耶稣纪年的开始与上帝有关，美利坚合众国的独立作为一个事件，并不完全决定于人的意愿，但是，宪法-一国之政治架构-确是完全靠人的理性能力创造的，是各州在一个和平的会议中“一致同意”制定的。

　　《联邦党人文集》第一篇写到：“时常有人指出，下面这个重要问题似乎是留待这个国家的人民用他们的行为和范例来决定的：人类社会是否真正能够通过深思熟虑和自由选择来建立良好的政府，还是他们永远注定要靠机遇和强力来决定他们的政治组织。”10宪法制定者已经在这里选择了他们的答案，而其后各州人民的批准，以及两百多年来的多次增补修订，无数的宪法诉讼，似乎都表明，人的深思熟虑和自由选择和上帝的计划一直在一起进行。

　　「注释」

　　1 Kathleen M. Sullivan  Gerald Gunther （ed.）， Constitutional Law， 14th Edition， New York：Foundation Press， 2001.

　　2 “同时，‘an establishment’这个短语看来保证了非歧视的宗教援助的合法性。假若宪法制定者禁止的是‘the establishment of religion，’-这个短语强调的是属类的‘宗教’这个词-那么认为他们想禁止的是所有对宗教优于非宗教的官方待遇。但是通过选择‘an establishment’而不是‘the establishment’，他们表明他们想禁止的只是那些会促进某个特定教派的利益的官方活动。”Michael J.Malbin， Religion and Politics： The Intention of the Authors of the First Amendment， p.14，Washington， D.C.： American Enterprise Institute， 1978.

　　3 “Almighty God hath created the mind free， and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint； that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments， or burthens， or by civil incapacitations， tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness， and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion， who being lord both of body and mind， yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either， as was in his Almighty power to do， but to exalt it by its influence on reason alone；……”， Virginia Bill for Religious Liberty.

　　4 原文为：“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned， and the Members of the several State Legislatures， and all executive and judicial Officers， both of the United States and of the several States， shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation， to support this Constitution； but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

　　5 汉密尔顿、杰伊、麦迪逊，《联邦党人文集》，页430，程逢如、在汉、舒逊译，北京：商务印书馆，1995。

　　6 原文为：“We the People of the United States，……do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

　　7 原文为：“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.-That to secure these rights， Governments are instituted among Men， deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

　　8 原文为：“Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.”