The Bible and the American Founding with Daniel Dreisbach | BRI Scholar Talks
In this episode of BRI Scholar Talks, legal scholar Daniel L. Dreisbach, author of Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, joins host Tony Williams to explore how the Bible influenced the American founding. Drawing from his extensive research, Dreisbach examines how Scripture shaped the Founders’ understanding of human nature, virtue, and government, informing ideas like checks and balances, the right of resistance, and republican self-government.
The discussion highlights how biblical literacy and Protestant culture helped define early American education, politics, and civic life. Dreisbach also traces how Americans viewed themselves as a “new Israel” in covenant with God—a theme that inspired generations from the Revolution to the civil rights movement—and why John Adams called the Bible “the most Republican book in the world.”
