{"id":1557,"date":"2013-02-18T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/02\/george-washingtons-christian-faith.html"},"modified":"2013-02-18T17:46:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T17:46:00","slug":"george-washingtons-christian-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/02\/george-washingtons-christian-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"George Washington’s Christian (?) Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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George Washington\u2019s birthday seems like an appropriate time to think about his religious beliefs and life, especially since the National Prayer Breakfast was held earlier this month, giving President Obama his fifth opportunity in that venue to assert his Christian identity. Gary S. Smith, of the Center for Vision and Values, has already written about the double-standard by which the faiths of both Washington and Obama are interpreted, and Smith, like other scholars, states that the exact nature of Washington\u2019s faith is unknowable and much less clear than Obama\u2019s.<\/span><\/div>\n
Washington did believe in \u201cProvidence,\u201d that there was a divinity intervening in worldly affairs, and this divinity seemed to be on the side of the new republic. We know that Washington wrote many times of the value of Christianity as a guiding influence on the new republic\u2019s citizens; however, he was equally clear that the character-building nature of religious institutions was not exclusive to Christianity, extending at least to Judaism, if not to other religions. Washington was at least a cultural Christian, but we have no evidence that he was what we would call today a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian.<\/span><\/div>\n
If being a Christian means that one goes to a Christian Church fairly regularly, supports that church monetarily, believes in an Old Testament deity that acts in the world but whose relationship is far from personal, then Washington was a Christian. He was reared in the Church of England (later the Episcopal Church), attended services regularly, and there is no shortage of Washington\u2019s statements regarding the role of religion in civil life, in the destiny of America, and in the affairs of the world. But many of today\u2019s Christians would argue that a Christian is one who \u201caccepts Jesus as a personal savior,\u201d and for that there is absolutely no evidence in Washington\u2019s life. In fact, there are few instances of Washington\u2019s having said the name \u201cJesus\u201d in any of his public or private writings or speeches.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Washington\u2019s birthday seems like an appropriate time to think about his religious beliefs and life, especially since the National Prayer Breakfast was held earlier this month, giving President Obama his fifth opportunity in that venue to assert his Christian identity. Gary S. Smith, of the Center for Vision and Values, has already written about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge Washington's Christian (?) 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