Most of the Constitutional framers were Deists (pronounced day-ist) influenced by the writings of Thomas Paine. Deists believe that God exists in Nature, that Jesus was not the Son of God, and that the Bible is the work of Man and not God.
2007-05-03 13:59:55 · 29 answers · asked by thesaintofelsewhere 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Enlightenment era "Christianity" was rationalistic and profoundly Deist and would not be considered Christianity by any standards today. The writings of Paine were certainly not rejected.
2007-05-04 13:08:55 · update #1
Historical evidence militates against the view that those who formulated the fundamental documents of American government were Christians. To the contrary, not a few who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the U. S. Constitution were Deists, Theists and Freemasons.
To catalog a few:
Thomas Jefferson, a Deist,
Thomas Paine, a Theist
Benjamin Franklin, Freemason
George Washington, Freemason
2007-05-03 14:03:56 · answer #1 · answered by MyPreshus 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Yes. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were definately Deists; George Washington is believe to be. Many of the others were Deists also. They attended Christian churches, but in their writings they deny Jesus as the son of God. George Washington refused Communion because he didn't feel he should be taking it.
Christians like to take their belief in God that they were Christian; belief in God does not equate with Christianity. Thomas Jefferson wrote that he was a Christian, but only in that he followed Jesus' moral; his divinity he denied.
2007-05-03 14:08:50 · answer #2 · answered by The Doctor 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Actually, your facts are not entirely correct. While there were a number of deists, (and I've never heard it pronounced as 'day'), most were of organized Christian denominations. Others were athiest.
Still, if you are looking for evidence that the country was not founded on specific Christian principles, try looking at the treaty with tripoli. Check out in particular article 11.
2007-05-03 16:38:10 · answer #3 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
And where did you get these pearls of wisdom? You may count among the founding fathers Quakers, Puritans, Luthrens and many other Christians. A few were Deists but not many and the USA was definately founded on Christian principles. Did you know that most universities in this nation were originally started in order to train more ministers? Try reading what some of the sayings are at Havard, Yale, Princeton, not to mention what is carved into almost every government building and monument in DC. Good grief do you really think that people are that ignorant??????????
2007-05-03 14:08:35 · answer #4 · answered by Sylvia G 3 · 0⤊ 6⤋
I don't know who your founding father are
but the one of my church were Jews, and knew Jesus personally
Peter and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
and then there is Paul who Jesus stop on the road and set him strait, to who He was
and we never changed what we believed over the years
we still preach Acts 2:38 as salvation and that there is only One God, who was manifest in the flesh, that is Jesus
2007-05-03 14:07:26 · answer #5 · answered by Noble Angel 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Yes. At least the major players were Deists. Still, one must wonder at the fact that they most of them still attended and supported the churches of their choosing.
2007-05-03 14:07:06 · answer #6 · answered by 17hunter 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
a number of the keys ones were; but there were plenty of Christians, too.
But these Chrisitans tended to be Englightenment-era Christians, not literalists and certainly not fundementalists.
2007-05-03 14:11:37 · answer #7 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
our founding fathers did not seek to eradicate religion in america. an overwhelming preponderance of those who signed the declaration of independence counted themselves as men of faith.
thomas jefferson’s cause was to protect religious liberties from an intrusive government. in no way did jefferson or any of the other framers of the u.s. constitution seek to restrict americans’ religious activities.
2007-05-03 14:04:15 · answer #8 · answered by Silver 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
to all those who say that the founding fathers were mostly Christians. RIGHT! if that were true then we would have THE CHURCH in charge of things. what did the Treaty of Tripoli say.not a christian nation!!!!
2007-05-03 14:31:00 · answer #9 · answered by robertbobbybob 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Old news... High School history... 6th grade history when I was in school... but they all most all recognized the value of the Jewish / Christian ethic...that is why so much of it was incorporated into the founding documents.
2007-05-03 14:11:09 · answer #10 · answered by idahomike2 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋