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President Trump has been peppering the White House website with short messages around the theme of the 2050th Anniversary of the Republic. I have posted comments to some of them. The exercise is important; it would be more important if the mechanisms for projecting these messages out were perhaps more robust, and if some were to weave the aggregation of these messages together into a coherent narrative. But that may be coming.
Many of the messages speak to important figures from the history of the Republic and equally important events that mark the history of the Republic. The most recent message takes a slightly different turn. It focuses on a normative source of the Republic's values: Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America. It was timed to coincide with the "America Reads the Bible" initiative, a seven-day, 24/7 public reading of the entire Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—hosted at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., from April 18–25, 2026.
The point of the message was t6o underscore what had been taken as a given as late as three quarters of a century ago but now seems to have been overtaken by (cultural/ideological) events--specifically that from " Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and the first permanent English-speaking settlement at Jamestown to our founding in 1776 and to the present day, the Bible has been indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life." (Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America). More importantly, the even older notion, one that was an important element of social and religious life especially among elements of the Christian community, that the United States, and the Republic created to embody its values, was to represent the purification and the striving for perfection from out of the miasma and corruption of the places from which the people of the United States were drawn (a good portion of them, anyway). "Nearly 400 years ago, a decade after the arrival of the Mayflower, the legendary John Winthrop powerfully invoked Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us,” Winthrop said, imploring his fellow Christian settlers to stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see." (Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America).
That concept, of the Republic as the incarnation of the "city upon a hill", drawn from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:14-15 ("14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.") KJV) had receded back into religion and (as Foucault liked to remind us of the way elites abstracted and essentialized them into a statistic) the "population", for a long period after Winthrop. Until the Presidency of Ronald Reagan. "A shining city on a hill. Ronald Reagan loved the phrase. He used it over and over again, perhaps most notably in his 1989 presidential farewell address."
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still. (David Fromm, "Is America Still the ‘Shining City on a Hill’?: If the eyes of all people are upon America now, they are not witnessing an edifying spectacle", The Atlantic (1 January 2021)).
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Indeed, the President reminded on in his message: "And at the height of the Cold War and the righteous crusade that he led to defeat atheistic communism, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed 1983 to be the Year of the Bible." (Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America). The object here is to remind one of the strong connection between the Bible, and Biblical cognitive orientations, as an inextricably important part of the fabric, at least historically, of the political life of the Republic. In a period in which the fundamental political line is built on the theme of a restoration to a golden age, that historical connection is an important element. "Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores, and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God." (Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America).
This week, I send my best wishes to every citizen gathered at the Museum of the Bible, on the National Mall, and all across our country participating in America Reads the Bible, a historic initiative in which nearly 500 Americans will take part in a public reading, over the course of one week, of the entire Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—to celebrate 250 years of the Bible in America.
From Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and the first permanent English-speaking settlement at Jamestown to our founding in 1776 and to the present day, the Bible has been indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life. Nearly 400 years ago, a decade after the arrival of the Mayflower, the legendary John Winthrop powerfully invoked Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us,” Winthrop said, imploring his fellow Christian settlers to stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see.
In the decades that followed, the truths of Holy Scripture remained deeply embedded in our culture—not only within the walls of our churches but in our homes, schools, courtrooms, and public square. Nearly 150 years after Winthrop’s storied sermon, on July 4, 1776, our Founders echoed Holy Scripture in the central animating principle of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
From the declaration of those immortal words at the very beginning of our Republic, and ever since, the Bible has enduringly illuminated our system of Government, given life to our constitutional framework, bolstered our educational institutions, and informed our deepest civic and moral identity. The 1787 Northwest Ordinance—one of our Nation’s earliest and most formative laws—stated that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” Two decades later, John Adams, our second President, wrote the following to his fellow Founding Father Benjamin Rush: “The Bible contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth.”
In every generation, through every trial and triumph, God’s Word has guided our people and our country to incredible new heights. During the first inauguration, George Washington, setting a precedent for all future Presidents, put his left hand on the Bible and took the oath of office, after which he kissed the Bible. In his First Inaugural Address Washington stated: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.” In President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he quoted the Bible 4 times, mentioned God 14 times, and invoked the power of prayer 3 times as he sought to bring the country back together after a bloody 4-year Civil War. As more than 70,000 American troops prepared to land on the beaches of Normandy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took to national radio and prayed that God’s blessings prevail over “the unholy forces of our enemy.” And at the height of the Cold War and the righteous crusade that he led to defeat atheistic communism, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed 1983 to be the Year of the Bible, writing: “Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.”
Today, during our 250th year of American independence, the America Reads the Bible initiative invites all citizens to once again acknowledge our Nation’s extraordinary Biblical foundations and to give thanks for the countless ways in which God has been the sacred source of our unity and national strength. This one-week event, during which leaders in faith, Government, business, and entertainment will read every verse and chapter of the Bible, will inspire countless citizens to rediscover the Biblical truths that have animated our Republic for two and a half centuries and to pray that the Bible will continue to guide us—as individuals, as a people, and as a Nation—for the next 250 years and beyond.
I applaud every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative. Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores, and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God.
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