▶ Key Takeaways
- The phrase “separation of church and state” has often been used to discourage Christians from speaking out in the public square.
- Thomas Jefferson interpreted the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause as creating “a wall of separation between Church and State.”
- Understanding Jefferson’s meaning requires examining the historical context in which he wrote those words.
- Jefferson’s statement was made in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, where the Congregationalist denomination was the state-supported established church.
- The Baptists, as a religious minority, feared persecution and the loss of their religious freedoms.
- Jefferson’s “wall of separation” referred to preventing government establishment of a particular Christian denomination, not separating Christianity from government.
- Christianity is the shared faith of many churches, denominations, schools, and faith-based organizations, but it is not itself an established church or denomination.
- The article argues that the First Amendment does not require the separation of Christianity from government.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Many are familiar with these first two phrases of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
But what do they mean?
What did the framers of the Constitution mean when they wrote and approved those words?
Discovering intent is crucial to understanding meaning.
We risk misunderstanding and misapplying the religious liberty clause of the First Amendment if we fail to discover the intent of the writers.
How do we discover their intent?
We study their lives, their backgrounds, their other writings… so we can understand their thinking.
The founders left us detailed information about their motivations and their intent in drafting our founding documents the way they did.
They revealed what they were trying to accomplish through their:
- Personal correspondence
- Journals of the deliberations of the Continental Congress
- The Federalist Papers – 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay – which explain the meaning of every Article and every clause of the Constitution.
Our educational system largely doesn’t care about original intent anymore.
And many judges don’t care about original intent either.
Those who do believe that their role is to follow the Constitution’s original meaning in their decisions are called constitutionalists.
Those who believe that they have the right to usurp the role of the legislative branch and make laws from the bench are activist judges.
One of the most misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied legislative principles is the so-called doctrine of the “separation of Church and State.”
It has been used by judges and by elected government officials at both the state and federal level to silence Christians and to turn public opinion against Christians.
Here are 7 facts about the “separation of Church and State” that you probably were never taught in school or by the biased media:
1. The phrase “separation of Church and State” is not in the Constitution or in the Declaration of Independence.
Public school students are misled to believe that the separation of church and state is a constitutional principle, and that it means the separation of religion from all government institutions.
But that’s not at all what the phrase “wall of separation of Church and State” means.
The phrase was used by President Thomas Jefferson in a personal letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association on January 1, 1802.
The Association was represented by a committee composed of Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, and Stephen S. Nelson.
Here is the full text of the letter Jefferson sent — original spelling, capitalization, and punctuation largely retained:
“To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.
Gentlemen
The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.
Th Jefferson Jan. 1. 1802.”
2. What did Thomas Jefferson mean by “thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Notice what Jefferson said:
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…’”
The legislature of the “whole American people” means Congress.
Jefferson interpreted the religious liberty clause of the First Amendment as “building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
But what did Jefferson mean by “Church and State?”
Was he making a general statement or a specific statement to the Danbury Baptist Association?
To understand Jefferson’s meaning here, we must understand why he wrote the letter in the first place.
3. Why the Danbury Baptist Association wrote to Thomas Jefferson, and why he wrote back.
The Danbury Baptists had written to Jefferson in October 1801 to congratulate him on his election and to express their concerns about religious liberty in Connecticut.
Why were they concerned about religious liberty in light of the First Amendment?
In Connecticut, the state-sponsored “church” was the Congregationalist denomination.
The state levied taxes to support the Congregationalist Church organization.
The Baptists feared persecution because they were a minority denomination.
In other states with state-sponsored denominations, minority denominations had suffered discrimination…
The religious freedoms of minority groups were treated as “favors” rather than as unalienable rights.
4. What Jefferson meant by a “wall of separation between Church and State.”
For Jefferson, the “Church” he was referring to was any specific established church organization of the time:
- Anglican (Church of England)
- Baptist
- Catholic
- Congregationalist
- Episcopalian
- Lutheran
- Presbyterian
- Quaker
The “State” – as noted above – was the federal government.
Jefferson stated in his letter that religious liberty is between individuals and God.
It is an individual right beyond the reach of the federal government.
5. What the separation of Church and State does not mean.
First of all, we should not take an isolated statement from a private presidential letter and turn it into a constitutional principle or into a court ruling subject to judicial review.
The separation of church and state does NOT mean the separation of Christianity from government.
This is the meaning that many anti-God, anti-Christian politicians and public school administrators and teachers’ union leaders want you to believe.
But Christianity is not a church.
It is the foundational faith of many different churches and Christian denominations…
But there is no single organized “Christian Church” in America with doctrinal decrees, policy pronouncements and hierarchy of leadership.
So there is no First Amendment separation of Christianity and government – as many would have you believe.
Christianity is not prohibited from being an influence in people’s lives who lead our government.
The Founders of our nation firmly believed that “God governs in the affairs of men”… and that Christianity should be the moral conscience of the nation.
6. How the separation of Church and State restricts the government.
Congress is prohibited from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”
An establishment of religion is an organized, named church, denomination or faith-based organization with an established creed or doctrinal statement.
The so-called Establish Clause of the First Amendment prohibits Congress from making two different kinds of laws:
- Laws that require the blending of an establishment of religion with the government
- Laws that require the separation of an establishment of religion from the government.
To make either type of law would be to make a law respecting – or concerning – an established religious organization.
Government can’t have it both ways.
Congress must stay away from religion completely:
- It must avoid creating restrictions on any individual church or denomination
- It must avoid favoring any individual church or denomination
7. How the “Separation of Church and State” has been used as a club to silence Christians.
For nearly 70 years, pastors and Christian school teachers and administrators were discouraged from discussing politics and political candidates.
Why?
Because of the “Johnson Amendment” – an amendment that was hastily and strategically added to a 1954 revision of the Internal Revenue Code.
It prohibited any 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity from publicly endorsing or opposing any political candidate – or engaging in any so-called campaign activities.
It effectively silenced pastors and leaders of tax-exempt religious organizations for fear of losing their tax-exempt status.
To engage in any type of political speech or activity was considered a violation of the separation of church and state.
Public school districts have prohibited Christian clubs from meeting on high school campuses because of the so-called separation of church and state.
Christian teachers in public schools have been disciplined and even fired for “violations” of the separation of church and state such as:
- placing a Bible on their desks at school
- candidly and honestly answering student questions about Christianity that have come up in class
These examples – and many others – have been attempts to intimidate and threaten Christians… and to remove Christianity from the public square.
The excuse for the intimidations and threats is always the same – the Constitutional separation of church and state.
And yet, this was not the intent of the First Amendment…
And it was not the meaning of Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation” metaphor.
Let us never lose the ability – or the desire – to understand the original meaning and intent of our founding documents… or the writings of those who explained those documents.
And let us never accept the interpretations of those who desire to cancel or to rewrite those documents.
What do you think? Email me at [email protected].
Action:
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FAQs:
Q: What is the origin of the phrase “separation of Church and State”?
A. The exact phrase does not appear in the U.S. Constitution or the First Amendment. It comes from Thomas Jefferson’s January 1, 1802, reply letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, where he described the First Amendment as building “a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Q: What did Thomas Jefferson mean by “a wall of separation between Church and State”?
A. Jefferson referred to preventing the federal government (Congress) from establishing or interfering with a specific denomination or organized church (e.g., Congregationalist, Anglican, Baptist). He was reassuring Baptists in Connecticut, where Congregationalism was the state-established church, that the federal government would not create a national denomination or persecute minorities.
Q: Why did the Danbury Baptists write to Jefferson?
A. They wrote in October 1801 to congratulate him on his election and to express concerns about religious liberty in Connecticut. As a minority denomination, they faced tax support for the Congregationalist church and feared their freedoms would be treated as revocable “favors” rather than inalienable rights.
Q: Does the First Amendment separate Christianity from government?
A. No. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws respecting an establishment of religion (a specific organized church or denomination) or prohibiting its free exercise. Christianity is a foundational faith, not a single “church” or establishment, so there is no constitutional barrier to its moral or cultural influence on government or public life.
Q: What does the Establishment Clause actually prohibit?
A. It bars Congress from (1) creating or favoring a specific national religious establishment/denomination or (2) interfering with or restricting existing ones. The intent was to keep the federal government out of denominational matters, leaving states and individuals free in religious affairs.
Q: How has the “separation of Church and State” been misinterpreted or misused?
A. It has been turned into a tool to silence Christians in the public square—restricting pastors via the Johnson Amendment (1954), banning Christian clubs or expressions in public schools, or disciplining teachers for displaying a Bible or answering questions about faith.
About Craig Huey:
Craig Huey is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and publisher of The Huey Alert and Direct Marketing Update. Craig appears on national media such as FOX, FOX Business, Newsmax and more. He also co-hosts The Huey Alert Podcast with his wife Shelly and helps business leaders, Christians, conservatives, libertarians, young people and more understand the intersection of faith, politics, and freedom.