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To: PatrickHenry

Here's a start, there are literally dozens upon dozens, thanks for asking:

http://www.lawandliberty.org/history1.htm


522 posted on 12/02/2004 7:24:16 AM PST by Right in Wisconsin
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To: Right in Wisconsin
You said, back in post 481:
In fact, the bible was a major contributor to the development of our constitution. .

That is what I was questioning in posts 489, 490, and 501. So now you give me a link to a website with the title: "Biblical origins of American Political Philosophy." Other than calling the Constitution a "covenant," there is nothing in that guy's essay to contradict my earlier statements to the effect that the clauses of the Constitution have no source in scripture.

Remember, the Federalist Papers went through the Constitution almost line-by-line and explained what it was all about. It was written by Madison and Hamilton (mostly) and they wrote the Constitution and knew what it meant. For two centuries, the Federalist Papers have been regarded as the most authoritative source we have for understanding the Constitution. And as I pointed out, there are no scriptural sources mentioned therein. Or in the article you linked, for that matter.

However, the article does have paragraphs like this one, which may have confused you:

Principles basic to our U.S. constitution are found in Deut 16:18 - 17:13 where we discover the establishment of a civil government which exists primarily to administer justice. The Bible gives us rather explicit guidance on basic rules of adjudication, rules of judicial procedure, rules of evidence, rules for capital punishment, and guidelines for the establishment of an appellate system.

That's pretty vague stuff. Covenant, right. It's also true that the Romans had a written constitution -- the Twelve Tablets, and maybe 1,000 years before that, the Babylonians had the Code of Hammurabi. Frankly, I took the time to read that website carefully, and it doesn't support your position.

You made an over-ambitious claim when you said: "In fact, the bible was a major contributor to the development of our constitution." All you have to do is acknowledge that, and our little dialogue will be over. You don't have to drag this out by fishing around to find websites that mention the obvious fact that most of the Founders were Christians. That's certainly true, but it's not a fact which supports your claim.

531 posted on 12/02/2004 10:58:50 AM PST by PatrickHenry (The List-O-Links for evolution threads is at my freeper homepage.)
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