Welcome to Breakpointing, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center on John Stone Street.
Some Christians argue that America's founders were overwhelmingly Christian in their faith and outlook. Many were even evangelicals. Many secularists, on the other hand, will claim that these men were basically Enlightenment deists or even free thinkers, which is another way of saying that they were atheist or at least hard agnostics.
Now, clearly, there were deeply committed Christ followers among the founders, like John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush, men who were quite significant but are often overlooked leaders that were involved in the revolution and the Constitutional Convention. At the same time, some of our founders, though religious, were far from being evangelical, some even heterodox. But how many were deist, as is often claimed? For example, Thomas Jefferson. Is quite often cited as being a deist.
Deism teaches that God created the universe but does not in any way intervene in the world. By that definition, however, basically none of the founders would qualify, including Thomas Jefferson. Consider these words that are recorded on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial: quote: God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.
Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. In other words, Jefferson was concerned about God judging the nation. or slavery. That's something that no good deist would say.
He may not have been an evangelical or an Orthodox Christian, but Jefferson was no deist. Another example is Benjamin Franklin, often recognized as the least religious of all the founders. At a particular impasse during the Constitutional Convention, Franklin famously said this, quote, in this situation of this assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men.
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, sir, in the sacred writings, that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interest, our projects will be confounded, we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may heretoafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business. and that one or more of the clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service.
Now it goes without saying a good deist would never seek divine intervention or rely on answered prayer. Here Franklin does both of those things. Like Jefferson, if he was a deist, he was a really bad one. In fact, the faith that influenced the founding was not always faithful to orthodoxy, but it was certainly far more influential than Deism. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org. Christian Educators.
This is Billy Hutchinson with Colson Educators. And as a former teacher myself, I know you're busy, and I know you want to teach like a Christian, not just be a Christian who teaches.
Well that's why we created the Colson Educators app. You can get practical worldview training wherever you are, complete courses on your schedule, Earn CEUs and connect with a community of like-minded educators. Download the Colson Educators app on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
