The God Of The Bible In The Declaration Of Independence: The Laws Of Nature And Of Nature’s God
First Authority
The Declaration of Independence, written July 4, 1776, cites as its first authority “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” What does this expression mean? The richness of the phrase’s meaning calls for a basic explanation of the document’s purpose. On that basis, the Declaration’s appeal to the God of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures becomes clear.
WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. – Declaration of Independence (opening paragraph)
What was being declared? The colonies’ reasons for separation, i.e. independence, from the British Monarchy.
And why? As specified later in the document, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”
Historical Context
The historical context of the Declaration of Independence is the American Revolution. The infamous “shot heard around the world” reverberated through the still Massachusetts morning of April 19, 1775. A little more than a year later, the Declaration of Independence was written and it was signed on July 4, 1776. See American Revolution timeline here.
God As The Basis of the Declaration of Independence
God is acknowledged four times in the Declaration.
- Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God – the “general rule” or “first authority” cited is the separate and equal station to which the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” entitle the people of the colonies; Nature’s God is the One responsible for the order of all things.
- Creator – individuals are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
- Supreme Judge – an appeal to God as Supreme Judge of the world, to rule, as in a judicial opinion, if the colonists’ intentions are correct.
- Divine Providence – to support this Declaration and the war being fought, the colonists’ rely on Divine Providence for protection.
The Declaration’s Echo of Creation
Creation’s blueprint is echoed in the Declaration’s divine references, revealing the Founder’s belief in God, Nature’s God, operating in His power to create a new nation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
The Spirit of God, i.e. laws of Nature and of Nature’s God, contains the potential, i.e. the life-giving force, for all things “good” that the Creator God will bring into existence. Within this life-giving force exists the capacity for order, growth, life, prosperity, blessing, seed, multiplication of seed, and most important of all, the ability for mankind to know and worship God freely.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
God, as Divine Providence, saw everything that He had made, the provision for the whole of nature’s birth and growth, even for its redemption. And as Supreme Judge, He declared “it was very good.”
The authors of the Declaration cite “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” as the first authority because they are operating within God’s created order, stating the self-evident truths of that order “that all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”.
No one had ever built a nation like America before, one that would be governed by self-rule, i.e. a Republic governed by the consent of the governed. Using the divine pattern of Creation, utilized also in Israel’s pre-Saul era, assured the Founders of an unshakable foundation.
The Mayflower Compact of 1620 stated that the voyage was made “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith…”. Though the Mayflower landed at Plymouth 150 years before the writing of the Declaration of Independence, both the pilgrims and the Revolutionary generation believed America had a God-given destiny. They all believed the Sovereign Lord was birthing a new nation, a new creation, a “city on a hill.” The Mayflower’s fateful voyage reflects Creation’s beginning—Spirit-filled Christians hovering above chaotic waters.
God As The Basis of The Constitution
In the references to God in the Declaration, the Founders affirmed God’s sovereignty over the colonies. These Divine roles would also be used in establishing the three branches of government defined in the U.S. Constitution.
- God is a lawmaker, laws of Nature and of Nature’s God – legislature.
- God is a Supreme Judge – judiciary.
- God is Divine Providence – executive.
- God is Creator – like a founder or a constitution author.
Lawmaker and Creator are found at the beginning of the document while Judge and Providence appear in the last paragraph.
Appeal To The Authority of Nature’s God
The middle of the Declaration contains the charges against the British Crown. The King, in executive, has interfered with the legislature and the judges. He has suspended the legislature. He has removed the judges. He has interfered with trial by jury. In essence, the king is trying to be all 3 branches of government.
But there is only One who can be trusted to be all 3 branches. This One is named in the Declaration—the God of the Bible, i.e. the Creator God, Nature’s God.
The authors of the Declaration needed an authority to appeal to in order to declare a rebellion. The only source of the law, at this point, was the King and Parliament. But British laws did not provide a way for the colonies to break off from England whenever they wanted. If so, they could have claimed those laws as a basis for their action. They needed a higher authority—the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.
What Exactly Does Nature Mean?
“Nature” can mean something as small as a seed, or something as large as the cosmos.
Collins Dictionary Online
1 Nature is all the animals, plants, and other things in the world that are not made by people, and all the events and processes that are not caused by people.
2 The nature of something is its basic quality or character.
Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
1 In a general sense, whatever is made or produced; a word that comprehends all the works of God; the universe. Of a phenix[sic] we say, there is no such thing in nature.
2 [N]ature is used for the agent, creator, author, producer of things, or for the powers that produce them. By the expression, “trees and fossils are produced by nature,” we mean, they are formed or produced by certain inherent powers in matter, or we mean that they are produced by God, the Creator, the Author of whatever is made or produced. The opinion that things are produced by inherent powers of matter, independent of a supreme intelligent author, is atheism. But generally men mean by nature, thus used, the Author of created things, or the operation of His power.
Nature, living things, have a way of coming into existence. They are born, hatched from eggs, sprouted from a seed, etc. Nature encompasses the process of beginning and growth.
Living things also decay. When they cease to grow and begin to decay, some conception of what they were, i.e. their nature, is needed.
When living things are fully themselves, they have realized their nature. For humans, nature is us becoming fully who we are.
Therefore, the laws of nature indicate the conditions that make a living thing grow and grow well. Whatever makes a living thing thrive are the laws governing it, i.e. plants need water and sun to grow and thrive.
The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God
The “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” refers to the God of the Bible, the same God Who appears three other times in the Declaration, as the One responsible for the order of all things. The One to whom the colonists pray and expect to protect the revolution they are waging.
Not all of the founders were believers, but the majority were. The Founders purposed to make this new nation the first country to be a complete and full and happy home for people to enjoy the freedom to think both ways.
Parts of this post adapted from Lesson 2 of the Hillsdale College free online course Introduction To The Constitution.
Aboard the damp, cold, foul-smelling cargo ship Mayflower, with little to eat, could the passengers ever have imagined such a grand feast in the new land? And eating food from their own successful harvest?
On November 9, 1620, when the people first saw Cape Code, their leader, William Bradford, recorded in his diary: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof.”
“The First Thanksgiving”, a grand Harvest Feast, shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native American tribe took place in 1621 at Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, only one year after the Pilgrims landed there. The Pilgrims and the Wampanoag came together to share food, give thanks, and strengthen their alliance. The blessings of Divine Providence were evident through good will extended from the Native Americans and the bountiful harvest produced by the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.
And God saw everything, and it was very good.
Prayer
Blessed God of Heaven,
I pray for each person that reads this post to understand how deeply rooted the founding of America is in the Christian faith. Increase their thirst for knowledge of our history, the times of trial and triumph, and the prevailing faith and superior intellect of our forefathers—all gifts from Your hands. Most of all, may each reader know Your providential grace and favor upon this nation, and the multiple miracles worked on behalf of those, past and present, who appeal to heaven.
Father, grant each Christian believer confidence and boldness in their faith and its power through Jesus Christ to transform and redeem this nation. Give us holy bravery and consuming zeal to reassert our Christian founding and to stand for the Biblical principles of our faith.
Sovereign Lord, we call down help from heaven. We are in dire straits as You know. We gratefully receive Your precious promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So, we can confidently say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5b-6).
Lord, protect President Donald Trump. We ask Your Almighty power to hinder, impede, and shine light upon the Democrats’ violence, hatred, atheism, deception, and cheating. And in my heart, and all who join, we say “Give glory to God!”
