The Treaty of Paris (1783)—a Christly Document?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, July 8, 2026 (Donate)
The United States became a nation appealing to God for their independence over the King of Great Britain in 1776—with the Declaration of Independence. Although the first shots began on April 19, 1775. From there, war ensued.
The war officially came to an end with the Treaty of Paris
in 1783 (technically called, “The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783”). Peace was
finally agreed upon after 8 years of battling.
The peace treaty opened with a statement that might shock
certain politicians of today. The opening sentence states:
“In the Name of the most Holy &
undivided Trinity.”
This was not done as a whim. God ,with His various names, is mentioned throughout the peace treaty such as:
· Divine Providence
· by the Grace of God
· in the year of our Lord
But “Holy and undivided Trinity” is very specific. This
is one
God in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the God
of the Bible alone. This means Christ is referred to and appealed to in the
opening sentence of the Treaty of Paris.
What might surprise people is that the USA had three delegates
to sign and seal off on it with one from England—David Hartley (Anglican). In total,
they were:
· David Hartley
· John Adams
· Ben Franklin
· John Jay
Why is this so significant? John Jay was Episcopalian. The two
others—Ben
Franklin and John Adams are often used as examples of people who were not
in accordance with Bible teachings about God. Through Ben Franklin moved much more
in alignment over his years.
What we know is they signed, sealed, and delivered an agreed upon treaty where they appealed to the Triune God! No deist or unitarian would do such a thing! Though this doesn’t mean they didn’t struggle with these issues. Even so, they publicly signed a document appealing to the Triune God to end the war with England (and the British Empire).
Christ, who is King
of Kings, is supreme over all nations—having all authority over heaven and
earth (Matthew 28:18). He sits on the throne of God with His resurrected body
sitting to the right of the Father (Hebrews 1:3, 1:13).
I want to encourage you to have faith in Jesus Christ—who is
Lord over all. Consider the good
news of Jesus Christ today who has the power
to save!
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing
evolution since 1998. 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.
Mr. Hodge earned a
Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a
Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and
running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic
materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a
grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar,
Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science
was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one
year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and
scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over
25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.
*Image generated by ChatGPT
