The Bible formed part of the intellectual world in which America’s founders lived, alongside English law, classical history, Enlightenment philosophy, and colonial political experience. Its stories and moral vocabulary appeared throughout sermons, speeches, letters, and public debate.
Robert J. Morgan, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America, examines how Scripture influenced the language and ideas of early American leaders. He argues that understanding that influence is essential to understanding the culture from which the United States emerged.
Photo Credit: Arnold Friberg
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Search for the Our American Stories podcast go to the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to know about the history of America, it’s imperative that you know the role that the Bible played in shaping our nation. Here to share another story is Robert Morgan, who is the author of one hundred Bible verses that made America, defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith. Let’s take a listen.00:00:51
Speaker 2: The weather in New York City was gray and overcast during the morning, but clouds gave way to clear skies just as the ceremony was starting. Precisely at one p m. On April thirtieth, seventeen eighty nine, tall and stately George Washington stepped onto the crowded balcony of the Old Federal Building in Lower Manhattan and took his place beside a large decorative Bible. A thunderous roar erupted from the sea of people on Wall Street, followed by tense silence as everyone strained to hear the man’s voice. He would not say much, but each syllable would shape the ages. This man was about to change history. He was about to take the oath of office as the first President of the United States of America. George Washington was dressed in a modest double breasted brown suit with buttons embossed with eagles. A sword dangled at his side. His face was careworn. The Bible before him, bound in rich brown leather, had been hastily borrowed from the altar of the nearby Saint John’s Lodge. It rested on a red cushion hell by the Secretary of the Senate, and it was opened to Genesis forty nine, the passage containing the blessings of Jacob to his twelve sons, who were destined to become a great nation. After placing his hand on the Bible, the General took the oath of office. Then Washington did something extraordinary. To the thrill of the crowd and in full view of posterity, the first action of the first President, in his first minute in office, was to reverently bend over and kiss the Bible. It is done. Someone shouted, long Live George Washington, President of the United States. The multitude burst into cheers, shouting, yelling, weeping, and rejoicing as the father of their nation quietly turned and disappeared into the building to give his inaugural address inside to members of Congress. In his speech that day, Washington said, no people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. By the invisible hand, he was referring to God’s guidance. He continued, every step by which we have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained. This was the ornate language of the day, the kind of language the preachers used. Washington was referring to the Bible itself when he talked about the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself had ordained. The founders of the United States of America reverence the Bible because it reflected their awareness of God’s authority over the nations. Washington did not place his hand on the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States, as hallowed as those documents are, nor did he kiss the pages of any other religious or secular tome. It was the Bible that sanctified the moment. The Bible he knew had ushered American history to this point. It was the Bible that made America. Not every Founding father was a Christian, a Bible believer, or a paragon of virtue. Not every president has honored the Bible. Not every leader has appreciated its influence. Some of the founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, were disciples of Enlightenment rationalism, but even they were intimately a acquainted with the contents of the Bible. They vigorously studied scripture and respected its ethical teachings. Trying to explain American history without the Bible is like trying to understand the human body without its bloodstream. Had there been no Bible, there would be no America as we know it. The nation would not have been born as it was. Perhaps it would not have been born at all. John Adams wrote, the Bible contains the most profound philosophy, the most perfect morality and the most refined policy that was ever conceived on earth. I believe it to be the only system that ever did, or ever will preserve a republic in the world. John Jay, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, said, the Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and the next. Continue therefore, or to read it, and to regulate your life by its precepts. In regard to this great book, wrote Abraham Lincoln in a letter dated September seventh, eighteen sixty four, I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. You cannot tell the American story with accuracy unless you acknowledge the enormous influence of the Bible upon the men and women who forged our nation and fan the flames of freedom for all the world. Just ask George Washington.
00:06:43
Speaker 1: And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to Robert Morgan who’s the author of one hundred Bible verses that made America, defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith. To you were of Washington, DC sometime and you’ll see it everywhere as well, around all of our monuments, around the Supreme Court. It’s everywhere. And of course there’s always that space for the other faiths, and there’s always that space for no faith at all. But the story of America is unimaginable without the Bible, simply untellable. The story of the Bible and the story of its place in American history. Here on our American Stories liehbib here, and I’d like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts, and a story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming.
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