God And The Articles Of Confederation
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, October 21, 2025 (Donate)
The Constitution of the United States was not
in force until 1789. Prior to that, the first constitution of the USA was
called the Articles of Confederation. This document was ratified in and
took force beginning in AD 1781 until AD 1789. Though, its inception began in AD
1777.
There were eight presidents of congress that were
essentially the highest federal leader of those days prior to George
Washington. They served a one-year term
and began in AD 1781. They are listed below and the duration of their reign
beginning with President John Hanson from Maryland.
· John Hanson, Maryland, (November 1781 – November 1782)
· Elias Boudinot, New Jersey (November 1782 – November 1783)
· Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania (November 1783 – November 1784)
· Richard Henry Lee, Virginia (November 1784 – November 1785)
· John Hancock, Massachusetts (November 1785 – June 1786) (Hancock also served as the initial President of the First Continental Congress years before)
· Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts (June 1786 – Feb 1787)
· Arthur St. Clair, Pennsylvania (February 1787 – January 1788)
· Cyrus Griffin, Virginia (January 1788 – April 1789)
After Griffin, the Constitution took effect and
George Washington was elected the first four-year president under the new law.
Nevertheless, the Articles of Confederation was a
powerful document and it was a legal stepping stone that gives power to its
successor. Like many other legal documents of its day, it was steeped in
Christian protestant beliefs.
So much so, that it reflects a biblical worldview with notions
like liberty, freedom, and rights—which are Christian concepts that flow from
the pages of Scripture. Such things do not exist in the consistent secular
materialistic religions like atheism, naturalism, and so on. Liberty, freedom,
and rights are not material.
In Eastern religions that are monistic (e.g., Hinduism, Taoism, New Age) these things are ultimately meaningless since “all is one” and “all is spirit”. In monism, having liberty and having no liberty are one and the same; having freedom and no freedom is one and the same; and having rights and no rights are one and the same. Thus, it breaks down to utter foolishness.
When
religions around the world have liberty, freedom, and rights, they are
borrowing from a biblical worldview. The Articles of Confederation were written
(by a Quaker, John Dickenson) and ratified, largely by protestant Christians
thinking in terms of a Christian world and life view. Some of the specific
instances of direct references to God are:
1. Preamble
· “Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven…”
2. Conclusionary Paragraphs
· “And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union…”
· “Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth Day of July, in the Year of our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Seventy eight, and in the third year of the Independence of America.”
Christ is in reference in all three of these instances.
Twice are listings of the year based on Christ entrance into the world. Christ,
our Lord, is clearly in reference here.
Next is the title the “Great Governor of the World”,
who is Christ. The government in on His shoulders per Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a Child is born, Unto
us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name
will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. (NKJV)
And He is the King of kings as in 1 Timothy 6:13-16.
I urge you in the sight of God who
gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good
confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without
spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest
in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable
light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting
power. Amen. (NKJV)
Christ has all authority over the earth per the Great
Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), will judge (2 Timothy 4:1) all peoples on
earth, and has all dominion over the earth to govern (1 Peter 4:11).
If anyone speaks, let him speak
as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the
ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through
Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(NKJV)
Conclusion
Christ is the Great Governor of the World and Dickinson
recognized Christ as our Lord twice. For the American people, biblical
Christianity dominated most homes as well as the lives of government officials
and leaders in the mid to late 1700s in the colonies and newly formed nation of
states. And the Articles of Confederation is one more document that
reveals that allegiance to Christ.
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head
of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a
personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has
spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
