Some Questions of our Founding Fathers
Rev. Ted Tollefson
©July 6, 2008 @ UU Society of River Falls
Some Questions to Ask when you Hear:
"The Founding Fathers were all Christians"
- What do you mean by "Christians"? What are the defining characteristics?
- Can a Deist, Mason or Unitarian also be a "Christian"?
- Who among the Founders called themselves Masons, Unitarians or Deists?
- What do Deists mean when they say "we worship the God of Nature"? How
is a natural religion different than a revealed religion?
- When Thomas Jefferson took a pair of scissors to the New Testament what did he
cut out? What did he keep? Why?
- Why did George Washington go to extreme lengths to avoid taking communion?
- How often did Washington, Jefferson and Franklin attend church?
- What did Benjamin Franklin say proved that God loved us?
- What pariot and founder said "My own mind is my own church"? What
did he mean?
- What do you call someone who follows the ethical/spiritual teachings of Jesus
but who believes that Jesus was a prophet not a god?
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“When the crisis came, Jefferson, Paine, John Adams. Washington, Franklin,
Madison and many lesser lights were to be reckoned among either the Unitarians
or the Deists. It was not Cotton Mather's God to whom the authors of the Declaration
of Independence appealed;it was to 'Nature's God'”
The Rise of American Civilization, vol. I. p. 449
Charles and Mary Beard
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1. American Founders:
Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America's Founding Fathers, Rev. Gary Kowalski
2. Jefferson's Bible:
3. Deism
Blessed are the peace-makers