On this day in history, February 1st, 1790 was the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1787, stated in Article III: “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court . . . The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution.” [1]
Since 1790 judges on the Supreme Court have exercised judicial power to have the final say about the constitutionality, and therein, viability of thousands of laws and executive orders. Supreme Court decisions of the Constitution cannot be vetoed nor overruled, nor can justices be termed out of office. Therefore, the Supreme Court has truly held supreme power in United States law for over two centuries. [2]
The Court has profoundly shaped how Americans exercise their religious beliefs by its rulings.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states plainly: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” [3] Yet it is the Court’s prerogative to rule on specific ways that Amrerican’s First Amendment rights are upheld based on the cases on their docket.
For example, in the last sixty years, the Supreme Court has ruled that official prayer in public schools is unconstitutional (Engel v. Vitale 1962); that denying unemployment benefits to someone who turned down a job because they would be required to work on the Sabbath was illegal (Epperson v. Arkansas 1968) and prohibiting the teaching of evolution in a public school was unconstitutional (Sherbert v. Verner 1963). [4]
More recently, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer did not have to offer contraceptives to their employees if those contraceptives go against the owner’s religious beliefs (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores 2014) and that the Department of Corrections’ grooming policy violated an inmate’s right to exercise his religion (Holt v. Hobbs 2014). [5]
As seen in the above cases, the Supreme Court wields incredible power within the United States. The Court’s rulings affect how churches function, how kids are taught in schools, how churches are taxed, and how Christians can spread the gospel in certain settings.
However, the Supreme Court is not supremely powerful, nor do they have the final say over lives, laws or destinies; only God does.
The apostle Paul, who was subject to prison by the Roman government, knew firsthand the power of national courts, but more so he knew the surpassing power of God. While in Roman prison he wrote to Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!” (2. Tim. 2: 8-9).
As Christians let us pray for the Supreme Court justices and for the cases that they will hear. Let us also utilize the Court when it is within biblical grounds to do so. Yet let us do so with confidence and faith knowing that God is working, in unbound power, to bring salvation to many, to build His Church and to spread the gospel no matter what the Supreme Court may rule.
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