Over the years I have seen many articles discussing whether or not the United States is a Christian nation. It’s one of those topics we love to debate and one I expect to be seeing a lot more of. With the political situation here becoming more volatile, people are looking for political solutions and many Christians seem to be looking for Christian solutions to political problems. That could be good or very, very bad.
Recently Jeff Weddle over at the Anti-itch Meditation blog wrote “Were the Founding Fathers Christian?” that is worth reading. Jeff concludes that most of the Founding Fathers weren’t Christian which he bases on Norm Geisler’s book “Is Man the Measure?” Geisler claims that not only were the Founding Father largely humanistic (or deistic) but few were evangelical Christians. I get the impression that Geisler is equating “evangelical Christian” with “true believer” which I’m not sure is legitimate. However, I am more than willing to concede that our form of government doesn’t come from the Bible since the Bible says nothing about any one type of government being endorsed by God. Sure, Israel was a theocracy but that nation was dispersed long ago and God will not reign on earth again until Jesus sits on David’s throne. Until then we are on our own.
Even if our form of government isn’t biblically sanctioned, and if the Founders held deistic beliefs, does that mean we aren’t a Christian nation in any way, shape, or form? I would say no, it doesn’t. The reason for this is because of our history, the United States began as a haven for persecuted Christian minorities. New England was settled by Congregationalists (Calvinists) who fled England before the English Civil War. Virginia was settled by a lot of Anglicans who fled England after the English Civil War. Likewise Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers (the Society of Friends) and Maryland by English Catholics, neither of which was tolerated very well by Congregationalists or Anglicans. The Founders set up a government where the citizens of their States could worship in peace, and good conscience, without being persecuted. I believe that is a major part of what our forefathers meant by “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
The real danger the United States going forward is if Christians start thinking we need a “Christian government.” History has shown that Christians almost always want to make a “Godly man” dictator. If you look through history I seriously doubt most people would chose to be governed by the Pope, John Calvin, Martin Luther, or Huldrych Zwingli. I know it’s happened before but I strongly suspect there was a lot of buyer’s remorse after the tyrannies blossomed.
I want to end this post with a table that can be found on pages 41-43 of John Eidsmoe’s book “Christianity and the Constitution” which lists the church membership of the Constitutional Convention delegates. Please note that when two church memberships are listed for delegates it means they changed religion at some point in their lives.
New Hampshire
-John Langdon, Congregationalist
-Nicholas Gilman, Congregationalist
Massachusetts
-Eldridge Gerry, Episcopalian
-Rufus King, Episcopalian
-Caleb Strong, Congregationalist
-Nathaniel Gorham, Congregationalist
Connecticut
-Roger Sherman, Congregationalist
-William Samuel Johnson, Episcopalian
-Oliver Ellsworth, Congregationalist
New York
-Alexander Hamilton, Episcopalian
-John Lansing, Dutch Reformed (?)
-Robert Yates, Dutch Reformed
New Jersey
-William Paterson, Presbyterian
-William Livingston, Presbyterian
-Jonathan Dayton, Episcopalian
-David Brearly, Episcopalian
-William Churchill Houston, Presbyterian
Pennsylvania
-Benjamin Franklin, Deist
-Robert Morris, Episcopalian
-James Wilson, Episcopalian/Deist
-Gouverneur Morris, Episcopalian
-Thomas Mifflin, Quaker/Lutheran
-George Clymer, Quaker/ Episcopalian
-Thomas FitzSimmons, Roman Catholic
-Jared Ingersoll, Presbyterian
Delaware
-John Dickenson, Quaker/ Episcopalian
-George Read, Episcopalian
-Richard Bassett, Methodist
-Gunning Bedford, Presbyterian
-Jacob Broom, Lutheran
Maryland
-Luther Martin, Episcopalian
-Daniel Carroll, Roman Catholic
-John Francis Mercer, Episcopalian
-James McHenry, Presbyterian
-Daniel of St Thomas Jennifer, Episcopalian
Virginia
-George Washington, Episcopalian
-James Madison, Episcopalian
-George Mason, Episcopalian
-Edmund Jennings Randolph, Episcopalian
-James Blair, Jr., Episcopalian
-James McClung,
-George Wythe, Episcopalian
North Carolina
-William Richardson Davie, Presbyterian
-Hugh Williamson, Presbyterian/Deist (?)
-William Blount, Presbyterian
-Alexander Martin, Presbyterian/ Episcopalian
-Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., Episcopalian
South Carolina
-John Rutledge, Episcopalian
-Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Episcopalian
-Pierce Butler, Episcopalian
-Charles Pinckney, III, Episcopalian
Georgia
-Abraham Baldwin, Congregationalist
-William Leigh Pierce, Episcopalian
-William Houstoun, Episcopalian
-William Few, Methodist
John Eidsmoe notes on page 43:
It is possible that some of the delegates belonged to other churches and might have held deist convictions. But as a condition for church membership, most colonial churches required sworn adherence to strict doctrinal creeds, which included belief in the Bible as God’s revelation and trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. If the founding fathers held deist ideas while belonging to Christian churches it means they swore falsely in the presence of God.