白宫(The White House) | 2026年4月17日
Washington D.C. — 本周，我向所有聚集在圣经博物馆(Museum of the Bible)、国家广场(National Mall)以及全国各地参与“美国共读圣经”(America Reads the Bible)这一历史性活动的公民致以最诚挚的祝福。在为期一周的时间里，近500名美国人将公开诵读整本《圣经》——从《创世记》(Genesis)到《启示录》(Revelation)——以庆祝《圣经》进入美国250周年。
从克里斯托弗·哥伦布(Christopher Columbus)抵达新大陆，到詹姆斯敦(Jamestown)建立第一个永久性的英语定居点，再到1776年建国以及直至今日，《圣经》始终深深融入我们的国家认同与生活方式之中。近400年前，在五月花号(Mayflower)抵达十年之后，传奇人物约翰·温思罗普(John Winthrop)有力地引用了《马太福音》(Gospel of Matthew)中耶稣基督(Jesus Christ)的登山宝训(Sermon on the Mount)：“我们必须认识到，我们将成为山巅之城(a city upon a hill)。世人的眼目都注视着我们。”温思罗普以此勉励他的基督徒同胞，要成为世人所见信仰的明灯。
在随后的数十年中，《圣经》的真理始终深植于我们的文化之中——不仅在教堂的墙内，也在家庭、学校、法庭以及公共广场。距温思罗普那篇著名讲道近150年后的1776年7月4日，我们的开国先贤们在《独立宣言》(Declaration of Independence)的核心原则中呼应了《圣经》的精神：“我们认为这些真理是不言自明的：人人生而平等，他们由造物主(Creator)赋予若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命(Life)、自由(Liberty)以及追求幸福(the pursuit of Happiness)。”
自共和国伊始宣告这些不朽话语以来，直到今日，《圣经》始终照亮着我们的政府体制，为我们的宪政框架赋予生命，巩固我们的教育机构，并塑造我们最深层的公民与道德认同。1787年的《西北法令》(Northwest Ordinance)——我国最早且最具影响力的法律之一——指出：“宗教、道德与知识既为良政及人类幸福所必需，因此学校及教育手段应永远受到鼓励。”二十年后，我们的第二任总统约翰·亚当斯(John Adams)致信其开国元勋同僚本杰明·拉什(Benjamin Rush)写道：“《圣经》包含了世上所曾构想过的最深邃哲学、最完美道德以及最精妙政治智慧。”
在每一个世代、每一次考验与胜利之中，上帝的话语都引导着我们的人民和国家迈向新的高峰。在首次总统就职典礼上，乔治·华盛顿(George Washington)总统开创先例，将左手放在《圣经》上宣誓就职，随后亲吻《圣经》。在其第一次就职演说(First Inaugural Address)中，华盛顿说道：“没有任何人民比美国人民更有义务承认并敬拜那位掌管人类事务之无形之手(Invisible Hand)。”
亚伯拉罕·林肯(Abraham Lincoln)总统在第二次就职演说(Second Inaugural Address)中四次引用《圣经》，十四次提及上帝，并三次呼求祷告的力量，以期在惨烈四年的南北战争(American Civil War)后使国家重新团结。当七万多名美国军人准备登陆诺曼底海滩(Normandy landings)时，富兰克林·D·罗斯福(Franklin D. Roosevelt)总统通过全国广播祈祷，愿上帝的祝福战胜“我们敌人那邪恶的势力(the unholy forces of our enemy)”。而在冷战(Cold War)最紧张时期，以及他领导击败无神论共产主义的正义征程中，罗纳德·里根(Ronald Reagan)总统宣布1983年为“圣经年”(Year of the Bible)，并写道：“在塑造美利坚合众国成为一个独特国家与民族的诸多影响中，没有任何一项比《圣经》更为根本且持久。”
今天，在美国独立250周年之际，“美国共读圣经”(America Reads the Bible)活动邀请所有公民再次承认我国卓越的圣经根基，并感谢上帝一直以来如何成为我们团结与国家力量的神圣源泉。这项为期一周的活动中，来自信仰界、政府界、商界以及娱乐界的领袖们将诵读《圣经》的每一章每一节。这将激励无数公民重新发现过去两个半世纪以来赋予共和国生命力的圣经真理，并祈愿《圣经》在未来250年及更久远的岁月里，继续引导我们——作为个人、作为人民、作为国家。
我赞扬每一位参与“美国共读圣经”(America Reads the Bible)活动的公民。让我们共同尊崇圣经，更新信仰，在美国土地上迎来宗教的历史性复兴，并再次将美国奉献为在上帝之下合而为一的国家(one Nation under God)。
Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America
The White House | April 17, 2026
This week, I send my best wishes to every citizen gathered at the Museum of the Bible, on the National Mall, and all across our country participating in America Reads the Bible, a historic initiative in which nearly 500 Americans will take part in a public reading, over the course of one week, of the entire Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—to celebrate 250 years of the Bible in America.
From Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and the first permanent English-speaking settlement at Jamestown to our founding in 1776 and to the present day, the Bible has been indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life. Nearly 400 years ago, a decade after the arrival of the Mayflower, the legendary John Winthrop powerfully invoked Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us,” Winthrop said, imploring his fellow Christian settlers to stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see.
In the decades that followed, the truths of Holy Scripture remained deeply embedded in our culture—not only within the walls of our churches but in our homes, schools, courtrooms, and public square. Nearly 150 years after Winthrop’s storied sermon, on July 4, 1776, our Founders echoed Holy Scripture in the central animating principle of the Declaration of Independence: “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.”
From the declaration of those immortal words at the very beginning of our Republic, and ever since, the Bible has enduringly illuminated our system of Government, given life to our constitutional framework, bolstered our educational institutions, and informed our deepest civic and moral identity. The 1787 Northwest Ordinance—one of our Nation’s earliest and most formative laws—stated that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” Two decades later, John Adams, our second President, wrote the following to his fellow Founding Father Benjamin Rush: “The Bible contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth.”
In every generation, through every trial and triumph, God’s Word has guided our people and our country to incredible new heights. During the first inauguration, George Washington, setting a precedent for all future Presidents, put his left hand on the Bible and took the oath of office, after which he kissed the Bible. In his First Inaugural Address Washington stated: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.” In President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he quoted the Bible 4 times, mentioned God 14 times, and invoked the power of prayer 3 times as he sought to bring the country back together after a bloody 4-year Civil War. As more than 70,000 American troops prepared to land on the beaches of Normandy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took to national radio and prayed that God’s blessings prevail over “the unholy forces of our enemy.” And at the height of the Cold War and the righteous crusade that he led to defeat atheistic communism, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed 1983 to be the Year of the Bible, writing: “Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.”
Today, during our 250th year of American independence, the America Reads the Bibleinitiative invites all citizens to once again acknowledge our Nation’s extraordinary Biblical foundations and to give thanks for the countless ways in which God has been the sacred source of our unity and national strength. This one-week event, during which leaders in faith, Government, business, and entertainment will read every verse and chapter of the Bible, will inspire countless citizens to rediscover the Biblical truths that have animated our Republic for two and a half centuries and to pray that the Bible will continue to guide us—as individuals, as a people, and as a Nation—for the next 250 years and beyond.
I applaud every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative. Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores, and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God.
