Foundation

Much effort has been expended through the years to prove either that the United States was founded as a Christian nation or that it was not. One of the problems with the entire debate is the lack of precision in language. What is meant by “Christian nation”? If what is meant is that all the founding Fathers were truly Christians and/or all the people in colonial America (and later the early days of the United States) were truly Christians, or if what is meant is that somehow the entire nation and its founding principles were perfectly aligned with Christianity and its Scriptures, then the answer must be, “No.” If, however, what we mean is that the Founding Fathers sought to base their founding principles in large part on the truths present in Christianity and its Scriptures, then we can answer, “Yes.”

I bring this up because many of the things that the founding Fathers (especially the framers of the Constitution) sought to do flowed out of a biblical worldview and can be instructive for us when it comes to how we should approach our involvement in the public square.[1]

What were some foundational truths that were present in those early days that should continually guide us today?  

Absolute Truth

The first part of the foundation is the existence of absolute truth. What we mean by this is that because of the God who is there, we know there are truths that are true all the time and there are truths that we can know to a degree that we can have absolute certainty about them. That there is one God and not many; that this God created the universe; that what God reveals is always right and wrong is always right and wrong and flows from his own nature; and that what God reveals to us about himself, mankind, and the world is true and can be understood by all kinds of people (Gen. 1:1; Lev. 19:2; Dt. 6:4-9; Jer. 10:10; Titus 1:2) leads us to conclude there is such a thing as absolute truth that we can certainly know.

Now, this does not mean we will all agree on all points of what is absolute truth or that any one of us can speak absolutely about every subject. But, it should lead us to believe in absolute truth, to seek for absolute truths upon which we can agree as we approach the public square, and to remain steadfastly committed to biblical truths that we know certainly.

I believe the rest of the foundation we will look at in this post is comprised of such absolute truths.

The Rule Of Law

The second “brick” we should place in our foundation is that mankind is best governed by laws that form boundaries for behavior and that also limit the power that can be exercised by those in authority. That God revealed laws of right and wrong to display how he wants mankind to live is beyond question (see Exodus 20:3-17; Mt. 19:17-19)—and that these laws flow from the character of God himself (Lev. 19:2) is also just as certain.

Even under the New Covenant, though we do not live under the system of Law in the same way as in the Old, nevertheless the Law is still good (Rom. 7:7a, 12; 1 Tim. 1:8) because it displays for us that and how we fall short of God’s standards and so need salvation (Rom. 7:7b), it uncovers how a person is supposed to love others once they are a Christian (Rom. 13:8-10), and it helps to restrain evil (1 Tim. 1:8-11). These are purposes that are in line with the glorious good news of God (1 Tim. 1:11).

It is the third purpose of the Law, namely putting in place principles of right and wrong in society that help keep peace, bring order, restrain evil, and also limit powers of authorities, that most informs the rule of laws in our society. This does not mean that all laws are built upon absolute truth and biblical laws. It does suggest that some are (laws against the taking of life without just cause, for example) and that the concept of rule of law is based upon biblical truth.

The need for the rule of law was exemplified in the Old Testament by Israel’s kings and the fact that whether or not they followed God and ruled well had significant impact on the welfare of the country (see 1, 2 Kings and 1, 2 Chronicles). The need was also taught in Dt. 17:14-20 when God, through Moses, warned Israel that government leaders (kings) would tend to abuse power and so they must be under the rule of God’s Law.

It is not hard to see why this is so. When sinful leaders (which is all leaders) have unchecked power, they can make themselves the Law of the land in a way that is arbitrary, self-serving, and destructive. Yet, when leaders must submit to laws of the land, these very laws serve as a check-and-balance against despotism.

This country’s founders understood that leaders should not be granted unchecked power to lead simply because they might have good ideas or good ends in mind, for such unchecked power can become dangerous. They also understood that since man is sinful and fallible, there needs to be a lawful process in place for changing laws that are not right and that are destructive.

We must realize that however we engage the public square, we must preserve the wise and foundational principle that no one should be above the law. In other words, the Law should be King, rather than the King serving as the Law!

The Sinfulness Of Mankind

In our discussion of the rule of law we introduced the truth that all mankind is sinful (see Rom. 3:10-12, 23), which means that all are prone to evil and also prone not to see things in a truthful, right, and just manner. This not only suggests the need for the rule of law (including the need for protection of the citizenry by law enforcement and military, Rom. 13:4), it also suggests the helpfulness of having checks and balances built into a system of government.

Though the way the Unites States has gone about this is not the only or even necessarily the perfect way, it certainly has been a reasonably good way to achieve this. What I am referring to is the presence of three branches of government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) that can keep each other in check, and also the means the citizenry has of removing and replacing leaders through the avenues set up in our democratic republic.

As we engage the public square, we must seek to preserve these checks and balances since we know that even the best of leaders have a propensity for evil.

The Importance Of Freedom

Standing behind the point just made, as we talked about the ability to remove and replace leaders, is the need for an informed citizenry to have input into the process of the public square, to be able to have access to accurate information about that process, to be able to voice input and criticism, and to exercise basic rights (such as freedom of religion).

What is more, as Christians we know that no one can be forced to become a Christian in any true sense. Truly placing one’s faith in Christ must be a movement of one’s own heart and not something that is forced by outward coercion (cf. Rom. 10:13-17; Philemon 14). As such, we should also advocate freedom so that we can continue to bring the truth into the arena of ideas that we might persuade people to embrace Christ. For many reasons, then, Christians, as good citizens, should seek to preserve freedom.

The Inevitability of Worldview

Since freedom is very important for all our society, the Christian should be the first one to stand up for the right of others to express freely their opinions and practice their worship—even if persons have different viewpoints or religions.

However, this does not mean that a particular worldview standing behind our laws and constitution cannot be defended. It is true that the Judeo-Christian worldview has informed the constitution and direction of this country for most of its history. That does not mean we should force everyone to have the same worldview. It does mean that aspects of that worldview that stand behind the nation’s laws should be preserved—such as the importance of freedom as seen in the Bill of Rights; the importance of the sanctity of human life; advocacy for the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, and so on.

Though the purpose is not to establish a theocracy, it is realized that the laws of the land that are informed by this worldview are better for the citizenry and for individuals than, for example to adopt those of another worldview—say Islamic Sharia Law. Since worldview does inform what we think to be right and true (e.g. Rom. 12:1-2) and many aspects of different worldviews contradict (esp. for example our constitution vs. Sharia Law), decisions have to be made as to which direction we should go.

Though we understand that we are not seeking to legislate people into the kingdom, we also understand that the Judeo-Christian worldview that stands behind our constitution is worth preserving and worth advocating in the public square as what is best for all (cf. Dt. 10:12-13).

The Helpfulness Of Historical Perspective

Finally, part of the biblical worldview includes the importance of passing on wisdom from generation to generation—wisdom based upon God’s absolute truth (e.g. Dt. 4:1-10; 6:4-9; Proverbs 6:20-23). In part, this means learning from those who have gone before us.

Those who founded this country and framed the Constitution understood this. They were students of government philosophy for centuries prior to them. They did not merely look at their own time and try to reason from it what ought to be done. Instead, they sought also to step out of the limited view of their own generation and to glean insight from many who went before them in order to think about how the country’s government should be put together.

In the mid twentieth century C. S. Lewis, in an essay, warned against chronological snobbery. In other words, he cautioned against thinking that something is better simply because it is new or something is unworthy of our attention because it is old. To step out of our own time, Lewis argued, is to learn from others and to see things in a larger perspective and not to be trapped by too narrow a perception.

We have forgotten this in the twenty-first century. We define justice, as well as what is best for society, based upon Twitter and Facebook feeds with a little bit of news here or there thrown in. As Christians we must be open both to the absolute truth of the ages in the Bible—and how it informs our public square involvement—as well as what we can glean from those who have gone before us and what they have learned about how to apply such truths.

As we continue on in this blog in future posts and discussions, we will do our best to be informed by these foundational truths. In our next post we will attempt to build upon this foundation as we discuss the importance of family life to the public square.

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[1] One of the most helpful resources I have seen on this subject is a work published in 2009 to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the birth of the Reformer, John Calvin: David W. Hall, Calvin In the Public Square: Liberal Democracies, Rights, And Civil Liberties. One of the many truths Hall uncovers is the impact of the Protestant Reformers upon those who helped give shape to this country in its early days.