“Hmm. Where is God?” Editor's Note: The following is a modified abstract of a paper presented at a seminar held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 5, 2013 titled Is the Constitution Catholic?
Besides prohibiting the government from recognizing the truth of the Catholic faith the Fathers of the Constitution positively sought to prevent the United States from being any type of “Christian” state. [1] On June 10, 1797, the young United States Senate unanimously declared in its treaty with the Muslims of Tripoli, approved by President John Adams: “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion [and] has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen…” [2]
Shortly after the Civil War a conservative Protestant organization called the National Reform Association (NRA) was alarmed at the Constitution’s omission of God and unsuccessfully petitioned Congress to amend the Constitution to include in its text an acknowledgement of the Kingship of Jesus Christ and His sovereignty over the country. The NRA’s proposed amendment included the following:
However the Congress of the United States completely rejected this amendment. After studying the debates of the Constitutional Convention the House Judiciary Committee came to the conclusion that the Founding Fathers would not have welcomed this amendment. The Committee issued a report that stated:
"the fathers of the Republic in the convention which framed the Constitution… [decided] with great unanimity that it was inexpedient to put anything into the Constitution or frame government which might be construed to be a reference to any religious creed or doctrine.” [4]
Not only did the Founding Fathers seek to prevent the establishment of a Christian government over the United States, they also kept any reference to God out of the Constitution. In fact nowhere in the text of the Constitution is there any explicit mention of God let alone Jesus Christ. As a professor of law and ethics at Emory University put it: “A reference to ‘the Year of our Lord’ sneaks into the dating of the instrument. But nothing more. The ‘Godless Constitution’ has been both celebrated and lamented ever since.”[5]
[1] We at Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) do not think it is proper to call anyone or anything that is not Catholic as being Christian. Hence we put “Christian” here in quotation marks. See Dr. Marian Horvat’s excellent article here for an explanation.
[2] Treaty of Tripoli, Art. 11; see Yale University e-text http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.asp.
[3] “Proceedings of the Fifth National Reform Convention, to Aid in Maintaining the Christian Features of the American Government, and Securing a Religious Amendment to the Constitution of United States,” (Philadelphia: Christian Statesman Association, 1874), digitized Harvard University text, 7.
[4] “House Reports,” Vol I., 43d Congress, 1st Session, Report No. 143.
[5] John Witte, Jr., Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000), 61.
Besides prohibiting the government from recognizing the truth of the Catholic faith the Fathers of the Constitution positively sought to prevent the United States from being any type of “Christian” state. [1] On June 10, 1797, the young United States Senate unanimously declared in its treaty with the Muslims of Tripoli, approved by President John Adams: “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion [and] has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen…” [2]
Shortly after the Civil War a conservative Protestant organization called the National Reform Association (NRA) was alarmed at the Constitution’s omission of God and unsuccessfully petitioned Congress to amend the Constitution to include in its text an acknowledgement of the Kingship of Jesus Christ and His sovereignty over the country. The NRA’s proposed amendment included the following:
- “We, the people of the United States, [humbly acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ruler among the nations, His revealed will as the supreme law of the land, in order to constitute a Christian government,] and in order to form a more perfect union…” [3]
However the Congress of the United States completely rejected this amendment. After studying the debates of the Constitutional Convention the House Judiciary Committee came to the conclusion that the Founding Fathers would not have welcomed this amendment. The Committee issued a report that stated:
"the fathers of the Republic in the convention which framed the Constitution… [decided] with great unanimity that it was inexpedient to put anything into the Constitution or frame government which might be construed to be a reference to any religious creed or doctrine.” [4]
Not only did the Founding Fathers seek to prevent the establishment of a Christian government over the United States, they also kept any reference to God out of the Constitution. In fact nowhere in the text of the Constitution is there any explicit mention of God let alone Jesus Christ. As a professor of law and ethics at Emory University put it: “A reference to ‘the Year of our Lord’ sneaks into the dating of the instrument. But nothing more. The ‘Godless Constitution’ has been both celebrated and lamented ever since.”[5]
[1] We at Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) do not think it is proper to call anyone or anything that is not Catholic as being Christian. Hence we put “Christian” here in quotation marks. See Dr. Marian Horvat’s excellent article here for an explanation.
[2] Treaty of Tripoli, Art. 11; see Yale University e-text http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.asp.
[3] “Proceedings of the Fifth National Reform Convention, to Aid in Maintaining the Christian Features of the American Government, and Securing a Religious Amendment to the Constitution of United States,” (Philadelphia: Christian Statesman Association, 1874), digitized Harvard University text, 7.
[4] “House Reports,” Vol I., 43d Congress, 1st Session, Report No. 143.
[5] John Witte, Jr., Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment: Essential Rights and Liberties (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000), 61.
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