The Twin Pillars of Constitutional Thought with Steve Meyer and Kerby Anderson

Stephen C. Meyer and Kerby Anderson discuss how America’s founders were shaped by a richly theistic, largely Christian worldview that emphasized both human dignity (as bearers of God’s image) and human depravity. These convictions drove core constitutional structures like checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, bicameralism, and the Electoral College. Even the less orthodox founders (Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison) were not deists in the strict sense, but providential theists whose ideas were deeply informed by Christian jurists, pastors, and natural theology as well as the Enlightenment.

Meyer traces how this fusion of biblical revelation and natural theology underwrote beliefs in inalienable rights and limited government. 19th‑ and 20th‑century materialism (Darwin, Marx, Freud) eroded that foundation, but that worldview is now being challenged by contemporary scientific reasons for a theistic “return of the God hypothesis.” This renewal of scientific support for theism and the intellectual foundations of the American republic offers hope as it approaches its 250th anniversary.

This conversation took place at the 2026 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith presented by Discovery Institute’s Center on Science & Culture. https://scienceandfaith.com

Stephen C. Meyer received his PhD in the philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. A former geophysicist and college professor, he now directs Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture in Seattle. https://stephencmeyer.org

Kerby Anderson is the President of Probe Ministries. He also serves as a visiting professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, among others. He is the host of “Point of View” radio talk show and regular guest on “Fire Away” (American Family Radio). https://probe.org/kerby-anderson/