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In a speech during Independence Day celebrations in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, President Donald Trump misquoted the U.S. Declaration of Independence, falsely claiming it contained deep religious overtones.

“As our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty god,” Trump said during the speech, referring to a concept that appears in the Book of Genesis.

The Declaration of Independence makes no reference to Americans (or anyone) being created “in the image” of a god. The document includes only one mention of the word “god,” stating that all people are subject to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

The phrase “nature’s God” has long been understood by historians to be a term deists used in the late 18th century to refer to whatever universal force created the universe — not necessarily a Christian god.

“Nature’s God is…a ‘deity’ that operates entirely through laws — natural laws — that are explicable,” explained historian Matthew Stewart, author of the book “Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic,” in an NPR interview from 2014. “And we have to........

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