CINCINNATI (CWNews.com) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled Ohio's state motto, "With God, all things are possible," is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

    A panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the words had no secular purpose and was an endorsement of Christianity, since the words were taken from the Gospel of Matthew. The phrase has been Ohio's motto since 1959.

    The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the motto and a 1998 decision by a federal judge in Columbus that allowed the motto to be displayed as long as it does not state it comes from the Bible. The state argued that the motto does not compel people to believe anything and that to some people it would not have a religious connotation.

    The ACLU represented the plaintiff, the Rev. Matthew Peterson, a Presbyterian minister in Cleveland, who objected to the use of the motto. It appears on the secretary of state's stationery, state reports, and state tax returns, as well as a bronze plaque in a plaza at the entrance of the Statehouse in Columbus.