The Declaration’s Sure Foundation

The worldview of the Founding Fathers is reflected in the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” as expressed in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.  Their passion for the rights of liberty and rule of law hinges on this one pregnant phrase.  

The key to unpacking it is to understand what they meant by “nature,” and we’ll start with a hint:  they were not talking about the nature of the great outdoors (i.e., hills, trees, mountains and streams).  They were not even primarily referencing scientific laws like the laws of gravity or increasing entropy (though both would be included).

So what did they mean?  Well first, a bit of context:  the two well-established disciplines, on which our forefathers cut their teeth, were classical philosophy and biblical theology.  In fact, they were extremely well-read and well-versed in the Greek and Roman classics as well as the Old and New Testament Scriptures. 

Accordingly, “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” as driven by both disciplines (philosophy and theology), referred to human reason and divine revelation, the two-fold means of apprehending truth.  On the one hand, implicit in the word “nature” from the classical tradition of natural law was the natural order of things, which could be grasped through objective reason.  On the other hand, the biblical notion of nature had both a natural and supernatural reality to it.  For the signers of the Declaration, to recognize and respect the natural law through natural reason is to recognize and respect God’s universal, eternal law.

So the classical tradition dovetailed with the biblical worldview (and vice-versa), believing natural law (“the laws of nature”) was rooted in a divine source (“Nature’s God”).  And both believed this natural law could be discerned by rational logic or divine revelation (whether general or special).

This is why these words worked for both Thomas Jefferson (a deist and the Declaration’s author) as well as James Madison (a Christian believer and the Constitution’s author).  With the former, an undefined “Nature’s God” was the logical end and would not necessarily assume anything more; for the latter, “Nature’s God” was the logical beginning and crucial starting point.

Nonetheless, four times Jefferson referred to God in the Declaration:  once as “Creator,” once as “Supreme Judge,” once as “divine Providence,’ and once as “Nature’s God.”  Clearly, he was not advocating a faith-free model of governance.  Jefferson was very much in sync with the rest of the signers, who were as opposed to a secular government as they were to a sectarian one.  

Moreover, it is utterly inconceivable that the same people who attended church services together and decreed official days of prayer and fasting would approve, much less author, a definitively agnostic Declaration.  John Hancock (Congress president and a devout Congregationalist) would have been the first to reject it. Reverend John Witherspoon (Congress’s chaplain) would have been the second. After that, take your pick, the list speaks for itself: George Washington (Episcopalian), Benjamin Franklin (attended Presbyterian services), Thomas Paine (raised Quaker), Patrick Henry (Anglican), John Adams (Congregational), George Mason (Anglican), Thomas Jefferson (Anglican), John Dickinson (leaned Quaker), Mercy Otis Warren (Puritan), Charles Carroll (Roman Catholic), James Madison (Episcopalian), James Wilson (Episcopalian), Gouverneur Morris (Episcopalian), Alexander Hamilton (Presbyterian), John Jay (Anglican), John Marshall (Episcopalian).

If indeed the overwhelming majority of the signers were churchmen, then it is not difficult to see why they believed this Declaration was not only political and moral, but religious as well.  It also explains why they were convinced divine laws were revealed through nature’s laws, and why they grounded their Independence from England in both.

It presents a compelling case for why we should as well, 250 years later. 

Brian Schroeder is the former Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, an ordained minister and founder/president of The ChrisCorps Commission (bschroeder081858@gmail.com)