Righteousness Exalts a Nation

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14: 34 ESV)

My oldest daughter is studying the Reformation in history, so lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to the connections between the Reformation and the founding of our country.

Historians mark October 31, 1517 as the beginning of the Reformation. Martin Luther, a catholic monk who had come to understand justification by faith through his study of the Scriptures, took action when he saw the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly the sale of indulgences, by nailing 95 thesis to the door of the Wittenburg Church. These theses, grievances he had with the Catholic church, were copied down, printed and spread throughout Germany and beyond. These ideas sparked the flames which burned throughout Europe and eventually spread to the Americas.

In the early 1530s, a young lawyer and scholar named Jean Calvin, heard the message of justification by faith and converted to Christianity. Calvin furthered the spread of the Gospel by teaching the Scriptures and writing down the doctrines of the Christian faith in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. In his Institutes, Calvin not only spelled out Christian doctrine, he also outlined a biblical view of government upon which the United States government was eventually founded.

Calvin taught separation of church and state. Lest there be any confusion about what Calvin meant by "separation of church and state", let me explain as I understand it. Calvin believed that the church and state were two separate entities and their areas of jurisdiction did not cross. There are few who would disagree with Calvin on this point. However, the other part of Calvin's teaching was this: Both the church and the state are responsible to uphold righteousness within their jurisdictions and each will be held responsible before God for their actions. In other words, the state has a jurisdiction that covers what goes on within the community, but it does not have the right to decide what goes on inside the church. The church is responsible for governing what goes on within the church, but not in the community. In both areas, leaders are expected to uphold God's laws.

These are the ideas that were carried across the Atlantic Ocean and found their way into the U.S. Constitution and bill of rights. Calvin's model of government was also the model used to form our system of government with its three branches and laws based on Scripture. What most do not understand is that neither Calvin nor the founders of the U.S. government ever intended for the state to be secular. The belief from the beginning was that the state would be ruled by godly men with impeccable characters who would rule the state as a godly elders would rule their church.

It is interesting to read George Washington's farewell address. I have copied two paragraphs of it below. As you read it, note his agreement with the views of Calvin.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

What Calvin and Washington said about governments and righteousness are in line with Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation,but sin is a reproach to any people."