Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Farris:
Men like John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush are most often associated with the American founding, but these men were devout Christians. Ned, tell us how Witherspoon, Rush, and others like them provide a historic example of Christians in politics.

Ned Ryun:
Mike, if you examine the lives of many of our signers of the Declaration and the Constitution, you will see that many of them were orthodox Christians. Twenty-four of the men that signed the Declaration of Independence held degrees that were equivalent to seminary degrees. John Witherspoon was the Reverend Doctor John Witherspoon, one of four ministers that actually signed the Declaration. In fact, Dr. Benjamin Rush was a devout Christian—wrote the Defense of the Use of the Bible as a Schoolbook. Fifty of the signers of the Constitution attended orthodox Christian churches. Mike, if you look at who the Founders cited most frequently, the Bible is the most frequently cited document among their writings—even more than Blackstone, Locke, and Montesquieu. If you consider the Christians that were involved in the founding of our nation, you realize it was their influence that helped give us the longest-lasting constitutional republic in the history of the world.

Mike:
From the very beginning of our nation's history, Christians have played an important role in our government. Today's Christians should be no different. We need to follow in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers and take our rightful place as full participants in the system. Register, vote, and participate.