#Who made the pursuit of happiness song full
#Who made the pursuit of happiness song free

But we might hear in these resonant words a broader context: the human condition, generally speaking. Paul in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free.” The immediate context is freedom from the minutiae of the Jewish law and, specifically, the requirement of circumcision.

#Who made the pursuit of happiness song free

What is freedom and what does it mean? How shall we live as free people? The conversation about freedom has been a religious conversation and a political conversation and it continues today. Some were slower than that to understand. Washington, who did a great many things well, got around to freeing his slaves-in his will.

#Who made the pursuit of happiness song full

Even the signers of the Declaration of Independence didn’t understand the full implications of the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s been a long conversation, over many generations. So Moses and Isaiah and Jesus have been part of the conversation about freedom for many centuries now, even if somewhere in the background.

The Bible was heard and read by the founders-even by those we might not consider Christians in the strictest sense (Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, for example). Jesus said to his followers, “…you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Isaiah, with the spirit of the Lord upon him, proclaimed liberty for captives and release for prisoners.

The story of the Exodus is about freedom from the slavery of Egypt. Although the founders were careful to avoid identifying the new country with any religion in particular, the roots of the idea of human freedom are in the Bible. Our foundational documents and the principles they articulate with such extraordinary sonority have resonated far beyond our borders, and continue to do so. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Familiar words from the Declaration of Independence. Freedom, whatever that means, is the essence of what it means to be American and it was very much on the minds of the founders. Words like freedom and liberty will be in the air this week as we celebrate Independence Day on the 4 th of July. “For freedom Christ has set us free.” St.