# "Divinely inspired" US Constitution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140 "2016-07-28T20:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/1 "2016-07-28T20:47:32Z")
There are some in America who believe that our Constitution is in fact divinely ordained. I assume these people are all or overwhelmingly evangelical Christians. –To what extent to these people believe in the divine provenance of the Constitution? Is it the literal word of God, as some suppose the Bible to be? Or something inspired by and consistent with Christian principles? Is there a range of opinion? –What evidence do they cite (if any)? I’m not interested in debating the merits of that evidence, just interested in knowing what these believers say. –How do they square the divine constitution with slavery? NOT interested in debating whether the Constitution is or isn’t divinely inspired, only in understanding the beliefs around it. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/2 "2016-07-28T21:06:13Z")
I knew a mormom who seemed to believe the founding ‘fathers’ and the constitution were divinely inspired, when I asked about the teensy slavery thing he started raging incoherently. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/3 "2016-07-28T21:07:46Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > There are some in America who believe that our Constitution is in fact divinely ordained. I assume these people are all or overwhelmingly evangelical Christians. > > –To what extent to these people believe in the divine provenance of the Constitution? Is it the literal word of God, as some suppose the Bible to be? Or something inspired by and consistent with Christian principles? Is there a range of opinion? > > –What evidence do they cite (if any)? I’m not interested in debating the merits of that evidence, just interested in knowing what these believers say. > > –How do they square the divine constitution with slavery? > > NOT interested in debating whether the Constitution is or isn’t divinely inspired, only in understanding the beliefs around it. Thanks all. The Constitution was not thought to be divinely inspired by the people who wrote it. In fact, they declined to even so much as hold prayers while drafting the document. I know a story has been going around claiming otherwise but it is false. I’m going to go take a nap now but I will return later and post primary sources conclusively demonstrating this, if you desire them. The slavery thing was a necessary compromise. Many of our founding fathers thought it was wrong and had qualms about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/4 "2016-07-28T21:12:43Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > The Constitution was not thought to be divinely inspired by the people who wrote it. In fact, they declined to even so much as hold prayers while drafting the document. I know a story has been going around claiming otherwise but it is false. I’m going to go take a nap now but I will return later and post primary sources conclusively demonstrating this, if you desire them. The slavery thing was a necessary compromise. Many of our founding fathers thought it was wrong and had qualms about it. Ahem… > [@](#): > > NOT interested in debating whether the Constitution is or isn’t divinely inspired, only in understanding the beliefs around it. Thanks all. I don’t believe the lizard people killed JFK, but I can still talk about other people’s beliefs in an objective fashion. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/5 "2016-07-28T21:19:00Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > I don’t believe the lizard people killed JFK, but I can still talk about other people’s beliefs in an objective fashion. I didn’t say you couldn’t but so can I… Note that I mentioned a false story going around claiming the convention felt a religious blessing was necessary. This story has been going around since like the 1820s and is probably part of the “evidence” cited by those who believe it is divine. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/6 "2016-07-28T21:36:34Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > There are some in America who believe that our Constitution is in fact divinely ordained. Really? Where are these people? Is this some sort of democratic/republican version of “the divine right of kings”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/7 "2016-07-28T21:42:48Z")
> [@dreamregent](#): > > …I’m going to go take a nap now but I will return later and post primary sources conclusively demonstrating this… May I borrow this? I can see it coming in handy when arguing with people with a short attention span. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/8 "2016-07-28T22:05:53Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Really? Where are these people? Is this some sort of democratic/republican version of “the divine right of kings”? Here’s a sample based on a very fast Google search. I tried to read it and got bored and confused. It seems to mostly assume the answer. That’s why I was hoping others could explain without the blah-blah. [http://freedomoutpost.com/american-government-divinely-inspired-bible/](http://freedomoutpost.com/american-government-divinely-inspired-bible/) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/9 "2016-07-28T22:15:28Z")
Seems strange that a Constitution divinely inspired by God would say that Congress shall make NO law establishing any religion… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/10 "2016-07-28T22:17:56Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Here’s a sample based on a very fast Google search. I tried to read it and got bored and confused. It seems to mostly assume the answer. That’s why I was hoping others could explain without the blah-blah. > > [http://freedomoutpost.com/american-government-divinely-inspired-bible/](http://freedomoutpost.com/american-government-divinely-inspired-bible/) Man, I thought that was a crazy site even before I read the comments on some of the articles. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/11 "2016-07-28T22:31:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Really? Where are these people? Is this some sort of democratic/republican version of “the divine right of kings”? “Those people” are annoyingly easy to find. Some of them even have some influence on our government at the federal, state, and local levels. _The Americans United for Separation of Church and State_ keeps an eye on them and their revisionist history. AU battles them in the courts when they can. Here’s a link to an index of organizations of the Religious Right and the people that run them. > **[Religious Right Activist Guilty Of Possessing Child Pornography - Americans...](https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/religious-right-activist-guilty-of-possessing-child-pornography/?machine_name%5B0%5D=religious_right_organizations)** There are even some people who make a comfortable living writing books about the BS notion that the US was founded on Christian principles and needs to be returned to its fictitious Godly roots. > [@](#): > > July 19, 2016 > The Republican Party platform approved yesterday includes a call for altering federal law to allow houses of worship to jump into partisan politics. This change threatens religious life in America, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. > > The platform advocates repeal of the Johnson Amendment, a provision adopted by Congress in 1954 that prohibits 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organizations, including houses of worship, from intervening in partisan politics by endorsing or opposing candidates for public office. > > Asserts the platform, “We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republicans believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore we urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/12 "2016-07-29T00:42:17Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I knew a mormom who seemed to believe the founding ‘fathers’ and the constitution were divinely inspired, when I asked about the teensy slavery thing he started raging incoherently. I have never heard anyone but Mormons claim that the Constitution was divinely inspired. It seems to be a pretty mainstream belief within the LDS community. See, for example, [The Divinely Inspired Constitution](https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/02/the-divinely-inspired-constitution?lang=eng) and [Constitution of the United States - Mormonism, The Mormon Church, Beliefs, & Religion - MormonWiki](http://www.mormonwiki.com/Constitution_of_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/13 "2016-07-29T00:51:41Z")
bibliophage, thanks for those links. It looks like the LDS view is that it is inspired but not perfect, which is how they deal with the slavery thing. I looked a little more at the site I linked to above. I can’t tell whether it is LDS in any way but I would guess not; seems they explicitly deny the need to change anything about the constitution, contra the LDS view. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/14 "2016-07-29T01:01:21Z")
It’s a little comparable to the belief that the King James Version of the Bible is “divinely appointed” as the best, infallible translation. It’s also somewhat related to the “Visible Elect” notion of some forms of Calvinism. The idea would be, roughly, that the religious Pilgrims and Puritans who founded America bestowed upon the continent a kind of divine favor, which can be seen clearly in the success of the colonies. The “Visible Elect” notion is that, if God favors you in your business, health, and personal wealth, then God also favors you in your theological values. Few people follow this idea today. We know that really rotten people can still be wealthy, successful, and physically healthy. The success in trade and expansion of the colonies is not, by and large, taken, today, as a sign that God loved the colonists particularly above others. But _some_ people still have this belief. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/15 "2016-07-29T01:04:46Z")
If it was originally divine. Are the amendments also? Is god still guiding the evolution 🙂 of the constitution? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/16 "2016-07-29T01:10:26Z")
I’ve never heard the Constitution was divinely inspired, but the phrase is an easy out for just about anything. I could claim a piece of libel I wrote was “divinely inspired.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/17 "2016-07-29T01:14:31Z")
if ‘gods’ hand is in everything and has a ‘plan’ - and everything is part of this ‘plan’ - and nothing comes to pass that is not part of this ‘plan’ - then everything - and I mean EVERYTHING is ‘divinely inspired’ - which makes the term divinely meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/18 "2016-07-29T01:23:52Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Seems strange that a Constitution divinely inspired by God would say that Congress shall make NO law establishing any religion… Well, no. The motivation for the non-establishment clause was not to protect the state from being controlled by churches; it was to protect churches from being controlled by the state. And you could easily persuade yourself that this is What God Wants. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/19 "2016-07-29T02:39:27Z")
Look, we can quibble about what it means to be divinely inspired all day, and what that meant to pilgrims, and so on, but the fact is that there are people out there today–perhaps many, I don’t know–who believe that the US Constitution is divinely inspired. It seems this may include all Mormons, a not insignificant number, and I hope a LDS member or someone with knowledge will weigh in further on this. That is interesting to me, but what inspired my post was the memory of running across references to this idea in the last year or so, and it seems like an idea that is current in a segment of the evangelical Christian community. I provided a link above. Looking forward to hearing more from folks with knowledge and insight, including any believers. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140/20 "2016-07-29T13:35:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve never heard the Constitution was divinely inspired, but the phrase is an easy out for just about anything. I could claim a piece of libel I wrote was “divinely inspired.” That’s rather nifty. If truth is an affirmative defense to charges of defamation, divine truth must certainly be even more so. ETA: :rolleyes: Gotta be careful of [Poe’s Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/divinely-inspired-us-constitution/761140.md?page=2)