Beliefs of the Founding Fathers
- Quotes from our Founding Fathers on Religion
Information gathered by the American Policy Roundtable
George
Washington
Source -
Christianity As
An Influence On The Founding Fathers by John A.
Sterling
Belief -
Episcopalian
"I now make it my earnest prayer the God would
have you and the State over which you preside,
in His holy protection, that he would incline
the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit
of subordination and obedience to government; to
entertain a brotherly affection and love for one
another, for their fellow citizens of the United
States at large, and particularly for their
brethren who have served in the field; and,
finally, that he would be most graciously
pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love
mercy, and to demean ourselves with that
charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind,
which were the characteristics of the Divine
Author of our blessed religion, and without an
humble imitation of whose example in these
things we can never hope to be a happy nation."
June 8, 1783 in a letter
to the governors of the states on disbanding the
army.
Thomas Jefferson
Source - America's God and
Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, ed. William
J. Federer, FAME publishing, Inc. 1994
Belief -
Episcopalian "God
who gave us life gave us liberty. And can
the liberties of a nation be thought secure when
we have removed their only firm basis, a
conviction in the minds of the people that these
liberties are of the Gift of God? That
they are not to be violated but with His wrath?
Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect
that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep
forever." 1781, Query XVIII of his
Notes on that State of Virginia.
"My
views...are the result of a life of inquiry and
reflection, and very different from the anti-christian
system imputed to me by those who know nothing
of my opinions. To the corruptions of
Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to
the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I
am a Christian in the only sense in which he
wished any one to be; sincerely attached
to his doctrines in preference to all others..."
April 21, 1803 in a letter to Dr. Benjamin.
“The
doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all
the happiness of man.”
“Of
all the systems of morality, ancient or modern
which have come under my observation, none
appears to me so pure as that of Jesus....I am a
real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of
the doctrines of Jesus."
James Madison
Belief
-
Episcopalian
"Religion is the basis and Foundation of
Government." June 20, 1785
"It is
not the talking but the walking and working
person that is the true Christian." In a
manuscript on the Gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles, Madison makes this statement.
"We
have all been encouraged to feel in the
guardianship and guidance of that Almighty
Being, whose power regulates the destiny of
nations." March 4, 1809 Inaugural Address
“We
have staked the whole future of American
civilization, not upon the power of government,
far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our
political institutions upon our capacity…to
sustain ourselves according to the Ten
Commandments of God.” [1778 to the General
Assembly of the State of Virginia]
Benjamin Franklin
Belief
-
Episcopalian
"Here is my Creed. I believe in on God,
the Creator of the Universe. That He
governs it by His Providence. That He
ought to be worshipped.
That the most acceptable service we render to
Him is in doing good to His other Children.
That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be
treated with Justice in another Life respecting
its conduct in this. These I take to be
the fundamental points in all sound Religion,
and I regard them as you do in whatever Sect I
meet with them.
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you
particularly desire, I think the System of
Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us,
is the best the World ever saw, or is likely to
see." March 9, 1790 in a letter to Ezra Stiles,
President of Yale University
"Heavenly Father, May all revere Thee, And
become They dutiful children and faithful
subjects. May thy Laws be obeyed on earth
as perfectly as they are in Heaven.
Provide for us this day as Thou hast hitherto
daily done. Forgive us our trespasses, and
enable us likewise to forgive those that
offended us. Keep us out of temptation and
deliver us from Evil." Franklin's own
version of the Lord's Prayer
“God
governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow
cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is
it probable that an empire can rise without His
aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings
that except the Lord build the house, they labor
in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I
also believe that, without His concurring aid,
we shall succeed in this political building no
better than the builders of Babel” –
Constitutional Convention of 1787,
original manuscript of this speech
John Adams
Belief
-
Unitarian
"The Christian religion is above all the
Religions that ever prevailed or existed in
ancient or modern times, the religion of Wisdom,
Virtue, Equity, and Humanity. Let the
Blackguard Paine say what he will; it is
Resignation to God, it is Goodness itself to
Man." July 26, 1796, in his diary.
"I
have examined all religions, as well as my narrow
sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life,
would allow; and the result is that the Bible is
the best Book in the world. It contains
more philosophy than all the libraries I have
seen." December 25, 1813 in a letter to Thomas
Jefferson.
"The
Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount
contain my religion..." November 4, 1816 in a
letter to Thomas Jefferson.
"As I
understand the Christian religion, it was, and
is, a revelation." December 27, 1816 in a letter
to Judge F.A. Van der Kemp.
The general principles on which the fathers
achieved independence were. . . . the general
principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow
that I then believed, and now believe, that
those general principles of Christianity are as
eternal and immutable as the existence and
attributes of God; and that those principles of
liberty are as unalterable as human nature.
(taken from a letter to Thomas Jefferson on June
28, 1813)
Twenty times in the course of my late reading
have I been on the point of breaking out, "This
would be the best of all possible worlds, if
there were no religion at all!!!" But in this
exclamation I would have been as fanatical as
Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world
would be something not fit to be mentioned in
polite company, I mean hell.
Jesus is benevolence personified, an example for
all men… The Christian religion, in its
primitive purity and simplicity, I have
entertained for more than sixty years. It is the
religion of reason, equity, and love; it is the
religion of the head and the heart
For more information on quotes from these
founding fathers and many others, please see:
America's God and Country Encyclopedia of
Quotations, ed. William J. Federer, FAME Publishing, Inc. 1994.
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