A
few words about the belief systems of our founding fathers on
Independence Day.
Quite a few of them - George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, James
Madison, Ethan Allen and James Monroe - practiced a faith called
Deism.
Yup. They were Deists.
Deism is
grounded
in the philosophical
belief that
human
reason is
a reliable
means of solving social and political problems. In
lieu of relying-upon divine revelation Deists believed that
religious truth should also
be
subject to the authority and
influence of human
reason. And
as a consequence they
do
not believe that
the bible
is
the revealed word of God and they
rejected
scripture as a source of religious doctrine.
Many
of the founding fathers were also practicing
Christians. They retained a supernaturalist world view, a belief in
the divinity of Jesus Christ, and an adherence to the teachings of
their denomination. Among
them are Patrick
Henry, John Jay, and Samuel Adams.
And
like in all belief systems that are matters of degree; so there are
Founders
who fall into the category of Christian Deists. Washington
is included in this group and his dedication
to Christianity was clear in his own mind - Deist
beliefs notwithstanding. These believers made
use of Deistic
terms for God but sometimes added a Christian dimension—such as
Merciful
Providence and
Divine
Goodness. Yet these Founders did not move further into orthodoxy to solely
employ the traditional language of Christian piety.
Founders who
remained unaffected by Deism or who like John
Adams became
conservative Unitarians
and made use of terminology
that
clearly conveyed their orthodoxy - Savior, Redeemer, and
Resurrected
Christ.
Happy Independence Day.
And always remember we do not have a state religion.
The Founding Fathers had great foresight in that regard.....
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