Several years ago, a young student, Kari Hayes, completed our one-semester course on the 28 Principles of Liberty entitled “American Government and Constitution, Part I.” Feeling the excitement and truthfulness of these ideas, she wrote, “Armed with a pink highlighter, I began to mark verses in my Bible that correlated with the Principles of Liberty.” Kari sent me a copy of her project which she entitled, A Scriptural Index to The 5000 Year Leap. While I was teaching a seminar in Georgia, Kari showed up, eager to learn more. We have developed a warm friendship and she recently married and is now known as Kari Wentworth.
I am grateful to this young freedom-loving patriot for her untiring work and her love of correct principles. The following, which is mostly Kari’s work, is an indication of how the Founders’ principles, explained in The 5000 Year Leap, indeed have their roots in the Holy Scriptures.
Principle 1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.
Leviticus 24:22 – Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 30: 11-14 – For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Psalm 19:7 – The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
Principle 2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
Leviticus 18:26-28 – Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
John 8:31-32 – Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Principle 3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.
Exodus 18:21 – Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
Job 34:30 – That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.
Principle 4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
Genesis 4:8-12 – And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now artthou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
2 Chronicles 7:14 – If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Principle 5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible.
Psalms 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork
Malachi 2:11 – Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Revelations 20:12 – And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Principle 6. All men are created equal.
Exodus 30:12-15 – When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.
Leviticus 24:22 – Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 15:15-16 – One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
Deuteronomy 16:19 – Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Romans 2:11 – For there is no respect of persons with God.
Principle 7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
Exodus 20:15 – Thou shalt not steal.
Exodus 20:17 – Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Principle 8. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
Genesis 9:6 – Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Exodus 20:15 – Thou shalt not steal.
Leviticus 25:10 – And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Principle 9. To protect man’s rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law.
Exodus 20:1-17 – AND God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Principle 10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
Exodus 24:3 – And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Principle 11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
Psalms 133:1 – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Philippians 2:2-4 – Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Principle 12. The United States of America shall be a republic.
Exodus 18:21 – Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
Principle 13. A Constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers.
Exodus 23:8 – And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Deuteronomy 17: 18-20. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Principle 14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right of property is secure.
Genesis 1: 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Deuteronomy 27:17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Psalms 8:4-8 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
Next month we will cover the remaining 14 Principles of Liberty and their Biblical roots. We have listed just a few of the many references that could be cited. If you have a favorite scripture that supports one of these principles, please feel free to share it with us.
