Did You Know that Half the Declaration's Signers Had Divinity School Training?

History News Network ^ | 5/30/05 | LS

[Pelham]

There is some merit to separation being a concern of the Founding era. The history of the English Civil War of the 1600s was well known to the American colonists - warring factions had included Anglican Arminians, English Calvinists, Scots Irish Presbyterians, and Irish Catholics. A lot of the American colonial population were descended from religious groups who set sail as a result of that Civil War.

The New England colonies were hostile to non-Congregationalists. Virginia had the Church of England as its State Church. Dissenting groups, Baptists, Methodists, and so forth were very wary of having a new State Church establish itself after the Revolution.

[Pelham]

Calvinism is closer to Deism than it is to Christianity.

Hardly. You evidently have not taken a look at Calvin's Insitutes. Calvin considered himself Luther's student. Both had been Catholics prior to the Reformation, both were greatly influenced by Augustine's writings.

[StonyBurk]

Indeed--yet today it sends task forces to the AirForce academy to document complaints against Christians-Go figure.None of our public institutions I am aware of have
remained true to their foundations especially among the schools that trace a history back prior to the War Between the States.

[StonyBurk]

And Harvard has the infamous Peter Gomes -a homosexual who
thinks one can be a good Christian and unrepentant homosexual at th esame time--and says most people don't know
how to read the Bible. Typical of the Reprobate aint it.

[StonyBurk]

Moot point -have not verified it - But I recall the motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesia Truth, Christ and the Church.

[cyborg]

The intelligence of children is very underestimated. My mother came from a brit colony where everyone of a certain primary school age had to learn latin for church. Do you know of any government school teaching elementary school kids latin? I don't.

[StonyBurk]

"Separation of church and State" by Philip Hamburger, (Law Professor at the University of Chicago)University of Harvard Press ,2000; see also "thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between church and State" by Daniel Dreisbach ,New York University Press,2000;See also Library of Congress display "Christianity and the Founding of the
American Republic,1998James H.Hutson-to name a few,

[StonyBurk]

And Law was more honorable then-lawyers closer to the Divine Law.

[festus]

They were also all men. White men.

Oh the humanity....

[StonyBurk]

Mugs is suffering from Romans 1:21 syndrom.

[mugs99]

Hardly. You evidently have not taken a look at Calvin's Insitutes

I was not refering to the Zwinglian doctrine preached by Calvin in 16th century Switzerland, but to the Arminian doctrine practiced by Americans in the 18th century. In colonial America Deists and Unitarians were not allowed to hold public office in most states. Until after the constitutional convention in 1787 they identified themselves as Calvinists. Article 6, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution corrects that. The Constitution forbids any religious test to hold office. A godless person is just as eligible as a godly one! After the separation of church and state Deists and Unitarians no longer had to call themselves Calvinists and the Unitarian Association became the Unitarian Church.
...

[cookcounty]

Your list calls John Adams a "Unitarian." I sincerely doubt this.

[cookcounty]

" Did you know that after flunking out of Harvard Law, Algore flunked out of divinity school at Vanderbilt?"

Can you imagine a ................."Pastor Al Gore"?!?!?!?!!!!

[Matchett-PI]

"Mugs is suffering from Romans 1:21 syndrom."

Exactly. Those who deliberately suppress self-evident truth - deceiving themselves and others - have no excuse.

[LS]

Oh, I agree. I'm just saying that the manifestations of the Spirit really came after the 2nd Great Awakening and the appearance of these itinerant ministers. Indeed, the old Anglican/Episcopalian way was to NOT show your emotions.

[LS]

That's it. I knew I'd read this somewhere.

[LS]

Nope, and even worse, the private prep schools that once prided themselves on requiring Latin are giving it up. Course, on the other hand, our kids can all speak "rap" and "ghetto," which is much more difficult :)

[LS]

The Founders were---but not all religious leaders were. Remember Anne Hutchinson?

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Your analysis sounds spot on to me. Good luck convincing the naysayers that it was stoicism and not satanism the founders were practicing.

They would rather believe the absolute worst of the "dead white men" who created our country. Makes it much easier to rationalize their contempt of the faithful.

[kabar]

Your list calls John Adams a "Unitarian." I sincerely doubt this.

It is not my list, but the facts seem to support it.

John Adams

John Adams (1797-1801)

Two Unitarian Presidents

Do you have evidence to the contrary?