2024 Constitution Day at TSBC
Each year in September, Tri-State Bible College participates in Constitution Day. The U.S. Department of Education writes,
September 17 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day (Constitution Day). This day commemorates the September 17, 1787 signing of the United States Constitution.
Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year is required to hold an educational program about the U.S. Constitution for its students on September 17 (if it falls on a weekend; it should be held in the previous or next week).
This posting is intended to remind affected educational institutions of this responsibility and to provide examples of resources for them to consider using in developing their program. We are also offering examples of resources for students and learners of all ages.
To assist in planning Constitution Day programs, we are pleased to provide links to Web sites that contain materials that can be publicly accessed for general use or for use as teaching materials in the classroom. These links and materials are provided by the three branches of government in an exciting step forward of collaboration in sharing these resources.
The U.S. Department of Education does not direct or control particular curricula or lesson plans. The lists of resources below contain links to learning resources created and maintained by other public and private organizations, and the grade levels and target audiences cited are merely examples. This information is provided for your convenience and as examples of resources for Constitution Day that you might find helpful.
This year, Dr. Mark Phillips, TSBC’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, offers a precise and helpful reminder in his article “How the U.S. Constitution Differs from the Declaration of Independence — and the Implications for Those Who Follow Christ.” Enjoy the read and happy Constitution Day!
How the U.S. Constitution Differs from the Declaration of Independence — and the Implications for Those Who Follow Christ
By Dr. Mark Phillips
The Declaration of Independence is a masterpiece of late eighteenth century thought. It very clearly affirms that man’s rights originate in our Creator, are obvious to all through reason, and, because these rights come from God, cannot be removed by earthly governments (a subtle indictment that ruling powers have certainly attempted to do so). A study of church history cannot help but demonstrate the seeming inevitability of such a document originating from the turmoil of western Europe following the Protestant Reformation.
Our Constitution, however, serves a different purpose, as it never mentions God. This document focuses on how a representative government, derived from the consent of its constituents to be governed, is to function properly. With the seeds sown from the origins of Western Civilization in ancient Greece, descending through the Roman Catholic Church in its de facto role as government during the Holy Roman Empire, and the religious attitudes, persecution, and bloodshed in the British royal families following the Reformation, our Constitution might look vastly different had it been written just 50 years earlier (or later).
In fact, religion itself is only mentioned three times in the U.S. Constitution and the subsequent Bill of Rights. When first written, the only mention was in Article VI, which concludes with the following:
…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
In today’s cultural climate, there are rumblings of the “need” for religious tests for office to prevent adherents of a given faith tradition from deciding public policy, which seemed to pick up interest in the days following 9/11, moving to today’s cultural attitudes which clash with clear biblical doctrines.
The other two mentions are in the Bill of Rights. Both occur in the First Amendment in the form of the Establishment clause and the Free Exercise clause:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….
According to these clauses, there shall be no official religion of the United States, nor shall the government dictate how any person must worship. (A hidden benefit flows from these two clauses as well: no person can be compelled to worship something, or in some manner, against their personal beliefs. Freedom of religion also means freedom from someone else’s idea of religion.)
That’s it. Remarkably compact and considerably less verbose than this essay, the Constitution was designed to accommodate all peoples and their variety of beliefs. Religious life (or the lack thereof) is considered a fundamental, individual right. One of the noted advocates of the First Amendment protections was Baptist Pastor John Leland, an abolitionist and close friend of Constitutional author [and future President] James Madison. Leland is quoted as saying,
The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever…. Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians.
Leland’s strong stand for individual rights is quite stunning from a modern Evangelical perspective; it underscores the importance with which the early leaders of our nation held to personal freedom and religious rights. The framers of our founding documents were aware they were establishing a pluralistic society when it came to religious observance, as their writings demonstrate as much. Personal freedom in worshiping God was more important than any potential friction or discomfort originating in pluralism.
One of the epithets of American culture that is frequently tossed around in error is the concept of “separation of church and state.” The phrase occurs nowhere in the Constitution. In fact, the first recorded instance of the phrase occurs in the January 1, 1802, response of President Thomas Jefferson in his Letter to Danbury Baptists of Massachusetts. Those in Danbury were enquiring of the President of how to interpret the Constitution’s First Amendment, and how minimally broad it is in its reading. Jefferson’s response to the five or so pages from the Baptists was a terse three paragraphs, where he assured them:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
The third President inadvertently closed the circle, coming full loop from the Declaration of Independence. “Natural rights” are inherent to all, originating in our Creator (note Jefferson was not a Christian; he was a Deist—the language referring to God used in the Declaration of Independence originates in general revelation, not special revelation, and therefore is inclusive of a number of faith traditions, regardless of any contradictions of belief between them). Although his personal beliefs were vastly different than what Christians hold to, the individual, personal freedoms were considered fundamentally important coming out of the bloody and violent disagreements originating out of religious dissent in Europe. The wall of separation of church and state is a one-way wall: our government shall not interfere with personal religious exercise, but every American—regardless of their religious faith or lack thereof—has a say in how he or she is governed.
As Christians in today’s changing culture, we would be wise to remember two things. First, although we hold dearly the religious protections provided in our Constitution, our allegiance to Christ remains of foundational importance, as we can consider ourselves pilgrims headed toward something greater (cf. Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 11:13, 1 Peter 2:11). Second, the founding of our nation stands unique in human history — the Apostles would be pressed to imagine an earthly government such as ours, and they might have much to say about how lukewarm, comfortable, and distracted the church in America has become. May we all be found faithful.