usa, constitutionI often hear that the Constitution is “based on God” or “based on the Bible’s morals” and I don’t see it.
First, there is no mention of God in the constitution. Moreover, I have read quotes from founding fathers that would have it no other way. A common canard is the claim of a calling for prayers by Benjamin Frnaklin at the Constitutional Convention. However, although true this truncation “fails to tell the rest of the story: The delegates did not act on the request. Franklin himself noted, “The convention, except three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.” Why would a convention determined to forge a society based on “biblical law” open its deliberations without even a nod to a Supreme Being?”
I would like to know if there is some credible support (not just talking points) to their claims that the Constitution founds some kind of “Christian” nation. What are those quotes and why do people believe the bible influenced the constitution in any way?
The Declaration of Independence has "endowed by their creator". There is an idea that there is some consistency across the many documents written during the founding of the country. There is even a term for it, but it is bogus, so I'm not going to look it up. Also, on paper, many of the founders and signers of the Declaration were ministers. This is because the university system was still tied to the church and no matter what you studied primarily, you studied some theology and received a theology degree. I think there was actually only one practicing minister who signed the Declaration.
Because religion was more central to life at that time, it is quite easy to find quotes that seem to indicate that the founders were intending to create a Christian nation. There are websites out there that to do the opposite quote mining too.
Here is a balanced perspective that says we really can't know what they thought.
All you need is a couple of quotes from Thomas Jefferson himself:
Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802
We can start with the bible itself. There are pervasive interpretations of Psalms 2 and Romans 13 which hold that all human governments derive their legitimacy from god.
In the middle of the Civil War, and occasionally since then, there have been attempts to amend the constitution to make it less secular and more Christian. One such amendment, dating back to 1863, would have reworded the preamble as follows:
We, the people of the United States recognizing the being and attributes of Almighty God, the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures, the law of God as the paramount rule, and Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord of all, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility provide for the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
(source)
And, of course, George Washington, upon taking the oath of office, added "so help me god" to the end of the oath set the precedent for all subsequent presidents.
Because they are poorly educated, they practice wishful thinking, and they put some irrelevant pieces together: Pilgrim fathers, a majority of Christians, … Then they think that theft and murder were firstly forbidden in Christian culture. And in a rush … -
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