Greg Koukl has a great little article that should put to rest the specious notion that our nation was founded by Deists, which is a fairly popular myth these days.
This issue is actually very simple. The phrase “Founding Fathers” is a proper noun. In other words, Founding Fathers refers directly to a very specific group of people (although I think you could be a little bit flexible and include a little wider group of people). Those who intellectually contributed to the Constitutional convention were the Founding Fathers. If we want to know whether our Founding Fathers were Christian or deists, one needs only to look at the individual religious convictions of those 55 delegates of the Constitutional convention.
How would we know that? We look at their church membership primarily, and also at their correspondence. Back then church membership was a big deal. In other words, to be a member of a church back then, it wasn't just a matter of sitting in the pew or attending once in a while. This was a time when church membership entailed a sworn public confession of biblical faith, adherence, and acknowledgment of the doctrines of that particular church.
Of those 55 Founding Fathers, we know what their sworn public confessions were. Twenty-eight were Episcopalians, eight were Presbyterians, seven were Congregationalists, two were Lutheran, two were Dutch Reformed, two were Methodist, two were Roman Catholic, one is unknown, and only three were deists–Williamson, Wilson, and Franklin.
To heap more fuel on the fire of my point, of the 55, the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, and the Dutch Reformed (which make up 45 of the 55) were Calvinists, for goodness sake! In other words, these weren't just Christians, these were among the most extreme and doctrinally strict Christians around. Of the 55 delegates, virtually all of them were deeply committed Christians. Only three were deists. Even Franklin is equivocal because, though not an orthodox Christian, Franklin seems to have abandoned his deism early in life and moved back towards his Puritan roots. Indeed, it was 81 year old Franklin's emotional call to humble prayer on June 28, 1787, that was actually the turning point for a hopelessly stalled Constitutional convention. We have his appeal on record thanks to James Madison who took copious notes of the whole proceeding. His appeal contained no less than four direct quotations from Scripture. This does not sound like a man who was hostile to the Christian religion.
Give it a read, it seems to address the issue rather well.
No Comments “Is America A Christian Nation?”
Thanks for posting this article. I’ve heard a few times that our founding fathers were deists and was surprised by that. I appreciate this concise article that clears up that confusion.
No problem! I was very excited to hear him talk about this on his radio show (of which the quoted article is actually a transcript), I just had to post about it.
The problem is that somehow 3 of 55 constitutes a majority in the eyes of atheists.
My only contention with his article is his assertion that the majority rules in this country. We are not, as popularly believed, a democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic with a rule of law that trumps majority rule. We do have a democratic process to elect our representative and unfortunately this has been morphed into the idea that we are a democracy. Personally I am getting tired of those, even ones who know better, using this term in error.
I agree to a degree, Glenn. However, the majority does rule, both in modern practice and in the Constitutional system. If something is unconstitutional, and a big enough majority supports it anyway, they can get an amendment passed.
In modern practice, it’s much worse than that. All that is needed is a vocal minority and no one bothers amending the Constitution any more
They may get it passed, but as you stated it is un-Constitutional and cannot be upheld. Because it is only speaks to the complete failure of the SCOTUS to uphold the Constitution. The rule of law is still in effect, just not enforced. Majority rule is mob rule and cannot happen in a true Constitutional republic. Unfortunately we have the illusion of one, not one in practice.