“…the human Understanding is a revelation from its Maker which can never be disputed or doubted. There can be no Scepticism, Phyrrhonism or Incredulity or Infidelity here. No Prophecies, no Miracles are necessary to prove this celestial communication. This revelation has made it certain that two and one make three; and that one is not three; nor can three be one. We can never be so certain of any Prophecy, or the fulfillment of any Prophecy; or of any miracle, or the design of any miracle as We are, from the revelation of nature i.e. natures God that two and two are equal to four. Miracles or Prophecies might frighten us out of our Witts [sic]; might scare us to death; might induce Us to lie; to say that We believe that 2 and 2 make 5. But we should not believe it. We should know the contrary.”

I would agree with you that our Rights are not derived from Reason, but according to the Enlightenment and influential writers like John Locke, man in the ‘state of nature’ (prior to entering a society) possess his own Life, Liberty, is able to exercise this Liberty by means of Reason, and is able to possess property through his labor. Upon entering a society these become Rights to be protected by State. Prior to State they are not Rights, but possessions owned by the individual person in the ‘state of nature’ (or natural Law).

My point is that the Enlightenment thinkers (the founders) did see Reason above Revelation. I don’t think they saw Rights as derived from being created in the image of God, but that through self-evident truths (Reasoned truths) the Creator (a Deity that was self-evident through Reason) gave them these possessions (Life, Liberty, and ability to own property) and upon the formation of a political society they become Rights. ‘Rights’ when used in the context of the Declaration, the formation of a political society, are self-evident Rights that must be protected by State.

Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration is interesting:

We hold these truths to be sacred [this simply meant unalterable] and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…

Great post by the way! I love the way you think and I’m grateful I get to, in a small way, discuss these things with you.

kerrin

To possibly over simplify here: I believe that there is natural law. Natural law isn’t sufficient to lead to faith, but does provide the basic principles of right and wrong, justice and injustice, and what it means to be a just nation. Reason is not above revelation, but I think it is possible to make a case for what is just on the basis of natural revelation. I wouldn’t say that our rights are derived from reason (they are derived from being created in the image of God), but everybody can come to understand by means of reason that we have them and they ought to be protected.

I don’t know what Adams means in his second statement there, but if he really said that it reflects a pretty bad misunderstanding of the Trinity, and he should have known better. It is not that “one is three” and “three, one.” God is one in one sense (essence) and three in a different sense (person).

Matt

Only question is, in my study of the Enlightenment, all of the founders, especially Jefferson (author of the Declaration) saw Reason above revelation, do you see this? Agree with this?

Rights, according to the Enlightenment thinkers were derived from Reason. Most founders thought Reason lead to God and revelation. Would you agree with this?

Even Adams, considered the most religious of the founders, was an Enlightenment thinker who held Reason above revelation:

“To him who believes in the Existence and Attributes physical and moral of a God, there can be no obscurity or perplexity in defining the Law of Nature to be his wise benign and all powerful Will, discovered by Reason.” – John Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 1794

“Had you and I been forty days with Moses on Mount Sinai and admitted to behold, the divine Shekinah, and there told that one was three and three, one: We might not have had courage to deny it. But We could not have believed it.” – John Adams to T. Jefferson, 1813