George Washington: Christian Gentleman

Father of Our Country Was No Deist

A common and false impression about America's Founding Fathers is that they were deists-that is, they believed in a "watchmaker" God who set the universe in motion and then stepped aside to let it run itself. The deist god lacks the interest, or the power, to intervene in human affairs.

Michael Novak, a celebrated theologian and author, convincingly rebutted this misconception in his book On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding. In Washington's God, Novak and his daughter Jana turn their attention to the religious beliefs of America's first and greatest President. The Novaks' book, undertaken at the request of the resident director of the Mount Vernon Estate, is unquestionably the most thorough and systematic examination of Washington's religious views written to date.

Deism Myth

Most biographies of Washington have devoted little time or study to Washington's religious beliefs, accepting without question the prevailing view that Washington was a deist. But the god of the deists, as the Novaks note, is an impersonal god who does not intervene in history. This is manifestly not the God in whom Washington believed. On the contrary, Washington's private correspondence and public statements are replete with his pleas to seek God's help and protection and his assertions that God has provided such assistance.

Washington's thought was infused with God, a fact made plain by the fact that he used more than 80 terms to refer to the Deity, among them "Almighty God," "Creator," "Divine Goodness" "Father of all mercies," "Jehovah," "Lord of Hosts," "Maker" and "God of Armies."

The most common term he employed was "Providence," which some historians have interpreted as indicating an impersonal deity. The Novaks provide extensive contextual information on the times, however, demonstrating that the philosophical language of the enlightenment was widely used by people with orthodox religious beliefs.

They provide example after example to prove conclusively that the "Divine Providence" whom George Washington invoked was an active agent in human events. Here, for instance, is one of Gen. Washington's orders to his troops during the Revolution:

"The General commands all officers, and soldiers, to pay strict obedience to the orders of the Continental Congress and by their unfeigned and pious observances of their religious duties, incline the Lord and Giver of victory to prosper our arms."

Or this, from Washington's Second Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1795:

"... The happy course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens, are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situations with indications of the Divine beneficence toward us; In such state of things it is an especial manner of duty as a people with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience."

As the authors point out, one does not approach the impersonal god of deism with requests for favor and protection because no such requests would be heard or answered.

An Active God

Washington's God, on the other hand, is active in history, working through mankind to achieve his purposes-some of which. Washington knew, are beyond our ken at the present time. One purpose he quite clearly discerned, however, was "the lot that providence has assigned us ... as the actors on a most conspicuous theater, which seems peculiarly designed by providence for the display of human greatness and felicity."

As the authors note, Washington saw the American Revolution as more than a mere struggle for independence. He saw that "there was a chance here to create a new experiment in liberty for the benefit of the entire human race."

In sum, the Novaks make an overwhelmingly persuasive case that Washington was not a deist-that his god was the God of the Bible, Jehovah. This was a god who continued to intervene in history on behalf of the fledgling American nation, in a sense the new "chosen people," as he did for the chosen people of old-the Israelites.

As to the question of whether Washington was a Christian, the answer is less clear. Yet here, too, the evidence the authors adduce is persuasive that he was.

They note that Washington was born into the Anglican faith (as were many of the founders). Unlike Thomas Jefferson, he never rejected that faith but, instead, was a life-long churchgoer-frequently making the seven-mile trip to worship at Pohick Church or, less frequently, the nine-mile trip to Christ Church in Alexandria.

Moreover, Washington served for more than 15 years as a warden and vestryman in the church, a position that requires a substantial amount of time, labor and money, and assent to the doctrine of the Anglican faith.

The Anglican services were centered on the Book of Common Prayer which required the regular recitation by the congregation of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, which Washington-never accused even by his enemies of hypocrisy-did regularly and willingly his whole life.