The Importance of a Godly Education to American Liberty

Posted by: Hercules Mulligan on Friday, June 1st, 2007

Education is the foundation on which all nations and confederacies rest their prosperity. The United States of America has risen to be one of the greatest nations in the world because of its Godly foundations and an educational system originally rooted and grounded in the Bible. Education involves more than the memorization of facts; it molds the mind and the character of an individual so that he may serve his Creator and his fellow man. When this nation was established, and America’s Founding Fathers drafted our official founding documents, and when the first stages of the government under the Constitution were only in their infancy, the Founding Fathers sought to carry on the principles for which they had fought so hard during the fight for independence. They had bled on the fields of the Revolution, frozen and starved in their winter camps, tackled the questions of government, law, and society; sweated out the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention, and fought to persuade the states of America to ratify that document. Yet after such great efforts and successes, a greater struggle lay ahead of them: How do we preserve, and influence our descendants to preserve, the liberty we have fought so hard to establish? The Constitution, founded on the Declaration of Independence (the thesis of which is that our rights are derived and given to mankind by God the Creator), is founded on the principles of the Bible. But how can we be sure that we will still retain those rights if we think that we are not accountable to God, and hence entrust ourselves to man? How can we be certain that our descendants will adhere to and respect the Christian religion? For the sake of the Union, the Founders endeavored to ensure the preservation of the principles of liberty for the rest of their lives, and their words continue to urge and inspire others to do the same. The answer to these questions is this: educate and enlighten the generations of Americans that will follow. But what is education? How was it important to the Founders? And how did they take part in it? Should education have anything to do with Christianity? I shall answer all these questions in the following, and thus I shall prove that the future generations of the United States must receive a God-centered and Scripture-based education in order for America to exist and progress as a truly free and independent nation.

If education is important to the American Republic, we should first understand the purpose and intent of education. We know that education is the obtaining of knowledge, but is this all that education involves? And what is knowledge? Since God is the Author of knowledge, He has something to say to mankind about education and learning in His Word. The Book of Proverbs is known for its wealth of true wisdom, and the format for its teaching is as a parent instructing his children in the ways of wisdom and the fear of God. The Fausset’s Dictionary says, “The Book of Proverbs inculcates on parents, as to their children, the duty of disciplinary instruction and training in the word of God. This was the ONE book of national education in the reformations undertaken by Jehoshaphat and Josiah” (Fausset). Here it is clear that, according to the culture that was set up by God for the Israelites at that time, education did not just deal with reading, writing, arithmetic, and so on. Education also involves the engraving of a youth’s heart and character to fear God. To illustrate this, let us look at some quotations from Proverbs. In the introduction to the book, it explains its purpose, one of which was, “To give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion” (Proverbs 1:4 NASV). Here we have a clear picture of education. It is to give knowledge and discretion to the youth. In the same passage, the author of the Proverbs makes another enlightening statement concerning the obtaining of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 states, “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (LITV). In the Book of Deuteronomy, God says through Moses to the Israelites before Moses would leave them, “Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren about the day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, when He said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same’ ” (Deuteronomy 4:9-10 GNB). God obviously sees it as important that the parents should walk in the fear of God and that they should teach their children to do the same. The Lord further instructed the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:18,19, and 21: “Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. Then you and your children will live a long time in the land that the LORD your God promised to give to your ancestors. You will live there as long as there is a sky above the earth” (GNB). From these verses we can most evidently see that there is much more to education and learning than having knowledge about the temporal things of this world, because we all have a Creator who has a special plan for each and every individual human being born on this earth; therefore, we are obligated to know Him and to serve Him and to fulfill the purpose for which He has called us. The Founding Fathers knew the meaning, intent, and purpose of education, and their views on it do not at all differ from that of the Scriptures. Noah Webster, in his English Dictionary, defined education this way: “The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable, and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties” (Webster). Likewise, Samuel Adams stated, “[E]ducation . . . . leads youth beyond mere outside show [and] will impress their minds with a profound reverence of the Deity . . . . It will excite in them a just regard to Divine revelation.” Gouverneur Morris, the penman and a signer of the United States Constitution, stated that there are “two distinct kinds of education.” The first, he said, was the “education of the head,” or informal learning. The second was the “education of the heart,” or the inculcation of “virtuous habits.” Morris stated that the former was the main task of schools, and that “parents and preachers” cultivated the latter. He further emphasized that “religion and virtue” were of more importance than informal learning. George Washington also described education in America. When a group of Delaware Indian chiefs brought several of their youths to Washington for the purpose of educating them in American schools, he listed what was being principally taught in those schools. He said to them, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and our way of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and a happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.” William Samuel Johnson, a signer of the Constitution and the first president of Columbia University, at a graduation ceremony of that university, announced: “You have … received a public education, the purpose whereof hath been to qualify you the better to serve your Creator and your country. . . . Your first great duties, you are sensible, are those you owe to Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these be ever present in your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct.” Finally, Daniel Webster, a United States senator, one of America’s greatest statesmen, and a student of the Founding Fathers, summed up and defined education in a manner identical to those previously illustrated by the Founders and the Bible: “The attainment of knowledge does not comprise all which is contained in a larger term of education. . . . [A] profound religious feeling is to be instilled and pure morality inculcated under all circumstances.” Truly, the Bible and the Founding Fathers left a very clear meaning on the definition and purpose of education.

Godly education is the key to the success and longevity of a nation. The Bible declares it, and the Founding Fathers recognized and respected it. Psalm 127 says: “If Jehovah does not build the house, they who build it labor in vain; if Jehovah does not keep the city, the one keeping it stays awake in vain. It is in vain for you to rise early, sit up late, to eat the bread of toils; for so He gives His beloved sleep. Behold! Children are an inheritance of Jehovah; the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of the young. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them; they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with their enemies in the gate” (LITV). This psalm illustrates the efforts of a community will not last long unless they fear God and pass on His precepts to the preceding generations. Since children are a gift from God, we have a responsibility before God to train them up to know, love, and serve Him. When that responsibility is accomplished, God’s blessing will be upon that community as long as they follow that pattern of unity, godliness, and righteous education. Then, the labor of men to protect and preserve that community will not be in vain. God also instructed the Israelites through Moses: “Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren about the day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.’ . . . I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. The LORD will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive” (Deut. 4:9-10, 26-27, GNB). In the New Testament, God continues to express the necessity of teaching children in the Scriptures; for example, when the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, “[A]nd you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 3:15, GNB). That is why God instructs children to “[r]espect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you” (Ex. 20:12, GNB). And again , “Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. ‘Respect your father and mother’ is the first commandment that has a promise added: ‘so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land’ ” (Eph. 6:1-3, GNB). There are many, many other Scriptures that instruct children, or instruct parents how to teach their children; the Scriptures consistently command us to “remember our Creator” in the days of our youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Truly, God does see education as the key to the success of any community, whether it is a nation, or a city, or any other. The Founding Fathers also understood that education was important to the American republic, and their writings echo the theme of the Bible concerning education. Noah Webster explained, “The foundation of all free government and of all social order must be laid in families and in the discipline of youth. . . . The Education of youth, an employment of more consequence than making laws and preaching the gospel, … lays the Foundation on which both law and gospel rest for success . . . .” John Adams stated, “The social science will never be improved, until the people unanimously know and consider themselves as the foundation of power, and until they shall know how to manage it wisely and honestly. Reformation must begin with the body of the people, which can be done only, to effect, in their educations” (Adams, 540). And also, “A better system of education for the common people might preserve them long from such artificial inequalities as are prejudicial to society.” Benjamin Rush, another prominent Founder, declared, “[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue, there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments” (Barton, Original Intent, 153). After the American War for Independence, Dr. Rush explained, “We have changed our forms of government but it remains yet to effect a revolution in our principles, opinions, and manners so as to accommodate them to the forms of government we have adopted. This is the most difficult part of the business of the patriots and legislators of our country. . . .[E]ducation alone will render the American Revolution a blessing to mankind” (Barton, Rush). George Washington, in his Farewell Address of 1797, declared, “[R]eason and experience both forbid us to expect that that national morality can prevail in exclusion to religious principle. . . . Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge” (Barton, Original Intent, 153). John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court observed, “I consider knowledge to be the soul of a republic, and as the weak and the wicked are generally in alliance, as much care should be taken to diminish the number of the former as of the latter. Education is the way to do this, and nothing should be left undone to afford all ranks of people the means of obtaining a proper degree of it at a cheap and easy rate” (Jay). James Madison most definitely perceived the essential link between education and liberty when he declared, “What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual and surest support?” (Madison, 380-81). Finally, Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the Constitution, powerfully asserted, “When the minds of the people in general are viciously exposed and unprincipled, and their conduct disorderly, a free government will be attended with greater confusions and evils more horrid than the wild, uncultivated state of nature. It can only be happy when the public principle and opinions are properly directed and their manners regulated. This is an influence beyond the reach of laws and punishments and can be claimed only by religion and education.” Certainly, the Bible and the Founders agree entirely on the principle of education to sustain America as a Godly republic.

Not only did the Founders stress the importance of education with words, but they acted upon that principle. Many of the Founding Fathers played influential and interesting roles in educational systems throughout the country. One of them was John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a Christian minister. He served as president of Princeton University of New Jersey (which was a seminary for training and appointing ministers) from 1768-1776, and was responsible for tutoring James Madison, Gunning Bedford, Jr., Jonathan Dayton (all signers of the Constitution), and other Founders and statesmen (Barton, Original Intent, 432). During his term as president of Princeton, the students of that university were required to “attend worship in the college hall morning and evening at the hours appointed and shall behave with gravity and reverence during the whole service. . . . [T]here shall be assigned to each class certain exercises for their religious instruction suited to the age and standing of the pupils . . . and no student belonging to any class shall neglect them” (Barton, Original Intent, 83). Evidently, one of John Witherspoon’s most prominent services to his country was his educational role. Another Founder, Noah Webster, is well known for his educational role, particularly his authorship of numerous educational textbooks. Several of his many textbooks include his “Speller,” “Grammar,” and “Reader,” (parts of his large English book entitled A Grammatical Institute of the English Language), his Elements of Useful Knowledge, his Moral Catechism, A Federal Catechism, and his most celebrated work, the American Dictionary of the English Language (Webster). Noah Webster believed that, since America is a republic in which the ideals of self-government are the basis of its sustenance, education must be the tool which imparts those ideals to the succeeding generations of American citizens. He also believed that not only the schools, but also the parents must be involved in the education of their children (Webster). He stated, “All government originates in families, and if neglected there, it will hardly exist in society. … The foundation of all free government and of all social order must be laid in families and in the discipline of youth” (Webster). Noah Webster, prominent patriot and Founding Father, was just as much a patriot as an educator. Benjamin Rush, another prominent Founder, was another active educator in early America. Dr. Rush was the author of school textbooks, curriculum plans, commentaries on education and educational policies, as well as chiefly instrumental in founding five universities throughout the country (Barton, Rush). Among the numerous educational works of Benjamin Rush, On the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic stands out. In this work, he insists upon the necessity of schools and other institutions of education to teach Christianity, which will enable students instructed in its precepts to be good citizens of the American republic. His other works include Thoughts Upon the Amusements and Punishments Which are Proper for Schools, and A Defense of the Use of the Bible as a Schoolbook. In both of these works, he explains that American education will only be prosperous if educators and the educational system reflect the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. The American public openly embraced these works (Barton, Rush). The five universities of which Rush was the chief founder were the College of Philadelphia, the University of the State of Pennsylvania, the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia (which was one of America’s first seminaries for women), Dickinson College (established as a “system of education in divinity”), and Franklin College (currently Franklin-Marshall College, and “built on Christ, the Corner-Stone”). Because Benjamin Rush had such a broad and influential role in American education, and was an early advocator of free public schools, he is known as the “Father of Public Schools Under the Constitution.” Benjamin Rush believed that education in the principles of the Bible would keep the American society operating smoothly and successfully. He stated, “In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be Republicans and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.” Benjamin Rush was indeed, not only a great Founder and a firm patriot, but also a wise and brilliant educator. Alexander Hamilton was another prominent Founder who was actively involved in education, particularly within the state of New York. Hamilton became a member of the first Board of Regents of the State of New York, and he served it from 1784-1787. As a Regent, Hamilton helped raise funds for Columbia University, draft an educational plan for the university, and select its professors. From 1787 until his death in 1804, Hamilton served as a trustee of Columbia University (Alexander Hamilton, 44). Hamilton was also on the Special Regent’s Committee of 1787, and recommended changes in the educational law of New York State; changes such as the establishment of public schools by public authority and requiring that the Regents “visit and inspect all colleges, academies, and schools” which are established in New York State. During this meeting, Hamilton wrote in his notes: “[T]he erecting of public schools for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic is an object of very great importance which ought not to be left to the discretion of private men, but to be promoted by public authority: of so much knowledge no citizen ought to be destitute, and yet it is a reflection as true as it is painful, that but too many of our youth are brought up in utter ignorance.” This shows that Hamilton understood the important link between the education of common American citizens and the sustenance of the American republic. Perhaps one of his most well-known educational accomplishments is his part in the establishment of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy (currently Hamilton College). Hamilton also served as a premier trustee of the academy from 1793 to 1804, and afforded great aid to the Reverend Samuel Kirkland in establishing it. With Hamilton’s help, Dr. Kirkland, a missionary to the Iroquois Indians of central New York, sought to establish several schools in the district of Clinton, New York, which would be established for the purpose of teaching the Indians “rudiments of English education”; and an academy in the same district where both English and Indian youth would be educated. In this academy, “English youth were to be admitted, bearing the charges of their own education,” and Indian youth were “to be instructed in the principles of human nature, in the history of civil society, . . . and in the principles of natural religion, the moral precepts, and the more plain and express doctrines of Christianity. Years later, these objects were still the goal of this college, as evidenced by a letter written in 1832 by David Malin to James Madison. In this letter, Mr. Malin informed Madison that Madison had been elected one of the honorary members of the Phi Gamma Adelpha Society of the Hamilton College Fraternity. Mr. Malin asked him to accept the appointment, since the main objects of the society were to promote “literature, friendship, and morality,” and Madison’s membership would aid in promoting these objects (Malin). Another Founder actively involved with education was Thomas Jefferson, being the chief founder of the University of Virginia, one of the accomplishments by which he wished to be most remembered. Besides this and many other influential actions in education in the state of Virginia, he was involved with at least three different school districts, and prepared a plan for each of them, making mandatory provision for the teaching of the Bible in those schools. Another Founder, Benjamin Franklin, also played a lively role in the educational system in his state of Pennsylvania. He wrote the 1749 plan of education for the public schools, and in that plan he made it mandatory for those schools to teach “the necessity of a public religion . . . and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others.” (This is very interesting behavior for a man who has been broadly considered a deist.) There is a seemingly infinite list of other Founders that were involved in education, including John Jay, James Madison, Patrick Henry, Abraham Baldwin, George Mason, William Samuel Johnson, and many, many others. But as we can see, the Founding Fathers, not only with their words but also with their actions, recognized the fact that education — true education — is crucial to the survival of the American republic.

Besides recognizing the importance of general education, the Founding Fathers fully intended to include religious teachings of the doctrines of Christ in the classrooms of public schools. They understood, as has been pointed out, the true meaning and purpose of education: to know and serve the Creator. America’s Founding Fathers not only defined education as such and were friendly to religious principles in education, but they personally promoted and supported Christian education in particular. We have observed in Noah Webster’s Dictionary, under the definition of ‘education,’ that he said “ to give them [children] a religious education is indispensable . . . .” This is also evident in Samuel Adams’ definition of education, as well as those of Gouverneur Morris, Benjamin Rush, and William Samuel Johnson, as observed . Abraham Baldwin stressed the importance of both religion and education to the American republic and society, and strong support of this thesis is clear in George Washington’s illustration of American education. There are many more examples that illustrate this fact , but this is not all that the Founders did to ensure that the Christian religion would be recognized as an essential and indispensable part of education in this nation . The Founders repeatedly stressed the importance of religious education, and they took it seriously. This is proven by their actions in the educational sphere, and by their bold declarations ; however, in this they made even more concise and bolder arguments. Gouverneur Morris stated, “Genius and science are pleasing and ornamental, but morals and industry are useful and essential. Gouverneur Morris explained why religious education was of more importance than informal learning. He said “I cannot but believe, that if boys were taught to labor in some honest vocation, and girls to perform well the business of a family, they would have a better chance to become respectable men, happy women, good citizens, than if brought up in idleness and dissipation though with the learning of St. Paul. Those who can read have, indeed, the means of meditating on the Holy Writings; but do they improve the opportunity? If we look around us, we shall, I fear, meet frequently with loose poems, and idle novels, than with Bibles and sermons. Also, Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the importance of religion and morality in education. In a letter to Peter Carr, a young man who was seeking his advice on the subject of his own education, Jefferson said that morality and religion should be among his primary objects. Of religion, Jefferson said that Carr must go to the Bible and examine it carefully, and to avoid prejudice or bias of any sort. He instructed Carr to examine truthfully all views and ends of the spectrum when he would come upon issues of question or doubt, and determine what is the truth. Noah Webster boldly declared, “In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which children, under a free government, ought to be instructed. Fisher Ames, the man who wrote the final version for the wording of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, stated, “[Why] should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the Sacred Book that is thus early impressed lasts long; and probably if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind.” Benjamin Rush reflected the same opinion; he declared, “The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating [extinguishing] Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.” It must be understood that the Founding Father’s idea of a “religious education” was not to train youth up to observe and emphasize a Christian culture, or to mold them into them mind-numbed robots that observed a set of religious rules. It was quite different. For example, Benjamin Rush again clarified not only the importance but also the significant meaning of religious instruction. He observed concerning the impact of the truth of God’s Word upon students: “The impressions which are made upon their [the students’] fears or their faith by sermons and creeds soon wear away, but arguments fixed in the understanding are indelible.”

It is clear then, that in order for the American republic to last long and flourish, future generations in the United States must receive not only an informal education, but an education with the purpose of instructing children to remember their Creator in the days of their youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1), and realize that there is more to this life than what we can see or handle; more than birth, life, and death. As citizens of the Republic of the United States, we must all remember, as Benjamin Rush reminded us, “[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue, there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” Today we live in a society in which the public education system is atheistic, humanistic, anti-God, and many times anti-moral. This system is degenerating into a vast anarchy-machine and it is taking this country with it, just as the Bible and the Founders warned. In order to save this country and the liberties that our forefathers fought to obtain and preserve, the best solution is to educate ourselves in the word of God, and pass these principles on to our children and our children’s children ourselves. The Scriptures and the circumstances make it clear to us that we are living in the last days, and such action is necessary, for the Bible commands us to do such. Let us remember the warning of the Scriptures, which say, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, or the years strike when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; while not yet the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are darkened, or the clouds return after rain; in the day when those keeping the house shall tremble, and the strong men are bowed, and the grinders cease because they are few; and those looking out the windows are darkened; and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the mill is low, and one rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music are silenced; also they shall be afraid of a high place, and terrors in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the locust makes himself a burden; and desire breaks, because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the street; while the silver cord is not yet loosed, or the golden bowl is crushed, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern; then the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, LITV). Let us also remember the warning given to us by Samuel Adams, the “Father of the American Revolution,” who said, “[A] state of indolence [laziness], inattention, and security . . . is forever the forerunner of slavery.” Let us not allow ourselves to be taken into slavery, but to be sober and alert, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16, LITV). “For this reason we must pay the much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1, NASV).

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