Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas First Baptist Church made waves this Independence Day weekend with a sermon entitled “America Is a Christian Nation,” wherein he argued that the American crises of gun violence, racism, and abortion are owing to Supreme Court rulings that have enshrined the separation of church and state.
The July 3 service, which offered a copy of Jeffress’ book “Praying for America: 40 Inspiring Stories and Prayers for Our Nation” to first-time guests, featured a Scripture reading from Psalm 33:12, which says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”
The nation referred to in the verse is the biblical nation of Israel.
With an American flag prominently positioned on the church’s stage, Jeffress sat while delivering his sermon due to what he described as a minor medical procedure he underwent last week.
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“Some messages bear repeating, especially in the times in which we live,” Jeffress said. “We are living in historic times right now.” Jeffress went on to reference the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe, as well as other religious liberty rulings favorable to Christians, remarking that he has “loved seeing the liberals’ heads exploding.”
Jeffress then made the argument that America was founded to be a Christian nation, and that the ideal of separation between church and state was not a major concern to the founders of the nation. Rather, it is a concern that only began to gain traction as late as the middle of the 20th century.
Jeffress referred to his understanding of the nation’s founding as “the true version of American history.”
“You know, if you listen long enough to these pagan, atheist groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Americans for Separation of Church and State—if you listen to them long enough, you will become convinced that the bedrock principle for the founding of our nation was this belief that government should be neutral—translate that—hostile to all things religious, especially Christian religions,” Jeffress said. “It is a complete myth.”
Jeffress pointed out that 52 of the 55 men who attended the Constitutional Convention were “adherents to Orthodox Christianity,” and that most of the states, who sent delegates to that convention, imposed religious tests to qualify those selected.
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“Did you know 69% of the American people believe that the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ is found in the Constitution? They are surprised when they learn that the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ is nowhere in the First Amendment,” Jeffress later said. “It doesn’t appear anywhere in the Constitution itself.”
