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The Founders dont say which God in the Declaration of Independence. So of all Gods which one satisfies their?
When the Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain's rule they used the following terms in their Declaration:
"Nature's God entitle them"
"endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"
"appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world"
"with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,"
But they didn't "name" the God that they were talking about. So I would like to ask fellow Americans and anyone else who wants to give their thoughts. Of all Gods which man has ever known - which God fulfills those definitions which the Founders used to describe Him ( or Her )?
Again, they described their God as Nature's God. They described their God as "Creator." They described their God as the "Supreme Judge of the World." They described their God as being "divine." They described their God as having "divine Providence."
So people have told me that the Founders didn't name any god so it could have been "any" ole god. But they give specific characteristics of the god whom they are appealing to so of all gods "which" god can qualify? Anybody know? I'm very curious to know. Not all gods in history have all of the definitions given of the God of the Founders. So I'm just trying to narrow it down a bit.
If anybody knows.
If you would like to read the entire transcript of the Declaration of Independence before you answer go here: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declarat...
6 Answers
- ?Lv 78 years ago
You should pay attention to the context and to the source of each reference.
The first phrase was a reference to "the laws of nature and of nature's God." The subject of "entitle" is "laws."
The first and second references were written by Thomas Jefferson, known as a Deist. These references to God are somewhat perfunctory, because the Deist notion was that God doesn't interfere with the world but allows it to simply obey the laws of nature. (Hence my insistence that you get the context right.)
The other two were added by Congress in discussion of the Declaration. Their secretary kept no records of the debate, only of the decisions, so we don't know who proposed or supported these additions. At least one ordained minister, John Witherspoon of New Jersey, would have been involved.
Nevertheless these references also required general agreement in a diverse Congress, so it's pushing things a bit far to expect to find a single understanding among them.
Source(s): Jefferson published the original draft for comparison to the adopted Declaration. I have the comparison between the two texts in an appendix to the script of the musical play "1776." - ?Lv 78 years ago
Two other things you should keep in mind:
1) The "Declaration of Independence" has no force of law in the US. Only the constitution does, and the constitution does not mention "god" at all. Not once. Not in any form. It does specifically state that congress shall pass no law regarding an establishment of religion, and that there shall never be any religious test for anyone to hold elected office, though.
2) the "Declaration of Independence" was written to King George of England -- a theist and nominal head of the "Church of England." Considering its intended audience and his "beliefs," including religious terms he might relate to and consider "compelling" isn't at all surprising. That doesn't mean a "god" exists, Jefferson knew how to tailor an argument to suit the person being argued with :)
Finally, not all of the "founders" believed in a god at all, or the same one. So there's no such thing as a "god of the founders."
- Carol FLv 58 years ago
The ideas outlined by Jefferson in the Declaration Of Independence are an eloquent restatement of the Philosophical principles of John Locke, introduced in his work "Two Treatises of Civil Government."
Locke was a Christian and used scripture throughout the work to prove or illustrate his points.
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- 1ofULv 78 years ago
Those are Thomas Jefferson's words. I suggest you read some of Jefferson's thoughts on divinity. I think you'll find that he wasn't keen on any of the mainstream gods; certainly not the Christian god as presented by the clergy. Same goes for Adams and Franklin. Washington was too tight lipped to figure out.
