America Is Christian: In 5 Proofs

The assertion that America was a Christian nation is rejected by many today, either due to malice or a kind of ignorance. The first is typically from those who already hate true Christianity or see themselves as wiser than the caricature of an evangelical they maintain in their hardened hearts. The second represents many evangelicals who remember hearing something about the Pilgrims escaping religious persecution, or know that we have ‘In God we Trust’ on our money, but have never been introduced to overwhelming evidence in support of our explicitly Christian past. In this article we will quickly explain five proofs which demonstrate the indisputable reality of America’s history as a Christian nation. 

1. Did Christians found this nation? 

Overwhelmingly, yes. There’s no telling the story of the United States of America without mentioning the colonies which came together in order to form her, and there’s no mentioning them without their explicitly Christian way of life. Original colonial charters stated: 

“We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God…” - Jamestown Charter, 1606. 

“IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten…Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country..Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick..” - Mayflower Compact, 1620.

“being animated with a laudable and pious zeal for extending the Christian religion... hath humbly besought leave of us that he may transport..” - Maryland Charter, 1632. 

We could go on and on, but even cursory inquiries into this subject matter would dumbfound the most ardent skeptic. The primary sources overwhelmingly demonstrate that Christians settled what we now call America. Even aside from these commonly referenced settlements, one cannot forget the older Catholic settlements scattered about the South. Ponce de Leon named Florida after the Spanish Easter celebration, where eventually the St. Augustine settlement would be named after the beloved saint of Hippo. Near modern day Tampa Bay, Hernando DeSoto arrived on Pentecost, naming the area “Bay of the Holy Spirit.” All of the aforementioned locations, and plenty more the Spanish would settle, were founded to promote the Catholic faith and win glory for their rulers. Unfortunately, their zeal for  Roman Catholic supremacy  drove them to slaughter the members of the first Protestant community in North America, the Huguenots at Fort Caroline in 1564. 

Whether early groups came for religious freedom, evangelism, economic prospect, or the allure of discovery, they almost universally did so in the name of Christ. Even Columbus himself stated: 

“Our Lord opened to my understanding (I could sense his hand upon me) so it became clear to me that it [the voyage] was feasible.... All those who heard about my enterprise rejected it with laughter, scoffing at me.... Who doubts that this illumination was from the Holy Spirit? I attest that He [the Spirit), with marvelous rays of light, consoled me through the holy and sacred Scriptures... they inflame me with a sense of great urgency...No one should be afraid to take on any enterprise in the name of our Savior if it is right and if the purpose is purely for His holy service.... And I say that the sign which convinces me that our Lord is hastening the end…is the preaching of the Gospel recently in so many lands.”

2. Did they do it with the intention to Christianize the area?

Some of the previously mentioned charters speak of the propagation of the Christian religion, but was this vision abandoned? As more colonists came from Europe, and more complex styles of Governance would be needed, was Christianity still a cultural and political emphasis? Absolutely. 

“Our said people... be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed [that] their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives of ... [that] country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which ... is the principal end of this plantation colony…” - Massachusetts Charter of 1629.

“Excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith... in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, and only inhabited by ... people who have no knowledge of Almighty God. " - Charter of North Carolina, 1662.  

“when a people are gathered together, the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people, there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God…to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess… which, according to the truth of the said Gospel, is now practiced amongst us”- Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639

“Considering with ourselves the holy will of God, and our own necessity that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute; do in the name of Christ and in the sight of God combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us such government as shall be to our best discerning agreeable to the will of God.” - Charter of New Hampshire, 1639. 

The New England Confederation, comprised of multiple colonies and cities, was established in 1643, stating: 

“We all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ..”

Secularists today have bullied you your entire life claiming that even if Christians supposedly had a hand in the founding of this nation, they did not really want to Christianize anything, just spread the knowledge of reason and technology with good morals. The primary sources say otherwise. 

3. Did they establish Christian governments and laws?

If the section that follows is not enough to convince you, nothing will, so here I hope to whet your appetite.  As for Christian Laws, The Massachusetts Body of Civil Liberties (1641) was the precursor to her Constitution and General Laws. In it the author Nathanial Ward, a minister himself, literally quotes the Mosaic Law when describing criminal penalties. For example:

“(Deut. 13. 6, 10. Deut. 17. 2, 6. Ex. 22.20)

If any man after legall conviction shall have or worship any other god, but the lord god, he shall be put to death.”

or

“(Lev. 20. 15,16.)

If any man or woeman shall lye with any beaste or bruite creature by Carnall Copulation, They shall surely be put to death. And the beast shall be slaine, and buried and not eaten.”

His inspiration came from John Cotton’s Abstracts of the Laws of New England, where he recommended the same for magistrates and civil governments. Something must have been in the water. Get a load of these statements from the Fundamental Constitution for the Province of East New Jersey (1683):

“All persons living in the Province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God, and holds themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and quietly in a civil society, shall in no way be molested or prejudged for their religious perswasions and exercise in matters of faith and worship; nor shall they be compelled to frequent and maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever: Yet it is also hereby provided, that no man shall be admitted a member of the great or common Council, or any other place of publick trust, who shall not profaith in Christ Jesus…Nor by this article is it intended, that any under the notion of this liberty shall allow themselves to avow atheism, irreligiousness, or to practice cursing, swearing, drunkenness, prophaness, whoring, adultery, murdering or any kind of violence, or indulging themselves in stage plays, masks, revells or such like abuses; for restraining such and preserving of the people in diligence…That all marriages not forbidden in the law of God, shall be esteemed lawful..”

Many secularists and atheists try to claim John Locke as one of their own, though he personally helped draft the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in 1669, which stated:

“No man shall be permitted to be a freeman [full citizen] of Carolina, or to have any estate or habitation within it, that doth not acknowledge a lod, and that God is publicly and solemnly to be worshipped…”

The document went on to promise religious liberty to non-christians, though the supremacy of Christianity was acknowledged. 

Another great place to look for questions regarding intent would be in preambles to State Constitutions, which according to Pew Research Center, “God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times overall.”  Only four do not mention “God” once. 

Perhaps we should also remember the earliest documents associated with our eventual Constitution, they too maintained the Spirit of Christianity’s role in governance:

“That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, that we are and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing people under the power of God and the general Congress…”

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, 1775

“To all to whom these Presents shall come, we, the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greetings. Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven…And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in congress…”

Articles of Confederation, 1777

“The good people of the several colonies…justly alarmed at these arbitrary proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally elected, constituted, and appointed deputies to meet, and sit in general Congress…in order to obtain such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, may not be subverted…”

Declarations and Resolves, First Continental Congress, 1774.

“It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the drafting of the Constitution], a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.”

Federalist No. 34, 1788, Madison. 

“We the people of the United States, in a firm belief of the being and perfections of the one living and true God, the creator and supreme Governor of the world, in His universal providence and the authority of His laws: that He will require of all moral agents an account of their conduct, that all rightful powers among men are ordained of, and mediately derived from God, therefore in a dependence on His blessing and acknowledgment of His efficient protection in establishing our Independence, whereby it is become necessary to agree upon and settle a Constitution of federal government for ourselves, and in order to form a more perfect union, etc.”

Anti-Federalists proposal for the Preamble to the Constitution, William Williams, 1788.

It's worth noting that even ‘off-shoots,’ if you will, of America also commissioned their governments in the Spirit of Christianity, in keeping with out heritage:

“We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government…invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of America.” Constitution of the Confederate States of America, 1861

Any self-proclaimed intellectual from the modern era who would argue that terms like ‘God,’ ‘religion,’ or similar terms can be used generically, and therefore do not necessarily imply Chrsitian commitment from the writers, are being intellectually dishonest. It is well established that the country was overwhelmingly christian at the times of these writings respectively, and therefore reflected moreso the whole rather than any minority faction.

4. Did they require lawmakers to swear allegiance to Christian morality, and sometimes explicitly His Word?

No need for any opinion here:

“Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall take the following oath, or affirmation, if conscientiously scrupulous of taking an oath, to wit:  “I, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.” Delaware, 1776. 

“No Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principles; but that all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect  who shall demean themselves peaceably under the government, as hereby established, shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member of either branch of the Legislature. . .”

New Jersey, 1776.

“I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration”

Pennsylvania, 1776. 

“Every member of the house of representatives shall be of the Protestant religion. . . . That no person shall be capable of being elected a senator who is not of the Protestant religion. . . . The President shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this office, unless at the time of his election, he . . . shall be of the protestant religion.”

New Hampshire, 1784

“Any person chosen governor, lieutenant-governor, councillor, senator, or representative, and accepting the trust, shall, before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office, make and subscribe the following declaration: “I . . . do declare that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth; and that I am seized and possessed, in my own right, of the property required by the constitution, as one qualification for the office or place to which I am elected.”

Massachusetts 1780

“And each member, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, ” I ____ do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the Diverse, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the protestant religion.”

Vermont, 1777

Critics who insist on their denial in light of these references imitate the sentiment Isaiah addressed, “Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand: ye shall plainly see, and not perceive..” Have mercy on their hardened hearts! 

5. Have there been Supreme Court decisions which declared us a Chrsitian nation?

In an era dominated by decisions coming from the Judicial branch, many Americans unconstitutionally look to the highest Court of the land to give them their rights. Let them have their cake and eat it too. You want the Supreme Court to get the final say on laws? What about these previous decisions? 

 “The historical record of America overwhelmingly demonstrates that the United States is a Christian nation.” [paraphrase] 29 Feb, 1892 Holy Trinity vs. U.S. 

This decision proceeded to provide a similar form of argumentation to this article, proving the Christian heritage of America. 

Other State Supreme Court decisions in our history have pronounced the same: 

"The people of this state, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity as the rule of their faith and practice…” People v. Ruggles, 1811, New York case condemning public blasphemy. 

“Christianity, general Christianity, is, and always has been, a part of the common law of Pennsylvania;…” Upedegraph v. Commonwealth, 1824, Pennsylvania case condemning blasphemy. 

“the denial of God, his creation government, or final judging of the world, made wilfully, that is, with the intent and purpose to calumniate and disparage him and impair and destroy the reverence due to him, is blasphemy. Under the same statute, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, is blasphemy…It appeared to recognise [Massachusetts Law], not only the Christian religion, but one form of it, Protestant Christianity, as the established religion, which was to be maintained as well as protected by the power of the government; to the support of which all were to be holden to contribute, and upon the ministrations of which all were to be compelled to attend” Commonwealth v. Kneeland, 1838, Massachusetts case condemning blasphemy. 

The last blasphemy conviction was issued in 1928, just look up Charles Lee Smith v. Arkansas. See the several blasphemy cases? What people regularly meme or tweet now could have landed them in jail, or worse. As the Theologian James B. Jordan as noted, “the church in the United States of America cannot be said to have much credibility, power, or authority left. Men do not fear to rape the Holy Bride of Christ [His church]. What Emperors once did not dare to do is now done with impunity…”

Anyway, the point here is not to argue we should be turning to the Supreme Court or State courts to make laws, that’s unconstitutional. The point is that if one were to proceed with that line of argumentation they would have to deal with the instances where our courts declared us to be a Christian nation. Did they change their minds? Perhaps. But they at least at one time said these things, and there’s nothing you can do about it! 

Conclusion: 

Should folks contend that we are not a Christian nation today, I would not fight against that claim too strongly. I might qualify we are a Christian nation- we always have been-but we are just not currently living faithfully to God. We are a Christian nation in rebellion. No one believes present day America is a spotless beacon of Christian virtue, currently proud of our formal and informal establishment of the true religion. That being said, hopefully after reviewing the evidence above you can see we were in fact a Christian nation. We were, one, founded by Christians, who, two. intended to Christianize the area, who, three, at different times instituted Christian governments and laws, who, four, expected their elected leaders to be Christian, and, five, our highest courts have acknowledged all of these historical realities. From here our civil discourses can be guided more intentionally to recover the things which made us great, namely formalized allegiance to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. 

“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that that the Good book and spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses…Whether we look to the 1st Charter of Virginia..or the Charter of New England…or the Charter of Massachusetts Bay…or the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut…the same objective is present: A Christian land governed by Christian principles…I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had in the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people…I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country…” Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren, 1954.