“The provisions of the Constitution are not mathematical formulas having their essence in their form; they are organic living institutions transplanted from English soil. Their significance is vital not formal; it is to be gathered not simply by taking the words and a dictionary, but by considering their origin and the line of their growth.” ——- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, 30 years a U. S. Supreme Court Justice.
Justice Holmes shows that the Constitution, like the Bible is not simply words. The Bible is history, poetry, geography, biography and all else. It lives and it is vital. Its principles and are eternal.
The Bible and the Constitution have likenesses that give significance to any principles of Interpretation they might both have.
They both have to do with law. They are both dependent upon “The Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” and they look to ideals that reach beyond time and place.
They both defy a final and absolute interpretation, and both adapt to changes in culture and they both remain relevant for all time.
Justice Holmes says that we are not to interpret the Constitution simply by taking its words and looking them up in a dictionary We must look at their origin and what has happened since. They are to be interpreted in terms of ongoing life of the nation.
So with the Bible. Its meaning often goes beyond the sacred word.
And I do agree that one must read the context around why articles were framed like they were to truly understand them. That said, I am a textualist when it comes to interpretation. So what it says is what it says, regardless of the context around why something was written in the way it was written.
I’m also a subscriber to the theory that the way we turned out isn’t exactly what more radical founders like Jefferson had in mind for us. He was honestly expecting us to adopt new constitutions over time, taking what worked from the original and adding each generations thoughts into the new document. I honestly believe he expected us to turn out more like France, who is on their 5th constitution now.
Whatever we are reading be it Scripture or the Constitution, I think it’s important to know what it does not say as well a what it does say.
Some believe that the Constitution has endured is because the creators were careful not to be too specific. The principles are found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They gave birth to our nation. They were born of a passion for political freedom.
The same with study of the Bible. We cannot interpret what is not there and there is no rule for interpretation for silence. All rules have to do with making sense of words. It says nothing about gambling, smoking, or segregation. It gives no theory of inspiration.
The only conclusion we can draw from the fact that the Bible is silent on a certain subject is that the Bible is silent on that subject. Sin is a transgression of law and there is no law in silence. The Bible does set forth principles and imposes ideals.
The Spirit of Christ Jesus is revealed, with our spiritual birth from above. His law is the law is the law of freedom. It’s called The Perfect Law of Liberty. James 1:25 “But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.
I didn’t know that. Thomas Jefferson is my second favorite President.
He said this in his political writings: The central feature of Jefferson’s political creed was his concern for human freedom. Jefferson believed in the goodness of man and avowed that man is capable of self-government. And so his creed is well embodied in his thrustful affirmation: "I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
Jefferson wished to be remembered by Americans for his devotion to the freedom of man. He served as governor of VA, Secretary of State and President of the US, but he wished to be remembered as a crusader for human liberty.
He asked that his tombstone identify him not as a governor or president but as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia. His tombstone hails him as a defender of the faith and the Founder of Bethany Collage.
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