Revisionist only succeed if the majority remain silent...

After receiving a couple of emails and comments from folks in person, I believe I left a point unclear in my Knowledge is Important series (previous three post). My point of contention wasn't that Christianity didn't play a big part in the founding of our Nation...facts are just the opposite. Christians and Christian principles were a dominant underlying force in the shaping and developing of a governing framework. Revisionist would be hard pressed to rewrite that fact out of our history.

The problem is trying to fit those prominent square pegs into round holes. Some of the more famous characters in our illustrious history were not Christian men, and we do a great disservice not only to our history but to our claim that this Nation was founded on principles of Christ if we argue from the position that they were. I have great respect for Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, but they were not Christian men (although all three believed in a Supreme Being).

Most scholars agree on a list of 204 unique individuals that make up the group we refer to as our 'Founding Fathers'. These are men who did one or more of the following:

• Signed the Declaration of Independence
• Signed the Articles of Confederation
• Attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787
• Signed the Constitution of the United States of America
• Served as Senators or U.S. Representatives in the First Federal Congress

The breakdown of the religious affiliation for the 204 Founding Fathers falling within the above criteria is:

• 88 Episcopalian/Anglican
• 30 Presbyterian
• 27 Congregationalist
• 7 Quaker
• 6 Dutch Reformed/German Reformed
• 5 Lutheran
• 3 Catholic
• 3 Huguenot
• 3 Unitarian
• 2 Methodist
• 1 Calvinist
• 29 unknown (does not necessarily mean no religious affiliation)

Jefferson and Franklin fall under Episcopalian...but as Deist. John Adams and Robert Paine are two of the three Unitarians. What this list doesn't account for, however, is the fact numerous members of this list changed affiliation during the course of their lifetimes. But, it is still plainly apparent that the vast majority of our Founding Fathers were influenced by the Christian faith.

One side note (for my historically-challenged faithful): The early Episcopal Church was formed during the American Revolution after the church was forced to break ties with the Church of England because clergy were required to swear allegiance to the British monarch and faced the penalty of treason.

Of course...breaking from England was the point of the entire American Revolution...but we all know church people have their own way of doing things.

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem [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 -1787 after the Constitutional Convention

I would love to hear more of your thoughts. Do you feel there is a concerted effort to rewrite our Nation's history and downplay the role of the Christian faith in the forming of our Nation and subsequent Constitution?