dr. dreisbach. i understand our government is a republic. so many people in america say it's a democracy. can it be both? or is it both? >> well, the constitution explicitly makes reference to republican form of government. but i certainly don't think these are inconsistent in some ways in which they manifest themselves. i mean if you take the words and look at it in purist definition, there might be some restrictions. but let me just remind you have the core pf what republicanism would have meant to i think most late 18th century americans, which is government by extent of the government as exercised through representatives. in that second aspect, could perhaps come into some tension with democracy in its purist form. but as i think these words might have been used at this time in history, they would not seen such a sharp clash between the two, and they certainly did not view that some expressions of manifestations of the people's voice as being intentioned with republicism as they understood it. >> if i could jump in there too. you know, w

dr. dreisbach, this is for you, another long question. when the bible is used in political debate, biblical texts will be used without regard to their biblical context in order to serve a partisan political agenda. do you see evidence of this in the time period of today and are there examples of the bible being taken out of context for immediate political goals? >> yes, this is one of the concerns i wanted to focus on when i wrote this book on the bible and the founders. i was not only interested in what kinds of texts they were drawn to, i was interested in whether they were using these texts in ways that were consistent with the biblical context in which we find them. the record is mixed. there are examples where i think you see founders using biblical texts in ways that are more faithful to the biblical context. for example, you see references in the founding literature to micah 6:8. walk humbly with your god. in my adult life, i heard a dozen sermons on that. it is focused on my individual virtue. that is what god requires of me indiv

dr. dreisbach talk to us about the bible and generations. the first session is the enigma with benjamin franklin with thomas. at the 1777 delegation, dr. kidd will explore the distinction between his faith and his skepticism and the enduring influence of his puritan upbringing and his familiarity with the bible. he is a distinguished professor at baylor university and the associate director for the study of religion. he is the author, benjamin franklin, the religious life of a founding father. please join me in welcoming dr. kidd. [ applause ] >> thank you for hosting this wonderful event. it's a pleasure to be here at the museum. i hope to consult with the section on the bible in america. it's a wonderful thing to be here and see this lovely facility. thank you for having us and thank you to those of you joining us online or tv. it is great to be here. i want to talk to you today about the enigma of ben franklin's faith. i would like to open with the story that happened at the constitutional convention. in 1787, at the constitutional convent

dr. dreisbach. outstanding job. thank you. we have a few remarks. we will release our speakers to go sit at their table for book signings. thank you, gentlemen. we have there books for sale at the back of the room if you would like to purchase them. right now i woul >>> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >>> coming up on c-span3's "american history tv." we continue our look at the bible and the founding of america. up next, baylor university professor thomas kidd talks about benjamin franklin's faith and the role it played in his life. >>> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning, the goldwater institutes starly coleman discusses right to try medications that w

dr. dreisbach. >> well, thank you very much. it is a real pleasure and a joy to be here in this magnificent facility in this tremendous resource that we have here now in the nation's capital. let me also say that it's a real joy for me to share the platform with professors byrd and kid, two scholars from whom i've learned a great deal through the years. this morning, i'm going to be drawing on my book, reading the bible with the founding fathers, and i want to turn our attention to the bible's contributions -- the emergence of a constitutional tradition. in the last third or so of the 18th century. we are talking here about the american founding, and by that term i am referring to that time in the life of a nation when americans, the colonists, began to agitate for their rights as englishmen. and believing they had failed to secure those rights they then embark on the pursuit of independence and having secured independence they then have this tremendous task of building a new nation, building the institutions of government and t

dr. daniel dreisbach and dr. james byrd who will talk with us about how the bible influenced the founding generation. our first session is the enigma of ben franklin's faith with thomas kidd. benjamin franklin tells us that he became a deist as a young man. yet at the constitutional convention in 1787, franklin proposed that delegates open sessions with prayer. in this session, thomas kidd will explore the enigma of franklin's faith and the tension between franklin's well-known skepticism and the enduring influence of his puritan upbringing on his familiarity are the bible. thomas kidd is a distinguished professor of history at baylor university and associate director of baylor's institute for studies of religion. he is the author of "benjamin franklin: the religious life of a founding father." please join me in welcoming dr. kidd. [ applause ] >> thank you to kay and thank you to the museum of the bible for hosting this wonderful event. it's a pleasure to be here at the museum. i hope to consult with some of the

dr. [applause] prof. dreisbach: thank you very much. it is a real pleasure and a joy to be here today in this magnificent facility in this tremendous resource that we have here in the nation's capital. let me also say it is a real joy for me to share the platform with two scholars from whom i have learned a great deal over the years. i think kay and the team for organizing today's event. this morning, i have going to be drawing on my book, "reading bible with the founding fine fathers," andng to the founding of the american constitutional republic. i will be talking about the emergence of a constitutional tradition. in the last third or so of the 18th century, we are talking about the american founding and by that term i am referring to that time in the life of the nation when americans, the colonists began to agitate for their rights as englishmen. believing they had failed to secure those rights, they embark on the pursuit of independence and having secured independence, they have this tremendous task of building a new nation, buildin

dr. byrd. [ applause ] >> well thank you. i'm so pleased to be here and to be joining in this important conversation at the museum of the bible. i'm very honored to be sharing the podium with professors dreisbach and kidd, two scholars that i've admired for years, and i especially thank the team here at the museum of the bible, indicate peninger, all of y kay peninger, i'm just very honored to be participating. my focus and my angle on this specifically deals a little more with the war itself and in doing this, i have two topics that i try to bring together. one is the history of the bible in america, and the history of war in america. so i do a little extensively with war and violence and the bible and how the bible has been part of our justifications for going to war and our protests against it. so i got interested in this a few years ago just curious about how the bible was included in the american revolution. and being kind of a computer geek myself, i decided that i would just design a database and try to pick out all the biblical texts and then sort them and then i would have the answer. that may have been a mistake because it took me a few years to do this before i could even write the