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Founders and Christianity (John Adams (An intellectual, Heavily Influenced…
Founders and Christianity
John Adams
An intellectual
Heavily Influenced by the enlightenment
Deist
Throws Jesus "out the window"
Believes in God... but He is distant/doesn't want to know us as humans
Believes Jesus was simply a man
Mocks the fact that Jesus is God... does not believe in Jesus' deity
Hates traditional forms of Christian beliefs
Admires morality
Samuel Adams
Most prominent evangelical Christian among the founders
Gospel-Centered Man
Believed Jesus was God and paid the price for our sins
Thomas Jefferson
Admired the morality of Christianity and Christianity itself
He would pick and choose what to follow in the Bible
Did not believe in the miracles of Jesus nor His deity
Liked Jesus' teachings
The "Thomas Jefferson Bible" (Jefferson tore out parts of the Bible that he did not like
Held slaves yet wrote the Declaration of Independence
Product of the Enlightenment/Intellectualism
Ben Franklin
Intellectual/follower of the Enlightenment
Deist
Admired Christianity (more than John Adams)
Agreed with the morals of Christianity
Sees and admires the life change that occurred during the Enlightenment
Thought that if you were a good person you would go to heaven
Did not believe Jesus was God
While he admired the morals he did not
believe
in the morals of Christianity
His personal life was "a mess" and did not follow Christian morals/beliefs
George Washington
Strong morality... he was a gentleman
Very Favorably looks on Christianity
Does not like organized religion
Loves morals... strong moral follower
His Reverend said that he was a deist
Attended an Anglican Church regularly
Refused to take communion
Never mentions "Jesus" in his writings... only "Providence"
Declaration of Independence and Constitution
Not militantly secular... but not explicitly Christian
Constitution was not anti-religious, but it was mainly secular
Constitution was mainly practical terms of how government works, Was not looking to higher power terms as much
OVERALL LOOK
MOST
founding fathers avoided the trinitarian belief
Most were deists who favored intellectualism and the Enlightenment
True evangelical Christians were the minority
Most favored the ideas and morals of Christianity but did not always
believe
in the true Gospel message