Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teach that July 4, the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, has spiritual as well as historical and political significance.
From Joseph Smith to current church leadership, these religious authorities have affirmed the divine inspiration of America’s founding documents.
By outlining the heavenly origin of human rights, the Declaration of Independence broke with centuries of monarchy to establish a foundation for religious and civil freedoms that the existence of the church depends on.
Here is a collection of statements from church leaders about the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the founding of the United States of America gathered from church historical documents and publications:
President Joseph Smith
March 1839: “The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard. It is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner.”
July 1843: “It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul. Civil and religious liberty were diffused into my soul by my grandfathers, while they dandled me on their knees.”
October 1843: “I am the greatest advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on the earth. In my feelings I am always ready to die for the protection of the weak and oppressed in their just rights.”
President Brigham Young
July 1854: “The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work.”
President Wilford Woodruff
April 1898: “Those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.”
President David O. McKay
October 1939: “Next to being one in worshiping God there is nothing in this world upon which this church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States.”
President J. Reuben Clark
April 1957: “I declare that the divine sanction thus repeatedly given by the Lord himself to the Constitution of the United States as it came from the hands of the framers with its coterminous Bill of Rights, makes of the principles of that document an integral part of my religious faith. It is a revelation from the Lord. I believe and reverence its God-inspired provisions.”
President N. Eldon Tanner
April 1976: “No constitution on earth has endured longer than this one. ... It was and is a miracle. ... It is an inspired document written under the guidance of the Lord. ... We believe that the Constitution was brought about by God to ensure a nation where liberty could abound and where his gospel could flourish.”
Elder L. Tom Perry
June 1976: “The Lord himself said that he raised up ‘wise men’ for the purpose of founding the United States’ constitutional government, a form of government that has been modeled and patterned after all over the world because it provides the kind of freedom, agency, and opportunity our Father’s children need in order for them to grow, mature and develop.”
President Ezra Taft Benson
October 1976: “The Declaration of Independence to which these great men affixed their signatures is much more than a political document. It constitutes a spiritual manifesto — revelation, if you will — declaring not for this nation only, but for all nations, the source of man’s rights."
President Gordon B. Hinckley
August 1999: “Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were brought forth under the inspiration of God to establish and maintain the freedom of the people of this nation. I said it, and I believe it to be true. There is a miracle in its establishment that cannot be explained in any other way.”
President Russell M. Nelson
May 2004: “Thomas Jefferson, the author of the American Declaration of Independence, wrote that men are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is not possible without the ability to pursue personal purpose in life and to seek knowledge of one’s relationship to the divine.”
President Dallin H. Oaks
April 2021: “Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism wherever we live.”
Elder Quentin L. Cook
October 2021: “In our doctrine we believe that in the host country for the Restoration, the United States, the U.S. Constitution and related documents, written by imperfect men, were inspired by God to bless all people.”