Skip to content 5/25/2026 Discovering the Link Between Biblical Values and American Government May 25 · 59 min ...more
5/25/2026 Discovering the Link Between Biblical Values and American Government
May 25, 2026 · 59 min
On this Memorial Day edition of Washington Watch, we feature excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course taught by Tony Perkins, exploring the connection between biblical principles and American government. Today, with gratitude, we honor the memory and sacrifice of those who "gave the last full measure of devotion,” for our freedoms.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video May 25, 2026 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
On this Memorial Day edition of Washington Watch, we feature excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course taught by Tony Perkins, exploring the connection between biblical principles and American government. Today, with gratitude, we honor the memory and sacrifice of those who "gave the last full measure of devotion,” for our freedoms. ...more Show the full description Show less On this Memorial Day edition of Washington Watch, we feature excerpts from FRC’s God & Government course taught by Tony Perkins, exploring the connection between biblical principles and American government. Today, with gratitude, we honor the memory and sacrifice of those who "gave the last full measure of devotion,” for our freedoms.
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In this video 0:00 Christian Heritage of America5:11 True Separation of Church and State18:38 Action Steps: Pray and Vote29:23 Stand Firm Like Patriot Pastors50:00 Stand Firm for Faith, Family, Freedom
Christian Heritage of America 0:00 Hello. I'm Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and host of Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Every day, we offer a biblical perspective on the news as well as insightful interviews with elected0:11 leaders, newsmakers, and culture experts. We have a great program planned for you today, but first, get up to speed on the top headlines with Washington Stan's news0:23 brief.0:26 Welcome to the Washington Stan news brief. I'm Casey Harper bringing you today's big stories. Well, today, we celebrate Memorial Day. This is the day each year when we honor the men and women in our armed services who0:38 have made the ultimate sacrifice. They give their lives for their families, their countrymen, but also for the ideas upon which our country is built. Freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, and more. Those0:49 ideas are particularly in view this year, the 200 and fiftieth birthday of our nation. But there's also a spiritual theme that runs through not only those ideas, but our history. That same faith united the American1:01 colonists who bravely stood up to the British Empire 250 years ago, which is also when men began dying for this country. On the outstanding podcast, I sat down with doctor Matthew Spaulding. He's an author and professor1:13 at Hillsdale College. He spoke of how Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which references God 4 times, by the way, and captured the American mind at the time, the western tradition, a biblical
1:24 grounding, and the political philosophy that defined a nation.
1:28 So we captured this this American mind. And my my point is that that that American mind, we we we have this assumption, which we push back against,
1:40 but but but not overstate it but there's a the the real argument is even more profound. This is not kind of modern deism, modern rationalism, enlightenment,
1:52 you know, scientific anti religious rhetoric here. It's a it's a rhetoric, words, language deeply influenced by Greek and Roman thinking
2:04 of the classical tradition. Deeply influenced by a the Christian tradition, which is biblical, but also just a very long tradition about how to think about Aquinas. Nature, natural law,
2:16 politics. I mean, you you see, you know, Aquinas. But the other great influence, of course, is Richard Hooker, great Anglican.
2:22 Yeah. Yeah. Very nice.
2:23 It's all there.
2:25 And then, of course, the British tradition of law and common law, which is itself very much influenced by Christianity. Yeah. So you feel it that way, you're like, well, this document
2:37 actually does have a theological ground to it. And then, of course, the the document itself has a lot of references in it, which are we we kind of miss we kind of miss the forest for the trees.
2:48 Because it's not a Bible verse citation. There's not a
2:51 particular Bible verse. Or we are so inundated by the notion, oh, it's all kind of all these references are secular deism. Yeah. Yeah. So there's not there's no there there. Sure. And I think, no. No. This is
3:03 let's just let's just let's kinda start over. Mhmm. Let's start over. Clean slate. Let's start over. What are the things? What's the history? What's the story? Yeah.
3:11 And and that's why that's why I do it
3:12 in my book. And that story is actually very compelling. And we actually are looking at what are the words? What do they say? Where those words come from? What is what is he referring to here? Yeah. What is what is going
3:23 on here? There is actually a there there. That's the answer we need. It's an immediate answer in the sense that we're gonna celebrate the 20 fifth anniversary of the declaration. The declaration is a compelling story.
3:34 It's a way into the question. And right now, we should use this opportunity to make sure we all know about the the history of the declaration and its and its grounding. And that's a beautiful thing in and of itself. But
3:45 it's also a bridge. If we learn relearn the truth of the declaration of independence, it's a bridge back to this other world, if you will, that's kind of before modern relativism,
3:57 before postmodernism, before kind of the poison of subjectivism sets in.
4:03 This Memorial Day, we're grateful for those ideas, and we're grateful for those who laid down their lives for them, for this nation, for our rights, and really for you and me. Let's honor them today and
4:15 really every day. In this 200 and fiftieth year, let's recapture the truth of the founding and push back on those who would rewrite America's history to take our god, our rights, and the nation's
4:27 biblical roots out of it. Well, that's today's news brief. I'm Casey Harper. You can dive deeper at the Washington stand, which is Family Research Council's outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. As
4:39 for us, we're back next time with more stories that matter.
4:52 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and
5:04 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heiss.
True Separation of Church and State
5:11 Good afternoon. Welcome to this special Memorial Day edition of Washington Watch. I'm your host, Jody Heise, senior fellow here at the Family Research Council. So glad to be with you and
5:23 so glad to have you joining us today. Throughout the history of our nation, probably most especially during our battle for independence, American
5:33 men and
5:33 women have given their lives for a cause much greater than themselves, the cause of liberty. So today, as we remember those who
5:45 gave the last full measure of devotion for the freedoms that you and I enjoy, we wanna highlight those very freedoms, which you and I can and we should
5:57 continue to stand for and to fight for wherever we may be, whether that's at a school board meeting or at the voting box, even in the pulpits across America. We
6:09 all have a responsibility to stand for and to fight for our freedoms. Because the truth is, when free people don't defend their rights, they lose them. So coming
6:21 up on this special edition of Washington Watch Today, we'll be sharing some excerpts from FRC's God in Government series, which we launched last year on
6:32 our Stand Firm app. Which, by the way, if you don't have, go get our Stand Firm app. We'll share with you more about that later. Obviously, we're not going to be able to share the entire 6 week course today,
6:45 but we will be able to hit on some of the highlights. So we have a great program for you today. If you miss any portion of it, of course, you can find it at tony perkins dot com. Speaking of
6:57 Tony, for the last 30 years, he's taught the course on God in Government that drew from his personal journey in studying the scripture and the history of America and
7:08 then applying that knowledge in the public policy arena. And he's had many participants go on to hold various offices, from local school boards to city
7:20 councils to state legislatures, including the current speaker of the house, Mike Johnson. Well, last year, Family Research Council took what Tony has been teaching
7:32 and packaged it as a video course with a goal of equipping even more Christ followers with practical knowledge
7:53 the from the series as we observe Memorial Day and as we celebrate America's 200 and fiftieth anniversary. So we're going to start with an excerpt from session 4
8:05 on the Christian heritage of the United States. In this part, Tony goes back to the American Revolutionary period and discusses the unique power that sermons had
8:17 from church pulpits, how they yielded tremendous influence during that era. So here's more of what Tony had to say about that.
8:26 Now these sermons not only taught, you know, the personal salvation through Jesus Christ, but they also taught how to address the temporal issues that would
8:38 lead to national prosperity for God's people. And all the events, no matter how mundane or how random they might be, were
8:51 patterned from scripture. They wanted to know how they fit into scripture. So the sermons were not just theological, far removed messages, but they were
9:03 practical how to, what does this mean, what do I do with it, how then shall we live. That was the messages that were being preached in that time. And
9:14 and so this is why the pulpit was considered the single most powerful element of the war for independence. It's because people wanted to know, they wanted to know if God's blessing was going
9:26 to be on their activities. This was not a rebellion. This was not the French revolution. This was totally different than the French revolution. And those that would try to
9:38 conflate the 2 are sadly mistaken, if not intentionally being driven. Because ours was was seeking out ordered liberty
9:50 under the sovereignty of God. And that's what the pastors were preaching, and it had a profound impact on colonial America.
10:02 Now let's look just quickly at the signers of the declaration. In 17 76, there were 56 men. All of the delegates in 17 87 were professing
10:14 members of Trinitarian Christian denominations. And in fact, let me quote Ben Franklin when they were debating at the constitutional convention in 17
10:26 87. He said to that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we
10:37 now forgotten that powerful friend or, and this was coming out of the the war for independence which they succeeded in, and they said you know, have we forgotten that powerful friend or do we imagine we no
10:49 longer need his assistance? Because they certainly needed him when they were the underdog in their fight for freedom. I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing
11:01 proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
11:13 We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in
11:24 this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our partial local interest, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become
11:36 a reproach and a byword down to future generations. They understood the word of God, and the word of God, and probably Benjamin Franklin's probably 1
11:48 of the least religious of the group, but he understood it. He understood the language, the currency of the day, and it clearly was a Biblical
12:00 understanding of God, and and God was not far removed. This is not the words of a deist who would say God put this thing in order and left. He recognizes that God is the
12:12 1 who gave them favor to be established as a nation. Now let me go to some of the state constitutions, okay? So we we kinda get a sense of what those documents say. Again, these things are placed in writing,
12:24 and they're there for his the historical record. And for those that would wanna just kinda sweep them away, oh well that's old. It's a statement of principle, it's a statement of focus, it's a
12:36 statement of priority. Various state constitutions, again, there's many of the 13 you can look at. Pennsylvania, the frame of government section 10, this is what it says. And each member of the legislature,
12:48 before he takes a seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration. Okay. Before they could take their seat in the state legislature, this is what they had to say. I do believe in 1 God, the creator and
13:00 the governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the scripture of the old and new testament to be given by divine inspiration. Wow. I I I don't think many churches
13:11 would even do that as a for membership. Amen. But that was the oath of office that had to be taken. Delaware's constitution was which
13:23 was framed in 17 76 says everyone appointed to public office must say I do profess faith in god the father and in the lord Jesus Christ, his only son, and the holy ghost, on god and blessed forevermore,
13:35 and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments be given by divine inspiration. That's in the constitution. South Carolina. The
13:47 Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established religion of the state. No person shall be eligible to to to a seat in the senate unless he be of the Protestant
13:58 religion. So the US Supreme Court, more evidence. In 18 92, the US Supreme Court determined in the case the Church of the Holy Trinity versus the United
14:10 States that America was a Christian nation from its earliest days. The court opinion delivered by justice Josiah Brewer was an exhaustive study of the historical and legal evidence for the for
14:22 America's Christian heritage. So after examining hundreds of court cases, state constitutions, and other historical documents, the court came to the following conclusion. This is it, quote, our laws and our institutions
14:34 must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are
14:46 emphatically Christian. This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of the continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this
14:58 affirmation. We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. These and many other matters which might be noticed at a volume of unofficial declarations to the massive
15:09 organic utterances that this is a Christian nation. That was the supreme court of the United States. There's other evidence.
15:21 Let me give you I've got 10 of them, and I'm sure there's more. This is not exhaustive. Number 1, the 10 Commandments hang over the head of the chief justice of the supreme court. If
15:33 Christianity played no role in our government or in our justice, then why would we have the 10 commandments hanging over the head of the chief justice? Second, in the house
15:45 and senate chambers appear the word in God the words in God we trust. Third, in the rotunda is the figure of the crucified Christ. Fourth, on the walls of the capitol
15:57 dome these words appear, the New Testament according to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Fifth, on the great seal of the United States is inscribed, the phrase God is in Latin, it
16:09 means God has smiled on our undertaking. And sixth, under the seal in the phrase of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, this nation under God. Seventh, president Elliott of Harvard chose Micah 6
16:21 8 for the walls of the nation's library. Quote, he has showed thee, oh man, what is good and what did God require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. The eighth, the
16:32 lawmakers library quotes the psalmist's acknowledgment of the beauty and order of creation. Psalm 19 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.
16:45 Ninth, engraved on the metal cap atop of Washington Monument are the words praise be to God. In fact, when the sun comes up in the east, the first place that the
16:56 sun shines on the District of Columbia is that metal, that aluminum cap with the words praise be to God. That's by design. That can only be the highest building in the
17:08 District of Columbia. Lining the walls of the stairwell are numerous Bible verses. Search the scriptures, holiness to the Lord, train up a child in the way that they should go, and when he is old he will not
17:20 depart from it. And then tenth, the Liberty Bell, which is in Philadelphia, is inscribed with Leviticus 25 10, proclaim liberty throughout all the land and to all the inhabitants
17:32 thereof. The history is very clear that this nation was not founded to be an agnostic nation. It was not founded to
17:44 be a Muslim nation. It was not founded to be anything other than a nation built upon the truths and principles of God's word as a nation
17:56 that would honor him and be the recipient of his blessing. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
18:08 That was an excerpt from FRC's God in Government series, and you're tuning into a special edition of Washington Watch on this Memorial Day time. We're viewing
18:19 a 6 session video series, that is available on FRC's Stand Firm app. So I encourage you, if you do not have that app, this would be a great, great time to
18:31 get it. After the break, we're gonna share with you some more of this great series. We'll be turning to the idea of separation of church and state. You know as well as I do, this is a huge
Action Steps: Pray and Vote
18:43 issue and 1 of great confusions for a lot of people. So we'll bring it your way right after the break.
18:52 Join us for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action at this year's pray, vote, stand summit at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia. Hear from Christian leaders, issue experts, and government
19:04 officials as we work together to build a foundation based on biblical truth. Early bird special tickets are on sale for 69 dollars when you register by June fifteenth. To register, visit
19:16 pray boat stand dot org. That's pray boat stand dot org.
19:22 Exodus chapter 9 verse 1 says, thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me. You see, America has freedom for a
19:34 purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In scripture, deliverance and
19:46 freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God's demand to
19:58 Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom's sake, but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve
20:10 God will not endure. 1 of the founders actually echoed a similar warning, Thomas Jefferson wrote, indeed I tremble for my country
20:30 accountable to God for what
20:31 he had granted to us. They to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to
20:43 us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor Him, and to live as a people under His authority. In this 200 and fiftieth
20:55 anniversary year, we must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation? Lord, we
21:07 thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you've granted to us. That freedom has a name. His
21:19 name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the
21:30 purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus' name
21:42 we pray, amen.
21:53 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Heise filling in today for Tony. Our website, we want you to keep in mind is tony perkins dot com. Today, we're broadcasting content
22:05 from FRC's 6 session God and government series, a powerful series. Now in this next part, Tony is going to be going into the relationship between church and state.
22:17 And when it comes to religious freedom, why was it so important to our founders to include in our Constitution's First Amendment both the free exercise clause and the
22:29 establishment clause? Well, we'll begin with a little historical background on why the issue of conscience and religious freedom rights were top of mind for our founders.
22:40 Because at the time, there were a number of, state churches, that had already been established, and there were 9 of the 13
22:52 colonies had state churches. And so there was just, the idea was they didn't want a national church, a federal church that all the colonies would then have to support. So that
23:04 was really the issue there was a national church. It was not the influence of Christianity in government. Now he he provided clarification later in his
23:16 second inaugural address. He said this in 18 o 5. He said in matters of religion, I have considered that it is free exercise, that the free exercise is
23:27 placed by the constitution independent of the powers of the general, the federal or national government. I have therefore undertaken on no occasion to prescribe the religious exercise suited to it, but have left
23:39 them as the constitution found them under the direction and discipline of the church or state authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies. And so he said that in his
23:51 second inaugural address. So what does the first amendment actually say? Well this is what it says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the
24:03 free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the peaceful people peacefully to assemble and to position the government for redress of grievances.
24:15 So what does it prohibit? Well it prohibits a state sponsored church. That's an establishment cause. That means the federal government cannot establish a
24:27 church, a national denomination, a national church. It also prohibits, so there's 2 there's 2 parts to the first amendment as it pertains to religion. There
24:39 is the establishment, which is for the government, and then there's the free exercise clause. That means that the government cannot restrict religious liberties. Now what were
24:51 the historical purposes behind this? Well as I said, it was a desire to establish a church free of government interference and no state church. So really the the reason,
25:04 part of the reason for the for the pilgrims and others coming over, as we talked about religious freedom, but it was, is also to, they wanted separation of church and state. Okay? They didn't want
25:16 the the state and the church to be merged, just like in England they had the the the And we're watching it today, where the the church becomes a useful tool of the government. And so what happens is you have
25:28 a a church that becomes corrupt, and then government becomes corrupt because the church has lost its prophetic voice. So we want separation. We want separation. We do not
25:39 want a state church. We need the church to be a prophetic voice. In Second Chronicles Chapter 26, we
25:51 we read the account of Uzziah, verse 16. But when he was strong his heart was lifted up to his destruction. For he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the
26:03 Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. So Azariah the priest went in after him and with him were 80 priests of the Lord, valiant men, and they withstood King Uzziah
26:15 and said to him it is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consit consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. You
26:27 shall have no honor from the Lord God. Things were really going well for Uzziah during his time. He was a very sharp leader, a good leader, but pride came in. And so he goes into the temple and he's
26:39 going a wall of separation and he
26:51 breached it. And he paid a price, he had leprosy for the rest of his life. There is a violation of the separation of church and state that's taking place, but it's not the church that's violating, it is the state.
27:04 The state is coming in and saying that abortion is a political issue and therefore churches should stay out of the issue. Marriage is a political issue when it is in fact an issue that God created and they're telling
27:15 churches to stay out of it. It is the state that is breaching the line of separation, getting into the business of the church. It is time that the the valiant men of God tell government
27:27 it is not your business. Now will there be a price to pay? Maybe there will. But we also have to trust that God
27:39 will honor his word. When we look at these fundamental non negotiables, there have been those that have gone before us that have stood on those principles, and
27:51 we're here today with a nation that continues long beyond what many nations have survived. All government, self, family, church, and state
28:03 are under the authority of God. We need to recognize that. God is sovereign, and there can be no neutrality. The state
28:15 and the church are separate, just like the family and the church are separate. However, all operate under the authority of God and are accountable to his laws.
28:27 We just need to once again recognize that what is really meant by the separation of church and state is the borrowing of God from government, and all who accept this separation myth declare that God has no place
28:39 in our government, just like congressman Nadler said at the beginning of our session. God's design for government is that all government is under his
28:51 authority, and the church has its lane, and it should be a prophetic voice as the families do their part to raise and disciple and
29:03 train their children, and as each exercises that self government, then we will have the balance. But it only happens when we abide by and follow the
29:15 Word of God. And that is God's design for government.
29:20 That was an excerpt from FRC's God in Government series, and you're tuning in to Washington Watch on this Memorial Day. Today, we're broadcasting content from the 6 sessionShow more
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