This post was originally published on this site.
The First Prayer in Congress by T.H. Matteson, Library of Congress, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Previously Recorded by Phyllis Schlafly
On this National Day of Prayer, it is instructive to recall the words of the famous Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville who traveled extensively in the United States in the 1830s and wrote a two-volume book called Democracy in America that immediately became a world-renowned classic.
De Tocqueville pointed out the essential importance of religion in the founding of America. Based on his first-hand observations, he wrote: “In America, religion leads to wisdom; the observance of divine laws guides man to freedom. . . . I seem to see the whole destiny of America encapsulated in the first Puritan to land upon its shores … ” De Tocqueville credited God’s divine intervention alone for the successful emigration of the British to America on such a dangerous voyage. He said, “The founding of New England was a novel spectacle, and everything attending it was unusual and original. .. It is the germ of a great nation which God has placed on a predestined shore.”
De Tocqueville described how America’s early settlers came not only to practice Christianity, but to form a civil society based on Biblical principles. He noted the intentional partnership between Christianity and government by the early Americans who wrote our laws. De Tocqueville said that the early Americans had the “idea of using biblical texts [in writing their laws] … The overriding concern of these legislators is the preservation of moral order and good practices in their society … “
Alexis De Tocqueville paid tribute to what he called divine wisdom bestowed on the early settlers, saying, “It was at that very same time that these same principles, unlmown or neglected by European nations, were being proclaimed in the New World to become the future symbol of a great nation.” In other words, De Tocqueville believed that America became great and prospered because of the unique way that early Americans combined Christianity with the creation of the new government they established.
