Religious Beliefs of
The Founding Fathers
Did the Founding Fathers of the United States of America believe in Almighty God,
the God of the Bible? And were they Christians? Documented history gives a resounding Yes! However, revisionists and liberal activist groups are rewriting American history, particularly public school texts, to portray America’s Founding Fathers as a group of Secular Humanists. [see Sterilizing American History] Accurate history tells quite a different story.
52 of the 55 delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia—during which the U.S. Constitution was drafted, debated, and signed--were Christians. And many of these delegates were evangelical Christians.
29 of the Founding Fathers were Anglican, 18 were Calvinist, 2 were Methodist, 2 were Lutheran, 2 were Roman Catholic, 1 was Quaker, and 1, Benjamin Franklin, was a Deist, who attended every kind of Christian worship, called for public prayer, and contributed to all denominations.
Needless to say, the furthest thing from the minds the Founding Fathers would be what’s being forced upon our nation today--the court-ordered reconstruction of America from a Christian nation into an Atheistic State.
As you read the following quotes from our Founding Fathers, which are a matter of public record, ask yourself whether the Founding Fathers, if alive today, would take a stand against the Atheistic agenda of the American Civil Liberties Union. If you are not aware of the ACLU’s disturbing political agenda, see The ACLU's Blueprint for America.
The quotes listed are confirmed by historical documents, such as public speeches, personal diaries, and newspaper accounts. They are taken from the following four books, which should be available at your local library:
America’s God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations
Federer, William, J.
Amerisearch, 8th ed., 2000
The Founder’s on Religion: A Book of Quotations
Hutson, James, H.
Princeton University Press, 2005
Dictionary of American Quotations
Miner, Margaret, and Rawson, Hugh
Penguin Group, 1997
The World Treasury of Religious Quotations
Woods, Ralph, L.
Hawthorn Books, 1966
Where direct quotes were unavailable, documented information is provided to give you an insight into the religious beliefs of that Founding Father. These are the words of our Founding Fathers:
John Adams: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and one of three men most responsible for writing the Constitution of the United States, the other two being James Madison and John Jay. This excerpt is taken from a letter to Thomas Jefferson] The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful assembly of young gentlemen could unite…And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these sects were united…I will avow, that I then believed, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God.
John Adams: I am apt to believe that it [July 4, 1776] will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day
of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
John Adams: The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion.
John Adams: We have no government armed with power capable of contending with passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry
would break the strongest chords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate
to the government of any other.
John Adams: I consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for public service.
John Adams: [Personal Diary, February 22, 1756] Suppose a nation in some distant
region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate
is conduct by the precepts there exhibited? What a utopia, what a paradise would this
region would be.
John Adams: The safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on
the protection and the blessing of Almighty God.
John Quincey Adams: The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: that it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles
of Christianity.
John Quincey Adams: So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectful members of society.
John Quincey Adams: The Declaration of Independence was a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation.
John Quincey Adams: I have made it a practice for several years to read the Bible through
in the course of every year. I usually devote to this reading the first hour after I rise in the morning.
John Quincey Adams: I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book, of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never
to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.
Samuel Adams: [Known as the Father of the American Revolution. He instigated the Boston Tea Party, signed the Declaration of Independence, and called for the first Continental Congress.] He who made all men has made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all. Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.
Samuel Adams: [as the Declaration of Independence was being signed] We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and
from the rising to the setting of the sun. Let His Kingdom come!
Samuel Adams: The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty…the rights of the colonists as Christians…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be
found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.
Samuel Adams: Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love
of the Deity…and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.
Abraham Baldwin: Signer of the Constitution, a member of Congress, and a U.S. Senator. He graduated from Yale University, and in 1781, was offered the Professorship of Divinity. He served as Chaplain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was
also the founder and first president of the University of Georgia.
Richard Bassett: Signer of the Constitution. He was also a delegate from Delaware to the Constitutional Convention. He participated in writing the State Constitution of Delaware. Being a delegate from Delaware, he would have taken the public oath of office required by Delaware’s State Constitution [see George Read]. Bassett personally contributed half the
cost of building the First Methodist Church in Dover.
Gunning Bedford: Signer of the Constitution. He was a delegate from Delaware to the Constitutional Convention. Being a delegate from Delaware, he would have taken the public oath of office required by Delaware’s State Constitution [see George Read]. Bedford attended Princeton University [see notes on Princeton], where he shared a room with James Madison, and studied under John Witherspoon, one of the nation’s premier theologians and legal scholars.
John Blair: Signer of the Constitution. He was also appointed by President George Washington as a Justice on the first U.S. Supreme Court. Blair’s appointment by Washington to the federal bench speaks highly of Blair as a Christian [see George Washington]. John Blair was active in the Episcopal Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Elias Boudinot: [A delegate to the Continental Congress, a U.S. Congressman from New Jersey, and at one time President of the Continental Congress. He was appointed by President George Washington to be the director of the United States Mint. A devout Episcopalian, Boudinot was a trustee of Princeton University for nearly half a century.
He was also one of the founders of the American Bible Society, and served as its president.] Let us enter on this important business under the idea that we are Christians on whom the eyes of the world are now turned. Let us in the first place humbly and penitently implore the aid of the Almighty God whom we profess to serve. Let us earnestly call and beseech him for Christ’s sake to preside in our councils.
Elias Boudinot: Be religiously careful in our choice of all public officers…and judge of the tree by its fruits.
David Brearly: Signer of the Constitution. He served as a Colonel in the Revolutionary War and also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. His contemporaries testify that he was active in many areas of religion, including being a compiler of The Protestant Episcopal Prayer Book, and a delegate to the Episcopal General Convention in 1786.
Jacob Broom: Signer of the Constitution. He was also a banker and a merchant. He is described in the Official Papers of Delaware, written in 1909, as: ‘It is proper to say that
Jacob Broom was a God-fearing man’. In a letter to his son, who was a senior at Princeton College, Jacob Broom wrote in 1794: Do not be so much flattered as to relax in your application; do not forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head, and
I hope an indelible impression is made.
Charles Carroll: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence] Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time. They, therefore, who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.
Samuel Chase: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence] By our own form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed on the same equal footing, and are equally
entitled to protection in their religious liberty.
John Dickinson: Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Represented Delaware at the Constitutional Convention. [see their required oath of office under George Read] Dickinson is best known for a series of newspaper articles that expressed the American Colonies resistance to British taxation. These writings earned him the nickname ‘Penman of the Revolution’. He fought in the Continental Army, was a member of the Second Continental Congress, and a writer of the first draft of The Articles of Confederation. He also was the founder of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. He met with the other delegates from Pennsylvania less than two months before the Declaration of Independence was signed to suggest requirements for the members of the Constitutional Convention to subscribe to before being seated. One of his recommendations was the following oath: I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His eternal Son,
the one true God, and in the Holy Spirit, one God blessed forevermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by Divine Inspiration.
Benjamin Franklin: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution] In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. Do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
Benjamin Franklin: [as Governor of Pennsylvania in 1748] It is the duty of mankind on
all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being…that Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations…
Benjamin Franklin: [delivered on Thursday, June 28, 1787, on the floor of the Constitutional Convention] God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot
fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We’ve been assured in the sacred writing that, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. [Franklin called for regular, daily prayer at the Constitutional Convention on that day to make sure that the delegates kept God in the midst of what they were doing for the nation.]
Benjamin Franklin: [During the Constitutional Convention of 1787] I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men.
Benjamin Franklin: A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district—all studied and appreciated as they merit—are the principle support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.
Alexander Hamilton: [Signer of the Constitution] For my own part, I sincerely esteem it
[the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.
Alexander Hamilton: I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man.
Alexander Hamilton: [on his deathbed] I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy. Pray for me.
John Hancock: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence] We recognize no sovereign but God, and no king but Jesus.
John Hancock: In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgements…that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness.
Patrick Henry: It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.
Patrick Henry: The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.
Patrick Henry: Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what others may do, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.
Patrick Henry: [on his deathbed to his doctor] Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die. I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumphs have been complete.
John Jay: [One of three men most responsible for writing the Constitution of the United States, the other two being John Adams and James Madison. He was also our first U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and also served as the President of the Continental Congress. He was instrumental in causing the Constitution to be ratified by writing The Federalist Papers (along with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton), a series of essays which presented to the colonists the benefits of a representative form of central government] Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians as their rulers.
John Jay: Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His mercy and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son…Blessed be His holy name.
Thomas Jefferson: [Wrote the Declaration of Independence, as well as signed it, was our third President, and was the founder of the University of Virginia.] I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.
Thomas Jefferson: God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation
be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis--a conviction in the minds
of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.
Thomas Jefferson: The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.
Thomas Jefferson: [While serving in the Virginia Assembly in 1774, he personally introduced a resolution calling for a Day of Fasting and Prayer. As Governor of Virginia, he proclaimed a day of Public and solemn Thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God. As President, on March 4, 1805 offered a National Prayer for Peace.] Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; we humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. In times of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
Thomas Jefferson: Shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a committee was appointed to draft a seal for the newly united states which would express the spirit of this new nation. Jefferson proposed: The children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. As President, Jefferson not only signed bills which appropriated financial support for chaplains in Congress and in the Armed Services, but he also signed the Articles of War on April 10, 1806, in which he: Earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers diligently to attend divine services.
Thomas Jefferson: [in a letter to William Canly, September 18, 1813] Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus. He who follows this steadily need not, I think, be uneasy.
Thomas Jefferson: I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus, also.
Thomas Jefferson: I have always said, I always will say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.
William Samuel Johnson: [Signer of the Constitution, a member of the Continental Congress, and a U.S. Senator] Imprint deep upon your minds the principles of piety towards God, and a reverence and fear of His Holy name. Remember, too, that you are
the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price
of the precious blood of the Son of God.
Samuel Johnston: [He represented North Carolina in the Continental Congress, and
in the United States Senate. He also served as Governor of North Carolina.] It is apprehended that pagans may be elected to high offices under the government of the
United States. Those who are not professors of the Christian religion can never be elected
to the office of President or other high office, unless first the people of America lay aside
the Christian religion altogether. It may happen. Should this unfortunately take place,
the people will choose such men as think as they do themselves.
John Langdon: Signer of the Constitution. He fought as a Colonel in the militia, was a U. S. Senator, and was Governor of New Hampshire. He was one of the founders and the first president of the New Hampshire Bible Society, whose goal was to place a Bible into every home in New Hampshire. As Governor, he issued on February 21, 1786, a Proclamation for a Day of Public Fasting and Prayer.
William Livingston: [Signer of the Constitution, and also a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses] I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, without any foreign comments or human explanations.
William Livingston: The land we possess is the gift of heaven to our fathers, and Divine Providence seems to have decreed it to our latest posterity.
James Madison: [One of three men most responsible for writing the Constitution of the United States, the other two being John Adams and John Jay.] The belief in a God All Powerful, wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adopted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it.
James Madison: A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annuals of Heaven.
James Madison: [His Presidential Inaugural Address March 4, 1809]: We have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being, whose power regulates the destiny of nations.
George Mason: [Father of the Bill of Rights] As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.
George Mason: The laws of nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth.
George Mason: [Last Will and Testament] My soul, I resign into the hands of my Almighty Creator, whose tender mercies are over all His works, who hateth nothing that He hath made and to the Justice and Wisdom of whose dispensation I willing and cheerfully submit, humbly hoping from His unbounded mercy and benevolence, through the merits of my blessed Savior, a remission of my sins.
James McHenry: [Signer of the Constitution. He was also a member of the Continental Congress, and as Secretary of War, supervised the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served with distinction under General George Washington on the medical staff during the Revolutionary War. In 1813, McHenry became the president of the first Bible Society in Baltimore, whose goal was to distribute Bibles to the public.] Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, man cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.
Gouverneur Morris: [Signer of the Constitution. He was also the writer of the final draft of the Constitution of the United States. He was the originator of the phrase, ‘We, the People of the United States’. He also wrote the State Constitution of New York.] Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God.
Gouverneur Morris: There is one Comforter Who weighs our Minutes and Numbers our Days.
Gouverneur Morris: Descend toward the grave full of gratitude to the Giver of all good.
Jedediah Morse: [A pioneer in American Education. Known by historians as The Father of American Geography.] To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government and all blessings which flow from them must fall with them.
Jedediah Morse: All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion [Christianity] ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney: Signer of the Constitution. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from South Carolina. He also helped write the State Constitution of South Carolina. He served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington, and was himself a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War. He helped found and served as the first president of the Charleston Bible Society.
Charles Pinckney: [He was the father of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.] Signer of the Constitution. He was also the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Both
he and his wife, Elizabeth, were respected for their Godly and patriotic influence. President George Washington himself, at his own request, served as pallbearer at Elizabeth Pinckney’s funeral. In his Will, Charles wrote: Son, I hope you will have the blessings of Almighty God.
Princeton College: Princeton was founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1746. Only Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale are older. Its official motto was: Under God’s Power She Flourishes. The first president of Princeton, Jonathon Dickinson, declared: Cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ. Until 1902, every president of Princeton was a minister. One sixth of the members of the Constitutional Convention studied at Princeton.
George Read: Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and also a signer of the Constitution. He was a delegate from Delaware to the Constitutional Convention. He was also a U.S. Senator, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware. He is known as ‘The Father of Delaware’, and wrote the State Constitution of Delaware. The oath of public office required by the Delaware Constitution, written by George Read, states: Delaware, 1776. Article XXII. Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His
Only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore; and I do acknowledge
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New testaments to be given by Divine inspiration.
Benjamin Rush: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence] Let the children who are sent to those [public] schools be taught to read and write and, above all, let both sexes be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education.
Benjamin Rush: By withholding the knowledge of the Scriptures from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds.
Roger Sherman: [The only Founding Father who signed all four of the major founding documents: the Articles of Association, 1774; the Declaration of Independence, 1776; the Articles of Confederation, 1777; and the Constitution of the United States, 1787. He was an American Revolutionary Patriot, politician, and jurist. He seconded the motion of Ben Franklin’s famous request—that Congress be opened with prayer every day, a practice that continues to this day.] I believe that there is only one living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance equal in power and glory. That the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.
Richard Stockton: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.] In his Will, he wrote: As my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be peculiarly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrine of the Christian religion… but also in the heart of a father’s affection, to charge and exhort them to remember ‘that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.
George Washington: [The Father of Our Country. He presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and was our first Commander-in-Chief, in charge of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was also our first President, serving two terms of office. His contributions with regard to the founding of the United States of America would literally take volumes. In short, he was America’s first action-hero.] It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.
George Washington: [First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789] 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.
George Washington: [Issued this order to his troops at Valley Forge on May 2, 1778]
To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.
George Washington: He was a dedicated vestryman in the Episcopal Church, and his mother, also a strong Christian, had trained him in the daily habit of prayer to the God
of the Bible. Washington kept a twenty-four page personal prayer book, The Daily Sacrifice, in which his favorite prayers appeared in his own handwriting.
George Washington: Daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, that living in Thy fear, and dying in Thy favor, I may in Thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life.
George Washington: [First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789] It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules the universe, and presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aids can supply every known defect.
George Washington: The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, of worshipping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.
George Washington: [Farewell Address to the nation, September 19, 1796, after serving two terms as President. Historians consider Washington’s farewell speech to be the most important speech ever given to any nation by a head of State.] Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
George Washington: [Farewell Address to the nation, September 19, 1796]
Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality
are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars.
George Washington: Whereas 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 implore His protection and favor.
George Washington: What students would learn in American schools, above all, is the religion of Jesus Christ.
George Washington: [in a speech to Delaware Indian Chiefs] You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.
George Washington: [written on August 20, 1778, to his friend, Brigadier-General Thomas Nelson in Virginia] The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this [the course of the war] that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more wicked that has not gratitude to acknowledge his obligations; but it will be time enough
for me to turn Preacher when my present appointment ceases.
George Washington: [in a letter written November 15, 1781 to the President of the Continental Congress, Thomas McKean] I take particular pleasure in acknowledging that the interposing Hand of Heaven, in the various instances of our extensive Preparation for this Operation [Yorktown], has been most conspicuous and remarkable.
George Washington: [December 23, 1783, writing about his upcoming resignation from the Continental Army] This is the last letter I shall write while I continue in the service of my country…I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life by commanding the Interest of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.
George Washington: If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed in the convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature on it.
George Washington: [in a letter dated March 11, 1792] 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.
George Washington: Although guided by our excellent Constitution in the discharge of official duties, and actuated through the whole course of my public life, solely by a wish to promote the best interests of our country, yet without the beneficial interposition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we could not have reached the distinguished situation which we have attained with such unprecedented rapidity. To Him, therefore, should we bow with gratitude and reverence, and endeavor to merit a continuance of His special favors.
Noah Webster: [The Father of American Scholarship and Education] The Bible was America’s basic textbook.
Noah Webster: Education is useless without the Bible.
Noah Webster: Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted. If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.
Noah Webster: The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures form the basis of all our civil constitution and laws. All the miseries and evils which other nations suffer proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.
Noah Webster: The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles. To this we owe our free constitutions of government.
Noah Webster: In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed. The Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.
Noah Webster: The Christian religion in its purity is the basis and the source of all genuine freedom in government. I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.
Noah Webster: Every civil government is based upon some religion or philosophy of life. Education in a nation will propagate the religion of that nation. In America, the foundational religion was Christianity, and it was sown in the hearts of Americans through the home, and private and public schools for centuries. Our liberty, growth, and prosperity was the result of a Biblical philosophy of life. Our continued freedom and success is dependent upon our educating the youth of America in the principles of the Christian religion.
Hugh Williamson: Signer of the Constitution. He was also a member of the House of Representatives, and a scientist, having joined Benjamin Franklin in many of his electrical experiments. As a young man, Hugh Williamson studied for the ministry, and visited and prayed for the sick in his neighborhood. He went on to be admitted for membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and preached for two years before a chronic weakness in his chest prevented him from further preaching. He then entered the medical field, and distinguished himself in medical service during the Revolutionary War. His book, Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America provided scientific explanation for the credibility of the Holy Scriptures with regard to Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus. 
James Wilson: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He was also a Justice on the first U.S. Supreme Court] Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine. Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The Divine law forms an essential part of both.
James Wilson: Christianity is part of the common law.
John Witherspoon: [Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also a member of the Continental Congress, and served on more than one hundred Congressional Committees. He is recognized as having been one of the nation’s premier theologians and legal scholars. He served as the second President of Princeton College.] While we give praise to God, the Supreme Disposer of all events, for His interposition on our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in, or boasting of, an arm of flesh. What follows from this? That he is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not [do not hesitate] to call him an enemy of his country.
Now that you’ve read these quotes of the Founding Fathers, ask yourself these questions:
1.Do you think America's Founding Fathers were Secular Humanists? [Atheists]
Do you think America's Founding Fathers were Secular Humanists? [Atheists] 2.If the Founding Fathers were alive today, do you think they would take a stand
If the Founding Fathers were alive today, do you think they would take a stand against the Atheistic agenda the ACLU is imposing upon the nation?
