Very few of the USA founding fathers were christian? Weren't most of them just deists?

Answer 1

Ayup. America's founders had more sense than some people give them credit for.

Thomas Jefferson practically *detested* Christianity.

http://www.deism.com/

Answer 2

That's untrue. In fact, most of the founding fathers, though with a few exceptions (Benjamin Franklin, for example) were Christians. There are several notable examples I can use, but the most powerful is our first president and a defender of our country, George Washington. Many historians have tried to make the argument that he was a deist, but they've little evidence to rely upon. For one thing, there is George Washington's diary, which documents not only the happenings of each day, but all of the prayers he made to God. Furthermore, many of his prayers mention Jesus Christ, indicating belief in the Christian God. There's even a book, "George Washington's Sacred Fire," that addresses the deist question. The fact that he prayed alone indicates that he was not a deist; deists believe in a clockmaker God that created everything and left, and is therefore unreachable, even thorugh prayer. Furthermore, Washington operated on the premise that God exists. One example is during an encounter with Indians who sought to be integrated into colonial society. Though he gave them much advice, he said that the most important thing they could do was to accept God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to know the religion of Christianity. Finally, in his farewell address, he once against stressed the importance of religion, calling it a "pillar of human happiness," and that those who try to overturn that pillar should not even be considered patriots. Further evidence abounds that many of the other founding fathers were Christians, NOT deists. When many of the founding fathers convened to figure out what should be done about the British threat, guess what they did first? They prayed. They ALL prayed. And they prayed long, too. The fervor of the revolutionary spirit was so hot in each of them that Benjamin Franklin, though not a Christian, affirmed that what happened that day made him believe more firmly that "God rules in the affairs of men."
Finally, consider the quotes of Benjamin Franklin himself, which mentions the idea of a God that is active in the affairs of men. Among his most famous is that if God knows "if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" From these statements, along iwth many others from the founding fathers, it is very evident that most of the founding fathers were Christians, who, unlike deists, believed that God played an important role in, and even controlled, the affairs of men and could easily be reached.
Therefore, there's no doubt that "In God We Trust" refers to the Christian God.

Answer 3

True, America wasn't founded on Christianity. Maybe the founding fathers were "ascendants" since they arose from the East.

Answer 4

Deists with a strong abiding faith in the importance of The Bible, and Christian Principles in the governing of The Nation.

Answer 5

Most were Chistian, some deists at some level beliving in God in general terms, and one or two perhaps even athiest.

But as a general rule even thier form of belief was still that God had empowered our Nation for its government and people.

Answer 6

I don't know I haven't talked to them in a while. However if you read some of the writings of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, it is very likely that they were Christians.

Answer 7

Almost to a man they WERE Christians. Find an older book and read your history [written before the powers-that-be re-wrote history removing God from it.]

Answer 8

Yes. I hate it when people assume "In God We Trust" refers to the Christian God only.

Answer 9

no, Christians, that's why God was everywhere back in the early days. He was in schools, in the courts, congress said a prayer before they met. They even put God on our money.

Answer 10

So Casey - how is it different today?