DONALD TRUMP, THE BIBLE, AND CHRISTIAN NATONALISM

President Donald Trump’s endorsement of the “God Bless the USA Bible” has been met with a storm of criticism. Some are calling it “sacrilege” and “heresy” and others claiming he is taking advantage of people’s faith for the sake of money. Others claim that by associating America with the Bible he is promoting Christian Nationalism, which they insist is a danger and a threat to American democracy. 

I am not writing here to speculate about Trump’s motives in partnering in the promotion of this Bible. My concern is the widespread ignorance concerning the major role of the Bible in the founding of America. A 1982 article in Newsweek magazine, entitled “How the Bible Made America,” showed the Bible’s impact on the founding of America in vivid fashion. The authors wrote,

For centuries, the Bible has exerted an unrivaled influence on American culture, politics, and social life. Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a special, sacred nation, a people called by God to establish a model of society, a beacon to the world (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 7).

The Continental Congress Opens with Bible Reading

The earliest immigrants to America were children of the Reformation, which means they held to the principle of sola Scriptura, or “Scripture alone.” This meant that they saw the Bible, not the pope or bishop, as their primary guide for faith and morality. The Bible was the book, more than any other, to be read and applied to all of life.

The Great Awakening (1726-70), which had a profound impact on the 13 colonies, produced an even greater love and respect for the Bible. The Bible was, in fact, the most popular book in America at the time of its founding. Even her most nonreligious Founders regularly quoted from the Bible.

It is, therefore, not surprising that when the First Continental Congress met on September 5, 1774, they opened with an extended time of Bible reading and prayer. Rev. Jacob Dusche, who became their chaplain, began by reading the entire 35^th Psalm to the assembled delegates, which included George Washington, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and others.

The reading of that Psalm had a powerful impact on all those present. John Adams described their heart-felt response in a letter to his wife Abigail. In describing the reading of that Psalm, he wrote,

It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read that day. I saw tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave pacific Quakers of Philadelphia. I must beg you to read that Psalm (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 108).

Dusche became their chaplain, and every subsequent session of this Congress was opened with Bible reading and prayer.

Congress Endorses the First English Bible Printed in America

The Founders’ respect for the Bible was also highlighted by their endorsement of the first English Bible printed in America in 1782. The producer of the Bible, Robert Aitken, had written a letter to Congress in which he asked for that government body’s sanction of his work. In the letter, Aitken called this Bible, “a neat Edition of the Scriptures for the use in schools.”

Congress enthusiastically responded to his request and offered the following recommendation to be included in this first English Bible printed in America.

Resolved: That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion as well as an instance of the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.

Washington Takes the Oath of Office with His Hand on a Bible

George Washington’s great respect for the Bible was affirmed by his nephew, Robert Lewis, who served as his secretary and lived with him while he was president. Lewis said that he had accidentally witnessed Washington’s private devotions in his library and that on those occasions he had seen him in a kneeling posture with a Bible open before him, and that he believed such to have been his daily practice.

It is, therefore, not surprising that when it came time for Washington to be sworn in as America’s first president, he insisted on taking the oath of office with his hand on a Bible. There was no precedent that he should do this. It was a declaration on his part that the Bible would be the ultimate source of wisdom and guidance for his administration.

Shortly thereafter Washington delivered his first inaugural address. It was no surprise to his audience that his speech was filled with references to God and the Bible. At the close of the ceremony in New York City, he and Congress proceeded to St. Paul’s Chapel where they participated in a worship service with more quotes and readings from the Bible.

The Bible Helped Shape America

The founders respect for the Bible was verified in a ten-year project to discover where they got their ideas for America’s founding documents. This exhaustive study found that although they quoted ancient writers of Greece and Rome and contemporary writers of the Enlightenment, the single most cited authority in their writings was, by far, the Bible (Hyatt, America’s Revival Heritage, Second Edition, 69).

The Bible was the lens through which they interpreted everything they read and studied. The well-known Catholic scholar, William Novak, has said,

Everywhere that reason led, Americans found the Bible. If they read Francis Bacon, they found the Bible. If they read Isaac Newton or John Milton, they found the Bible. In Shakespeare, they found the Bible. In the world of the founders, the Bible was an unavoidable and useful rod of measurement, a stimulus to intellectual innovation (Hyatt, 5 Pillars of the American Republic, 16).

Andrew Jackson, America’s 7^th president, understood this. He once gestured toward a Bible and declared, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.” Teddy Roosevelt, America’s 27^th president, said, “No other book of any kind ever written in English has ever so affected the whole life of a people.”

This is not to say that they lived up to the Biblical standard. Far from it! However, they all agreed that the Bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus, was the moral standard and goal toward which all should strive. This was a major contribution to American exceptionalism. Yes, it was the Bible that made America great!

A Bible Awakening

So, my concern is not that Donald Trump is promoting the “God Bless the USA Bible.” It is the traditional King James Version, and the publisher has added historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, to merely highlight the impact of the Bible on those documents.

My concern is that so many in Washington D.C. no longer respect the Bible as a source of moral wisdom and guidance. For example, in 2019, the Democrat National Committee (DNC) unanimously passed a resolution affirming atheism and declaring that neither Christianity nor any religion is necessary for morality. In other words, “We don’t need the Bible.”

This rejection of Biblical truth has left the nation adrift on a sea of moral uncertainty where decisions are made based on personal feelings and subjective reasoning. With no transcendent moral guide or authority, the nation is plummeting into a chasm of political and moral chaos.

Our only salvation is a national spiritual awakening that will restore reason, common sense, and a respect for God’s word. Such an awakening will restore a respect for the Bible as held by the Founders and expressed by Abraham Lincoln who in 1864 commented on the Bible, saying,

In regard to this Great Book, 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. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.

The claim by many that associating the Bible with America is dangerous is ludicrous and divorced from history. It is the opposite that is true. This generation’s rejection of the Bible as a source of wisdom for life and guidance for morality is the very thing that is destroying her.

This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s books, 1726: The Year that Defined America, and America’s Revival Heritage, Second Edition, available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.