Dr. Mark David Hall, “Did America Have a Christian Founding?
While the Declaration of Independence declares that such foundational rights as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are self-evident, many scholars argue these “self-evident” truths are not as evident today as they once were. Behind these truths, these scholars argue, lies a biblical worldview, especially the ideas of a single, rational Creator and the inherent dignity of humans as bearers of the imago Dei, the “image of God.”
Join us for The Bible and America 250: These Truths Are Not Self-Evident Lecture Series, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States. This thought-provoking event brings together a host of renowned scholars and historians to explore the profound influence of the Bible on America's founding principles, values, and institutions.
In this lecture, Dr. Mark David Hall will examine the claims that America's founders were not influenced by biblical ideals when creating the nation's constitutional order.
Dec 6, 2026 - Dec 6, 2026
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
Scholars Initiative Conference Room, Floor 5R
Free Admission (Event Ticket Required)
Abstract
Academic and popular authors regularly assert that America’s founders were deists who created a godless Constitution and desired the strict separation of church and state. In this talk, Dr. Mark David Hall will explain how and why these claims are false. Affirmative, he will show that the founders were influenced by biblical and Christian ideas when they broke from Great Britain and created America’s constitutional order. Of particular importance, they were motivated by their understanding of the Bible and Christian theology to robustly protect religious liberty for all citizens. And yet they did not understand religious liberty to require a high wall of separation between church and state.
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Schedule
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1:30 p.m. | Welcome & Check In
1:30–2:00 p.m. | Refreshments
2:00–3:00 p.m. | Lecture
3:00–3:30 p.m. | Panel Q&A
3:30–5:00 p.m. | Self-Guided Tour of the Bible in America Gallery
Lecturer
Dr. Mark David Hall
Mark David Hall is a professor at Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, specializing in American political theory and church-state relations. He has written extensively on the influence of Christianity on America’s founding, including books such as Did America Have a Christian Founding? and Great Christian Jurists in American History.
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