God And The Constitution

God And The Constitution

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, October 23, 2025 (Donate)

Unlike other founding documents from the previous score (20 years), the Constitution (1789) only has one direct refence to God ("in the Year of our Lord"). Some have mistakenly thought that the lack of refences to God, unlike other documents (e.g., Declaration of Independence, Northwest Ordinance, Articles of Confederation, previous state constitutions, etc.) makes it more secular in nature.

Some have even considered it a secular document pushing for secular views. But the Constitution is not pushing for the religion of secular humanism in any way or any of the secular variants of religion.

Founding fathers in session; Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

This cannot be further from the truth. The Constitution is built on these other blatantly Christian documents. The “father of the Constitution”, James Madison, was a well-known Christian!

Among the 55 delegates to the 1787 convention, most were from Protestant backgrounds (Anglican, Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, Congregational, Puritan, etc.) with a few Catholics.

The U.S. Constitution Aloft On Other Founding Documents

The U.S. Constitution’s minimal mention of God was not because the framers were rejecting divine authority altogether, but rather because they were building upon a preexisting foundation of documents (the previous Organic Laws of the USA) and frameworks that had already established God’s role in government, morality, and human rights. There was no need to rehash what was said.

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

“...the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God...”
“...endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...”
“...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world...”
“...with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence...”

The Declaration explicitly rooted human rights and liberty in the Creator—not in human government. It established that divine authority precedes civil authority. The Constitution could therefore focus on mechanisms of government rather than spiritually Christian foundations, because those were already declared.

The Articles of Confederation (1777–1781)

“...and we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents...”
“...it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World...”

The Articles closed with an overtly Christian-theistic acknowledgment of God as, “the Great Governor of the World.” That phrase directly echoed Proverbs 8:15–16 and similar biblical passages of God’s sovereignty over rulers.

The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

“Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

Passed earlier the same year as the Constitution, this ordinance tied civil virtue to religion and morality in the territories. It assumed that religion (understood then as Christianity) was foundational to republican virtue.

And of course, these last two documents (as well as the Constitution) are all anchored to "in the Year of our Lord, who is Jesus Christ. The AD/BC dating system is based on a Christian rule of Christ at His first advent. Other dating systems don’t.

Table I of Dating Systems

Tradition	Calendar System	Epoch (Year 0 Reference)
Islamic (Hijri)	Lunar calendar	A.H. 1 =  AD 622, Muhammad’s migration (Hijra) to Medina
Jewish (Hebrew)	Lunisolar calendar	Creation, 5786 (based on Maimonides) in the AD 12th century
Buddhist	Varies (Theravāda: 543 BC)	Buddha’s Parinirvana
Hindu (Vikram Samvat, Shaka Era)	Lunisolar	Based on traditional eras (e.g., 57 BC,  AD 78)
Chinese	Cyclical (sexagenary)	Imperial eras / Chinese creation dates
Secular Humanism	BCE/CE (Common Era and Before Common Era)	To actively demote reference to God and elevate man, but anchors at Christ’s entrance into the world
Ancient Greek/Mediterranean Culture	Fall of Troy referent	Before or after the Fall of Troy which was 1183/1184 BC

Today, in our secularized culture, the move away from “AD” and “BC” isn’t because “Anno Domini” lost its doctrinal meaning—it’s precisely because it still carries that Christian confession.

Secular religious institutions prefer BCE/CE to avoid affirming Jesus as Lord, even indirectly, because of their religious worldview. So, historically and linguistically speaking, “AD” remains doctrinal, not merely ceremonial—and the modern alternatives exist because of that enduring theological weight.

State Constitutions

Nearly every original state constitution referred directly to God, Providence, the Creator, or the Christian faith. For example:

• Massachusetts (1780): "It is the right as well as the duty of all men publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe."
• Pennsylvania (1776): Required belief in "one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked."

At the time, state governments were not secular in the modern sense; most required professions of faith in God or even in Christ and Christian doctrine for holding office.

Table II of Founding Documents

Document	Year	Reference to God/Religion	Function
Declaration of Independence	1776	Creator, Supreme Judge, Divine Providence	Moral and theological foundation
Articles of Confederation	1777	Great Governor of the World, Year of our Lord (Christ)	Early national covenant acknowledging God
Northwest Ordinance	1787	Religion, morality, and knowledge, Year of our Lord (Christ)	Civic virtue and moral education tied to religion
State Constitutions	1776–1789	Frequent Christian or theistic language	Local moral framework
U.S. Constitution	1787	Year of our Lord (Christ)	Procedural framework built on existing theistic base

The Constitution’s Role And The Framers’ Intent

The U.S. Constitution was therefore not meant to restate theology, but to form a national framework of governance built atop those already Christian theistic foundations—directly from the Articles of Confederation no less! It was a structural and procedural document, not a philosophical one.

The White House being built in the 1790s; Image requested by Bodie Hodge (ChatGPT)

Many framers understood this relationship explicitly which is why there was little need insert much theology. The primary writer who is often called the “father of the Constitution”, James Madison, was baptized in the Anglican (Church of England) tradition in Virginia. He studied at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), an institution at the time with a strong Presbyterian-orthodox component (today, Princeton has moved to be more in line with secular humanism).

James Madison Portrait, 1700s

Thus, the absence of overt theology in the Constitution reflects continuity, not rejection. The framers assumed the nation’s moral and religious groundwork had already been laid and need not be re-argued in the operational charter.

Conclusion

The Constitution’s limited divine references (just the one “in the year of our Lord”, who is Christ) do not signify atheism or secularism, but rather juridical restraint—it presupposes that the moral and religious groundwork had already been established in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance, and the state constitutions.

In short, the Constitution was built on a theistic foundation already laid. It did not replace that foundation—it simply rested upon it.

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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.