Progressive pundits and commentators on the left claim that the Constitution of the United States is a totally secular document because it contains no reference to any deity. However, it is my contention that our ordained Constitution includes the word “ordain” for a specific purpose. Our ordained Constitution provides a system of governance set apart to serve God and bring glory to his Name.
Supreme Court Justice Scalia stressed the importance of the meaning of the words found in the Constitution as they were defined when the document was written, original intent. Fortunately, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (London, 1755), is accessible today. Johnson’s dictionary was the preeminent dictionary used by the majority of Americans when both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America were written. This dictionary defined the words used by our nation’s Founders and the Framers of our Constitution.
The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America reads,
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain (set apart to be an instrument for the service of God) and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.”
Johnson defined Ordain as follows:
TO ORDAIN, v. a. [ordino, Lat. ordonner, Fr.]: 1)To appoint, to decree; 2)To Establish; 3) To settle, t0 Institute, to set in office; 4) To invest with ministerial function, or sacerdotal power.
Meletius was ordained by Arian bishops, and yet his ordination was never questioned.
When Johnson defined ordain as To invest with ministerial, or sacerdotal power, his definitions of sacerdotal and sacred are essential to understand the definition of ordain and the Framers use of ordain in the Constitution. These two critical words were defined by Johnson as follows:
SACERDO’TAL. Adj. [Sacerdotalis, Latin.] Priestly; belonging to the priesthood.
If ample powers, granted by rulers of this world, add dignity to the persons entrusted with these powers, behold the importance and extent of the sacerdotal commission.
SACRED. Adj, [Sare, French; Sacer, Latin.]: 1)Devoted to religious uses; holy; 2)Dedicated; consecrate; consecrated.
The fact that sacred and sacerdotal share the same Latin root, Sacer, is a clear indication that our ordained Constitution was intended to be set apart, consecrated, as an instrument for the service of God by its Framers and the citizens who ratified the Constitution.
Johnson’s definition of the word establish found in the Preamble immediately after ordain is further evidence that the Framers of the Constitution used ordain as a clear statement that their vision of the Constitution as a document set aside for the service of God. Johnson defined establish as follows:
TO ESTABLISH. v. a. [etablir, French]: 1) To settle firmly, to fix unalterably; 2) To settle in any privilege or possession, to confirm; 3) To make firm; to ratify; 4) To fix or settle in an opinion; 5) To form or model¦.”
All five meanings of establish; in Johnson’s definition were synonymous with the first three, meanings Johnson’s definition of ordain. Had the Framers intended the secular meaning of the word ordain; to appoint or decree, to establish or settle, or to institute, they would not have also included the word establish in the Preamble of the Constitution. That would have been unnecessarily redundant. Concise construction, words, and grammar, were important considerations to the Framers.
Again, the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America states,
WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, ¦do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.
In my estimation, based on the definition “ordain” and the definition of the words used to define the spiritual connotation of “ordain,” the original intent of the Framers for the Constitution, was to devise a system of governance that would bring glory to God. The Founders provided We the People with our ordained Constitution.
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