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John Jay

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John Jay (1745-1829), was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, having been appointed by President George Washington.  He was a Founding Father, a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses and even served as the President of the Continental Congress.  He was very instrumental in causing the Constitution to be ratified by writing the Federalist Papers, along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.  In 1777, John Jay helped to write the Constitution of New York, and from 1795-1801 held the position of Governor of the State of New York.

John Jay negotiated the peace treaty to end the War with England (along with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin).  He was Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, minister to Spain and in 1794 he authored the Jay Treaty which prevented the United States from getting involved in the war between France and England.

In addition to being appointed by President George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Jay was also elected president of the Westchester Bible Society in 1818 and president of the American Bible Society in 1821.  On October 12, 1816, John Jay admonished:

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."  - The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnson, ed (NY: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol. IV, p. 393, October 12, 1816.  David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 1991), pp. 78,119,152.  B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 154.  Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart'N Home, Inc., 1991), 11.5.

On May 13, 1824, serving as its president, John Jay gave an address to the American Bible Society:

"By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced we certainly do them a most interesting kindness.  We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but becoming disobedient, was subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since experienced.

"The Bible will also inform them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer, in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; that this Redeemer has made atonement 'for the sins of the whole world,' and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy has opened a way for our redemption and salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve."  - May 13, 1824, in an address to the American Bible Society.  Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 251.  John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution (MI: Baker Book House, 1987), p. 170.  Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart'N Home, Inc., 1991), 5.13.

John Jay stated:

"In forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible....  At a party in Paris, once, the question fell on religious matter.  In the course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ?  I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did."  - George Pellew, American Statesman Series, p. 360.  Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987), p. 251.



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