Mike Johnson's Speech After Being Reelected Speaker of the House of Representatives
Yesterday, Mike Johnson was reelected Speaker of the House of Representatives. In his acceptance speech, he summarized the major points of Donald Trump's MAGA agenda for the Congress; and in doing that, he insisted that the election of Donald Trump and the new Republican Congress was an act of divine providence. He explained: "I don't believe in luck or coincidence. I believe in the idea of providence." As evidence that the belief in God's providential care for America is part of America's exceptional position in the world, he read what he identified as Thomas Jefferson's "Prayer for America," and he said that Jefferson had said this prayer each day of his eight years as president, and every day thereafter until his death. In the video above, this comes at around 14 minutes into the speech. You can also read the text of the speech at Johnson's congressional website.
Johnson identified Jefferson as "the primary author of the Declaration of Independence," in the context of noting that the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence would occur during the term of this 119th Congress in 2026.
Here's the prayer:
Almighty God who has given us this good land for our heritage. We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves, that people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues endow with thy spirit of wisdom, those whom in thy name, we entrust the authority of government. That there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the Earth. In times of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail, of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Johnson then immediately claimed that the election of the Republican Congress was an "act of providence," and that it was "providence that spared President Trump from the assassin's bullet." In this way, he suggested that God miraculously intervened to save Trump's life so that he could be elected president. I have written previously about this belief that Trump is God's Chosen One--like God's choice of Cyrus as the Messiah for Israel.
This raises at least two questions. Is Johnson correct in identifying this as Jefferson's prayer? And is Johnson's invocation of God's providential care of America compatible with America's fundamental principles? Or does it contradict the Jeffersonian principle of separating church and state?
The answer to the first question is clearly no. As indicated by a statement at the website for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, there is no evidence that this prayer was written by Jefferson.
Moreover, that Jefferson would not have written such a prayer is clear from his refusal as president to proclaim any national day of prayer for the country. In 1808, Samuel Miller (a minister) sent a letter to Jefferson asking him if he would be receptive to a request from some ministers that he issue a presidential proclamation of a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" before God. Jefferson replied by saying that he would have to refuse such a request because it would violate the First Amendment's provision that "no law shall be made respecting the establishment, or free exercise, of religion." He did indicate, however, that since the First Amendment applies only to the national government, a state government might have the right to issue some such proclamation of a national day of prayer.
Apparently, Jefferson believed that a presidential prayer for America like that attributed to him by Johnson would have violated what Jefferson had called the "wall of separation between church and state" in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. He was responding to a letter from the Danbury Baptists congratulating him on his election in 1800 and endorsing his affirmation of "religious liberty--that religion is at all times and places a matter between God and individuals," and therefore that civil government has no rightful power prescribe religious belief.
As I have indicated in some previous posts, this puts Jefferson on the side of Roger Williams in asserting the "wall of separation" of church and state against the theocracy of John Winthrop. I have also argued that Jefferson's God in the Declaration of Independence is "Nature's God"--or Spinoza's God who is immanent in the laws of Nature--and this God is not a transcendent God who miraculously intervenes in natural history in answer to prayer.
If this is correct, then Speaker Johnson's political appeal to divine providence violates the American principle of separation of church and state. It's notable that in his speech, Johnson mentions "seven core principles of America," which are "individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity." But notice that separation of church and state is not included.
What should Johnson say in his defense? Unless I am overlooking some documentary evidence for Jefferson's "Prayer for the Nation," Johnson would have to admit that he was wrong about this.
But even if Johnson was wrong about attributing this prayer to Jefferson, Johnson could argue that the religious doctrine of divine providence really is an American political principle. After all, even if the only reference to God in Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence was "Nature's God," it is revealing that the revisions of the Declaration coming from others in the Continental Congress added three more references to God--"by their Creator," "appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world," and "with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence."
Doesn't this show that America's God is more than just Jefferson's Spinozistic God of Nature--that America's God is a Creator, Judge, and providential Protector of America?
And yet isn't it interesting that we don't see any of this talk about God in the Constitution? In his speech, Johnson refers to the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution: "we're all going to take an oath--the same one oath, for one nation, and under the banner of one great American flag." But he is silent about the exact language in the Constitution prescribing this oath: all officers "shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States" (Article VI).
As I have pointed out, this part of the Constitution has been vehemently criticized by Christians who have said that this allows the offices of government to be filled by "godless" people. Johnson says nothing about this.
Another problem for Johnson is that he does not explain how he can be so sure that he knows the truth about God and God's will for America. As I have indicated in a previous post, Johnson is a Young-Earth Creationist who is a follower of Ken Ham, and who therefore believes that God created everything exactly 6,000 years ago, and so the Darwinian science of natural evolution is false and morally degrading. The fundamental difficulty with this is that he believes that God has revealed this truth to him through the Bible, even though most biblical believers disagree with this. So, the Holy Spirit has failed to clearly convey God's revelation to all believers.
Remarkably, in his first speech as Speaker of the House, when he was first elected, Johnson suggested that his becoming Speaker was ordained by God: "I believe that scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you. All of us. And I believe that God has allowed and ordained each and every one of us to be here at this specific moment. This is my belief."
Well, okay, this is his belief. But how does he know that that this is a true belief coming from the Holy Spirit? Other Christians in the tradition of Roger Williams would say that the New Testament does not support the kind of Mosaic theocracy found in the Old Testament, that New Testament Christianity demands a wall of separation between church and state, and therefore that it is blasphemy to say that God has chosen Donald Trump to be President. How can Johnson be sure that these Christians are wrong?
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