build upon these principles and to outline a form of government that would be effective, while taking into account and protecting these foundational principles. This foundation of our nation is under severe attack today. These principles have been long removed from our education systems and public institutions. Now Americans are unprepared to be able to answer the problems our nation faces in light of the proper foundation of our nation. We need to stop listening to the lies that tell us something new is better. We do not need something new! We need to return to the old that we were built upon!
The Wisdom of Calvin Coolidge
On July 5, 1926, in celebration of 150 years since our Declaration of Independence, President Calvin Coolidge made a speech. You can find the complete transcript here. But there is one paragraph I thought I would share with you in this article. On our nation’s birthday today, and really every day, may we understand that this basic truth our nation was built upon is priceless. May we not allow this to be stolen from us. May we return to this idea that we have a Creator who made us equal and gave us rights. May we return to the idea that the purpose of government is to secure rights already given to us by God, and that government derives its just power from the consent of the governed. President Coolidge exhorts us to that as well so I will leave you with an excerpt from his excellent speech.
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning cannot be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”
– President Calvin Coolidge, July 5, 1926
Erasing God from our culture has been an unending effort by those who hate us – socialists, Marxists, communists, and now more than ever, Democrats. We have abandoned God to pursue other gods, e.g., equity. That single word should strike fear in every American because it implies a violent, autocratic, demonic control of every person within our borders. It certainly affects me that way.
Thank you for the comment. I agree those who hate God and our form of government have been working to remove Him from our whole society. We need to repent and turn back to Him.
Well put! It is not progress but only a sinking back into the swamp of slavery and not forward into all the liberty God has given.
Amen! I love Calvin Coolidge’s words on that subject – so pertinent for today. Thank you for your comment!
These facts: There is a Creator; Our Creator made us equal; Our Creator gave us rights; Purpose of government is to “secure” rights already given to us by God;
Government derives its “just” powers from the consent of the governed.
These facts give me such courage and comfort. The last fact, government derives its “just powers from the consent of the governed really sets me in motion. I had the privilege of watching the Convention of States Model- Convention of States on August 4, 2023. I thought about that model event in light of what I have been reading and learning through Biblical Citizenship. I intent to be part of the solution to this mess! I am starting to clearly see how the Lord is working today in America just like He worked with our founders from the time of coming to America from Europe to the point of creating our amazing Declaration of Independance and our Constitution. I am so blessed to be part of your Biblical Citizenship class and all the Lord has allowed me to learn. Thank you for sharing these outstanding thoughts and quotes.
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! RaShell and I enjoy doing this! It is awesome to see some momentum building for those efforts of those who love our country. I did not get to see the COS model from last week since I was at the Patriot Academy Leadership Congress. I pray the Lord will give us victory for this country, but not so easily that we take it lightly. May we value our country and once again set it upon the firm foundation of God’s Word. Thank you for your comment!
Today I wrote a letter to New Mexico Governor Michelle Luhan Grisham. Here is my letter:
To Honorable Michelle Luhan Grisham
The last name Luhan has a wonderful meaning, “wise one” or to be “someone with wisdom.” When speaking of wise and wisdom, the son of David named Solomon in the Bible comes to mind such as in the incident of the two women claiming the new born child was theirs. Do you remember Solomon’s wise decision?
As a citizen of this beautiful state, I came from the adjoining state of Arizona with the same type of high deseret, the majesty of the mountains and the mesas. How blessed we are to live in this land.
The New Mexico Constitution is a humble document because it states that we are “…grateful to Almighty God…”
“We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty, in order to secure the advantages of a state government, do ordain and establish this constitution.”
In this document there is The Bill of Rights same as in the US Constitution. The comment made by you, “I can invoke additional powers. No constitutional right, in my view, including my oath is intended to be absolute,” gave me a deep chill and sadness as to out state of affairs regarding your Executive Public Health Order you placed on innocent citizens of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Using an arbitrary order to try to get safety for the people in Albuquerque is not the way. We are not all going to be safe from violence and it isn’t your responsibility to take away our God given rights. We do need the fentanyl plague along with criminal gangs off the street. Taking away our rights and privileges is not the way. When did our state become not for the people but for the criminal. Yes, it is horrific that a family cannot go outside their home and have a tragic ending to one of their family members. A child in their own home killed to random violence. All children born and unborn deserve life.
We believe in the Almighty God, as the New Mexico Constitution states, and we need to not fear because of random violence. He is a true and a just God. He can inspire you to follow the New Mexico and US Constitution to help you find a way that is Constitutionally correct by humbling yourself by prayer. You have a heavy mantle to carry and you need God’s help.
Remember King Solomon? He was wise when he pulled out his sword and offered to cut the baby in half. He knew the true mother would be willing to let the other mother have the baby to save the baby’s life. That is true wisdom. As governor of this great state, you can use divine wisdom that doesn’t conflict with our New Mexico Constitution and the US Constitution. Prayer is the only way to seek Divine help.”
Thank you so much for being a voice for what is right to your state governor. We need to be the voices speaking up for our unalienable rights (of self defense in this case) and holding our officials accountable to their oaths to the Constitution. Thank you for the encouragement and for your comment!
SO many great comments, I can only add to them.
Leave it to the enemy to coopt words and meanings of those words to further his cause of the destruction of a nation founded on God as The Creator.
Take the so called progressive movement in the country – their actions and words are not progress at all but are the complete opposite as they do nothing but take us backwards as so clearly described by President Coolidge when he said “… no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.
Yes! President Coolidge called them out on it and his words are still beautiful and accurate. Thank you so much for your encouraging comments on this (and other) articles! Thank you!
My family and I are taking Biblical citizenship course as a part of our home school. We just read the Declaration and Calvin Coolidge’s speech. This blog post helps to break them both down in to what we need to be paying attention to and I was able to use it as part of our family discussion. Thank you for the time and heart you put into your posts.
Thank you for being part of the class, and for sharing and discussing the truths of our nation with your family. I believe that is one way that will help us return to proper foundational principles again, is that we discuss them and make them common and normal again – like they used to be! Thank you so much for your encouraging comment!
Well said Jason! The word “Progressive” used today scares me. We have a long journey ahead of us, with our creator behind us, we can march on without fear!
Amen! With Him, we cannot help but win. Without Him, we cannot help but lose. We have to get back to the foundation of His Word we were built upon. Thank you for your comment!
Thank You for breaking this down! We did Constitution Alive and now Biblical Citizenship as part of my Homeschool! It is easier to understand and apply when it gets broken down for me! It makes learning about the Constitution and original intent of our Founding Fathers very interesting!
Thank you so much for your comment and for participating in the classes! It is the sincere hope of RaShell and I that we can help people understand better, but ESPECIALLY young people like yourself! This nation is under relentless attack by those who hate her, and we need people now, but we will REALLY need people in your generation to be able to stand up and answer the hard questions with truth. Thank you so much for your comment and for all you are doing to help!
The Calvin Coolidge speech was very good, and I loved the way he explained the progress we have made. Thank you for this Article, it has helped me understand how the Governments purpose is to secure rights given to us already by God.
Yes, I agree! I really love that portion of President Coolidge’s speech because it addresses the arguments that say we need to move past what they gave us so long ago… If anyone wishes to deny the truth and soundness of our foundational principles, “The only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people…” Amen Mr. President! We are so thankful for all that you and Savannah are doing to help out, and we are excited to see how God will use you in the coming years! Thank you so much for all you are doing, and for your comment!