Scripture has had a tremendous influence on the rights of citizens throughout American history, two historians said at a recent Washington forum hosted by the Family Research Council.
“The Bible permeated both private expressions and the public announcements of those who shaped the new nation and its political institutions,” said Daniel Dreisbach, an author and a law professor at American University.
During a Q-and-A time, an audience member asked if the Founding Fathers used biblical language because it was such a part of their lives or if they were just being good politicians.
Dreisbach responded by explaining the Founding Fathers used biblical language not just in common speech but when discussing important matters, such as in policy debates.
“Saint Paul is cited about as frequently as Montesquieu or Blackstone, the two most cited secular authors, and Deuteronomy is cited almost twice as often as all of John Locke’s writings put together,” Dreisbach said.
John Adams’ statement that the Bible is a “republican book” shows many of the Founding Fathers saw the Bible as at least a “great textbook on civic morality,” Dreisbach said. The Bible’s early models of republicanism and due process appealed to the Founding Fathers, he told the audience.
Adams said, “The Bible contains the most profound philosophy, the most perfect morality and the most refined policy that ever was conceived upon earth. It is the most republican book in the world, and therefore I will still revere it.”
James Hutson, an author and a Yale historian, explained the history of rights in light of the Founding Fathers’ new republic. He defined a right as “the power to do [something] without interference.”
He also provided a brief history and explanation of subjective and objective rights. The Founding Fathers were afraid of composing positions of power and establishing rights because they had come from systems that did not enforce models of republicanism, due process or separation of powers, Hutson said.
“The great challenge that the founders confronted was how [to] nurture personal responsibility and discipline that facilitates self-government in a regime that is not guided by a tyrant with a whip and a rod,” he said.
Dreisbach has written widely on the Founding Fathers’ religious beliefs and American church-state relations.
Hutson has been chief of the Library of Congress’ Manuscript Division since 1982. He has written extensively on religion in relation to American government and on the life of John Adams.
(BP)
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