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While the Declaration of Independence declares that such foundational rights as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are self-evident, many scholars argue these “self-evident” truths are not as evident today as they once were. Behind these truths, these scholars argue, lies a biblical worldview, especially the ideas of a single, rational Creator and the inherent dignity of humans as bearers of the imago Dei, the “image of God.”

Join us for The Bible and America 250: These Truths Are Not Self-Evident Speaker Series, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States. This thought-provoking event brings together a host of renowned scholars and historians to explore the profound influence of the Bible on America's founding principles, values, and institutions.

In this lecture, Dr. Thomas S. Kidd looks at the ways American patriots justified their revolution.

Abstract

Americans today may forget just how difficult it was for Patriots to justify the Revolutionary War and independence. Popular resistance against taxes was one thing. But rejecting monarchical authority and declaring legal separation from the British was an audacious step for which Americans could point to few historical parallels. Complaints about unfair tax and judicial policies were suitable rationales for framing petitions, but shedding British and American blood demanded more. A cause of the American Revolution’s magnitude required divine blessing.

In this lecture, Dr. Kidd considers several instances of appeals to divine sanction in the American Revolution in 1775 and ’76, when Americans made key decisions about resistance, war, and independence. These include appeals to God’s blessing and biblical warrant in Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, and the Declaration of Independence.