I write this on Flag Day, but already I (and many of you) have been looking ahead to the July 4 holiday. I hope it challenges you to think about our nation, its founding, our liberty, and its Source.
Our Missouri state capital, completed in 1918, is a majestic building. It is an architectural treasure, and something that ought to evoke pride in any Missourian (even a transplant like me). Inside the massive rotunda are seven inscriptions, three of which are from –oh my goodness- the Bible! Whatever could have possessed the architect who designed it? Why didn’t the workmen and artisans whose job it was to chisel and etch and lay the stone rise up in righteous protest and walk off the job, refusing to allow these “religious” statements to be made a part of our state’s capitol? (Thankfully, they did not, and my children can rightfully claim that their great-great grandfather –through my wife- had a hand in such a majestic public work.)
Regardless of whether one even believed or practiced Christianity or Judaism, the Bible’s influence (including many laws which served as the basis for our laws) was acknowledged to be the prevailing worldview, and a driving force in the founding and growth of this nation.
Oh yes. And what are those three statements from the Bible? Each is from the Old, or First Testament (even a Jewish person could embrace these as from their sacred texts!) in the King James Version. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,” from Psalm 24, verse 1. Here our rightful place in creation is acknowledged, as well as the ordering of all things beneath the highest authority. “Righteousness exalteth a nation,” from Proverbs chapter 14, verse 34. Here the blessing of law-abiding, God-honoring conduct to a society is extolled. Lastly, “Where there is no vision the people perish,” from Proverbs, chapter twenty-nine, verse eighteen is inscribed. Here the value and benefit of good and faithful leadership is touted, in the place where leaders meet on behalf of the people.
We live in a time when many seek to expunge the Bible from public places, as if it has no place. That’s not what our founding fathers thought, nor is it what was practiced for a long time in this land. That is certainly a different spirit than our founding fathers. Do these sayings endorse any religion? Not really. Do they establish any religion? Of course not. They simply acknowledge the value that this and other timeless wisdom from the Bible has imparted to humanity, by which we — and society in general — have benefited.
