What the Constitution is Not: A Moderate Acclamation

Or, an adapted Constitution Day lecture

Irish postage stamp issued on the occasion of the American Constitution’s 150th anniversary. Irish Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On September 17th of each year, educational institutions across the country celebrate Constitution Day. Institutions that receive federal funding are, in fact, required to host an event recognizing and educating students about the adoption of the Constitution, its meaning, its interpretation, and so on. This past year, I was asked to deliver a Constitution Day lecture at my own institution. The following is a modified version of the talk I delivered with the title “What the Constitution is Not.” For some context, I am a professor at a Christian institution in the Reformed tradition, and so addressed myself to questions relevant to the audience. Because of this, depending on your background, some of the discussion might seem a bit foreign, but hopefully you will enjoy in any case.

The American constitution is NOT many things. In narrowing that scope here, however, I would like to frame my denunciations as the negative form of our affirmations about Holy Scripture. Here at Covenant College, we express some fidelity to the Westminster Standards, which affirm that the Bible is the only inspired, infallible rule for faith and life. And so, my claim, my thesis today is the negative of these propositions: the American Constitution is not inspired, it is not infallible, not inerrant, and it is not a rule for all of faith and life. These may seem obvious at first, to the point of pedantry, but I want to unpack each in some detail.