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I know God not as a result of any intellectual effort on my or anyone’s part but because He has made Himself known to me. The revelation of God to His followers, and others, is the a priori of reformation. No amount of rational discourse changes this truth. It is true because God has said it is true. This is the stumbling stone against which rationalists crash and burn.

So beautifully, beautifully said, dear Amos! And so very, very true.

Why rationalists crash and burn on the "God problem" is a mystery to me. For it seems to me that reason itself absolutely depends for its own proper function on a single, non-phenomenal, that is universal principle, or Logos. And they claim to use reason all the time — even after they've utterly uprooted it from its ground in Truth.

Cicero had a name for this phenomenon: aspernatio rationis, meaning "contempt for reason."

But that's not the most important point you raised. It seems that would be: "God exists because He who is within me says He exists. I stake my life and my soul upon that knowledge."

And I think you are right that "the Framers premised their efforts at creating a nation upon precisely this knowledge. In this very particular sense our nation is founded upon revelation."

Thank you so very much for your so deeply affecting, beautiful, and insightful essay/post, dear Amos!

Thank you Betty Boop for catching the sense of my words. I came late to this thread and reviewed the more than 500 posts before responding. My comments at post 520 are based on a problem that is manifest in fully 90% of those posts.
Your original essay stands as a seminal insight into the struggle that is upon us. Your thesis is in no way controversial but is essential to understanding the truth of our circumstances as a nation. Yet, a morass of controversy ensued from the beginning that effectively waylaid any real grappling with your thesis. This has been the device of those who oppose the truth as you so brilliantly revealed it. Debate, assault, rancor, all done with an air of intellectual superiority have, to this point, effectively prevented a careful development of your work.
Your thesis stands as one of 2 recent articles that are clarion calls for those who believe in the vital importance of preserving our Constitution. The other is the magnificent treatise on America's Ruling Class published in the American Spectator. These interlinking articles form a tour de force for the Framers vision.
With whatever time remains on this thread before crickets chirp I want to raise up your essay as a vital call to arms for the protection and renewal of our Constitution and our way of life.
As was the cause of our Founders, we stand for the triumph of God over the chaos of hubris and anarchy. Those who debate and oppose us in this effort are no less than our enemies and deserve no other treatment than as enemy.
Enough with rancor. We have a war to win.