The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention, also known as the Philadelphia Convention, took place between May 14th and September 17, 1787; the Convention originally intended to revise the current Articles of Confederation, noting that it had proven to be inefficient in representing the 18th-century needs of the nation while balancing the liberties of its people. The Articles of Confederation functioned as America’s first Constitution for over a decade. Over the course of the Constitutional Convention, the Founders were faced with a dilemma; the Articles of Confederation’s revision would ultimately need to be agreed on before it would face ratification. It was determined over this Convention that a completely new document would need to be drafted and ratified (McClellan, J., 10).
The Constitutional Convention’s three biggest achievements shaped America as it exists today; including first gaining a majoritarian consensus through prayer and Divine intervention; second, the opposition of all amendments during the debate, allowing a central focus to be placed on the issues at hand; third, and most importantly, the absence of a direct reference to “God,” the Framers chose to avoid a denominationally controversial theocracy.
First, the provision of historical evidence that supernatural intervention, anointed the Founders with a state clarity, and a majoritarian consensus. By the will of God, a document was created for government that appealed to all people, built on the foundation of working principles and Biblical doctrine. Historian David Barton writes that “many of the Founding Fathers involved with writing and approving the US Constitution believed that God had been a direct force in its creation,” (Barton, D., 370). During the Convention, the Founders were unable to reach a consensus; it was at this point that Ben Franklin suggested the delegates engage in prayer. The majority refused to resort to prayer inside the Convention, and they went on recess for three days; the Founders attended the Calvinist Reformed Church in Philadelphia, where Rev. William Rogers prayed over the delegates in his sermon, (Barton, D. 334). After this sermon, at the Pennsylvania State House, later called Constitutional Hall, the Founders underwent radical Supernatural transformation; this change provided them renewed insight into what was specifically required to maintain and sustain America’s generational independence. At the time of the Philadelphia Convention, the Founders initially sought to amend the Articles of Confederation, however their efforts resulted in the formation of a republic by Constitution, as “Democracy” was a derogatory term used to define mob rule, (McClellan, J., 254). Through the Articles of Confederation, State Constitutions had been given reserved powers, created through bureaucracy, not the people; these State Constitutions had failed to separate powers appropriately; and held no bearing to allow enumerated powers, or federalism, as intended by the original definition of the word. (McClellan, 91).
Second, the opposition of all amendments during the debate ensured that a solid form of government would be built, and the inner workings of its foundation be addressed. The Framers knew what was needed was a revolutionary document, defining the exact structure of government, using preconceived ideas from the working strategies of historic governance. This included the working principles of His Holy Spirit revealed in Scripture, without forcing the faith and theological conformity of its citizens. The Founders saw no better way of implementing the same principles they had been raised with, facilitating an omnipotent authority to rule over the individual hearts of men; as historian James McClellan states, “every right is married to some duty. Freedom involves individual responsibility, (McClellan, J. 426).” The Constitution remained principled in the Declaration of Independence, relying on the document to establish self-ruling precedence over the will of the state, ensuring resistance to tyrannic rule.
The third achievement of the Constitutional Convention was by far its most important; the Framers made the conscious decision to neglect implementing a direct reference to God. This is essential, as it renders to document applicable to all men, both Holy and secular, existing under the same government. Had the Founders addressed God in the Constitution, they would have begun implementing moral principles and individual values into the document. The Convention was ultimately used to detail the foundation of government, avoiding personal rights, yet ensuring the representation of the needs of the citizens. Jesus spoke in parables to get His points across to His disciples, avoiding teaching using direct references. The Founders based America’s Constitution in the same manner, invoking Divine provision throughout its context without directly mentioning the Lord.
This was an era when all colonists were familiar with Scripture and Biblical doctrine, therefore the Founders did not see a purpose in citing these references. As David Barton reminds us, modern critical scholars are invalid in suggesting the Bible held no influence over the Convention; Barton writes, “Many [modern] Americans now know so little of the Bible that they no longer recognize these Bible ideas, references, and phrases,” (Barton, 332.) Over two hundred years of Biblical deposition has provided modern Americans with Constitutional interpretation and divergent adaptation unrelated to the initial principles intended by its Framers. Jesus certainly mentioned the Lord, yet did not teach His disciples by initiating direct references to Himself; instead, God inspired those around Him to exist in His image; requiring believers to place their faith in Him, and remain guided through His Holy Spirit.
The Founders’ understanding of the relationship between church and state was a vital element in the formation of America’s Constitution. Unlike the French, who sought to erase the past, and eradicate the church, embracing anarchist doctrine; the Founders’ believed their own faith was itself responsible for the declaration of secession Jefferson had penned over a decade earlier, and the success of the newly developing nation, (McClellan, 58). As historian Mark David Hall writes, “Many founders continued to look to it for guidance, and virtually all of them referred to it regularly in their public and private speeches and writings. This reality is often overlooked because the founders assumed their audiences were familiar with God’s Word and so did not include textual citations,” (Hall, M.D., 29). Ben Franklin, who lived to be 84, stated during the Constitutional Convention that “the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs the affairs of men,” (Hall, M.D. 2019). Franklin’s wisdom was reflected in his personal obedience to God; Jefferson would later emphasize this concept in 1802, referring to it as a “wall of separation.” Daniel L. Dreisbach’s book “Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State,” he writes that, “The ‘wall’ Jefferson erected in his letter to the Danbury Baptists served primarily to separate state and nation in matters pertaining to religion, rather than to separate ecclesiastical and all governmental authorities,” (Dreisbach, D.L., 56). Historian David Barton writes that “in his letter, Jefferson made clear that the ‘wall of separation’ was erected not to limit public religious expressions but rather to provide security against governmental interference with those expressions, whether private or public.” There are many interpretations of Jefferson’s metaphor, yet the bottom line was that government was ordained by God, and the American Constitution would be written on the presupposition, without alluding to a direct reference in Scripture.
The Founding Fathers’ understanding of the relationship between the authority of government, religion, and morality was based on Scripture, personal experience, and relied on an individual connection the Divine providence. Many of the Founders did not suppose that they needed to reference the Bible, or God, as Christianity was ubiquitous, and engrained in the majority of the Founders. James McClellan writes, “Nearly all Americans professed to be Christians, even if they sometimes were rather eccentric Christians,” (McClellan, 110). The authority of government had to be accountable to its citizens in the same way that each Christian was held accountable to God. The Founders did not wish to distract from the purpose of establishing a government; to achieve this, they ensured a separation of church and state, believing all men to be rooted in faith of some form. Had the Founders sought to create a theocracy, the various sects would dispute over the Biblical intricacies, at a point when there was unity between denominations (McClellan, 109), leading to the potential for.
Human rights were not the focus of the Convention, instead, its primary concern was the ratification of effective and lasting government. McClellan states that the constitutions of four states (New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina) “contained no express provisions providing for their amendment. The assumption seemed to be that such provisions were unnecessary since the people were thought to have the sovereign right to change their form of government.” It was by the unprincipled and unprecedented series of events, orchestrated and aligned by God that birthed the inception of a new idea. Mark David Hall writes that “it is necessary to consider the ideas that influenced the civic leaders who drafted and ratified the document,” calling it "clear” that Christian doctrine influence on the individual, communities, and the nation “played an influential—even dominant—role in the drafting and ratification of the Constitution,” (Hall, M.D, 30). “There were founders who identified the Bible among the works having a special influence on and making a significant contribution to the American experience,” (Dreisbach, D.L, 52). It’s justified to profess that the majority of Founders were influenced by Christian doctrine, despite their individual practice and sincerity of their personal faith.
–July 20th, 2023
Conclusion
The Founders did not arrive at the Constitutional Convention to form a new government, but addressed a revision of the Articles of Confederation; yet when faced with the task, the Framers borrowed the inner workings of existing governments, objective moral principles, and the British legal system. Christianity played an essential role in the influence of the Constitution, though the Constitutional Convention neglected to invoke a direct reference to God, they were moved in such a way through Divine intervention as to reach a majoritarian consensus, ensuring that our nation would prevail.
Bibliography
Barton, David; Barton, Tim. The American Story: The Beginnings (p. 332). BookBaby. Kindle Edition.
Barton, David. (2007). Separation of Church and State: What the Founders Meant. BookBaby. Kindle Edition.
Dreisbach, Daniel. Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (Critical America (New York University Paperback)) (p. 56). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.
Dreisbach, Daniel L. (2017) Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers. Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Hall, Mark David. (2019) Did America Have a Christian Founding? Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
LOC. (Accessed on July 20th, 2023). Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists (June 1998) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin. https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html.
McClellan, James. (1989, 1991, 2000). Liberty, Order, and Justice: An Introduction to the Constitutional Principles of American Government. Liberty Fund: Indianapolis, Indiana.