Updated Quotes February 2012

John Adams

"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence, were . . . the general principles of Christianity, in which all those sects were united, and . . . that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature and our terrestrial, mundane system." - from "Letters to Thomas Jefferson, 28 June 1813," in "The Works of John Adams:  Second President of the United States", ed. Charles Francis Adams

William Bradford

"Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith . . . and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia . . ." - from "Of Plymmouth Plantation" by W. Bradford

George Washington

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports . . . Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investiagtion in courts of justice?" - from G. Washington's "Farewell Address"

Updated Quotes January 2012

George Whitefield

"Your situation in life, every one must confess, is one of great blessing:  the providence of God has given you a wonderful heritage, above many of your fellow-creatures." - Great Awakening preacher, from "The Great Duty of Family Religion" by G. Whitefield, at www.biblebb.com/files/gw-006.htm

George Washington

"The citizens of America . . . are, from this period, to be considered as the actors on a most conspicuous theater, which seems to be peculiarly designated by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity." - from a "Circular to the States", 1783, marking the end of the Revolutionary War.

John Quincy Adams

"The highest glory of the American Revoluition was this:  it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." - from "The Conservative Tradition in America" by C. W. Dunn.

December 2011 Updated Quotes

James Madison

"There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its least interference with it, would be a most flagrant usurpation. I can appeal to my uniform conduct on this subject, that I have warmly supported religious freedom." - Journal, June 12, 1788

'Nelly' Custis

"His [George Washington] life, his writings prove that he was a Christian.   He was not one of those who act or pray 'that they may be seen of men'.  He communed with his God in secret."  -Washington's step-granddaughter, from "Rediscovering God in America" by N. Gingrich

Samuel Adams

"Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty." - Speech at the State House, Philadelphia, August 1, 1776

November 2011 Updated Quotes

Richard Stockton

"[I] subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion . . . [and I exhort] that the course of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state." - New Jersey Dec. of Indep. signer, from the Last Will and Testament of Richard Stockton, attested May 20, 1780.

U.S. Constitution

"The Senators and Representatives . . . shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." - from The United States Constitution, Article VI.

Samuel Adams

"Religion in a family is at once its brightest Ornament and its best Security.  The First Point of Justice . . . consists in Piety; Nothing certainly being so great a Debt upon us, as to render to the Creator and Preserver than Acknowledgements which are due to Him for our Being, and the hourly Protection he affords us." - from a letter to Thomas Wells, Nov. 22, 1780

James Madison

"It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution." - from Federalist Papers, #37, Jan. 11, 1788.

October 2011 Updated Quotes

Samuel Adams

"If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake should in terms renounce or give up any natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation.   The right to freedom being the gift of Almighty God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave." -  from www.quotes.liberty-tree.ca

Bill of Rights

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .". - from the Bill of Rights, Amendment I.

George Washington

"I beg it may be remembered that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with." - to Congress upon being picked to command the colonial troops, from "Childhoods of the Presidents" by Gail Snyder

Benjamin Rush

"My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord hath taken care of me." - motto he proposed for Dickinson College, from "Letters of Benjamin Rush, Vol. I"

September 2011 Updated Quotations.

William Penn

"I do declare to the whole world that we believe the Scriptures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God in and to those ages in which they were written . . . . We accept them as the words of God Himself." -  founder of Pennsylvania, from "Treatise of the Religion of the Quakers".

Alexander Hamilton

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor.  I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man." - Dec. of Indep. signer and ratifier of the U.S. Constitution, from "Famous American Statesmen" by S. Bolton

Roger Sherman

"I believe a visible church to be a congregation of those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, and owe obedience to him, joined by the bond of the covenant." - U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence signer from Connecticut,  from "The Life of Roger Sherman" by Lewis Boutell

George Washington

"It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted . . . . Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair.  The event is in the hand of God." - as President of the Continental Convention of 1787, contemplating America"s future before the start of the convention, from "Our Legal Heritage" by Moore, Hobson and Glenn Sr.

August 2011 Updated Quotes

Fisher Ames

"Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook?  Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble . . . . The Bible will justly remain the standard of language as well as of faith." - from Massachusetts, author of the wording used for the First Amendment 

Patrick Henry

"We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power . . . There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations . . ." - from a speech delivered to the Virginia Convention, "God's Promises for the American Patriot" by Richard Lee & Jack Countryman

Roger Sherman

"Let us live no more to ourselves, but to Him who loved us, and gave himself to die for us." - U.S. Constitution signer from Connecticut

Dr. Benjamin Rush

". . . my letter upon the use of the Bible in schools . . . has been well received in our city . . . . I pray God to accompany it with His blessing wherever it is printed or read." - from a letter to Jeremy Belknap on April 5, 1791, Rush, Letters Vol. I, pg. 579.

July 2011 Updated Quotes

Thomas Paine

"I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent." - from "The American Crisis: 1"  1776, by T. Paine

George Washington

"If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwords defend our work?  Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair.  The event is in the hand of God." - from an oration delivered to delegates at the Constitutional Convention.

Alexander Hamilton

"If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." - from "The Federalist", Essays by A. Hamilton, J. Jay and J. Madison

John Adams

". . . [Independence Day]will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." - from a letter written to his wife Abigail, ironically talking about July, 2, 1776, the day when the Continental Congress passed the vote on Independence.

June 2011 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Franklin

"God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?' - from an address to the Constitutional Congress, June 27, 1787. 

George Washington

"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.  Every step . . . seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency." - from his "First Inaugural Address", April 30, 1789.

John Jay

"[T]he . . . natural law was given by the Sovereign of the Universe to all mankind." - first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, from "The Life of John Jay", William Jay, editor.

Noah Webster

"... the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian relidion." - from "History of the United States" by Noah Webster, 1833

May 2011 Updated Quotes

James Madison

"The real wonder [our new form of government] is, that so many difficulties should have been surmounted . . . . It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it, a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution. " - from "Federalist Number 37" by James Madison.

Sirs Thomas Gates, West and Dale

"Lord bless England our sweet native country, save it from popery, this land from heathenism, and both from Atheism.  And Lord hear their prayers for us, and us for them, and Christ Jesus our glorious Mediator for us all.  Amen." - early 1600's from "A Prayer Duly Said . . ." found in "The American Dream: Jamestown and the Planning of the American Christian Republic" by McDowell and Beliles.

John Adams

"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth." - from "The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institution of the United States" by B.F. Morris

April 2011 Updated Quotes

George Washington

"Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?" - from "Address of George Washington, President of the United States", [Baltimore: George and Henry Keatinge, 1796]

Patrick Henry:

"If this be treason, make the most of it." - 1765, state assembly, he denounced the Stamp Act which was the very first direct tax levied by Britain on America.

Benjamin Franklin:

"Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature." - Pennsylvania founding father, from "Opus Americana" by Michael Mienis

Samuel Adams:

"Call me an enthusiast . . . this union among the colonies can be attributed to nothing less than the agency of the Supreme Being." - founding father from Massachusetts, from "History of the United States of America, From the Discovery of the Continent" by George Bancroft.

March 2011 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Franklin:

"Only religion can effectively restrain the self-serving passions of those unable to read philosophy." - Declaration and Constitution signer from Pennsylvania, from Franklin Papers 7:294-95, a letter to an unknown correspondent 3 July, 1786, suggesting the young and uneducated need religious motivation to keep them from trouble.

Rev. William Smith:

"Religion and liberty must flourish or fall together in America.  We pray that both may be perpetual." - from "American Gospel" by Jon Meacham, in a sermon preached 23 June, 1775 at Christ Church, Philadelphia, the day Washington left to take command of the Continental Army.

Samuel Adams:

 "I . . . [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins." - from the Last Will and Testament of Samuel Adams, attested Dec. 29, 1790.

February 2011 Updated Quotes

Christopher Gladsen:

"Don't Tread On Me" - from the firstAmerican Flag, designed by Gladsen, which included the popular phrase directly beneath an American rattlesnake on a yellow background.

Benjamin Franklin:

"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.  It is the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." -  Declaration of Independence signer

George Washington:

"In such a state of things . . . it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverance and effective gratitude, to acknowledge our many and  great obligations to Almighty God . . ." - from "Thanksgiving Proclamation", 1795

Connecticut:

"He Who Transplanted Still Sustains." -   Connecticut State Motto, adopted on Jan 9, 1788 as the 5th state .

Francis Scott Key:

"In God is our trust." - from "The Star Spangled Banner," 4th verse, September 14, 1814

January 2011 Updated Quotes

December 2010 Updated Quotes

George Washington:

"True religion affords to government its surest support." - to the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America.  October, 1789.


Benjamin Franklin:

"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.  It is the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." - Pennsylvania Declaration signer.

John Dickinson: 
 
"Rendering thanks to my Creator . . . for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel . . . to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ - from "The Role of Pastors and Christians in Civil Government", David Barton, from "The Last Will and Testament of John Dicinson", March, 1808.

November 2010 Updated Quotes

William Whipple:

". . . there is a great change here since my arrival . . . Next Mondy being the first of July, the grand question is to be debated and I believe determined unanimously.  May God unite our hearts in all things that tend to the well being of the rising Empire." - a New Hampshire delegate writing about  the upcoming debate for Independence, from "Famous Signers", McGee  

Rev. J. T. Kirkland:

"The virtues of our departed friend were crowned by piety . . . To Christian institutions he gave the countenance of his example; and no one could express, more fully, his sense of the Providence of God, and the dependence of man." - speaking after Washington's death in 1799, from "Maxims of Washington", John Schroeder, ed.

John Hancock:

"Principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it:  and my body I recommend to the earth . . . nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mercy and power of God." - President of the Continental Congress, from his last will and testament.

Rev. Charles G. Finney :

"The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them . . . .  Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter.  But the time has come when they must act differently . . . . God will bless or curse this nation, according to the course Christians take."  - a preacher and revivalist during the Second and Third Great Awakenings.


October 2010 Updated Quotes

Jacob Duche:

"O Lord our Heavenly Father ... look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States ... and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; ... that order, harmony, and peace may be effectually restored, and truth ad justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people." - minister, from "The First Prayer" offered in Congress, September 7, 1774

Samuel Adams:

"Let statesmen and patriots unite in their endeavors to renovate the age at educating their little boys and girls, leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system." - Declaration signer from Massachusetts who believed all American children should have a Christian education, see www.face.net/articles/learningeart.tm

Benjamin Rush:

"My only hope of salvation is in the infinite transcendent love of God manifested to the world through the death of His Son upon the cross.  Nothing but His blood will wash away my sins.  I rely exclusively upon it." - Pennsylvania Declaration signer, from a letter written to his wife just prior to his death.

Alexander Hamilton:

"The consolations of religion, my beloved, can alone support you; and these you have a right to enjoy.  Fly to the bosom of your God, and be comforted.  With my last idea I shall cherish the sweet hope of meeting you in a better world." - from a letter to his wife which was to be opened only if he died in the duel with Aaron Burr, see www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/burr/bur_runuptoduel.cfm

Benjamin Franklin:

"Here is my creed.  I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe.  That he governs it by His Providence.  That he ought to be worshipped." - from a letter written to Ezra Stiles on March 9, 1790.

September 2010 Updated Quotes  

Alexis de Tocqueville:

"It was religion that gave birth to the English colonies in America.  One must never forget that.  . . . When a people's religion is destroyed . . . then not only will they let their freedom be taken from them, but often they actually hand it over themselves." - French historian and political philosopher, from "The Morning After, American Successes and Failures" by G. Will

Charles Thomson:

"You can easily distinguish him when Congress goes to prayers - Mr. Washington is the gentleman who kneels down." - Secretary of the Congress spoken in response to a question by a stranger in Philadelphia trying to identify those who had gathered in Congress in September, 1774, from "Life of Washington" by Anna C. Reed

Daniel Webster:

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." - US diplomat, from Daniel Webster, www.quotationpage.com

John Quincy Adams:

"It is essential, my son, in order that you may go through life with comfort to yourself, and usefulness to your fellow creatures, that you should form and adopt certain rules or principles, for the government of your own conduct and temper. . . .  It is in the Bible, you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practice them." - sixth U.S. president, from "America's God and Country" by William Federer

Thomas Jefferson:

". . . and 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." - from the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence

August 2010 Updated Quotes

Rev. John Witherspoon:

"Whille we give praise to God, the Supreme Disposer of all events, for His interposition on our behalf let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in, or boasting of, an arm of flesh . . .he is the best friend to Americcan liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion . . .." - Declaration signer from New Jersey, from sermon entitles "The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men," May 17,1776 

 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut:

". . .  to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess, as also the discipline of the Churches, which according to the truth of the said gospel is now practiced amongst us." - the goal as a colony as quoted from the 1892 Supreme Court findings decisions, Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States

Noah Webster:

"It is extremely, in a political as well as religious view, that all possible authority and influence should be given to the Scriptures; for these furnish the best principles of civil liberty, and the most effectual support of republican government." - 1832, from "Principles of Liberty Drawn from the Bible," by Verna Hall, The Christian History of the American Revolution: Consider and Ponder

George Washington:

"No one can rejoice more than I do at every step the people of this great Country take to preserve the Union, establish good order and government, and to render the Nation happy at home and respectable abroad.  No Country upon Earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America.  Wonderously strange then . . . were we to neglect the means, and depart from the road which Providence  has pointed us to so plainly . . . . The Great Governor of the Universe has led us too long and too far on the road to happiness and glory, to forsake us in the midst of it ." - June 29, 1788 from a Washington letter to Benjamin Lincoln in "Writings of George Washington", John Fitzpatrick, Ed.

July 2010 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Rush:

"I believe no man was ever early instructed in the truths of the Bible without having been made wiser or better by the early operation of these impressions upon his mind . . ." - Declaraation of Independence signer from Pennsylvania.

Fisher Ames:

"We have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education.   We are starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools. . . . We are spending less time in the  classroom on the Bible, which should  be the principal text of our schools . . ."  - a Founding Father who helped formulate the Bill of Rights

John Quincy Adams:

 "Posterity:  you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." - sixth U.S. President

Charles Carroll:

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure . . . are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments."  - signer of the Declaration of Independence from Maryland.

Andrew Jackson:

"But you must remember, my fellow citizens, that eternal vigilance  by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must  pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing . . ."   - seventh U.S. President, from his Farewell Address, 1837

June 2010 Updated Quotes

Rufus King:

"The . . . law established by the Creator . . . extends over the whole globe, is everywhere and at all times binding upon mankind. . . . [This] is the law of God by which he makes his way known to man and is paramount to all human control." - signer of the Constitution, from "The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King", Charles R. King, Editor

John Jay:

"The . . . natural law was given by the Soverign of the Universe to all mankind." - from "The Life of John Jay", William Jay, Editor

James Wilson:

"God . . . is the promulgator as well as the author of natural law.

All [laws], however, may be arranged in two different classes.  1) Divine. 2) Human. . . . But it should always be remembered that this law, natural or revealed, made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source:  it is the law of God. . . . Human law must rest its authority of that law which is Divine." - from "The Words of the Honourable James Wilson", 1804, by James Wilson pg 64, 103-105

Noah Webster:

"...the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian religion. - from "History of the United States", Noah Webster

2010 May Updated Quotes

James Madison:

"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established." - from "Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Seventh Congress," June 8, 1789

Elias Boudinot:

"[We] can only depend on the all powerful influence of the Spirit of God, whose Divine aid and assistance it becomes us as a Christian people most devoutly to implore.  Therefore, I move that some minister of the Gospel be requested to attend this Congress every morning . . . during the sessions in order to open the meeting in prayer." - from "An Oration Delivered at Elizabeth-Town, New Jersey, " 1793

John Hancock:

"I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray but that  ye act." - from  "Great Americans of History - John Hancock," 1898

Jonathan Trumball:

"And I do hereby call upon the people. . . . [to] offer to our Almighty and all-gracious God, through our Great Mediator, our sincere and solemn prayers for his Divine assistance and the influence of His Holy Spirit." - from "By His Exellency Jonathan Trumball, Esq. Governor and Commander in Chief In and Over the State of Connecticut.  A Proclamation." 1807

2010 April Updated Quotes

John Hancock:

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us." - "History of the United States of America," Vol II

Benjamin Franklin:

"Here is my Creed.  I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe.  That He governs it by His Providence.  That He ought to be worshipped." - from a letter written by Franklin to Yale University President Ezra Stiles, March 9,1790

Samuel  Adams:

" . . . We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven have we placed our trust.  Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us.  In the gloomy period of adversity, we have had 'our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.'  We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of Omnipotence has raised us up.  Let us still rely in humble confidence on Him who is mighty to save." - from "The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams," by William Wells, 1865

Thomas Paine:

“It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.” - "The Existence of God - 1810"

2010 March Updated Quotes

George Washington:

"Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?" - from his Farewell Address, 1796

Thomas Paine:

"But where says some is the king of America?  I'll tell you, friend, He reigns above . . . " - from his pamphlet Common Sense, Jan. 1776

Charles Carroll:

"On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts." - Maryland signer of Declaration of Independence, from an autographed letter from Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, Esq, Sept. 27,1825, held by Wallbuilders

John Dickinson:

"Rendering thanks to my Creator . . . for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel . . . to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity." - Constitution signer from Delaware, from the Last Will and Testament of John Dickinson, attested March 25,1808


2010 February Updated Quotes


William Penn:

". . . if thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by Him." - said to the Russian Czar Peter the Great, from "The Life of William Penn: With Selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography" by S. M. Janney

Samuel Adams:

"We have this day restored the Sovereign, to whom alone men ought to be obedient.  He reigns in heaven, and . . . from the rising to the setting sun, may His Kingdom come." - from "American Independence", an oration delivered in Philadelphia, August 1, 1776

John Adams:

"And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Foundation of Justice, and the Protector in all ages of the world of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its Government and give it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of His providence." - from his inaugural address, March 4, 1797

Thomas Jefferson:

" . . . And 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." - last paragraph, "Declaration of Independence", 1776

Benjamin Rush:

"Let the children . . . be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion." - Declaration of Independence signer from Pennsylvania, from "A Plan for Schools, 1787"

2010 January Updated Quotes

James McHenry:

"The Holy Scriptures . . . can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness.  In vain, without the Bible, we increase and draw epenal laws entrenchments around our institutions." - Maryland Constitution signer, from "One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland" by B. Steiner

John Hancock:

"It is with the greatest pleasure I inform you the Congress . . . appoint you their Chaplain.  It is their request, which I am commanded to signify to you, that you will attend on them every morning . . ." - from a letter to Rev. Jacob Duche, July, 1776 from American Archives, Peter Force, ed., 1848

Samuel Adams:

"We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die free men, rather than to live slaves.'  We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven have we placed our trust.  Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us. . . .We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of  Omnipotence has raised us up.  Let us still rely in humble confidence on Him who is mighty to save . . . We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection." - from "The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams", 1865

John Adams:

"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored.  Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." - in a letter to his wife Abigail -  July 7, 1775

December 2009 Updated Quotes

John Witherspoon:

"While we give praise to God, the supreme disposer of all events, for His interposition on our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in , or boasting of, an arm of flesh . . . If your case is just, if your principles are pure, and if your conduct is prudent, you need not fear the multitude of opposing hosts." - "Declaration of Independence",  signer from New Jersey

Massachusetts Assembly:

"It having been the laudable practice of this government to recommend and appoint days for Fasting and Prayer . . . therefore resolved . . . to set apart Thursday, the last day of July instant, to be observed as a day of solemn Humiliation and Prayer . . . devoutly to implore of Almighty God . . . ". - July 3, 1776, a resolve desiring a Massachusettes Day of Prayer, from "American Archives", Peter Force, Vol. 1

George Washington:

"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States....We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious [favorable] smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation which disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself ordained." - "Inaugural Address", April 30,1789

James Madison:

"It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution." - "Federalist Papers", No. 37, January 11, 1788

 November 2009 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Rush:

"The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating [removing] Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools." - from "A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools, " 1791

James Madison:

"Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe." - fourth president, from his "Memorial and Remonstrance", 1785

George Washington:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports." - from "Messages and Papers of the Presidents", by James Richardson

Benjamin Rush:

"Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy." - 1806 from "Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical Philosophical

October 2009 Updated Quotes

George Washington:

" . . . Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." - from his Farewell Address, 1796

James Wilson:

"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants.  Indeed, these two sciences run into each other." - Justice on the first Supreme Court, Constitution and Declaration of Independence signer from Pennsylvania

John Adams:

"Now I will avow . . . that those general principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty, are as unalterable as human nature and our terrestrial mundane system." - from a letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813

 September 2009 Updated Quotes

George Washington:

". . . I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that since He has been pleased to favour the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, and dispositions for deciding with unparralleled unanimity on a form of Government, for the security of their Union, and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the large views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend." - from the First Inaugural Address, 1789

James McHenry:

"In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw intrenchmnets around our institutions.  Bibles are strong intrenchments.  Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy great conscience . . . it is a book . . . fitted in every situation." - said in 1813, signer of the Constitution and president of the first Bible Society in Baltimore

Daniel Webster:

" God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." - from "The Conservative Mind, From Burke to Eliot", Russell Kirk, p162

Benjamin Franklin:

"I can only show my gratitude for these mercies from God, by a readiness to help His other children and my bretheren . . . [but] the worship of God is a duty; the hearing and reading of sermons may be useful; but, if men rest in hearing and praying, as too many do, it is as if a tree should value itself on being watered and putting forth leaves, though it never produce any fruit." - from In God We Still Trust, Dr. Richard Lee, pg 42

August 2009 Updated Quotes

Robert Treat Paine:

"I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my existance, in full belief of His providential goodness and His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through Whom I hope for never-ending happiness in a future state." - Dec. of Indep. signer, Last Will and Testament of Robert Treat Paine, in David Barton's "The Practical Benefits of Christianity."

James Madison:

"The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is...essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man." - "America, a Christian Nation?" by Stephen McDowell,  from a letter to Frederick Beasley, Nov. 20, 1825

Samuel Adams:

"The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty....The rights of the colonists as Christians...may best be understood by reading and carefully studying the institutions of The Great Law Giver and the Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament." - "The Rights of the Colonists" found in"The Annals of America", (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica)

Noah Webster:

"It is extremely important to our nation, in a political as well as a religious view, that all possible authority and influnce should be given to the Scriptures, for these furnish the best principles of civil liberty, and the most effectual support of republican government." - quoted from "Principles of Liberty Drawn From the Bible" by Verna Hall, "The Christian History of the American Revolution: Consider and Ponder"

July 2009 Updated Quotes:

Thomas Jefferson:

"...the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God...[para. 1]...all Men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator...[para. 2]... appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World...[last para.]...with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence...[last para.]." - from The Declaration of Independence, 1776.

George Washington:

"While just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to governmnent its surest support." - "The Writings of George Washington," from his address to the SYNOD of the Dutch Reformed Church in VT, Oct. 9, 1789

John Quincy Adams:

"Duty is ours; results are God's" - sixth United States President, from "The Wallbuilder Report" by David Barton, a reply to a question about his unpopular stand against slavery.

Charles Carroll:

"On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on His merits; not on the works that I have done in obedience to His precepts." - Declaration of Independence signer, from a personal letter to Clarence Wharton, Sept 27, 1825, from Doughoragen, Maryland, obtained by Wallbuilders

June 2009 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Rush:

"I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as perfectly satisfied that the Union of the United States in its form and adoption is as much the work of Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament." - signer of the Declaration of Independence, from "Letters of Benjamin Rush", to Elias Boudinot July 9, 1788

 

Charles Carroll:

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure ... are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." - Dec. of Indep. signer, from "The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry", a letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry, Nov 4, 1880

Benjamin Franklin:

"I will make small use of an old man's priviledge, that of giving advice." - from The Pennsylvania Packet, an original letter to John Alleyne Oct. 30, 1789

Maryland Constitution:

"That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Convention or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion." - Article 35, Nov. 11, 1776

May 2009 Updated Quotes

Henry Lee:

"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." - founder from Virginia, describing a famous fellow Virginian, George Washington

Thomas Jefferson:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever." - the third president, these words are also inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.

Gouverneur Morris:

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility . . ." - Pennsylvania founding father primarily responsible for the final draft of the U.S. Constitution.

April 2009 Updated Quotes

Alexander Hamilton:

    "It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government.  Experience has proved that no position is more false than this.  The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government.  Their character was tyranny; their figure deformity." - from a speech June 21, 1788 urging the ratification of the Constitution in New York

 Roger Sherman:

    "All civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination." - a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Connecticut

Abigail Adams:

    "We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them."  - from a letter to her husband John Adams, 1774

George Washington:

    "Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life. "  - December 23, 1783, an address to Congress resigning his commission

March 2009 Updated Quotes

John Quincy Adams:

    “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?  - at the age of 69, from a Fourth of July speech he delivered in 1837 at Newburyport, Mass.

James Madison:

    "Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government." - fourth president, 1751-1813

Nelly Custis-Lewis:

    "Is it necessary that any one should [ask], 'Did General Washington avow himself to be a believer in Christianity?'  As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic devotion to country.  His mottos were, 'Deeds, not Words'; and 'For God and my Country'."  - the adopted daughter of George Washington

Patrick Henry:

    "This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family.  The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed." - "Last Will and Testament of Patrick Henry" from David Barton's "The Practical Benefits of Christianity".

James Wilson:

    "Christianity is part of the common law." -  from James Wilson, Course of Lectures, Supreme Court justice appointed by G. Washington, signer of the Constitution & Declaration of Independence, who spoke 168 times during the Constitutional Comnvention

William Penn:

    "Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." (1644-1718)

February 2009 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Franklin:

    "...it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street." - from his Autobiography, talking about the Great Awakening (1740-1760)

George Washington:

    "There is a rank due to the United States among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness...it must be known that we are at all times ready for war." - from Our Ageless Constitution

John Adams:

    "You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket." - words of advice to his son Johnny, from the biography John Adams by David McCullough, p19

January 2009 Updated Quotes

John Adams:

    "Veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians . . . to consider a descent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service." - 1797 Inaugural Address

John Dickinson:

    "Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness... We claim them from a higher source -- from the King of kings, and Lord of all earth.  They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals.  They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature.  They are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives." - from "An Address to the Committee Of Correspondence" in Barabados, 1766 - signer of US Constitution from Delaware

James Madison:

    "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - 4th US President

December 2008 Updated Quotes

John Quincy Adams:

    "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."

November 2008 Updated Quotes

Alexis de Tocqueville:

    "Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality.  But notice the difference:  while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." from "Democracy in America," his study of this country during its revolutionary period

Thomas Paine:

    "These are the times that try men's souls...I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every descent method which wisdom could invent." - 1776 from "The American Crisis: #1"

Mary Washington:

"Remember that God is our only sure trust." - George Washington's mother

Patrick Henry:

    "God presides over the destinies of nations." - American Revolutionist

Samuel Adams:

    "I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world . . . that the confusions that are & have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting & speedily bringing in the holy & happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established." - American Revolutionist and a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts

James Madison

    "All the courts are generally last in making the decision, it results to them, by refusing or not refusing, to execute a law, to stamp it with its final character.   This makes the Judiciary department paramount in fact to the Legislature, which was never intended and can never be proper."  - a warning about judicial activism, Oct. 15, 1788

October 2008 Updated Quotes

William Penn:

    "... if thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by Him." - told to the Russian Czar, Peter the Great - Thomas Jefferson called Penn "the greatest law-giver the world has produced"

Benjamin Franklin:

    "I have watched that sun on the president's chair and wondered if rising or setting - now I am happy to know it is a rising sun." - referring to a picture of the sun on the back of George Washington's chair in Philadelphia, shortly after Franklin signed the Constitution with 38 other delegates, Sept. 17, 1787

James Madison:

    "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 mankind of self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments." - attributed to our fourth president

Benjamin Franklin:

    "Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Historical Period of Pennsylvania, 1759

September 2008 Updated Quotes

Benjamin Franklin:

    "I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them; for having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or further consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.  It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgement, and to pay more respect to the judgement of others" - address to Congress, "Thoughts...On The Constitution", 1787 as he encouraged founders to swallow their pride and put their names on the constitution

Noah Webster:

    "I shall know but one country.  The ends I aim at shall be my country's, my God's, my Truths.  I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American." - American statesman who wrote the first American Dictionary of the English Language

George Washington:

    "Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."  - from his "Rules of Civility"

Abraham Lincoln:

    "Today I leave you.  I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon George Washington.  The great God which guided him must help me.  Without that assistance I shall surely fail: with it, I cannot fail." - Feb. 11, 1861 speech as he leaves Springfield

August 2008 Updated Quotes

Thomas Paine:

    "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it." - from "The American Crisis, #4", Sept. 11,1777

James Madison:

    "We've staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandmnets with all our heart." - 1778 to the General Assembly of the stae of Virginia

John Adams:

    "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.  Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - October 11, 1798

Thomas Jefferson:

    "God who gave us life, gave us liberty.  And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their ownly firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God?  That they are not to be violated, but with His wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever." - excerpts inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial, Washinton D.C.

George Washington:

    "To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." - May 2, 1778 at Valley Forge

 

John Adams:

    "I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straigtened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world.  It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." - from a letter written to Thomas Jefferson, Dec. 25,1813

Benjamin Franklin:

    "I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning." - spoken June 28, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention

George Washington:

    "But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectattion; for I had four bullet holes through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me."  - from a letter to his brother  during the Battle of Monongahela - French and Indian War

    "...the same Providence that protected us upon those occasions will, I hope, continue his Mercies, and make us happy Instruments in restoring Peace and liberty to this once favour'd, but now distressed country." - from a letter marking the anniversary of the Battle of Monongahela to Colonel Adam Stephen, who had been there with Washington

July 2008 Updated Quotes

John Adams:

    "Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men.  A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, 'that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states'."  - from a letter to his wife Abigail Adams, July 3,1776

Benjamin Rush:

    "I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat.  I am neither.  I am a Christocrat ... He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him." - signer od the Declaration of Independence

Richard Henry Lee:

    "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegience to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the states of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." - a resolution read by Lee from the Virginia assembly, June 7, 1776 asking Congress to approve

Charles Carroll:

    "Without morals a Republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion ... are undermining the solid morals, the best security for the duration of free government." - Declaration of Independence signer from Maryland

June 2008 Updated Quotes

John Quincy Adams:

"In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior.  It forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation.  The Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeener's mission upon earth - it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity." - 6th president, from a Fourth of July speech 1837

Benjamin Franklin:

    "I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning." - from a speech at the Constitutional Convention. June 28, 1787

May 2008 Updated Quotes

Francis Scott Key:

    "May the heaven rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation ... And this be our motto:  In God we trust." - from "The Star-Spangled Banner
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John Adams:

    "The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity ... I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God." - from a letter to Thomas Jefferson

    "We recognize no Soverign but God, and no King but Jesus." - on the eve of the Revolutionary War, April 18,1775, after a British major ordered John Adams, John Hancock and those who were with them to disperse in 'the name of George Sovereign King of England'

April 2008 Updated Quotes

Noah Webster:

    "In selecting men for office let principle be your guide.  Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate - look to his character ...." - from Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education 1789

Samuel Adams:

    "Let each citizen remeber at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he ought not to do so; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." - in the Boston Gazette, April 16, 1781

George Washington:

    "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshipping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." - to the Annual Meeting of Quakers, September 1789

Virginia Bill of Rights:

    "Religion, or the duty to which we owe our creator, and the matter of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and convicton, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and this is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other." - Article 16, June 12, 1776

John Quincy Adams:

    "Posterity, you will know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom.  I hope you will make good use of it.  If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it." - 6th president and eldest son of John Adams, 2nd president

March 2008 Updated Quotes

Patrick Henry:

    "It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.  For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." - May 1765, from Speech to the House of Burgesses

John Adams:

    "[July 4th] ... ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." - from a letter written to wife Abigail, July 3,1776, the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

William Bradford:

    "Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together ... ." - from The Mayflower Compact, 1620

Benjamin Franklin:

    "God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable an empire can rise without His aid?  We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.  I firmly believe this." - June 28, 1787, from a speech at the  Constitutional Convention

Alexander Hamilton:

    "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." - 1787 after the Constitutional Convention


John Witherspoon:

      "I . . . [entreat] you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ, for 'there is no salvation in any other'." [Acts 4:12] - New Jersey minister and Declaration signer, from Witherspoon, "Works", Vol. V, "The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ," Januray 1758