In honor of our Christian Heritage in America, I am supplying quotes from many of our Founding Fathers. (Taken from Wallbuilders.com and used by permission to share given on their web page.)
(Note: this is a representative list only, there
are many other quotes that could be listed)
Samuel
Adams
Father of the American Revolution, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I . . .
recommend my Soul to that Almighty Being who gave it, and my body I commit to
the dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my
sins.
Will of Samuel Adams
Charles
Carroll
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
On the
mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits; not on the works
I have done in obedience to His precepts.
From an autographed letter in our possession
written by Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, Esq., on September 27,
1825, from Doughoragen, Maryland.
William
Cushing
First Associate Justice Appointed by George Washington to the Supreme Court
Sensible of
my mortality, but being of sound mind, after recommending my soul to Almighty
God through the merits of my Redeemer and my body to the earth . . .
Will of William Cushing
John
Dickinson
Signer of the Constitution
Rendering
thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my
birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for
all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His
goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity.
Will of John Dickinson
John
Hancock
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I John
Hancock, . . . being advanced in years and being of perfect mind and
memory-thanks be given to God-therefore calling to mind the mortality of my
body and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die [Hebrews 9:27], do
make and ordain this my last will and testament…Principally and first of all,
I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it: and my body
I recommend to the earth . . . nothing doubting but at the general
resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mercy and power of God. .
.
Will of John Hancock
Patrick
Henry
Governor of Virginia, Patriot
This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion
of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.
Will of Patrick Henry
John Jay
First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
Unto Him
who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks
for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption
and salvation by His beloved son. He has been pleased to bless me with
excellent parents, with a virtuous wife, and with worthy children. His
protection has companied me through many eventful years, faithfully employed
in the service of my country; His providence has not only conducted me to
this tranquil situation but also given me abundant reason to be contented and
thankful. Blessed be His holy name!
Will of John Jay
Daniel St.
Thomas Jenifer
Signer of the Constitution
In the name
of God, Amen. I, Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer . . . of dispossing mind and
memory, commend my soul to my blessed Redeemer. . .
Will of Daniel St. Thomas Jenifer
Henry Knox
Revolutionary War General, Secretary of War
First, I
think it proper to express my unshaken opinion of the immortality of my soul
or mind; and to dedicate and devote the same to the supreme head of the
Universe – to that great and tremendous Jehovah, – Who created the universal
frame of nature, worlds, and systems in number infinite . . . To this awfully
sublime Being do I resign my spirit with unlimited confidence of His mercy
and protection . . .
Will of Henry Knox
John
Langdon
Signer of the Constitution
In the name
of God, Amen. I, John Langdon, . . . considering the uncertainty of life and
that it is appointed unto all men once to die [Hebrews 9:27], do make, ordain
and publish this my last will and testament in manner following, that is to
say-First: I commend my soul to the infinite mercies of God in Christ Jesus,
the beloved Son of the Father, who died and rose again that He might be the
Lord of the dead and of the living . . . professing to believe and hope in
the joyful Scripture doctrine of a resurrection to eternal life . . .
Will of John Langdon
John Morton
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
With an
awful reverence to the great Almighty God, Creator of all mankind, I, John
Morton . . . being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory-thanks
be given to Almighty God for the same, for all His mercies and favors-and
considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the times thereof,
do, for the settling of such temporal estate as it hath pleased God to bless
me with in this life . . .
Will of John Morton
Robert
Treat Paine
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I desire to
bless and praise the name of God most high for appointing me my birth in a
land of Gospel Light where the glorious tidings of a Savior and of pardon and
salvation through Him have been continually sounding in mine ears.
Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat
Paine, Stephen Riley and Edward Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 48, March/April, 1749.
[W]hen I
consider that this instrument contemplates my departure from this life and
all earthly enjoyments and my entrance on another state of existence, I am
constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my
existence, in full belief of his providential goodness and his forgiving
mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for
never ending happiness in a future state, acknowledging with grateful
remembrance the happiness I have enjoyed in my passage through a long life. .
.
Will of Robert Treat Paine
Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney
Signer of the Constitution
To the
eternal, immutable, and only true God be all honor and glory, now and
forever, Amen!. . .
Will of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Rufus
Putnam
Revolutionary War General, First Surveyor General of the United States
[F]irst, I
give my soul to a holy, sovereign God Who gave it in humble hope of a blessed
immortality through the atonement and righteousness of Jesus Christ and the
sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. My body I commit to the earth to be
buried in a decent Christian manner. I fully believe that this body shall, by
the mighty power of God, be raised to life at the last day; 'for this
corruptable (sic) must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on
immortality.' [I Corinthians 15:53]
Will of Rufus Putnam
Benjamin
Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
My only
hope of salvation is in the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to
the world by the death of His Son upon the cross. Nothing but His blood will
wash away my sins. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come
quickly!
Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin
Rush, George Corner, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press for
the American Philosophical Society, 1948), p. 166, Travels Through Life, An
Account of Sundry Incidents & Events in the Life of Benjamin Rush.
Roger
Sherman
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Signer of the Constitution
I believe
that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. . . . that the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments are a revelation from God. . . . that God did send His own Son
to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a
foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind so as all may
be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer.
Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman
(Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1896), pp. 272-273.
Richard
Stockton
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I think it
proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and
leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the Being of God, the
universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person
and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior, the
necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit, of Divine Faith,
accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the
divine Providence, but also . . . that the fear of God is the beginning of
wisdom; that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated
for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state;
that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or
consequentially, even in this life; that as Almighty God hath not been
pleased in the Holy Scriptures to prescribe any precise mode in which He is
to be publicly worshiped, all contention about it generally arises from want
of knowledge or want of virtue.
Will of Richard Stockton
Jonathan
Trumbull Sr.
Governor of Connecticut, Patriot
Principally
and first of all, I bequeath my soul to God the Creator and Giver thereof,
and body to the Earth . . . nothing doubting but that I shall receive the
same again at the General Resurrection thro the power of Almighty God;
believing and hoping for eternal life thro the merits of my dear, exalted
Redeemer Jesus Christ.
Will of Jonathan Trumbull
John
Witherspoon
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
I entreat
you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ, for there is no
salvation in any other [Acts 4:12]. . . . [I]f you are not reconciled to God
through Jesus Christ, if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His
righteousness, you must forever perish.
John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon
(Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, pp. 276, 278, The Absolute Necessity of
Salvation Through Christ, January 2, 1758.
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