Too few American students know enough about our Constitution.Still, fewer know there is such a thing as "Constitution Day." But this year, it might be worth taking up an assignment our sixth president gave to his son in a remarkable series of letters written while President John Quincy Adams served as minister to Russia.Adams did not focus on career advice for his son.
He did not teach his son how to make money.Instead, Adams insisted upon this: Read the Bible.Every day.BILL BENNETT: WHAT I TOLD MY SONS ABOUT THEIR FAITH, FAMILY AND AMERICAAdams believed no education could be complete without it.
He wrote to his son that when "duly read and meditated on," the Bible is "of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy."Illustration depicting the birth of the Monroe Doctrine.James Monroe is shown standing beside a globe; John Quincy Adams is seated at left.
From a painting by Clyde O.DeLand.
(Getty Images)And here’s where our Constitution comes in: Adams believed children formed by Scripture would become "useful citizens to their country" and "respectable members of society."GORSUCH HIGHLIGHTS STAGGERING DECLINE IN CIVIC LITERACY THAT PROMPTED HIM TO AUTHOR NEW BOOKThere’s much ado today about civics education.And that’s a good thing.
More educators and parents should ask: Should students memorize the Constitution? Learn about the three branches of government? Study the Federalist Papers? All extremely important.But John Quincy Adams understood something too many have largely forgotten.AMERICA’S NEXT 250 YEARS DEPEND ON PASSING FAITH AND FREEDOM TO OUR CHILDRENThe Constitution details how we, a free people, govern ourselves.But it cannot teach rising generations how to become worthy of that freedom.That is why Adams spent letter after letter introducing his son to the New Testament and to the Hebrew Bible — to Genesis, Exodus, the Ten Commandments and to the Law of Moses.
He argued the Mosaic Law represented the ...