User:JimWae/GW

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This 1866 engraving depicts Washington praying at Valley Forge. In 1918, the Valley Forge Park Commission declined to erect a monument to the prayer because they could find no evidence that the event had occurred.[2]. The original source of the story seems to be Parson Weems.

George Washington's religious views are a matter of some controversy. There is considerable evidence that indicates he, like numerous intellectuals of his time, was a Deist—believing in God but not believing in revelation or miracles.

The particular religious affiliations of U.S. Presidents can affect their electability, shape their visions of society and how they want to lead it, and shape their stances on policy matters.

Throughout much of American history, the religion of past American presidents has been the subject of contentious debate. Some devout Americans have been disinclined to believe that there may have been agnostic or even non-Christian presidents, especially amongst the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a result, apocryphal stories of a religious nature have appeared over the years about particularly beloved presidents such as Washington and Lincoln. On the other hand, secular-minded Americans have sometimes downplayed the prominence that religion played in the private and political lives of the Founding Fathers.

The Episcopal Church was the state religion in some states (such as Virginia) before their Constitutions were changed. Before the American Revolution, the Episcopal Church was the American branch of the Church of England. The first seven presidents with Episcopalian affiliation were also the first seven from Virginia, and five of those were among the six presidents most closely identified with Deism. Since there have seldom been any churches of Deism, strictly speaking Deist is not an affiliation in the same way Episcopalian is; it is included in the list below, however, to give a more complete view of the religious views of the presidents.

Many people are interested not only in the religious affiliations of the presidents, but also in their inner beliefs.

Though Washington often spoke of God and Providence, there is little if any reliable source material for quotes by him containing the words Jesus or Christianity.

In general, it is difficult to define with any certainty the faiths of presidents, because no one can truly be sure what relationship (if any) exists between another person and his deity, and because presidents, as public officials, have generally tried to remain outwardly within the mainstream of American religious trends.

With regard to Christianity, distinguishing affiliation from belief can be somewhat complicated. At issue, to a certain extent, is "What counts as belonging to a church?" Must one be a communicant to belong, or is baptism or even simple attendance sufficient? Are Unitarians and independents who generally hold Jesus in high regard, but do not believe that he is or was divine, to be counted as Christians or not?

Numerous presidents changed their affiliations and/or their beliefs during their lives. George Washington, for example, gravitated from conventional Christianity (perhaps) as a youth towards deism as he aged.

[edit] Baptism

The Washington family Bible, preserved at Mount Vernon, has the following entered within its covers (all written in the same hand with the latest date being in 1797):

George Washington, son to Augustine & Mary his Wife, was Born ye 11th Day of February 1731/2 about 10 in the morning, & was Baptis'd the 5th of April following Mr Beverley Whiting & Capt. Christopher Brookes Godfathers and Mrs. Mildred Gregory Godmother

Daniel Gano (a nephew of Rev. John Gano) said that, when he was seven years old, he witnessed a Baptism of Gen George Washington. He, (Daniel Cano), later moved to Kentucky, and lived there to past ninety years of age, and often related the circumstances of this baptism to his neighbors and friends. September 1908, at dedication of organ First Baptist Church, Asbury Park, New Jersey, Pastor M. V. McDuffie, gave this instance: "During the Revolutionary War, George Washington approached John Gano, a Baptist minister and said : 'I have been investigating the Scriptures and I believe immersion to be the baptism taught by the Word of God, and I demand it, at your hands. I do not wish any parade or the army called out.' Chaplain Gano took George Washington into the Potomac river and immersed him in the presence of forty-two witnesses." http://www.cragun.com/brian/hearne/history/hh771m.html

While there are historians who doubt the account, because there is no written record in Washington’s papers and the chief source was a boy of only 7, who still gives an extraordinarily detailed account for a 7 year old boy. Though, it is obvious that Washington did not want to make a public display of it, that would not prevent his mentioning it to someone or writing about it in his journal. Time magazine, September 5, 1932, on the bicentenary of the birthday of George Washington, carried an article giving the account of the General being baptized by immersion by Gano.

Another account tells of Rev. John Gano having baptized General Washington in the field by immersion, as “Gen. Washington had become dissatisfied with the baptism which had been administered by his own church” (the established Church of England). The baptism of General Washington was performed in the presence of about forty people, according to the same account. “Very little was said about this, as the Rev. Mr. Gano transgressed the rule of his church by baptizing anyone who was outside the pale of his own denomination, but felt that he could not draw church lines too close to the Army, and so all were baptized by immersion who desired.”

Rev. John Gano, Baptist preacher, is said to have cut the ice in the river, and baptized the commander-in-chief by immersion in the presence of 42 people, all sworn to secrecy! And this has been confirmed by a grandson of the Rev. Gano in an affidavit made at the age of 83 years! But the entire story is discredited by the fact that the Rev. Gano was not at Valley Forge, and that he served with Clinton's, and not with Washington's, army. For proof, see 'Biographical Memoirs of the Rev. John Gano,' also Headingly's 'Chaplains of the Revolution.' ^[1]

Washington is not known to have ever professed himself a Baptist & when he did attend church services, mostly continued to go to Episcopal churches.

[edit] Communicant?

There is no record of his ever becoming a communicant in any Christian church and he would regularly leave services before communion—with the other non-communicants. When Rev. Dr. James Abercrombie, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia mentioned in a weekly sermon that those in elevated stations set an unhappy example by leaving at communion, Washington ceased attending at all on communion Sundays.

Long after Washington died, when asked about Washington's beliefs, Abercrombie replied: "Sir, Washington was a Deist!"

Ministers at four of the churches Washington frequently attended have written that he never took communion.

[edit] Confirmation?

Bishop James Madison—second cousin of President Madison, and perhaps the only Trinitarian cleric trusted by Jefferson—from their years together at William and Mary. But when Madison became first Episcopal bishop of Virginia in 1790 and Episcopalians could participate in the rite of confirmation for the first time, Monroe did not seek to be confirmed.

Until confirmed, one was not supposed to take communion. However, communin was regularly offered & people took it anyway. Abercrombie's sermon (year?) indicates he expected GW to take communion

[edit] Attendance/Membership in churches

As a young man before the Revolution, when the Church of England was still the state religion in Virginia, he served as a vestryman (lay officer) for his local church. He sometimes accompanied his wife Martha Washington to Christian church services.

[edit] Value of religion

[edit] Farewell address

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens. The mere Politican, equally with the pious man ought to respect & to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private & public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of Free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric. Promote then as an object of primary importance, Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

[edit] Washington & prayer

He spoke often of the value of prayer, righteousness, and seeking and offering thanks for the "blessings of Heaven".

Various prayers said to have been composed by him in his later life are highly edited.^[2] An unfinished book of copied Christian prayers attributed to him (as a youth) by a collector was rejected by the Smithsonian Institution for lack of authenticity ^[3], though some Christian groups continue to cite them as proof of Washington's being a believer in the divinity of Jesus.

[edit] Religious pluralism

He spoke often of the value of religion in general,

Washington was an early supporter of religious pluralism. In 1775, he ordered that his troops should not burn the pope in effigy on Guy Fawkes Night. Later in 1790, he published a letter written to Jewish leaders in which he envisioned a country "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance . . . May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." ^[4]

[edit] Religious beliefs

[edit] God

In the book Washington and Religion by Paul F. Boller, Jr., we read on page 92, "Washington was no infidel, if by infidel is meant unbeliever. Washington had an unquestioning faith in Providence and, as we have seen, he voiced this faith publicly on numerous occasions. That this was no mere rhetorical flourish on his part, designed for public consumption, is apparent from his constant allusions to Providence in his personal letters. There is every reason to believe, from a careful analysis of religious references in his private correspondence, that Washington’s reliance upon a Grand Designer along Deist lines was as deep-seated and meaningful for his life as, say, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s serene confidence in a Universal Spirit permeating the ever shifting appearances of the everyday world."

[edit] Death & afterlife

He did not ask for any clergy on his deathbed, though one was available. His funeral services were those of the Freemasons.

[edit] Jesus & Christianity

[edit] Deism

[edit] According to ministers

In the book Washington and Religion by Paul F. Boller, Jr., we read on page 82 a quote from a Presbyterian minister, Arthur B. Bradford, who was an associate of Ashbel Green another Presbyterian minister who had known George Washington personally. Bradford wrote that Green, "often said in my hearing, though very sorrowfully, of course, that while Washington was very deferential to religion and its ceremonies, like nearly all the founders of the Republic, he was not a Christian, but a Deist."

[edit] According to his relatives

However, his adopted daughter, Nelly Custis-Lewis, in response to a request for evidence that Washington was a Christian, wrote, "I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity. His life, his writings, prove that he was a Christian. He was not one of those who act or pray, that they may be seen of men." ^[5]

[edit] According to scholars

According to biographer James Thomas Flexner, "George Washington was, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, a deist."^[6] On the other hand, biographer John Ferling writes that Washington "was not a Deist, however. He believed in God's intervention in worldly affairs, and he anticipated a life after death."^[7] According to biographer Marcus Cunliffe, Washington "was a Christian as a Virginian planter understood the term."^[8]

more essential books on Washinton's beliefs:

• Frank Grizzard's The Ways of Providence: Religion and George Washington
• Paul Boller's George Washington & Religion.
• David L. Holmes Faiths of the Founding Fathers

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

• George Washington and Christianity
• George Washington and Deism
• Adherents.com's list
• Excerpts from The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, 1936, by Franklin Steiner
• Six Historic Americans by John Remsburg, 1906, examines religious views of Paine, Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, & Grant
• Washington quotes on religion
• DEbunking...

[edit] Further reading

• Steiner, Franklin, The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents: From Washington to F.D.R., Prometheus Books/The Freethought Library, July 1995. ISBN 0879759755
• David L. Holmes, The Faiths of the Founding Fathers, Oxford University Press, May 2006. ISBN 0195300920