Constitution Day 2025- part 2

Constitution Day 2025

Part 2

I am not to be understood to infer that our General Convention was divinely inspired when it formed the new Federal Constitution; yet I must own that I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence, that I can hardly conceive a transaction of so much importance to the welfare of millions now in existence, and to exist in the posterity of a great nation, should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent and beneficent Ruler in whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and have their being. Benjamin Franklin  (Morris 303-04)

• In this blog, I will provide a sampling of reasonable evidences which support Adams’s declaration that “[o]ur Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other”.

The Constitution’s Parts

The Constitution is the supreme Law of the Land (Article 6.2). Its parts consist of the Preamble, six articles, the Bill of Rights, and the additional 17 amendments. 

The Preamble 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. 

The preambles referenced in part one of this blog were distinctly Christian in their wording. As is stated in the book, A Republic If You Can Keep It, Donald Lutz noted, “By 1787 Americans had been writing documents of political foundation for over a century and a half…These brief documents were direct descendants of religious covenants developed by Calvinist-oriented Protestants and influenced by the Old Testament, especially the book of Deuteronomy” (Ferdon 113). 

Just as these preambles cast visions for the communities and formalized their local governments, so a national vision was cast by our Preamble, and a national government established by our Constitution. However, at first glance, the Constitution’s Preamble seems somewhat secular as compared with its predecessors. Yet, a few points of explanation will reveal ideas from the former documents, especially the Mayflower Compact. 

We the People

The Preamble begins with “We the People” and distinctly hearkens back to the Mayflower Compact with its emphasis on individuals consenting to “covenant and combine” with each other to realize its stated aims. Additionally, individual consent also assumes another quality that the colonial and founding generations understood and sought to practice: self-government.  

Self-government

Typically, when we refer to government, we usually think of the State (civil government). However, any form of government whether the family, the Church, or the State begins with the individual and self-government. As it should be understood, self-government must be viewed from the two different aspects of covenant and compact (combine). 

An excellent example of a person living out the covenant form of self-government is Abraham. Genesis 17:1, records, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”” This verse reveals two responsibilities concerning self-government. One is to conscientiously live with God at the center of our thoughts, and in doing so, we reflect upon His law as the guide and framework in which to live. God sees our entire lives, and He’s telling us to keep our thoughts pure before Him and to obey His word. Two, we’re to recognize that our obedient actions affect others for good as disobedience does for evil. These two points can be summed up simply as this: love God and love your neighbor. This is Christian self-government. Ferdon explains it this way, “Christian self-government asserts an internal morality cultivated by Scriptural precepts, and therefore, focuses primarily on character. Behavior represents the external expression of internal qualities, traits, desires, and motivations — in other words, individuality” (105). 

However, to say that every citizen was a Christian would be false. Yet, the national atmosphere (culture) of America was dominated by Christianity, and the biblical ethic was the norm. As was mentioned in part one, there were at least 2 million Christians out of a population of a little over 3 million. Thus, these non-Christians would have “combined” with the rest of the citizens in advancing the shared principles of the Preamble and the Constitution. This required individual self-government. 

Finally, with self-government there is an understanding that one is accountable and has responsibilities in relation to the other spheres of government. As it relates to the national, state, and local governments, we obey the laws. Conversely, those in government are to uphold the Constitution, being accountable to it and the citizens who elected them. 

General Welfare

Another phrase to properly understand in light of the Christian atmosphere of the founding generation is “general welfare”. “General” refers to everyone or the entire society, and “welfare” simply means well-being. This phrase was also used in Article three of the Articles of Confederation when referring to the 13 states. However, nowhere can it be deduced to mean individual welfare in terms of government hand-outs. This would amount to taking (stealing) from some to give to others. As King Solomon quips in Ecclesiastes 4:4-5, 

“Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.” In other words, “Even the man who settles into idleness, living on what he takes from others, is self-tormented, and never satisfied” (MacArthur 931). 

Reasoning Biblically, as was generally practiced in that era, simply would not allow such an understanding. 

The Blessings of Liberty

The last stated goal was to secure the blessings of liberty or the happiness and benefits that liberty brings. Civil liberty, according to the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of the English Language, means in part, “[A]n exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty” (“Liberty,” def. 3). 

Thus, liberty is not license. License involves excess, going beyond lawful boundaries, and it leads to individual bondage and unhappiness and is a detriment to society. Thus, freedom within the parameters of righteous laws for an orderly and just society is what they wanted to secure for themselves and us. 

Articles 1, 2, and 3

The Constitution’s structure and the attendant delegated powers point to a biblical understanding of government. First, recall that the 12 states represented at the Constitutional Convention already had Christian-based constitutions. In his book, America’s Christian History: The Untold Story, Gary DeMar writes,

A study of the state constitutions will show that most Americans judged Christianity to be the standard by which civil government should perform its stated purpose… Constitutions are governing documents designed to maintain an already established social and civil order, an order that was in this case decidedly Christian (63). 

Some Key Responsibilities

• From a position of self-government, we elect men and women from our districts and delegate them to represent us according to the Constitution. 

• Article 1 - The Legislative Branch is vested with lawmaking power and possesses only 17 enumerated powers with the 18th being an explanatory summary. Likewise, in Article 1, there are certain powers forbidden to Congress as well as to the States.

• Article 2 - The Executive Branch- a president is vested with executive power upon taking an oath of faithfulness to the office and to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.  

• Article 3 - The Judicial Branch consists of one Supreme Court and all inferior courts that Congress may ordain and establish. They are vested with the power of adjudicating applicable cases. 

The main points here are that their powers are separated; no one branch possesses all of these powers, nor should they. God alone possesses all power, and He alone uses it righteously. Also, the Constitution is so structured that they are able to check one another and aim for the balance of power assigned to them by it. This arrangement recognizes that people are fallen, and they require accountability. 

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Note: Thank you for reading this. To cut down the length of each blog, I’ve decided to break this up into three posts.

The third and final blog on this topic will address terms and concepts that need to be grasped if we are to better understand our Constitution and take our places as better stewards of it. In part three I hope to provide some illumination on certain questions or points such as…

• Article 4 and federalism

• What does it mean to be guaranteed a Republican form of Government?

• Article 6 and the Supremacy Clause, the meaning of Oaths in the Constitution, and the reason for no religious Test

• Finally, I will delve into the first Amendment only. I will only make mention of the last nine.

*Sources will be cited at the end of the third blog.