The Bible in American Law and Politics. John R. Vile
Konig, David Thomas. 1982. “‘Dale’s Laws’ and the Non-Common Law Origins of Criminal Justice in Virginia.” American Journal of Legal History 26 (October): 354–75.
Tarter, Brent. n.d. “Laws Divine, Morall and Martiall.” Encyclopedia Virginia. https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Lawes_Divine_Morall_and_Martiall.
Articles of Confederation
Even before it was officially ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation, which was proposed by the Second Continental Congress in 1777, served as the model for the government of the United States that lasted until the implementation of 37the Constitution that was produced by the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in 1789. The Articles specifically referred to God as “The Great Governor of the World” (Solberg 1958, 51).
Although the document appears to have been chiefly the result of expedience rather than a conscious imitation of biblical government, the Articles and the thirteen states that composed it resembled the government of the twelve tribes of Israel as described in the biblical book of Judges during the period between the death of Joshua (the successor to Moses) and the introduction of kingship in a number of ways (Shalev 2013, 50–83).
Just as primary power rested within individual tribes during the period of judges, so too the Articles of Confederation vested primary sovereignty within the states rather than in its unicameral Congress in which states were equally represented. There was no independent executive power, like later Jewish kings, nor was there an independent judiciary. A majority of nine states was required to adopt most matters of policy under the Articles, and constitutional amendments required unanimous state consent. The national Congress did not have the power exercised by the current body to act directly upon individuals as in taxing them directly or drafting them into military service, nor did it control interstate and foreign commerce.
The Congress that met from the time of American independence until the adoption of the new Constitution did engage in a number of activities related to the Bible. Although it ultimately adopted a different seal, both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, drawing from the Bible, had proposed seals that likened America’s revolutionary struggle to that of Moses and the Jewish people in Israel. Congress had begun the practice of inviting chaplains to deliver prayers during the First Continental Congress, at which Jacob Duché had linked the cause of America to that of the Israelites as described in Psalm 35:1.
Consistent with biblical calls for repentance, Congress adopted a number of Fast and Thanksgiving Proclamations and hired chaplains with the hope of encouraging morality among troops. Concerned about the fact that Americans were now cut off from the supply of Bibles that had previously been published in Great Britain, the Congress, which had actually considered issuing a license to a publisher for a single authorized edition (Hogue 1991, 364–65; Gaines 1950/1951), eventually endorsed the publication of a Bible by Robert Aitken of Philadelphia. Congress also sought to encourage literacy by establishing schools in the Northwest Territories.
Ultimately, the people replaced the Articles of Confederation, much as Jews had earlier sought a king, because they found it inadequate to assure justice at home or to preserve the nation’s standing abroad. Shay’s Rebellion that occurred in the winter of 1786–1787 further suggested that Congress could not adequately protect the states against anarchy (Blau 1987). Largely as a result of their negative experience under King George III, Americans chose to replace their confederal government with a federal one, in which power was divided among three coordinate branches, rather than following the example of the ancient Israelites in establishing a hereditary monarchy.
38
See also Aitken Bible; First Continental Congress; Forms of Government; Great Seal of the United States; Hebraic Constitutionalism; U.S. Constitution; U.S. Constitutional Convention
For Reference and Further Reading
Blau, Joseph L. 1987. “Government or Anarchy? In the Debates on the Constitution.” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 23 (Fall): 507–19.
Dougherty, Keith I. 2001. Collective Action under the Articles of Confederation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gaines, William H., Jr. 1950/1951. “The Continental Congress Considers the Publication of a Bible, 1777.” Studies in Bibliography 3: 274–81.
Hogue, William M. 1991. “An Authorized Bible for Americans.” Anglican and Episcopal History 60 (September): 361–82.
Jensen, Merrill. 1966. The Articles of Confederation. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
“Religion and the Founding of the American Republic: Religion and the Congress of the Confederation.” Library of Congress Exhibitions. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel04.html.
Shalev, Eran. 2013. American Zion: The Old Testament as a Political Text from the Revolution to the Civil War. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Solberg, Winton U., ed. 1958. The Federal Convention and the Formation of the Union of the American States. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.
Vile, John R ., and Andrew Foshee. 1988. “Domestic Politics in the Book of Judges: The Story of Gibeah.” Journal of Political Science 16 (Spring): 33–42.
Ashcroft, John
After serving as attorney general, governor, and U.S. senator from Missouri, John Ashcroft (b. 1942) served as the first U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A graduate of Yale University who earned his law degree at the University of Chicago, Ashcroft was a polarizing figure who was often caricatured for his religious beliefs.
Ashcroft is the son and grandson of Assembly of God (a charismatic denomination whose detractors sometimes describe members as “holy rollers”) pastors, with his father serving as the president of Evangel University, a liberal arts college sponsored by the Assemblies of God. As a young man, Ashcroft performed southern gospel music and was known for authoring an anthem called “Carry the Cross,” which was largely based on Ephesians 6:12. Its words were as follows: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood/ But the darkness of this world./ Put on the whole armor of our God,/ Let his banner of love be unfurled./ I want to carry the cross for the Savior/ I want to carry his cross; that’s my goal” (quoted in Goodstein 2001). In giving a speech to students at Bob Jones University in 2001, Ashcroft cited with satisfaction the slogan of some patriots in the American revolution that “We have no king but Jesus” (Larry King Live 2001). On other occasions, however, Ashcroft observe, that “It’s against my religion to impose my religion on others” (Goodstein 2001), and despite his own ideological convictions, as attorney general, Ashcroft acted fairly pragmatically (Rosen 2004).
39
Ashcroft established a reputation for opposing smoking, drinking, dancing, premarital sex, needle exchanges, homosexuality, abortion, and pornography and for holding Bible studies and prayer meetings in his office. Some ridiculed the fact that, consistent with Assembly of God theology, his father chose to anoint him with