In light of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, much ink is being spilled over the document’s significance. For example, John G. West, vice president of the Discovery Institute, is suggesting in his new book, Endowed by our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul, that one way to understand the Declaration is through the lens of science.
West argues that the Founding Fathers largely believed in a coherence between the teachings of the Bible and the discoveries of science, with science affirming an intelligent design of the created order. The language of the Declaration clearly exhibits this. In declaring that “all men are created equal,” the Founders articulated a reality of humans; that they were created by God and endowed by Him with certain rights.
John Adams, who assisted in drafting the Declaration, once explained what it means to be equal: “We are all of the same Species: made by the same God: possessed of Minds and Bodies alike in Essence.” As West explained, the leading Founders understood science as recognizing and affirming the truths of the Bible, not challenging or controverting them.
Operating from a worldview undergirded by the truths of Christianity, the Founders understood that because humans were created equal, they were distinct from animals. Humans, unlike animals, were created by God with natural rights, reason, and the ability to speak. Yet, unlike God, humans are fallible and prone to selfishness. As James Madison famously wrote in the Federalist Papers, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
This truth about human equality also cuts against the validity of slavery. When the Declaration’s principal author, Thomas Jefferson, wrote on this point, he emphasized science:
The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God.
Of course, slaveholders and apologists for slavery also appealed to “science” to justify evil. Just weeks after the election of Abraham Lincoln and the formation of the Confederacy, Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens made one of the most astonishing speeches in American history. He acknowledged that the American Founders viewed slavery as evil and believed it would eventually “pass away.” He then explained that the Confederacy was founded on exactly the opposite idea, that there was a difference between the races and that the Confederates were the first and most advanced nation in the history of the world because they acknowledged this supposed scientific truth.
Stephens’ remarks became known as the “Cornerstone Speech.” In it, he borrowed biblical language about the stone others rejected, replacing Jesus, the true “cornerstone,” with scientific racism. Fortunately for America and the world, Abraham Lincoln exhibited more clear-headed statesmanship during the Civil War. He articulated that America’s Founders “did not mean to assert the obvious untruth, that all were then actually enjoying [the] equality” proclaimed by the Declaration. Instead:
They meant simply to declare the right, so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit. They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.
In his book, West shows how science has corroborated this truth of the American founding, what we have called on Breakpoint, the idea of “human exceptionalism.” Humans as a class possess unique capabilities—speech, language, moral reflection—that make us distinct and exceptional from other created animals. More than that, we were created in God’s image and, as the Declaration says, “endowed” with this exceptionalism by our Creator.
Today, 250 years after the Declaration, we navigate challenges such as the unquestionable power of science, what West called “Scientocracy,” and the rise of AI. Thankfully, we can celebrate the Declaration and its central claim that our rights come from God, who made us in His image.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Tetra Images
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can’t find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
