The Religion of the Founding Fathers by David Holmes; Professor at
the College of William and Mary.
1. Early America was filled with religious ‘sects.’ These are groups that
remained within the wide spectrum of Christian belief but that broke off into
what they considered pure communities of ethics and doctrine based upon
their interpretation of Scripture.
2. Of the thirteen colonies, nine had established churches. An established
church is an official religious organization of a country or colony. The
government supports it financially, legislates for it, and protects it against
competition. Citizens were born into membership in churches.
3. There was one tolerant, religiously diverse colony in New England –
Rhode Island. It was founded by Roger Williams, an exile from Puritan
Massachusetts who opposed governmental coercion in religious matters.
4. Most churches of colonial America were branches of the Calvinist church.
5. The middle colonies had a number of Roman Catholics, and Virginia was
dominated by the Anglican Church.
6. Religious freedom means that citizens are free to worship in any way -or
not at all – and the state protects that freedom. Religious tolerance means
that a state allows a group to exist and to worship, but retains the right to
withdraw or limit that permission at any time.
7. Genuine religious freedom did not come to the United States until the late
1780s. And when it did come, it emerged from the religion of the Founding
Fathers.
8. George Whitefield and the rise of the Evangelical tradition in America:
 Originated with contact between John Wesley and a Moravian bishop.
 In 1738, he had a ‘spiritual conversion.’ Became a Methodist –a
conversion centered lay movement of the Church of England.
 Whitefield was a follower of Wesley’s new movement. ( Read page
41)
 His message was: that people deserved damnation, but could be saved
through the grace and forgiveness of God. In gratitude for this
forgiveness, they must be ‘born again.’
 Add Jonathan Edwards and you have the ‘Great Awakening.’ This
“Great Awakening” was the single most transforming event in the
religious history of colonial America. The Baptists and Methodists
were its greatest heirs and they would represent the religious future of
African –Americans. None of the Founding Fathers were
evangelicals.
 Washington, Adams (officially Unitarian –some Deist doctrine),
Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Paine, and Franklin were all Deists.
Deism is rooted in the Enlightenment and in reason.
 There is a God
 He ought to be worshiped
 Virtue is the principal element in this worship
 Humans should repent for their sins
 There is a life after death
 Deists called into question any teaching or belief in Christianity that
they could not reconcile with human reason. They dismissed the
doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation, the virgin birth, the
resurrection, and the doctrine of the atonement. They referred to God
as ‘the Creator’, the God of nature, and etc. This reflects the wording
in the Declaration of Independence. Humans had no need to read the
Bible, to pray, to be baptized or circumcised, to receive Holy
Communion, to attend church, or to heed the words of misguided
priests, ministers, or rabbis. They accused organized religion of
fostering divisive sectarianism, for encouraging persecution, and for
stifling freedom of thought and speech throughout history. They
promoted freedom of speech, free education, and separation of church
and state. Today, you will find elements of Deism in the Masonic
order, in Unitarian churches, and in the Quaker religion. *Read page
77 from Franklin.
FYI: Mason Weems who wrote about Washington in the early 1800s, tried
to make a case to support his theory that Washington was a pious Christian.
He told stories about prayer services, communion, and a soldier who heard
Washington cry out to God during battle. Some of these stories have been
passed down –like the cherry tree- and found their way into modern history
books. But more reliable historians in the 20th century have discredited these
stories as fiction.