Brown: The Bible and American presidents

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” Psalm 119:105

Have you ever wondered what American presidents have thought and said about the Bible? The following nine past presidents, in chronological order, made statements about the Bible, and are here presented: 

1) George Washington, the first president: “It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.” 

2) John Adams, the second president: “So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be by hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society … I have made it a practice every year for several years to read through the Bible.”

3) Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president: “In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.” 

4) Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president: “Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future. ‘Righteousness exalted a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.'”

5) Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president: “Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally impossible for us to figure what life would be if those teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”

6) Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president: “A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible. When  you have read the Bible, you will know that it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness, and your own duty  … America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the Holy Scriptures.” 

7) Herbert Hoover, the 31st president: “The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life.” 

8) Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president: “As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the high-test aspirations of the human soul.” 

9) Ronald Reagan, the 40th president: “The meaning of the Bible must be known and understood if it is to make a difference in our lives, and I urge all Americans to read and study the Scriptures. The rewards of such efforts will help preserve our heritage of freedom and signal the message of liberty to people in all lands.” 

Peace!

Writer’s note: Much of this information was gleaned from the book by Dr. Bob Phillips entitled “Book of Great Thoughts and Funny Saying,” Tyndale House Publishers, 1993, paged 39-44.