Declaration Signer Benjamin Rush Fantastic ALS About The Bible, and Church vs State

Single page autograph letter signed, 6.5" x 7.75". Penned on recto and verso and signed by Benjamin Rush as "Benj Rush". Accompanied by the separate manuscript envelope in another hand, folded to a size of 4.75" x 3". Envelope dated "October 8, 1790". Page toned with expected folds and archival repair to the separation along fold lines. The envelope has a tear from the wax seal, otherwise the typical folds and archival repair to the separations. Lovely vibrant strong inks. Letter with superb content.

In an ironic twist, this eloquent letter by Benjamin Rush, a Declaration Signer, touches upon the ongoing debate regarding the division of church and state.

Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, and educator as well as the founder of Dickinson College. His letter to William Young who had presented him with a copy of his edition of the Bible, spurred on Rush's position penning "All my hopes of the reformation and Prosperity of our Country rest upon the restoration of the general use of the Bible as a school book".

Nearly 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this debate rages on. Scholars analyze the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to glean any reference made to church verses state or the separation of these important powers. And for every side that insists "No", there are equal sides that insist "Yes". But clearly what can be said is that our founding fathers did indeed reference "God" in their documents. This unique letter from a Declaration Signer written in 1790 certainly demonstrates his position on this matter, but the unanswered question will always be was there any intent to hold church and state bound together in our founding documents?

Below are some scholars who have weighed in on this debate:

Gary DeMar, MDiv, President of American Vision, in a Mar. 2004 article published in Biblical Worldviewwrote:

"Some claim that the Declaration is not really a founding document since it was not designed to establish a new nation but only to establish a legal argument of separation from British rule. But the Constitution does not see it this way. In the same sentence that references 'in the Year of Our Lord,' we find 'and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth.' 'The Twelfth' is a reference to the Declaration of Independence which was written twelve years earlier and uses non-neutral religious terms like 'endowed by their Creator,' 'the laws of nature and of nature's God,' 'with a firm reliance on DIVINE PROVIDENCE,' and 'the Supreme Judge of the world.' While these are not specifically Christian phrases, they certainly aren't religiously neutral."

Steve Bonta, PhD, Director of Communications for the Constitution Party, on July 29, 2002 wrote in The New American that:

"If ever there were a first principle of political thought, a bedrock premise on which all other political, legal, and social reasoning should be founded, it is that God is the Source of all rights. As with the physical creation, so with the spiritual and the moral: God is the final cause and origin of all things pertaining to man. As the Declaration of Independence states so emphatically, He endows men with 'certain unalienable Rights,' among which are 'Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.'"

Benjamin Rush was a profoundly religious man who held a firm belief that religion was a necessary foundation for any successful republic, and, to that end, advocated education along Christian lines. Although very supportive of the constitution in every other respect, Rush was disappointed that the document made no mention whatsoever of a supreme being. However his belief in the attributes of a Deity ultimately found had him praising all religious principles above having a system devoid of religion. In 1798, Rush wrote in his "Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic", that:

"Such is my veneration for every religion that reveals the attributes of the Deity, or a future state of rewards and punishments, that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammed inculcated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles. But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is the religion of Jesus Christ." 

Although the founders agreed on the legitimate ends of government, they disagreed about the means the state could use to secure those ends. Specifically, the founders disagreed on whether the government legitimately could employ religion as a means to secure republican liberty.

Two general positions existed. On one side stood the libertarians, who emphasized the need to limit government in order to protect civil and religious liberty. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson most clearly represent this position. On the other side were those of a more conservative disposition, who believed religion supported the good order of society and thus that government should endorse and encourage religion. George Washington most clearly represents this position.

But perhaps it is Thomas Jefferson who says is all when he notes:   "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of god? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" 

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