According to Dr. D. James Kennedy, our nation’s founding documents are the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Northwest Ordinance. The following is an excerpt from my book, The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation:
        All of these documents mention God or speak of the importance of religion---in that context, Christianity. The first proclaimed why we were independent. Our nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, mentions God four times.
    • " . . . the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God . . . "
    • "all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . "
    • " . . . appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions . . ."
    • " . . . with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence . . . "
        The second was rhe Articles of Confederation, our nation’s first working national constitution. It was written in 1777 and ratified in 1781. This constitution mentions God: "And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual union." However, this document, the Articles of Confederation, worked so poorly that when the founders held a convention to revise the document, they decided to start all over.
        They created from scratch a totally new document, the Constitution, which, of course, was signed "in the year of our Lord." So it not only mentions God---it acknowledges the Deity of Jesus Christ.
        Finally, the Northwest Ordinance provides guidelines for any territory in the Northwest (in the Ohio region and beyond) that desires to become a state to join the United States. Thus, the Northwest Ordinance provides the template for new states so that there would be a standardization, a hegemony for each additional state. The Northwest Ordinance points out that education was important and schools were to be established. Why? Because of the importance of (in this order): "Religion, morality, and knowledge."
        America has rich Christian roots.

Chick here for more information on or to order The Book That Made America.

Click here to try a previous quiz.