America's founding fathers were not Christians

Scott Ritsema
CIVICS NEWS.com
November 30, 2008



I recently attended a seminar put on by historian, Dr. Gregg Frazer. Frazer has done the history profession and the Christian community a great service in collecting the quotations of the founding fathers, which, taken together, show conclusively that the founders were not Christians, as many religious right political activists have claimed in recent decades. Gregg Frazer is a Professor of History & Political Studies at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA.

Frazer takes the words of the five most significant founders--Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, and Madison--and lets these men speak for themselves. I can credit Frazer for compiling the quotes that I detail below, and I recommend readers purchase his dissertation on the subject (call 800-521-0600 ext. 7020 and ask for The Political Theology of the American Founding by Gregg Frazer).

Here are just a few of the quotations from the founders, which show clearly that they did not hold to Christian doctrine. I hope that the citing of these quotations does not lead the impression that I am critical of the political philosophy of these founders. No. They were spot on when it comes to what the best form of government ought to look like. But they were not Christians. Consider the following.

According to John Adams, “… the Pythagorean, as well as the Platonic philosophers, probably concurred in the fabrication of the Christian Trinity” (Dec. 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson).

Adams also stated the following: “Had you and I been forty days with Moses on Mount Sinai, and admitted to behold the divine Shekinah, and there told that one was three and three one, we might not have had the courage to deny it, but we could not have believed it. … we could not have believed the doctrine” (Sep. 14, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson).

John Adams referred to the deity of Jesus Christ and His satisfaction for the sins of man as “absurdity” (John Adams’ Diary, Feb. 13, 1756).

Consider also this Adams quotation: “Where is to be found theology more orthodox, or philosophy more profound, than in the introduction to the Shastra [Hindu text]? … These doctrines, sublime, if ever there were any sublime, Pythagoras learned in India, and taught them to Zaleucus and his other disciples. … All ended in Heaven, if they became virtuous” (Dec. 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson).

And then this Adams classic: “I believe … that all good men are Christians” (July 8, 1820 letter to Samuel Miller).

Last of all, Adams voiced his disdain for scriptural revelation: “Philosophy, which is the result of reason, is the first, the original revelation of the Creator to his creature, man. … no subsequent revelation, supported by prophecies or miracles [i.e. the Bible!], can supersede it” (Dec. 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson).

Like Adams, Thomas Jefferson voiced his disdain for the Trinity: “When we shall have done away the incomprehensible jargon of the Trinitarian arithmetic, that three are one, and one is three …” (Feb. 27, 1821 letter to Timothy Pickering). And again here, Jefferson mocks the Trinity: “The hocus-pocus phantasm of a God like another Cerberus, with one body and three heads …” (Dec. 8, 1822 letter to James Smith).

Jefferson also makes fun of the doctrine of the virgin birth: “And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter” (April 11, 1823 letter to John Adams).

Additionally, Thomas Jefferson lists numerous “artificial systems, invented by ultra-Christian sects, unauthorized by a single word ever uttered by him [Jesus]” Among these doctrines of man, according to Jefferson, include, “the immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection and visible ascension … the Trinity, original sin, atonement, regeneration, election …” (Oct. 31, 1819 letter to William Short).

Regarding the writers of New Testament books other than the Gospels, Jefferson stated that, “these Pseudo-evangelists pretended to inspiration …” (Aug. 10, 1787 letter to Peter Carr).

Last of all, according to Jefferson, “he who steadily observes those moral precepts in which all religions concur, will never be questioned at the gates of heaven, as to the dogmas in which they all differ” (Sep. 18, 1813 letter to Quaker William Canby).

For those readers who are unfamiliar with Christian doctrine and what the Bible teaches, these quotes by Adams and Jefferson prove conclusively that these men were not Christians. No Christian would read those quotations and even doubt this final conclusion.

The last three major founders, Franklin, Washington, and Madison, had fewer writings on the subject of religion than Adams and Jefferson, but we can conclude the same with regards to their religious beliefs.

Benjamin Franklin voiced his “doubts” about the divinity of Jesus (which is a polite 18th century way of saying “I don’t believe Jesus was divine”). He even points out that he hasn’t thought much about the subject, and doesn’t really care to. Does that sound like a Christian? Here's the quotation:

“I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have … doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble.” (March 9, 1790 letter to Ezra Stiles).

Franklin was an enthusiastic Freemason who frequented the Hellfire Club in London.

George Washington is a particularly interesting case, because he is the one most often cited as being the one true Christian founding father. The question should be asked at the out-set: what evidence is there that Washington was a Christian? Because he believed in Providence? Nearly all of the founding fathers believed in a God who was active in human affairs—but that does not make them Christians.

The fact of the matter is that George Washington never claimed to be a Christian. In fact, in March of 1797 a group of clergymen tried to get him to clear up the issue of “whether he was a Christian or not.” They were frustrated when Washington refused to do so, and one of them said, “the old fox was too cunning for us.” Washington steadfastly avoided the issue.

Washington never took communion, and after he was corrected by his Episcopal minister, he stopped coming to church on communion Sundays.

And he studiously avoided mentioning the name of Jesus. In 20,000+ pages of his writings, there is only one reference to “Jesus,” “Jesus Christ,” or “Christ” – and that is not in his handwriting.

The custom at the time was to kneel in prayer, but Washington steadfastly refused to do so. Wait a minute... What about that portrait of George Washington kneeling in prayer? And what about that story that the religious right tells about the man, Isaac Potts, who supposedly found Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge? Well, the fact is that Potts was nowhere near Valley Forge in 1777. He moved there near the end of the war. There is no way he could have seen Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge. This is a myth.



Additionally, Washington only and always used “God-words” in place of any terms specific to Christianity and the Bible. For example, in a speech to Indian leaders (written by a clerk), he crossed out the word “God” and substituted “the Great Spirit above.” Washington’s use of “God-words” is consistent with his enthusiasm for Freemasonry. The Masons refer to God as “The Great Architect of the Universe.”

Was Washington a Christian? Ask somebody who would know--an Anglican Bishop who was Washington’s contemporary. Bishop stated, “I do not believe that any degree of recollection will bring to my mind any fact which would prove General Washington to have been a believer in the Christian revelation ….”

Another contemporary, Rev. Samuel Miller asked the very good question, “How was it possible … for a true Christian … to die without one expression of distinctive belief, or Christian hope?” What evidence do we have that this Freemason was a Christian? Not one expression of Christian faith can be found in the words of George Washington.

Last of all, consider James Madison.

Madison studiously avoided any explicit declarations of faith or belief throughout his adult life. He certainly discussed all the great questions of life…except religion. Madison mentioned “Jesus” or “Christ” specifically only once (as young man) in his voluminous writings, and he even took care to point out that he only used “general terms” for God and that those terms “embraced all who believed in a supreme ruler of the Universe” (Madison’s private Memoranda).

A minister friend said of Madison: “his creed was not strictly regulated by the Bible.”

Where do we get the idea that Adams, Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, and Madison were Christians? One major player in advancing this revisionist history of the founders as Christians has been David Barton. Space does not permit a full analysis of Barton’s poor history, but consider this one point. Barton quotes Madison as saying, “Religion … [is] the basis and foundation of government.” Well, let’s look at Madison’s quote in its entirety to see if Barton is being honest:

Because finally, ‘the equal right of every citizen to the free exercise of his RELIGION according to the dictates of conscience’ IS held by the same tenure with all his other rights. If we recur to its origin, it is equally the gift of nature; if we weigh its importance, it cannot be less dear to us; if we consider the ‘Declaration of those rights which pertain to the good people of Virginia, as THE BASIS AND FOUNDATION OF GOVERNMENT,’ it is enumerated with equal solemnity, or rather studied emphasis.”

What is the basis and foundation of government, according to Madison? The Virginia Declaration of Rights. In other words, individual freedom. Not Christianity. Sorry, Mr. Barton.

These five men were virtuous, brilliant men, who should be honored for the work they did in founding this country. The American form of government is the best that man has ever devised. But we don't need to go beyond that and try to make them out to be Christians. We Christians should be faithful to the truth of history, and avoid spreading mis-information to our youth. We should not be known for being ignorant of the facts of history, and we definitely should not be known for lying about the past. It's time to correct the very bad history that has been done during the last few decades of Christian political activism.