American History Quotes About God and the Bible
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
The USA is a covenant Christain nation. We are one nation under God. The Christian majority is the largest group in America (~75%, 2012 polling). Christians uniting in Christ is our nation’s source of unity. Below are some of the thousands of quotes endorsing God in government by our Founding Fathers and others in American history. American children have prayed and read the Holy Bible in schools for 355 years (1607 – 1962), Congress recommended Bibles for America and funded Christian missionaries, the third verse of our national anthem says, “And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust”.
Join Christians across the USA and declare: “The Lord is the God of the USA and Americans [those who believe] are His people,” said Steven Andrew.”
George Washington – First President of the United States of America
“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
– George Washington
“I am glad you have brought three of the Children of your principal Chiefs to be educated with us. I am sure Congress will open the Arms of love to them, and will look upon them, and will look upon them as their own Children, and will have them educated accordingly… You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention…”
“– George Washington
– to the Chiefs of the Delaware Indian tribe bringing 3 children to be trained in American schools, May 12, 1779.
“To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.”
– George Washington
“We beseech [God] to pardon our national and other transgressions…”
– George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation 1789
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, [Christian] religion and morality are indispensable.”
– George Washington
“Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in Thy fear, and dying in Thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son, Jesus Christ.”
– George Washington, Prayer
True [Christian] religion affords to government its surest support.
– George Washington
It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.
– George Washington (this quote is unconfirmed)
“The General most earnestly requires, and expects, a due observance of those articles of war, established for the Government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing and drunkeness; And in like manner requires and expects, of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine Service, to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defence.” – George Washington, General Orders, 4 July 1775
Samuel Adams – Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I … [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.
– Samuel Adams
We have this day [Fourth of July] restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.
– Samuel Adams
The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.
– Samuel Adams
The rights of the colonists as Christians…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.
– Samuel Adams
United States Congressional Endorsement of the Bible and God
Congress printed a Bible for America and said:
“The United States in Congress assembled … recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States … a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.”
– United States Congress 1782
Congress passed this resolution:
“The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.”
– United States Congress 1782
By Law the United States Congress adds to US coinage:
“In God We Trust”
– United States Congress 1864
John Adams –President of the United States of America, First Vice President, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Signer of the Bill of Rights, and Signer of First Ammendment
The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
– John Adams
The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.
– John Adams
The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
– John Adams
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
– John Adams
I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.
– John Adams
The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.
– John Adams
[The Fourth of July] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
– John Adams
As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him.
– John Adams
We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus.
– John Adams and John Hancock (uncomfirmed quote)
Abigail Adams – Wife of John Adams
“The Scriptures tell us righteousness exalteth a Nation.”
– Abigail Adams
Patrick Henry – Early America Leader
There is a book [the Bible] worth all the other books ever printed.
– Patrick Henry
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
– Patrick Henry (uncomfirmed quote)
John Jay – First Chief-Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is their duty – as well as privilege and interest – of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
– John Jay
The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.
– John Jay
John Hancock – Signer of the Declaration of Independence
…that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Earth may be filled with his glory.
– John Hancock, as Governor of Massachusetts 1791
We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus.
– John Adams and John Hancock (unconfirmed quote)
Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
“The only foundation for . . . a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
– Benjamin Rush
Let the children…be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education.
– Benjamin Rush
Christianity is the only true and perfect religion…
– Benjamin Rush
John Witherspoon – Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Continental Congress
“He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.”
– John Witherspoon
John Dickinson – Signer Constitution of the USA, Continental Congress
“The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source — from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.”
– John Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jeferson – President
God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.
– Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson Memorial
The Christian religion is the best religion that has ever been given to man
– Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson Memorial
Daniel Webster – Early American Politician
Education is useless without the Bible.
– Daniel Webster
Noah Webster – “Schoolmaster of the Republic”
Education is useless without the Bible. The Bible was America’s basic text book in all fields. God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.
– Noah Webster
In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed … No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.
– Noah Webster, Preface Noah Webster Dictionary, 1828
Joseph Story – Supreme Court Justice
“I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law … There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations.”
– Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, Harvard Speech, 1829
United States of America National Anthem – Francis Scott Key
“And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust’”
– USA National Anthem, Third Verse
New England Confederation
“Whereas 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 and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace;” New England Confederation 1643
USA Constitution – First Amendment
“Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth…”
– US Constitution, Before signature text declaring our Christian Nation
Note: “Year of our Lord” means Jesus Christ is Lord of the USA. (Founding fathers didn’t use year of the Lord)
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion [Christian denomination], or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
– US Constitution, First Ammendment (Christian religious freedom brackets added)
Andrew Jackson – President of the United States of America
“[The Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.”
– Andrew Jackson
Abraham Lincoln – President of the United States of America
In regards to this great Book [the Bible], 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 found portrayed in it.
– Abraham Lincoln
I am busily engaged in study of the Bible.
– Abraham Lincoln
This nation under God
– Abraham Lincoln, Gettysberg Address and inscribed on Lincoln Memorial
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God … and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
– Abraham Lincoln
Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. (Matthew 18:7)
– Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Memorial
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.
– Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Memorial
Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation…
– Abraham Lincoln
“Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulties.”
– Abraham Lincoln, President, March 4, 1861 inaugural address
United States Supreme Court
“This is a Christian nation”
– United States Supreme Court Decision in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 1892
“Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian…This is a Christian nation”
– United States Supreme Court Decision in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 1892
Washington Monument
Holiness to the Lord (Exodus 28:26, 30:30, Isaiah 23:18, Zechariah 14:20)
– Washington Monument
Search the Scriptures (John 5:39)
– Washington Monument
The memory of the just is blessed (Proverbs 10:7)
– Washington Monument
May Heaven to this Union continue its beneficence
– Washington Monument
In God We Trust
– Washington Monument
“Praise be to God” (engraved on the monument’s capstone in Latin as “Laus Deo”)
– Washington Monument
James Madison – A Primary Author of the Constitution of the United States of America
“We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
– James Madison
“Religion [is] the basis and foundation of Government”
– James Madison
“Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.”
– James Madison
Northwest Ordinance – July 13, 1787
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
– Northwest Ordinance, Article 3
Original Harvard University Student Handbook 1636
Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well: the main end of his life and studies is “to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life” (John 17.3), and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (Prov. 2.3).
– Original Harvard University Student Handbook
William McGuffy – author of McGuffy Reader, which was used for over 100 years in American schools as the primary textbook
The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free Institutions. From no source has this author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible, I make no apology.
– William McGuffy, author of McGuffy Reader
Congress – First Prayer in Congress
O LORD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, high and mighty King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth, and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the kingdoms, empires and governments; look down in mercy we beseech Thee, on these American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor, and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring henceforth to be dependent only on Thee; to Thee they have appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious design of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause; and if they persist in their sanguinary purpose, O let the voice of Thy own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the counsels of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation, that the scene of blood may be speedily closed, that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety prevail and flourish among Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them, and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Savior. Amen.
– First Prayer in Congress September 7, 1774, Jacob Duche, Carpenters Hall, Philadelphia
Calvin Coolidge– President of the United States of America
“The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”
– Calvin Coolidge
Harry S. Truman – President of the United States of America
“The fundamental basis of this Nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul.”
– Harry S. Truman
“This Nation was established by men who believed in God. … You will see the evidence of this deep religious faith on every hand.’
– Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower – President of the United States of America
“Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Thus, the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God’s help, it will continue to be.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
“I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, President
“This is a Christian nation.”
– Harry Truman, President
“[The United States is] founded on the principles of Christianity”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, President
Ronald Reagan – President of the United States of America
Of the many influences that have shaped the United States into a distinctive nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.
– Ronald Reagan
Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country, providing them with the strength, character, convictions, and faith necessary to withstand great hardship and danger in this new and rugged land. These shared beliefs helped forge a sense of common purpose among the widely dispersed colonies — a sense of community which laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades.
– Ronald Reagan
The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual, rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual. This same sense of man patterned the convictions of those who framed the English system of law inherited by our own Nation, as well as the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
– Ronald Reagan
For centuries the Bible’s emphasis on compassion and love for our neighbor has inspired institutional and governmental expressions of benevolent outreach such as private charity, the establishment of schools and hospitals, and the abolition of slavery.
– Ronald Reagan
“The Congress of the United States, in recognition of the unique contribution of the Bible in shaping the history and character of this Nation, and so many of its citizens, has by Senate Joint Resolution 165 authorized and requested the President to designate the year 1983 as the ‘Year of the Bible.’”‘
– Ronald Reagan
Inside the Bible’s pages lie the answers to all the problems that mankind has ever known. I hope Americans will read and study the Bible.
– Ronald Reagan
> Declaration of Independence Text
> Founding Fathers’ Quotes on Rights of Conscience
> George Washington Thanksgiving Proclamation
>Founding Fathers on Homosexuality
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