Does the U.S. Constitution mention religion?
Asked by: Mercedes Stiedemann | Last update: December 13, 2025Score: 4.3/5 (52 votes)
The First Amendment has two provisions concerning religion: the
What does the Constitution actually say about religion?
First Amendment Fundamental Freedoms
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Does the Constitution of the United States mention God?
In the United States, the federal constitution does not make a reference to God as such, although it uses the formula "the year of our Lord" in Article VII.
What did our founding fathers say about religion?
In his Farewell Address of September 1796, Washington called religion, as the source of morality, "a necessary spring of popular government," while Adams claimed that statesmen "may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely ...
Is Jesus mentioned in the US Constitution?
The Constitution does not mention God, Jesus Christ, or Christianity. It contains the word “religion” only twice, in Article 6, which exempts government office holders from a religious test; and in the First Amendment.
The First Amendment: Freedom of Religion in the U.S. | History
Is the Bible mentioned in the Constitution?
Although the Declaration of Independence (1776) mentioned God and proclaimed that “all men were created equal” and entitled to the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” the US Constitution never mentions the Bible or God other than the reference to “the Year of our Lord” before its signatures.
Is Christianity mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?
The declaration doesn't mention the trinity, the resurrection, Christ's divinity, or other essential Christian tenets. But that hardly makes it secular. The declaration remains a powerfully theological document. It sees our common creation by God as the basis of our equality and rights.
Is God mentioned in the Bill of Rights?
The Bill of Rights addresses religion and the establishment of a church but does not mention God. The framers of the Constitution intended for the document to be a secular one and nowhere in the document is God mentioned except in the signing of it which uses the phrase ''Year of our Lord.
What did Thomas Jefferson say about religion in the Constitution?
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared ...
How many times is God mentioned in the Constitution?
The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God or the divine, but the same cannot be said of the nation's state constitutions. In fact, God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times overall, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
Did the Bible influence the U.S. Constitution?
In fact, the Bible itself was also a very strong, direct influence on founding-era Americans who drafted and ratified the Constitution. The Puritans in the American colony of Connecticut drafted what is considered to be the first written constitution in the world, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut of 1639.
Does the Constitution say all men are created equal?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Does the Constitution say separation of church and state?
The words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the U.S. Constitution, but the concept is enshrined in the very first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Known as the establishment clause, the opening lines of the First Amendment ...
What does the 14th Amendment say about religion?
The Supreme Court has ruled that the 14th Amendment (ratified in 1868) requires states to guarantee fundamental rights such as the First Amendment's prohibition against the establishment of religion. This means that states, like the federal government, can "make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
Is American law based on the Bible?
Biblical Influences on Colonial Legal Culture
Early colonial laws drew extensively from biblical sources, especially Mosaic law, and colonial jurists frequently cited Scripture as legal authority. The colonists, to be sure, did not adopt all aspects of biblical law, and the Bible was not the sole source of their laws.
Is the US Constitution based on the 10 commandments?
In fact, none of the Ten Commandments is in the US Constitution. The Constitution is the charter of the government outlining the rights of the people and the limits of government.
What did the Founding Fathers say about religion in the Constitution?
The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . .” and in Article VI, Section III, “… no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
Did Thomas Jefferson believe Jesus was God?
Thomas Jefferson believed that the ethics of Jesus were the best in the world, but he did not believe Jesus was God or divine.
What is not protected by the constitution?
Categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment (and therefore may be restricted) include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false ...
Is Jesus mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?
The declaration doesn't mention the trinity, the resurrection, Christ's divinity, or other essential Christian tenets.
What religion was the United States founded on?
Some researchers and authors have referred to the United States as a "Protestant nation" or "founded on Protestant principles," specifically emphasizing its Calvinist heritage. Others stress the secular character of the American Revolution and note the secular character of the nation's founding documents.
Did the founding fathers believe in God?
Many of the Founding Fathers were men of prayer who sought God's guidance in their decisions. For instance, Benjamin Franklin, during the Constitutional Convention, famously called for daily prayers, recognizing the need for divine assistance in their deliberations.
Is God ever mentioned in the Constitution?
While the U.S. Constitution does not mention God, nearly all state constitutions reference either God or the divine, according to a 2017 analysis. God also appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and on U.S. currency.
How many signers of the US Constitution were Christians?
A recent letter writer said America (was) not founded as a Christian nation and cited 10 prominent founders of the U.S. without saying who they were. However, 52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were deeply committed Christians.
Who is the only Catholic that signed the Declaration of Independence?
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, delegate to the Continental Congress, and U.S. Senator from Maryland.