THE delegates who gathered in Philadelphia 239 years ago to declare America independent were, as we all know, agreed on many lofty principles, including the inalienable rights which their Creator God had bestowed on them. But there were many religious questions on which they differed. A slight majority were Episcopalians, whose personal beliefs ranged from traditional piety to religious scepticism, but there were strong contingents of Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Quakers and one Roman Catholic. Of the two names which appear on the document printed on July 4th, 1776, John Hancock was a Congregationalist minister's son, and Charles Thomson was a Presbyterian who later translated the Bible in a spirit that avoided attachment to "any sect or party".
