Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of independence (1776) were all of British descent. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To “reign over” something is to have absolute authority and control over it. God has ultimate rule over the earth, and he exercises his authority with loving care. But he chose to share authority with mankind.

In the beginning God created man and placed him in a garden and commanded him to subdue it, to tend to it, and procreate. God gave man the power to rule his domain, to work and provide, and to take care of his responsibilities. Man was to be responsible to tend the earth, subdue his environment, and be responsible for the outcome of his choices.

Failure on Adam‘s part to control his environment well resulted in the serpent being free to beguile Eve which cost him his home. God drove him from the garden. By not subduing the serpent Adam relinquished his authority over his own domain to Satan.

Each time Israel refused to do things God’s way they ended up in bondage and servitude, driven from their own country and forced to labor for another. Sin causes us to lose our ability to self-govern and places us into bondage to whatever we subject ourselves to. Failure to recognize God ordained authority places us under the failed leadership of fallen man.

Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. There can be no liberty without the Spirit of God. Without acknowledging God as our source and ultimate authority we can not retain self-rule. Our founders knew this and said as much.

John Adams

in a speech to the military in 1798 warned his fellow countrymen stating, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams is a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and our second President.

Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence said. “[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be aid 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.  Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind.”  

Noah Webster, author of the first American Speller and the first Dictionary said,  “[T]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence.” 

Gouverneur Morris, Penman and Signer of the Constitution.  “[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.”

Fisher Ames author of the final wording for the First Amendment wrote,  “[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.” 

John Jay, Original Chief-Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court ,  “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”  

James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution; U. S. Supreme Court Justice, “Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other.”

Noah Webster, author of the first American Speller and the first Dictionary stated, “The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. . . All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”

Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the U. S. House,  “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong-arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”

George Washington, General of the Revolutionary Army, president of the Constitutional Convention, First President of the United States of America, Father of our nation,  “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.” 

Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Declaration of Independence “[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

“Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness . . . it is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof.” Continental Congress, 1778

God created man to rule but  man relinquished his authority to  satan and now America by turning her back on God is relinquishing self-rule for subjugation. By refusing to take authority and  personal responsibility, we reject God’s  way and opt instead for an inferior way.