Skip to comments.
AMERICA’S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE (Was America Founded by Christians or by Deists?)
Alliance4lifemin.org ^
| Alliance for Life Ministries
Posted on 08/29/2002 5:45:11 PM PDT by jstone78
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-30 next last
The above should settle the question, on whether or not America was founded as a Christian nation.
1
posted on
08/29/2002 5:45:12 PM PDT
by
jstone78
To: jstone78
Why no Tom Paine quotes?
2
posted on
08/29/2002 5:51:35 PM PDT
by
Shermy
Comment #3 Removed by Moderator
To: jstone78
I'm afraid that there are a whole lot of other quotes from a great number of the founding fathers that would make a very strong case for them being Deists, at best.
The fairest argument that can be made is that these men were, like all men, a product of their time. They lived in a very religious time, towards the tail end of the era when your religion was usually defined by who your king was.
There is really no question that these men were motivated by many different influences, some religious but also some not religious, such as the belief in "natural law" and the innate right of individuals to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". The Bible had been around for centuries, it took the vision of men like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, and many other great men to forge this new creation called "The United States of America".
To argue that the founding fathers were devout believers is as dishonest as claiming that they were all athiests. The truth is that they were men of their era, a era deeply influenced by religion and religious practices. Their writings, thoughts and comments reflect that reality.
Their primary intent was not to create a nation that was Christian, their primary intent was to create a nation that was free, where men could choose to believe or not believe however they wished without being molested by the state.
To: Shermy
No quotes from John Locke either
Comment #6 Removed by Moderator
To: Billy_bob_bob
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
7
posted on
08/29/2002 6:00:40 PM PDT
by
Shermy
To: jstone78
Early America was a mostly Christian society and all the ideals that come along with that. The Founders, a smatterting of many faiths, were intelligent enough to see the dangers in a purely religious governent (midevel europe and the middle east are such GREAT places, huh) that they set up a SECULAR government to protect the natural (God given) rights of man including freedom religion.
This is problem for people to understand?
To: realpatriot71
{....they set up a SECULAR government to protect the natural (God given) rights of man including freedom religion...}
It would be more accurate to say that they opposed the establishment of a national church, be it Anglican, Presbyterian or Catholic.
But they believed that the moral foundation of America was Christian. They had a non-denominational Christian vision of America, rather than a secular or atheistic one.
9
posted on
08/29/2002 6:31:09 PM PDT
by
jstone78
To: jstone78
The Founding Fathers had a great deal of input to the state's constitutions where they lived, as they were written. Often, in those constitutions and other documents, they stated that only Christians should hold offices. Please, I am not advocating that position only pointing out the degree to which the FF were men of faith, Christian faith.
To: jstone78
Let's add the fact , that many early colonies had official state churches, all of which were Christian.
To: Billy_bob_bob
Their primary intent was not to create a nation that was Christian, their primary intent was to create a nation that was free, where men could choose to believe or not believe however they wished without being molested by the state. agreed
12
posted on
08/29/2002 7:32:13 PM PDT
by
tomkat
To: Shermy
I expect you asked "why no Tom Paine quotes" because you are aware of what he wrote in the Age of Reason. Odds are, the omission is logical, since Paine was never any kind of official in the government (of America) as the others all were. Since you raise the question, I can answer it. I am just finishing my eight book, These Are the Times that Try Men's Souls which is about Paine and his times, with an important wrinkle that no scholars before have discovered. On your point, to make a long story short, Paine wrote with references similar to almost all the Framers, as a member of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in his all-important Common Sense.
Later in life, he reached a different conclusion, denounced Christianity (and all other organized religions) in the Age of Reason, and cost him almost all his former friends. He died poor, alone and nearly friendless as a result, and lies buried in three different graves.
I will, of course, have "deist" quotes from Paine in my book.
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest column: "Memo to CBS about Bill Clinton."
Click for latest book: "to Restore Trust in America"
Post Script: There are rumors, and allegations from their political opponents, that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were also deists. But their publiished works do not support this claim.
To: dixie sass; usconservative; Bigun; Eagle9; freedox; jenx; Japedo
Ping and Japedo can you show this to MJ?
To: Congressman Billybob
and lies buried in three different gravesWhat???
Was he dismembered and his parts buried separately?
Or, are there three graves which claim to be the tomb of Thomas Paine and no one is really sure which, if any, is correct?
Or, is there another possibility which my two brain cells cannot fathom?
15
posted on
08/29/2002 8:08:16 PM PDT
by
Jemian
To: Billy_bob_bob
The people that were in America 100 years before Washington were profoundly Christian. Church attendance was a requirement.One of my ancestors spent several nights in jail for missing church.I have been humbled and amazed at the faith that George Washington had. Schools were started for one reason, so that people could read the bible.
To: jstone78
The above settles nothing. Many founders were Christian. They founded a secular state that happened to be inhabited by lots of Christians.
To: jstone78
Were our Founding Fathers Christian with a fervent love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, some of them were
Or were they primarily Deists, who only acknowledged the existence of a distant, impersonal god?
Yes, some of them were
Why is it so hard to accept both statements can be true.
Men change or modify their belief systems their entire lives as they learn and mature.
This is such a pointless agrument
18
posted on
08/29/2002 8:37:36 PM PDT
by
JZoback
To: jstone78
Why does it matter? America may have been founded by Xtians but it was not founded exclusively for Xtians was it?
To: Jemian
Paine's body was dug up and moved twice, by people who thought they could make an attraction from his grave site. The process being sloppy, no doubt parts of his body remained in each prior location. I've even read reports that some people made buttons from some of his bones. A similar multiple burial and reburial occured with Christopher Columbus. He, too is buried in three different graves.
Billybob
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-30 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson