People throw quotes but don't look at the whole picture. Example, Thomas Jefferson said, " The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." Quotes can go back & forth on most people but we all know Jefferson rejected Christ's divinity.
People talk about the Treaty of Tripoli but never use the whole paragraph & only the one sentence. That arguement can go back and forth but what does that have to do with the Founding Fathers?
To not like religion isn't the same as not being a Christian. To not like a "system" doesn't mean you denounce Christ.
Who were the founding fathers really? I think most were Christian. Not the same type as I am but a form of Christianity non the less.
2006-12-28 14:21:22 · 9 answers · asked by Jasmine 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Washington professed Christ when he was young but didn't say anything either way when he was older. Family and friends saw him often kneeling and praying in his study. He also kept a prayer journal. But you could look at some letters he sent to Jefferson. No one really knows if he was Christian or deist.
John Adams was Unitarian and believed in Christ
Thomas Jefferson was either atheist or deist. He called himself a materialist.
Ethan Allen and Ben Franklin were deist
Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry and John Jay were Christian
Roger Sherman was Christian and part of Congregationalist Church
Benjamin Rush was Christian
James Wilson, John Hancock, James Madison and etc…I haven’t studied
Basically, I think most were to whatever degree…Christians. Why do people act like none were?
What do you think? What have you studied? Thanks
2006-12-28 14:21:39 · update #1
Jerry Falwell...gee I feel dumb...I don't know who he is...gotta look that up
2006-12-28 14:25:32 · update #2
Jen...you have issues. I never said Jefferson was a Christian. Gee Wiz. I'm also not talking about Bush. (slapping forehead)
2006-12-28 14:29:58 · update #3
Washington was a good Anglican (or Episcopalian if you perfer the American term). The Anglicans held that you shouldn't be preachy about your religion, that you should keep it to yourself so that you do not offend people, especially in America when Anglicans were not fondly loved, especially after the Revolution. He did everything an Anglican of his time was expected to do.
Jefferson was a mix of a Deist but most of his writings show Unitarianism.
John Adams was a Unitarian but he was fond of the New Testament.
James Madison was an Anglican and considered theology as a major in college but the Revolution drew his interests to law.
Franklin was strange. In his youth he wrote that he was basically a Polytheist, then he wrote a great essay on Providence which I think utterly destroyed the concept of Deism, then in his autobiography he says he thought one Deist argument was very convincing (though he didn't say what), and late in life he said he had questions about the Trinity but never studied it in depth. Franklin can best be described perhaps as a little bit of everything, from Unitarian to Deist to Polytheist to Christian. Especially in a speech he gave during the Constitution Convention (the one where he said "I have lived sir a long time) but that quote is over-used, the entire speech is amazing.
Alexander Hamilton was for the most part of his life irreligious, but there is an account of his conversion on his death bed which literally brought me to tears as I read it in the college library. Hamitlon is the only one that I could truly see had a Christian heart. Washington might be second. Third is hard to judge, but I think Adams was fairly close, in fact if we were to talk him and I might agree on a great many things.
2006-12-29 00:44:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because they weren't. Thomas Jefferson compiled "The Life and Moral of Jesus" because he did not believe in Jesus' miracles. He also denied the divinity of Christ as did Benjamin Franklin. Many Deist, including myself, hold Jesus to be a great moral teacher, but we do not believe Jesus to be the son of God.
You also state that a Unitarian (John Adams) is a Christian. Unitarians do not believe in the Trinity (hence, the "uni-" meaning "one") in the name.
Some were Christian, without a doubt, but most were Deists. They did attend Christian churches, because Deism has no churches (I should know, I am one). George Washington routinely refused Communion because he didn't believe in it.
Note: the "God" found in many documents refers to the "Creator" of Deism, not the God of Christianity.
2006-12-28 22:26:42 · answer #2 · answered by The Doctor 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
you have some very nice quotes there, i especially like those that have been edited by Jerry Falwell.
most of the framers, by the way, were Masons, and the christians of the day hated the Masons. if anyone is dumb enough to think that Jefferson was a christian, then read about how he re-wrote the bible, and why.
he NEVER thought christ was the son of god. NEVER.
quit going to whack-job bible sites to get your re-edited "founding father" quotes!!
The last Presidential Election in this country shows what moronic choices christians make when they select a leader based on their cult.
2006-12-28 22:23:56 · answer #3 · answered by jen1981everett 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
good question!!
i really am not sure. i did a paper on it in world religions class and its really interesting. sorry i don't think this is really an answer but i believe since it was a while ago and not everything was kept for history that we have to make our own assumptions and in the history books we have today it just states others assumptions.
so your guess is better than mine.
2006-12-28 22:35:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the last election for President of the United States of America showed the power of Christianity in this country
2006-12-28 22:25:48 · answer #5 · answered by Terry S 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Too Long ADD kicked in What did you say again?
2006-12-28 22:24:32 · answer #6 · answered by timjim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have answered this question so many times on here and i'm going to keep saying the Constitution & america was founded by Quakers & Protestants. FACT.
2006-12-28 22:25:33 · answer #7 · answered by Nikki 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋
What's your point?
Are you trying to prove that a "Christian State" is what we're really supposed to be living in?
Shame on you. Terrible shame.
2006-12-28 22:29:54 · answer #8 · answered by Voodoid 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Because they had brains, and they knew how to use them.
2006-12-28 22:26:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋