“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity,” 1630. Sermon associated with the Massachusetts Bay crossing.
For families and school-age readers
This is the seed of a book: quotations used on The American Soul, kept with the names and sources they came from. It is meant to grow the way Federer’s America’s God and Country grew — first as a working record, later, if God allows, a bound volume.
What is here now is only a first shelf. More entries can be added from the episodes, one at a time.
“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity,” 1630. Sermon associated with the Massachusetts Bay crossing.
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”George Washington, Farewell Address, 19 September 1796.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”John Adams, letter to the Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798.
“The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty.”Benjamin Rush, “Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic,” 1798.
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”Proverbs 14:34, King James Version.
“The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”Calvin Coolidge, remarks on the Bible in American public life. Confirm wording against the episode source before print.
“America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.”Woodrow Wilson, address to the Denver YMCA, May 7, 1911. Standing frame of The American Soul.
“Yes — if we fear God and repent of our sins.”John Adams, winter 1777, as remembered by Benjamin Rush. Read on the episode “We Must Repent.”
“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”John Quincy Adams, July 4, 1821. Read on “What Makes An American.”
“The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were… the general principles of Christianity… and the general principles of English and American liberty.”John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813. Read on “What Makes An American.”
Before any print edition, every line should be checked against the original document. If a citation on the podcast is fuller than what is here, the podcast source wins until we update the card.