Class Notes

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Separation

of Church and State

Constitution

The most important legal document in

the United States

It is what gives us our rights

It is a contract between the people

and the government

It is a supreme document

It is non all inclusive

There are grey areas therefore we have to have

someone to interpret it

Branches in

government

· Executive Branch

Enforces the law

Attorney General

· Legislative Branch

Make or create the law

· Judicial Branch

Interpret the law

District courts

Circuit courts (court of appeals)

Supreme court (Final authority regarding the

interpretation of the constitution)

9 Justices on the Supreme Court

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Three separate branch to prevent a dictatorship

Three

Methods to Constitution Interpretation

o Strict Construction (1)

§ Says exactly what it states

o Historical (Original Intent) (4)

Liberal

(Living Document) (4)

What

is the purpose of the Bill of

Rights?

1. To restrict the power of the federal

government

2. To preserve state autonomy

How many

amendments are there in the constitution? 27

The First

Amendment

In last 60 years, people have equated the first

amendment with the phrase “separation

of church and state”.

No religion in public settings – this is what

people have begun to interpret it as

· The Establishment Clause

o Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion

· The Free Exercise Clause

o Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

1587: Roanoke Colony

1607: Jamestown Colony

1620: Pilgrims

1754: French and Indian War

(United fight against the colonist)

1773: Boston Tea Party

1774: Intolerable Acts

1775: Revolutionary War (King

George III)

1776: Declaration of

Independence (56 men signed it)

1783: War Ended

1783:

Articles of Confederation (Predecessor to the Constitution)

It gave to much power to the State and very little to the Federal Government

1787: Constitutional Convention

Philadelphia

· 55 delegates went

4 month process

39 signed the Constitution

13 States existed at this time

The original purpose was not to create a new

document but to modify the Articles of Confederation. But they realized that a

new document was necessary.

· Big struggle: how will we control

the people and the government

1788: Constitution was ratified

Promised to put in the Bill of Rights

1789: George Washington

elected as the first president

1791: Bill of Rights was

ratified

1801: Thomas Jefferson was

elected

He was an anti-federalist

1802: Correspondence with the Danbury

Baptist Association

· Thomas Jefferson: “Building a wall

of the separation of church and state”

· Why did the DBA not like the free

exercise clause: because government did not give us our freedom of religion –

God did.

1808: Federal ban on the

importation of slaves

1833: Barron vs. Mayor

The supreme court decided was for the Federal

government only.

1860: Abraham Lincoln elected

1861: Civil War

The colonists had no representation but the

southern states had representation (the difference between the reasons they

seceded)

Abraham Lincoln – was racist, trampled on the

constitution by going against it several times

1865: 13th Amendment:

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,

except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly

convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their

jurisdiction."

Ended slavery

1868: 14th Amendment

“All persons born or naturalized in the United

States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United

States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any

law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United

States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,

without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the

equal protection of the laws.”

Gave slaves their rights

1947: Everson vs. Board of Education

Debated whether or not it was okay to use tax

dollars to transport students to private schools

This was the first time that the Supreme court

said that the first amendment

applied to the states because of the fourteenth amendment.

Because if the 14th amendment applied

to the state then the 1st amendment had to as well.

1954: We added “under God” to our oath

Added to emphasize that we are NOT communist or

atheist

1956: “In God We Trust” put on our

currency

Prior to 1990: Compelling Interest Test

· A law cannot infringe on your religious freedom unless:

o The law was justified by national

critical interest

o There is no alternate form of

regulation that is less burdensome

1990: Employment decision vs. Smith

There were two native Americans working at a

rehabilitation center and were caught doing drugs --- premise of the case

· A law can infringe on your religious rights with the following

exceptions:

o Use the Compelling Interest Test

when the law infringes on your religious right and another right

o The purpose of the law is to

persecute religion

o The Free Exercise clause becomes null and void and does not apply to any

law involving general behavior

The

first amendment now applies to the states.

There

were two main things that influenced our founding fathers in the writing of the

constitution.

1. Theological system

2. Philosophical system

John Calvin

The virtual founder of America

Leader of the protestant reformation in Sweden

Protestant reformation: 1517

Martin Luther

· John Calvin had the greatest

influence on the thinking of our founding fathers

What

does a theological system have to do with government?

Theology determines my human nature

My human nature determines my choice in government

· Hold a low view of human nature

o Checks and balances in government

(distrust my leaders)

o Free enterprise

o Strict consequences for wrong doing

Strong

military

Calvinism

Basic beliefs/principles of Calvinism:

Total depravity of man

Very low view of human nature

Priesthood of all believers

Romans 14:12

Every

plowboy must be able to read and interpret the scriptures rather than be bound

to follow the interpretation driven him by his church for he himself is

responsible to God for his soul. (Their motto)

Believe in strong education

i. New

England

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut,

Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine.

New England Primer 1690

First text book for all 13 colonies

It was all Christian based

Covenant Theology

a. 2 primary covenants: law (man must

obey) and grace (man must have faith)

The people have the right to break the right

with their ruler

“We the people” – we make a covenant and give their rulers

their power

Rev. Samuel Rutherford

i. 1600-1661

ii. Magnum

Opus: Lex Rex (Law and the King)

The people establish government and then choose

a man to be their ruler (Judges 8:22)

All men are created equal. No one is superior to

another. The king is not above the law.

iii. Slogan

of the Revolutionary War: “Rebellion

against tyranny is obedience to God.”

People didn’t want to support the revolution

because it violated Romans 13.

They quoted Rev. Rutherford to show that the revolution was not, in fact, violating

scripture.

Local Church Government

Each church is independent and autonomous.

i. Therefore

each state is independent

and autonomous

Puritan

Principles

Holy Commonwealth

Immigrant vs. citizen analogy

i. Only true believers are a full part

of the community.

ii. Government meetings always took

place in the church.

iii. Only church members could vote.

iv. Non-church members had only basic

rights.

Religious

test Clauses

i. 11

out of the 13 colonies had clauses that prevented you from holding office

unless you belonged to a religious group

Holy Commonwealth is found in the Mayflower

compact

6. Postmillennialism

The second coming of Christ comes after a reign of peace

Calvinists today: amilliennialism

The way it impacted Government

i. Most

Puritans believed that Christ would return in the new World

ii. The puritans believed that the

church and government should work together to prepare for the second coming of

Christ

Work Ethic

If you do not work you should not eat

Therefore free enterprise/capitalism

Religious Liberty

Salem Witch Trials

i. 1692 in Massachusetts

20 people were executed

Young girls caught “playing with magic”

They became champions of religious liberty

i. Roger

Williams: Baptist

Established Rhode Island for the purpose of

religious freedom

2. Advocated for the two tables

theory

He said that government has no right to be

involved with Table I but government has a right to be involved with man’s

relationship with man

i. TABLE

No other Gods before me.

No graven image

Do not take his name in vain

Sabbath

ii. TABLE

Honour your parents

Do not kill

Do not commit adultery

Do not steal

Do not lie

Do not covet

ii. Jonathan

Edwards

1. Halfway covenant

Jonathan Edwards separated church duties from

civic duties.

Where do we find religious freedom in our

government: the free exercise clause

Difference Puritan and Pilgrim

The pilgrims separate from the

Church of England.

The puritans wanted to purify the

Church of England.

The pilgrims were the only people who

came for the sole purpose of religious freedom.

The pilgrims have a dramatic story of

survival.

The pilgrims established the Mayflower

Compact.

Definition

of a Puritan

An intense commitment to morality, worship and a society

strictly conforming to God’s commandments.

All puritans were Calvinist but not

all Calvinists are puritans.

How

have we been blessed in America?

Food

Military Super Power

Have to have the ability to occupy large

geographical areas that are separate all at the same time

Deuteronomy 11:8 “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;”

America is above all nations

Deuteronomy 28:1 “And it shall come to pass, if

thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:”

America has influence over the whole world

Peace

Proverbs 3:1-2 “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.”

The Parallel Between America and Israel

Blessing

Deuteronomy 11:13 – 15

Psalm 31: 19

Curse

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will

not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have

not known.”

Ezekiel 16:7,11-12,15, 27

Hope

2 Chronicle 7:14 “If my people, which

are called by my name, shall 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.” (Class Memory Verse)

What was the greatest struggle they had when writing the constitution?

How do

we create government that is strong enough to restrain the people but at the

same time it restrains itself?

Deism

Some

argue that the founding fathers were only deists

· God

exists but after creation He withdrew Himself and He no longer intervenes

Himself with man

o I do not believe in prayer or

the Bible

Out of

the 55 delegates at the constitutional convention at most 3 were deist.

If you

were a deist then you would not pray.

Believes

in all but REVEALED law

The Great Awakening stopped the spread

of deism

1740

Jonathan

Edwards

George

Whitefield

Wesley

brothers

Four Types of Law

Physical/Nature

Human

conscience

Biblical

(Revealed)

Man

made

God

gave the first 3

Man is

responsible for the last

Man’s

law should never contradict God’s law

Free

Masonry

A fraternal organization to

promote brotherhood

Not a

religious denomination

Required

to believe in God and life after death and you can believe anything you want

after that

· Reasons

why people are very critical of Free Masonry

There

is a lot of secrecy in free masonry

Only

the master masonry knows the secret

We are Satan

worshippers

There

is no secret

Ecumenical

Accepts

all religions

Backgrounds

of Eastern Mysticism

Ben

Franklin, George Washington were free masonries

Men may

join Free Masonry for the fellowship or business contact

cannot be used for or against the idea that they were not influenced by

theological thought.

Philosophical

System

Age of

Enlightenment

The trends and thought in Europe that

filtered over to the New

Particularly

France

Most

influential thinker in Europe was Voltaire

rejected the Bible as a document from God

believed there was a god of the universe

o Brought

about by the scientific discovery by Sir Isaac Newton

The

universal law of gravitation

Christian

defended the Bible, refuted atheism and evolution

Two movements

Europe

anti-god and atheistic

Voltaire

America

Basic ideas of the age enlightenment

movement

The

power of human reasoning

Knowledge

is not innate

You can

only gain knowledge through observation and experience

Man

basically good

BUT our

founding fathers had a low view of human nature

They

were very antagonistic against the Catholic Church

They

believed the Catholic church enslaved the mind.

§ Motto:

Dare to know

Product

of the age of enlightenment: Free

Thinkers

Ben

Franklin, Thomas Jefferson were influenced by the age of enlightenment

believe in human reasoning but the Bible is the final authority.

We can

use human reasoning to supplement the Bible, never to supplant the Bible

2001: Two men decided to collect all

of the political content that was written between 1760 and 1805

Revolutionary war and Constitutional Convention

Found 1500 items

Only looked at item of 2000 or more words ---

916 items

A majority of these documents were sermons

These were items of political content

This shows how influential pastors were in the

politics

They wanted to find out who/what influenced the

founding fathers

They did so by looking for all the references to

other sources – 3154 found

The most often quoted source was the Bible

ú 34%: Bible

The second most often quoted source were age of

enlightenment writings

ú 22%

3 Particular free thinkers that were quoted far

above the others

· Voltaire is barely mentioned

(Proving that our founding fathers were not heavily influenced by him)

Blackstone, Locke, Montesquieu

Charles de Montesquieu

Most quoted of the free thinkers

Opus: The Spirit of Laws

3 Main choices of government

Republic

Love of virtue

Dictator

Despotic

Fear of rule

Monarchy

Love of honor

Why was he the most quoted?

Separation of powers into three powers

He made a comparison between religion and

government

Islam – Despotic

Christianity – Moderate

Catholic – Monarchy

Protestant – Republic

Sir

William Blackstone

Primarily quoted in the 1780’s/1790’s

Opus: Commentary on the Laws of England

3 Contributions

Man’s laws should never contradict God’s laws

Proper role of judges

Discover and interpret but not make law.

Systematized England’s Legal System

He said it was primarily based on the 10

commandments

John

Locke

Primarily quoted in the 1760’s and 1770’s

Opus: On Civil Government

Another book: Reasonableness of Christianity

Attempted to prove that Christianity is logical

and reasonable

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