PREFACE

“ There is nothing more offensive to modernity and to the modern mind than the intrusion of God in the affairs of men.”

– Art Katz in his sermon on the 9-11 tragedy –

There is an absence of knowledge in our country about what the Bible says about government. This booklet is a primer study on this issue. This booklet also strongly suggests that people should quote specific verses in the Bible that directly deal with how government should work. It is the moral law in the Scripture that specifically limits the behavior of people. However, there are specific verses in the Scripture that deal with how government should be limited. These verses have not been taught in churches for over a generation. They have not been discussed in the public arena or in the media for over a generation. This booklet identifies many of the verses that identify human rights and the role of government. It is the law in the Scripture that places boundaries on government.

Was the United States founded or established as a Christian nation? The answer to that question is yes and no. It would have not been conceived by the signers of our founding documents that the people would have any ethic other than the Christian ethic. At this time I think it is important to note the religious affiliation of the signers of the three founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution.

Therewere 118 differentpeoplethatsignedallthreedocuments. Ifyou include the First Federal Congress, 88 were Episcopalian/Anglican. Thirty were Presbyterian. Twenty seven were Congregationalists. Seven were Quakers. Six were Dutch Reformed. Five were Lutheran. Three were Catholic. Three were Huguenot. Three were Unitarians. There were two Methodist. There was one Calvinist.

There were 143 positions for signature on the three founding documents and several people signed all three documents and some signed two documents. Roger Sherman, a Congregationalist, signed all three documents but he was only counted one time in this list.

These men, just like all men, had differing opinions. They certainly had differing opinions about religion. Some were more religious than others. It is noteworthy that there were no Atheist. However, one of the most revered was Thomas Jefferson. He accepted the Christian ethic but he hated Jesus Christ. He hated Jesus Christ so much that he rewrote his own New Testament for his own study.

Imagine a man being so arrogant as to take the New Testament and rewrite it to suit himself. He removed all references to the deity of Christ from his New Testament. He removed all references to a virgin birth. Therefore we must conclude that the church was no different then than it is now. Men were no different then than they are now.

We need to consider what our churches are like today. Do we have people like Jefferson in the church today? Of course we do. Were the men that were signers of these documents motivated purely by egalitarian, philanthropic and charitable purposes? Certainly not. They saw an opportunity to revolt against the King of England to create their own trough of taxes from which to feed. Were they all purely selfish? Probably not. We cannot deny that they were politicians. Did their religion influence the creation of the Bill of Rights which was the first Amendment to the Constitution? Any reasonable person would have to conclude that it did. Should these men be revered and worshiped? I hope not. Should they be recognized for the good that they did? I certainly hope so. Some thinkers who enjoy the enlightenment want to say that their Christian faith had nothing to do with the creation of the Bill of Rights and that our rights spontaneously combusted from the minds of those enlightened men. If you read this booklet you will find that is not true. You will find that our rights came straight from the scripture.

It is interesting that most of the limiting language in our Constitution comes from the Amendments. The Bill of Rights was nothing more than a restatement of the rights given by God to Moses. I don’t mean to imply that none of the men who attended the various conventions and congresses establishing the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence had no virtue. Certainly, if they were believers they had the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God inculcated into their souls. It would be reasonable to assume that would have had an influence.

This booklet addresses how God places boundaries on government, politics and human power. We must also remember Christ’s answer to Pilate’s question in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Even though the United States of America is not “God’s Kingdom,” God has placed boundaries on it. This booklet is about how the Bible and the law in the Bible give us direction to keep government within certain boundaries.

Many people think electing a particular candidate will limit government. It will not. Some think supporting an interest group like the Heritage Foundation or perhaps supporting this organization will limit government. It will not. Others think by being a member of or a supporter of a political party will limit government. It will not. The most controversial view in this booklet is as follows: Government limitation is measured in direct proportion to the inculcation of specific principles in Bible verses being resident in the souls of a significant number of the citizenry. (Perhaps as little as 2% to 5%.) Our country has many problems but its biggest problem is a spiritual problem.

The Bible is clear that people and nations are blessed and/or disciplined. This discipline and blessing is not based upon some theory of democracy or majority opinion. If the people of the land have no knowledge of the scripture the Lord has a quarrel with them. For example, Hosea 4:1 reads as follows: “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel; for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.”

Another example is when Abraham was talking to God outside of Sodom. Abraham was pleading for God not to destroy Sodom. Abraham said “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” Of course, he couldn’t find ten and Sodom was destroyed. Genesis 18:32.

No one should ever expect that they can fix these problems. They forget that God is in charge. There is one thing people can do that will be a positive influence. It has limited government for over 4,000 years. It is having principles of specific verses in the Scripture that address government known by some of the population. This booklet is meant to assist citizens in presenting Scripture that defines government and its authority. The purpose of the Limited Government and Inalienable Rights Society is to “encourage citizens, public officials, policy makers and others to quote Scripture in their public addresses, appearances and private conversations. The reason for this is that there are verses in the Scripture which specifically address problems that are facing our nation, our states, our county governments and our city governments. These universal truths will aid our policy makers in directing our ships of state.”