Monday, February 19, 2007

Was George Washington a Christian?

I admit I have a hard time getting worked up about the question concerning the faith of our founding fathers. Nonetheless, here are a couple of interesting articles bucking the conventional wisdom that suggests our first president was a deist.

Peter A. Lillback, President of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, is the author of the book, George Washington's Sacred Fire. For a summary, see his article, Why Have Scholars Downplayed George Washington's Faith?

Michael and Jana Novak, father and daughter, are the co-authors of Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of our Country. They have a couple of op-eds today: Was Washington Really a Deist? (First Things) and What Washington Saw in God (USA Today). They also did a Q&A last year for National Review Online.

(HT: Albert Mohler)