Some people have said that the United States was founded on "Christian Principles". What are those principles?

Question

Please state what the principles are and how they are from Christanity.

John McCcain presidentail canidate just said, "I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles ... "
Principals or values are basically the same. Are these some type of moral ways? Commandments? Laws? What are the principles? Can you give a list of some?

"morals and ideas of christianity" What are those morals and Ideas?

Answer 1

Actually it was founded on MASONIC Principles!

THE FOUNDING FATHERS

Christians have been led to believe that the government of the United States of America is based on the basic principles of Christian morality, which have their origin in the Scriptures. Notable for propagating this misinformation are D. James Kennedy, author of a book promoting astrology, and Peter Marshall, Jr. (son of the late U.S. Senate Chaplain) who wrote The Light and The Glory. However, both of these ministers are members of the Council for National Policy, a secret organization founded by the globalist Council on Foreign Relations which has an anti-Christian agenda.

Historical evidence militates against the view that those who formulated the fundamental documents of American government were Christians. To the contrary, not a few who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the U. S. Constitution were Deists, Theists and Freemasons. Webster's Dictionary defines "theism" and "deism":

Theism - "belief in the existence of a god or gods; specif: belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of man and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world."

Deism - "a movement or system of thought advocating natural religions based on human reason rather than revelation, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe."

One recent historical account of Freemasonry, THE TEMPLE & THE LODGE, boast instead of the profound influence of Freemasonry on the founding documents, (while carefully trying to avoid creating the impression of a Masonic conspiracy):

"Of the fifty-six signatories of the Declaration of Independence, only nine can definitely be identified as Freemasons, while ten others may possibly have been. Of the general officers in the Continental Army, there were so far as documentation can establish, thirty-three Freemasons out of seventy-four. Granted the known Freemasons were, as a rule, more prominent, more instrumental in shaping the course of events than their unaffiliated colleagues...
"On 11 June, (the Continental) Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration of independence. Of the five men on this committee, two - Franklin and...Robert Livingston - were Freemasons, and one, Robert Sherman, is believed, though not confirmed, to have been. The other two, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams - were not, despite subsequent claims to the contrary. The text of the declaration was composed by Jefferson. It was submitted to Congress and accepted on 4 July 1776. The nine signatories who can now be established as proven Freemasons, and the ten who were possibly so, included such influential figures as Washington, Franklin and, of course, the president of the Congress, John Hancock. The army, moreover, remained almost entirely in Freemasonic hands...As we shall see, it is in the Constitution that the influence of Freemasonry is most discernible...

"At last, on 25 May 1787, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia and commenced its efforts to devise the machinery of government for the new nation. The first voice to make itself heard in any significantly influential way was a characteristically Freemasonic one, that of Edmund Randolph.. Randolph...a member of a Williamsburg lodge, had become Washington's aide-de-camp. Subsequently he was to become Attorney-General, then governor of Virginia and Grand Master of Virginia's Grand Lodge. During Washington's presidency, he was to serve as the first Attorney-General of the United States, then the first Secretary of State.

"...There were ultimately five dominant and guiding spirits behind the Constitution - Washington, Franklin, Randolph, Jefferson and John Adams. Of these, the first three were active Freemasons, but men who took their Freemasonry extremely seriously - men who subscribed fervently to its ideals, whose entire orientation had been shaped and conditioned by it. And Adam's position, though he himself is not known to have been a Freemason was virtually identical to theirs. When he became president, moreover, he appointed a prominent Freemason, John Marshall, as first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." (1)

From American Masonic History - What Are America's True Roots?

"Some of the greatest names of the American Revolution were Masons: Ethan Alien, Edmund Burke, John Claypoole, William Daws, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Paul Jones, Robert Livingston, Paul Revere, Colonel Benjamin Tupper, and George Washington. Of the 56 signers of The Declaration of Independence, eight were known Masons and seven others exhibited strong evidence of Masonic membership. Of the forty signers of the Constitution, nine were known Masons, 13 exhibited evidence of Masonic membership, and six more later became Masons.
"There were many other Masonic influences in early American history: (1) Lafayette, the French liaison to the Colonies, without whose aid the war could not have been won, was a Freemason; (2) the majority of the commanders of the Continental Army were Freemasons and members of "Army Lodges"; (3) most of George Washington's generals were Freemasons; the Boston Tea Party was planned at the Green Dragon Tavern, also known as the "Freemasons' Arms" and "the Headquarters of the Revolution"; (4) George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of New York's Masonic lodge, and the Bible on which he took his oath was from his own Masonic lodge; and (5) the Cornerstone of the Capital Building was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland." (2)

The following profiles demonstrate the commitment of the most prominent and influential founding fathers to Freemasonry, deism and/or theism.

http://watch.pair.com/mason.html

Answer 2

Underlying principles of Christendom and most other religions are very similar. The founding fathers, whether Christian or not, were all men of principle. So back to your question: "So why then do people still think that the Constitution is based of Christian beliefs and thus the United States is based of Christian morals?" The answer is that the Constitution IS based on the same principles held by followers of Christ. Whether the writers intended for it to be so is another question all together.

Answer 3

I would say that the principles upon which the United States was founded contain some Christian principles, not "founded on Christian principles." Like someone else said, the principles were mostly Deist actually & these Deist's borrowed from Christianity, but the second person of the Trinity is never mentioned in the Declaration or the Constitution.

So some of these people just aren't being careful with their words, but many have been misled by American Christian Theocrats (e.g. D. James Kennedy, most generic American Evangelical Mega-Churches, etc.). This mixing of the Two Kingdoms is an error (heresy) that harkens back to prior to the Reformation.

Here is a trustworthy Christian authority on the topic: http://www.kfuoam.org/ie_archive_Jul_07.htm (See July 3rd "Declaration of Independence"). This should clear things up for you & hopefully Christians who are claiming this.

Two Kingdoms Theology is badly lacking in the American church today. It has a great deal to offer the non-Christian world as well. Read about it more here: https://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/Lutheran%20Witness/Witness%20jn%20july05.pdf (article titled: Righteousness & Religion).

These really are worthwhile resources that are free. They will help you in your conversations with Christians. Maybe you can teach them something about their own faith :).

Answer 4

Freedom of religion is one of our fundamental rights. The so called seperation of church and state was intended to take any type of control over the church away from the state not to take the church out of the state.
http://www.afn.org/~govern/Christian_Nation.html
The first and almost only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible
-Thomas Jefferson
Do not ever let anyone claim to be a true American patriot if they ever attempt to seperate Religion from politics
-George Washington
I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- God governs in the affairs of men, and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notive, is it possible that an empire can rise without his aid?
-Benjamin Franklin
The principles of these men is what this country was founded on. They deliberately did not use the word Christianity in the documents that are the basis of our country so that Jews and hindus and others would be welcome. They wanted freedom and a flexible document that would adjust with time. That is why the constitution still standsd but I could no more list the all the principles than tell you every single belief I have. I can sum it up but I could never list it all.
Here are some more quotes from the founding fathers that may shed light on what their principles were.
http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm
http://www.retakingamerica.com/great_quotes_bible_001.html

Answer 5

The United States was not founded on Christian values. The founding Fathers were Deists.
Read the Treaty of Tripoli for example article 11...............Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Answer 6

Sam Adams 1772, “The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty...The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”

John Adams 1789 "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Dr. Benjamine Rush 1787 "Let the children...be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education. The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools."

Noah Webster 1832 "The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person, a brother or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of government."

Answer 7

The core group consisting of the most powerful of the founding fathers were deists and were distrustful of organized religion.

They believed in God as a creator, but they believed that we were all left here on our own. Thus, praying would never work, miracles are impossible, etc. This isn't particularly Christian in belief.

Answer 8

I frequently hear Christians claim that the United States is a Christian nation, or that the Founding Fathers intended us to be a Christian nation. When they bother to offer evidence it's usually some McCarthy-era addition to our pledge or our money, or some quote (often bogus) from a speech or a letter by one of the Founding Fathers.

Think about this for a second: If you were starting a Christian nation, how would you go about it? Would you make oblique references to "Great Powers" and "Guiding Hands" in obscure speeches and letters, or would you fill your foundational documents with references to Jesus Christ and the Bible?

The Founding Fathers were brilliant men. They spent months and months working on the Constitution. They were very, very careful about what they wrote, discussing and debating every passage at great length. It seems to me that if they had intended this to be a Christian nation they would have said so somewhere in the Constitution. The Founding Fathers had no reason to be vague. There was no ACLU, no "Activist judges." If they had wanted a Christian Nation they could have written:

God Almighty, in Order to form a true Christian Nation, establish Divine Justice, insure adherence to His Laws, provide for the defense of His Church, promote His Word, and secure His Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, has led us to ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Instead they wrote:

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 words "Jesus" "Christ" "Bible" "God" and even "Creator" appear nowhere in the Constitution ("Endowed by their Creator" is in the Declaration of Independence.) Just how stupid would someone have to be to create a Christian nation then forget to mention Christ in the Constitution?

Also notice that nobody ever asks what the Founding Mothers might have said. There were no Founding Mothers. The Founders were all men; White men, many of them slave owners. White male slave owners who may or may not have been Christians, but explicitly forbade any kind of religious test for office. In other words, you have a far stronger case if you'd like to argue that the Founding Fathers intended us to be a racist and sexist nation.

I think you can make a good case that some or even most of the Founding Fathers were Christians, but it's absurd to think that they wanted to impose that belief on the nation, and even more absurd to imagine we should be bound by their prejudices.

Answer 9

When this country was founded, women couldn't vote. That probably came from Christianity.

Black people were slaves. Can't say that came from Christianity, but it certainly isn't something you would expect in a Christian nation.

Answer 10

Respect for the individual person:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident."
"All men are created equal."
"Right to Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of Happiness."
The founders fled from social rank & discrimination.

Christianity changed the treatment of women, as equals.
It took a while to give the vote & other rights to women.
Jesus preached the Golden Rule: "Do unto others."
Two great commandments: "Love GOD, & neighbour."
It took the Civil War to extend freedom to all racial groups.
It is still a struggle in many parts of America.

Answer 11

Basically Christian teaching found directly in the Holy Bible. Go read the early founding documents such as the Mayflower Compact.

There are several governing and founding documents that pre-date the actual Constitution and Declaration of Independence that are filled with Biblical and Christian statements and references.

Excerpt from There Is Yet Time; War in Heaven, War on Earth: http://www.lulu.com/content/1115302 which also references Eliot, Charles W. American Historical Documents. New York, New York: Registered Deluxe Edition of The Harvard Classics, P.F. Collier & Sons Corporation, 1938, 1910 within its Bibliography.

The first code of laws established in the ‘New World’ was compiled by a Nathaniel Ward in the Massachusetts colony in 1641. This document was called The Body of Liberties.
Now I’m not advocating a return to these types of laws to govern civil society, but notice how the founding settlers of this nation basically used the bible for their law book.

Section 94 of ‘Liberties’ listed twelve ‘Capitall Laws’. The first one actually said, ‘If any man after legall conviction shall have or worship any other god, but the lord god, he shall be put to death.’ After this they go on to list things such as witchcraft, blasphemy, bestiality, homosexuality, and adultery and the wording comes almost directly from the Old Testament.

The following section, Section 95 is comprised of eleven parts and is titled, A Declaration of the Liberties the Lord Jesus hath given to the Churches. Even the Mayflower Compact of 1620 uses phrases such as, In the name of God, Amen, and goes on with, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith.

When the United States finally became the United States, James Madison said, “We have staked the whole future of the American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future . . . upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
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