"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible."“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained”
"Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do---then do it with all your strength."
“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” "It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors."
"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."
"The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country."
"If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The rest is in the hands of God."
"No people can be bound to acknowledge the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency"
“I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them.”
“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
"I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who has not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremist hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to "Anarchy" or "Despotism"."
George Washington
3 comments:
George Washington
Undoubtedly, the most famous man to have survived the American Revolution is the veritable “father
of our country,” George Washington; but was he a Christian? Many die-hard Christian patriots have
insisted that he was, but history reveals that questions about his faith did not begin in the modern era.
Even during his lifetime, there were many who sought out a clear answer as to what George
Washington believed about God and the Lord Jesus Christ specifically. After more than twenty years
of being a pastor to George Washington himself, Bishop James White was only able to give a vague
testimony of Washington’s faith. For obvious reasons, many people sought this man, hoping he could
give a clear description of Washington’s Christian beliefs. His reply on one occasion was:
I do not believe that any degree of recollection will bring to my mind any fact which would prove
General Washington to have been a believer in the Christian revelation further than as may be hoped
from his constant attendance upon Christian worship, in connection with the general reserve of his
character.
In other words, beyond his generally moral character and the fact that he went to church regularly,
there is no other proof that he was a believer.
The assistant to Rev. White was Rev. James Abercrombie, who also ministered to Washington for
years. Years later, when questioned by Dr. Bird Wilson, Rev. Abercrombie arrived at the following
conclusion:
Long after Washington’s death, in reply to Dr. Wilson, who had interrogated him as to his illustrious
auditor’s religious views, Dr. Abercrombie’s brief but emphatic answer was: “Sir, Washington was a
Deist.”
In Philadelphia, certain Christian clergymen had even tried to obtain a confession of faith, or a clear
denial, from Washington during his farewell address as president. Thomas Jefferson commented on
this in his journal, saying:
Feb. 1.—Dr. Rush tells me that he had it from Asa Green that when the clergy addressed General
Washington on his departure from the Government, it was observed in their consultation that he had
never on any occasion said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Christian religion and
they thought they should so pen their address as to force him at length to declare publicly whether he
was a Christian or not. They did so. However, he observed, the old fox was too cunning for them. He
answered every article in their address particularly except that, which he passed over without notice.
… “I know that Gouverneur Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets and believed himself to be so,
has often told me that General Washington believed no more in the system [Christianity] than he
did.”
The “Asa Green” mentioned by Jefferson was Dr. Ashbel Green, who was the chaplain to the
Congress during Washington’s presidency. Dr. Green “dined with the President on special invitation
nearly every week.” One of his relatives, A. B. Bradford (who was later appointed a consul to China
by President Lincoln), gave the following testimony about the event Jefferson had described.
Bradford related that what follows was “frequently” told to him by Dr. Green:
He explained more at length the plan laid by the clergy of Philadelphia at the close of Washington’s
administration as President to get his views of religion for the sake of the good influence they
supposed they would have in counteracting the Infidelity of Paine and the rest of the Revolutionary
patriots, military and civil. But I well remember the smile on his face and the twinkle of his black eye
when he said: “The old fox was too cunning for Us.”
Notice the reference to “Us,” as Dr. Green counted himself among the Christian clergymen who were
trying to obtain a clear confession from President Washington. The quote continues, as Bradford says
of Dr. Green:
He affirmed, in concluding his narrative, that from his long and intimate acquaintance with
Washington he knew it to be the case that while he respectfully conformed to the religious customs of
society by generally going to church on Sundays, he had no belief at all in the divine origin of the
Bible, or the Jewish-Christian religion.
Hi John,
Taking into account these words that were NOT published by Washington himself ... are you suggesting we take a lifetime of his writings, personal journal/diary entries expressing explicitly his faith in Christ and the God of the Bible and just ignore them?
Washington's own words, by his own pen hold the precedence.
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