Micah Beckwith? John Jay NEVER wrote: “Providence (God) has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Who was John Jay? 1/7

1) Jay was not a delegate to The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
2) 85 papers titled The Federalist argued for The Constitution; Jay wrote 5, but none concerned religion (2-5, Dangers from Foreign Force and influence, & 64, Powers of the Senate) 2/7

3) Jay worked in the New York convention and as reasons for ratification addressed weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, not the divine origins of The Constitution. [FN1.]
4) Jay was the 1st Chief Justice of SCOTUS. 3/7

5) Beckwith quotes a letter Jay wrote 10/12/1816, over 27 years after ratification of The Constitution, but
6) Beckwith has to insert “God” into the quote immediately after “Providence.” 4/7

To be clear: The Framers did not put “God” in The Constitution in 1787. Beckwith has to insert “God” into Jay’s letter written in 1816. Deism referred to “a distant deity” w/various terms that included Providence. Holmes, The Faiths of Our Fathers, 2006, p. 47. 5/7

I can see why, in February as Beckwith hyped a course he taught about The Constitution, he warned “stay away from higher education,” but not for the reason, “secular progressive bias” he cited. The real reason: people are far more likely to encounter the truth. 6/7

Footnote: FN1. “The Congress under the Articles ... may consult, and deliberate, and recommend, and make requisitions, and they who please may regard them” https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/index.html 7/7