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To: exmarine
The founders were Christian, not deists. It did not influence any of our founding documents nor our form of government. Try improving your reading comprehension.

Try taking off your blinders.

Three prominent folks were Deists - Paine, Jefferson and Franklin. There may have been others, but I'm not aware of them.

Whether or not "Deism influenced any of our founding documents" is certainly debatable. What would the Declaration have read like if Patrick Henry had written it? There would have been more references to Jesus and Our Lord and God than in the New Testament ! Jefferson's references in the Declaration to "nature's God" and "our Creator" are certainly not anti-Christian, but they're much more Deistic than strictly Christian. If you're familiar with Deistic theology, you'll remember they held that the Testament of God was in his works - i.e. nature - and that it was self-evident.

Instead of ad hominems about "reading comprehension" (and I'd bet a large some of money yours doesn't test better than mine) why not discuss the issue?

292 posted on 10/21/2003 2:40:12 PM PDT by jimt
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To: jimt
Three prominent folks were Deists - Paine, Jefferson and Franklin. There may have been others, but I'm not aware of them.

You are not aware of them because they don't exist. You are being ridiculous. Have you been reading this thread? That's 3 out of 250! I challenge you to name just 10 more! Paine had nothing to do with the ratification of the Constitution and Jefferson was in France. Franklin called for prayer and cited 5 bible verses at the Const. convention and claimed that God won the revolutionary war - the God of the bible! Deists don't do that. Do you cite bible verses?

Whether or not "Deism influenced any of our founding documents" is certainly debatable. What would the Declaration have read like if Patrick Henry had written it? There would have been more references to Jesus and Our Lord and God than in the New Testament ! Jefferson's references in the Declaration to "nature's God" and "our Creator" are certainly not anti-Christian, but they're much more Deistic than strictly Christian. If you're familiar with Deistic theology, you'll remember they held that the Testament of God was in his works - i.e. nature - and that it was self-evident.

Hahahha. Again, you are ignorant of history. "Nature's God" comes from the Christian thinkers- Puffendorf and Grotius and Locke. They are referring to the Christian God. If you knew anything about the backgroud of these documents, you would know that.

294 posted on 10/21/2003 2:45:52 PM PDT by exmarine
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