A Guide To Identifying Signers of the Declaration by David Barton
Begin with John Witherspoon. He was an ordained minister of the Gospel, published several books of Gospel sermons, and played major roles in two American editions of the Bible, including one from 1791 that is considered America’s first family Bible.
The Rev. Dr. Witherspoon wrote the introduction for this Bible, and although the Bible’s text is essentially the same as that of the King James ersion, it does not carry that title. After all, the Americans – including Dr. Witherspoon – had just fought a war to be free of kings, so why attach the name of a king to an American edition of the Bible Therefore, this Bible describes itself only as “The Holy Bible” because, as Dr. Witherspoon pointed out, this was God’s Word, not the word of a king! 12 John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration and minister of the Gospel, helped produce America’s very first family Bible.
The 1791 bible prepared by dr. witherspoon (left), his introduction (right), and one of his many books of sermons (upper left) Consider next Charles Thomson. Charles Thomson was the Secretary of Congress, and he and John Hancock were the only two to sign the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Charles Thomson is another Founder responsible for an American edition of the Bible. That Bible – called Thomson’s Bible – was the first translation of the Greek Septuagint into English. It took Charles Thomson twenty-five years to complete his translation, but even today that work is still considered one of the more scholarly American translations of the Bible. Consider also signer Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Charles Carroll was the last of the fifty-six signers to pass away, dying in 1832 at the age of 95. A strong and unequivocal declaration of his Christian faith appears in numerous writings, including a letter he wrote on his 89th birthday in which he declared:
“On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.” 13 In other of his writings, Charles Carroll explained that his Christian faith was one of the chief reasons that he had entered thomson’s bible carroll’s letter expressing his strong christian faith into the American Revolution – he was fighting to preserve religious liberty. In fact, he was so committed to Christianity that he built and personally funded a Christian house of worship. Charles Carroll’s life and words confirm that he was a strong Christian, and he is one of that handful of Americans who have been honored at the Capitol with a statue, located in East Central Hall. Consider next signer Benjamin Rush. When he died in 1813, the writings of the day, and the other Founders who were still alive, declared that Dr. Rush was one of our three most notable Founders, ranking him in prominence along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. 15 Yet who today has heard of Benjamin Rush, or who knows of his accomplishments?