© 2026 Don Pinson (To download, right-click on the gray play bar and select “Save Audio As”)

Today we hear much about what is called the “Separation of Church and State”.  By that phrase is meant that the Bible, nor Christian ideas, have any right to influence government.  Groups such as the ACLU, who promote this idea, say that the First Amendment to the Constitution forbids Biblical ideas from influencing government.  But an honest study of the men who wrote the First Amendment will reveal just the opposite.

America’s Founders came from a long line of people who looked to God as the Source and Strength of their lives.  Prayer to them was as natural as breathing, and an absolute necessity in times of national crisis.  When the first major step toward war occurred, which was the blockading of Boston harbor, the first Continental Congress was then in session.  This gathering marked the first time the thirteen colonies had come together to discuss how to deal with the King of England’s tyranny over the American colonies.  Their very first act was to invite a minister to start their sessions with prayer and the reading of the Bible.

On September 7, 1774, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, describing the effects of the prayer.  He wrote:

© 2026 Don Pinson (To download, right-click on the gray play bar and select “Save Audio As”)

It had been a long struggle. For over twenty years the American Colonies had appealed to their king, asking him to recognize his departure from English law. The Americans, because of their Biblical foundation, understood that government servants (including the king) had to do what they did according to the law of God. King George III showed no respect for what the Bible had to say about government, and thus ignored every request to come back into the order of God.

Finally on June 7th, 1776, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution on the floor of the Continental Congress stating:

“RESOLVED, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

(The Declaration of Independence, Rod Gragg, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, 2005; p.35)

A committee was appointed, which included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin, to write a Declaration of Independence which would, upon the approval of the Congress be sent to the King of England. The Congress then recessed for three weeks to give the committee time to write the Declaration.