Thoughts That Motivate Us

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This Circle of stars represents the original 13 states of the USA in 1776. The cross signifies that Christian values were central to America when she was founded. In support of this idea ponder these thoughts of some prominent people.

Referring to the Bible: “That book, Sir, is the rock upon which our Republic rests.”
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), seventh president of the United States

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States

“It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”
Horace Greeley (1811-1872), influential American journalist and political leader

“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 Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States

“Reason and experience both forbids us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
James Madison (1751-1836), fourth president of the United States

“He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American printer, author, diplomat, philosopher, and scientist

“Whatever makes men good Christians makes them good citizens.’’
Daniel Webster (1782-1852), American statesman

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are a gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers. sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor... Have we now forgotten this powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”
I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writing, that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this...
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning.” US Constitutional Convention, 1787.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American printer, author, diplomat, philosopher, and scientist

“… the general principles on which the founding fathers achieved independence, were the only principles in which that beautiful assembly of young men could unite… and what were these general principles? I answer, the general principles of Christianity, in which all those sects were united, and the general principles of English and American liberty…”
John Adams (1735-1826), second president of the United States

“…you do well to wish to learn our arts and way of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.”
George Washington,(1732-1799), first president of the United States

“Revelation assures us that ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation’… .and the public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals.”
Samuel Adams (1722-1803), American patriot

“So great is my veneration of the Bible, that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of the country and respectable members of society”
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States

“It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their own 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 (1809-1865), 16th president of the United States

“The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… to this we owe our free constitutions of government.”
Noah Webster (1758-1843), American lexicographer

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams (1735-1826), second president of the United States

“The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. He will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.”
Charles Finney, Evangelist

“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 (1736-99), American orator and statesman

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
John Jay (1745-1829), American statesman and jurist, the first chief justice of the United States

“While we are zealously performing the duties of good Citizens and Soldiers we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of Religion. To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian. The signal instances of providential Goodness which we have experienced and which now almost crowned our labors with complete success, demand from us in a peculiar manner the warmest returns of Gratitude and Piety to the Supreme Author of all Good.”
George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States

“Our father’s God to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light, protect us by the might, great God our King.” 3rd verse of “America”
Samuel Francis Smith, Composer

“For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which, without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by-such a diversity of interests.”
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), American statesman

“Whereas 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, aid and favors…”
George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States

“… more than all, a government and a country were to commence, with the very first foundations laid under the divine light of the Christian religion... Who would wish that his country’s existence had otherwise begun… Let us not forget the religious character of our origin.”
Daniel Webster (1782-1852), American statesman

“Whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government.”
US Supreme Court, 1811, People vs Ruggle’s

“….Blest with victry and peace, may the Heav’n-rescued land Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto, ‘In God is our Trust!’ And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave Or’e the land of the free and the home of the brave!” 4th verse of the Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), American lawyer and poet

“We submit our persons, lives, and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords and to all the perfect and most absolute laws of His given us in His Holy Word.”
Rhode Island Charter

“Our national Constitution established a republic upon the ‘absolute laws’ of the Bible, not a democracy based on the changing whims of people.”
The Rebirth of America, 1986, pg 32, Arthur S. Demoss Foundation

“Inasmuch as our greatest leaders have shown no doubt about God’s proper place in the American birthright. can we, in our day, dare do less?”
Robert Byrd, (1917- ), Member of the United States Senate

“Lastly, our ancestors established their system at government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits.”
Daniel Webster (1782-1852), American statesman

“Had the people. during the Revolution, had any suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle.. .At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect. In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity. That was the religion of the founders of the Republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants… the great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
House Judiciary Committee, March27, 1854

Concerning the teaching of morality in public schools: “The purest principles of morality are to be taught. Where are they found? Whoever searches for them must go to the source from which a Christian man derives his faith — the Bible.”
US Supreme Court, 1844, Vidal vs. Girard’s Executors

“…If we remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the World. From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak — the unborn child — must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for...” National Prayer Breakfast, 3 Feb 1994
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Roman Catholic nun, humanitarian;

“…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th president of the United States

Speaking about the proposed US Constitution: “... Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.
George Washington,(1732-1799), first president of the United States

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
King David, Psalms 33:12

“Take away a nation’s heritage and the people are easily persuaded.” (paraphrase)
Karl Marx, (1818-1883), German political philosopher and revolutionist

“A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we come from or what we have been about.
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th president of the United States

“…For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
US Declaration of Independence

“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, (1872-1933), 30th president of the United

“Intelligence, Patriotism… and a firm reliance on Him who has never forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th president of the United States

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Ezra, II, Chronicles 7:14, NIV

Whereas the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people:

Whereas deeply held religious convictions springing from the Holy Scriptures led to the early settlement of our Nation:

Whereas Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

Whereas many of our great national leaders — among them Presidents Washington. Jackson, Lincoln, and Wilson — paid tribute to the surpassing influence of the Bible in our country’s development, as in the words of President Jackson that the Bible is “the rock on which our Republic rests”.

Whereas the history of our Nation clearly illustrates the value of voluntarily applying the teachings of the Scriptures in the lives of individuals, families, and societies.

Whereas this Nation now faces great challenges that will test this Nation as it has never been tested before: and

Whereas that renewing our knowledge of faith in God through Holy Scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people;

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved By The Senate And House Of Representatives Of The United States In Congress Assembled, That The President Is Authorized And Requested To Designate 1983 As A National “Year Of The Bible” In Recognition Of Both The Formative Influence The Bible Has Been For Our Nation And Our National Need To Study And Apply The Teachings Of The Holy Scriptures.

Signed into Public Law (97-280) by President Ronald Reagan – October 4, 1982