Posted on 08/29/2002 5:45:11 PM PDT by jstone78
AMERICA’S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE
Were our Founding Fathers Christian with a fervent love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Or were they primarily Deists, who only acknowledged the existence of a distant, impersonal god?
George Washington: His personal prayer book, written in his own handwriting, declares continual fidelity to the Lord Jesus Christ: "O most Glorious God, in Jesus Christ my merciful and loving Father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day."
John Marshall: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court described Washington: "Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man."
The Continental Congress, on September 11, 1777, recommended and approved that the Committee of Commerce "import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere," because of the great need of the American people and the great shortage caused by the interruption of trade with England by the Revolutionary War.
John Adams: On March 6, 1789, President Adams called for a national day of fasting and prayer so that the nation might "call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgression, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience. . ."
John Quincy Adams: "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." (July 4, 1821)
John Jay: First Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court: "Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son."
Patrick Henry: In a letter to his sister Anne: "My heart is full. Perhaps I may never see you in this world. O may we meet in heaven, to which the merits of Jesus will carry those who love and serve Him."
George Mason: "Father" of the Bill of Rights; "My soul I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, whose tender mercies are all over His works, who hateth nothing that He hath made, and to the justice and wisdom of whose dispensations I willingly and cheerfully submit, humbly hoping from His unbounded mercy and benevolence, through the merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins".
James Madison: "Chief Architect" of the U. S. Constitution, wrote in the margin of his Bible, "Christ's Divinity appears by St. John chapter XX, 2; 'And Thomas answered and said unto Him, my Lord and my God!' Resurrection testified to and witnessed by the Apostles, Acts IV, 33."
The First Act of Congressfollowing their agreement of the precise wording of the First Amendment (Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...) was to ask President Washington to declare a national day of fasting and prayer!
Constitution of the State of Delaware: Art. XXII Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust... shall...make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: "I, do profess faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."
United States Supreme Court: Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 1892, 143 US 457, "These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation."(p.471) [This U. S. Supreme Court opinion includes a lengthy and detailed record of the historic evidences of America's Christian heritage.]
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.
This is problem for people to understand?
agreed
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.
What???
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?
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
A similar multiple burial and reburial occured with Christopher Columbus. He, too is buried in three different graves.
Billybob
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.