1. In God We Trust Religion and the Founding Fathers Kevin P. Dincher www.kevindincher.com CSU-East Bay

2. Session One: Colonial Experience History versus Mythology Religion: Messy  “Old World” view  “New World” view 2

3. Session Two: Founding Philosophies 3 JohnThomas

4. Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) Natural equality and rights of the individual Artificial character of the political order All legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people Liberal interpretation of law: ◦ People free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid Revelation can never be in disagreement with human reason and experience 4

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6. CalvinismDeism ImpactInfluenced 80% of Americans to some extent Influenced all the Founders to some extent Knowledge/FaithRevelation/ScriptureReason/Science GodTotal SovereigntyDivine Watchmaker HumansPessimism Slaves to Sin (Total Depravity) “Morally Incapable” Optimism Equality, Dignity, Human Rights Human Potential Religion/FaithConformity of ThoughtDiversity of Thought Church and StateChristian Commonwealth Protection of Faith/Religion State supports Church Democratic Republic Protection of Liberty Moral Principles Grounded in Religion EducationGood Citizens “Right Thinking” Literacy Good Citizens Develop Human Potential Literature, philosophy, science, arts ParadoxIndividual versus ConformityIndividual versus Unity 6

7. 7 Founders 18 th Century Philosophy: Enlightenment and Deism ◦ Religion based on reason, observable phenomenon ◦ Primarily religious values: Equality, Liberty, Unity, Civic Duty Government: Make unity possible while protecting liberty and rights ◦ Democratic Republic ◦ Balance rights/powers/responsibilities of carious constituents (federal, states, people)  Powers (expressed, implied, reserved)  Branches of Government (Balance of Powers: Executive, Legislative, Judicial)  Bicameral Legislature (House to represent the people; Senate to represent the States)  Electoral College (President of the Union of States) Religion ◦ Equality/Liberty = Freedom of Religion ◦ Religion provides moral foundation

8. Letter from Benjamin Franklin to an Atheist December 13, 1757 8

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10. THOMAS JEFFERSON I want to tell you how welcome you are to the White House. I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. President John F. Kennedy Dinner Honoring Nobel Prize Winners of the Western Hemisphere April 29, 1962 10

11. 11 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Born: April 13, 1743  Shadwell, Albermarle County, VA  3 rd of 10 children  Prosperous Virginia family  Peter Jefferson: surveyer/planter  1757: inherited 5,000 acres (Monticello) and 20 – 40 slaves  Anglican/Episcopalian

12. 12 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Education  Childhood: tutors  1752: School run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister.  Latin, Greek, and French  Began to appreciate the study of nature  1758 to 1760: Rev. James Maury (French Huguenot)  History, science and the classics  1760 – 1762: College of William and Mary

13. 13 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) College of William and Mary (Williamsburg) ◦ Anglican Institution  Open only to Anglican students  Professors: Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion  Three Schools  Divinity School (ordination)  Philosophy School  Moral philosophy (logic, rhetoric, ethics)  Natural philosophy (physics, metaphysics, and mathematics)  “Languages”

14. 14 The Nine Colonial Colleges CollegeColonyFounded/CharteredRel. Affiliation New College (Harvard) Massachusetts1636/1650Congregational College of William and MaryVirginia1693/1693Anglican Collegiate School (Yale) Connecticut1701/1701Congregational College of New Jersey (Princeton) New Jersey1746/1746Presbyterian College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) Pennsylvania1740/1755Anglican King’s College (Columbia) New York1754/1754Anglican Rhode Island College (Brown) Rhode Island1764/1764Baptist Queen’s College (Rutgers) New Jersey1766/1766Dutch Reformed Dartmouth CollegeNew Hampshire 1769/1769Congregational

15. 15 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Education ◦ 1760 – 1762: College of William and Mary  Philosophy School (moral philosophy and natural philosophy)  Jefferson: mathematics, metaphysics and philosophy  Professor William Small  British Empiricists (knowledge comes primarily/only from sensory experience)  Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)  Thomas Hobbes (1588 –1679)  John Locke (1632 – 1704)  Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)

16. Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 1762 – 1767: Read Law ◦ George Wythe (1726 – 1806)  1st law professor in the US  Prominent opponent of slavery  1787: freed his own slaves  1806: Attempted to end slavery in VA through “judicial interpretation”  Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)  All men should be considered “presumptively free.” 16 *Freed Slaves in Virginia 1783 = 1% of VA’s population 1810 = 10% of VA’s population

17. 17 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Marriage  Jan. 1, 1772: Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-1782) 1.Martha (Patsy) (1772-1836) 2.Jane (1774-1775) 3.Unnamed son (1777) 4.MaryWayles (Polly) (1778-1804) 5.Lucy Elizabeth (1780-1781) 6.Lucy Elizabeth (1782-1785)  1773: John Wayles (father-in-law) died  Martha inherited 135 slaves and 11,000 acres (Poplar Forest)

18. 18 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) ◦ 1768 – 1773: Practiced law ◦ 1769 – 1775: Virginia House of Burgesses  First Continental Congress (1774 – 1775)  56 members appointed by the legislatures of 12 of the 13  1774: Jefferson’s A Summary View of the Rights of British America  Instructions to VA delegates; response to Intolerable Acts  “Allodial” title not “feudal” title

19. 19 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 1st Continental Congress (1774 – 1775) ◦ Boycott British goods (December 1, 1774) ◦ Call for 2nd Continental Congress (May 1775)  Invited Quebec  Intended to invite  Saint John's Island (now Prince Edward Island)  Nova Scotia  Georgia  East Florida and West Florida

20. 20 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 2 nd Continental Congress (1775 – 1781) ◦ Same 12 colonies – Georgia joined in July ◦ Essentially the same 56 delegates  Benjamin Franklin (PA) and John Hancock (MA) ◦ Jefferson appointed two weeks later  Peyton Randolph was called back to VA

21. Declaration of Independence Spirit of Republicanism Enlightenment Ideals 21 ◦ Reason ◦ Natural equality, rights of the individual, self- determination ◦ All legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people

22. Declaration of Independence Spirit of Republicanism Enlightenment Ideals Rule of law ◦ Cannot be arbitrarily ignored by ruler/government ◦ Protects liberty 22 ◦ Reason ◦ Natural equality, rights of the individual, self- determination ◦ All legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people

23. Declaration of Independence Spirit of Republicanism Enlightenment Ideals Rule of law Not direct democracy where “majority rules” ◦ Tyranny of the majority 23 ◦ Reason ◦ Natural equality, rights of the individual, self- determination ◦ All legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people

24. 24 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 1776 – 1779: Virginia State Legislator ◦ Reform – new democratic state  Drafted 126 bills  Inheritance laws  Streamlined judicial system  Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779)  Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge  Academic reforms at the College of William and Mary  First college to offer elective system of study

25. 25 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia

26. 26 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 1779 – 1781: Governor of Virginia ◦ Elected by House of Delegates ◦ Two 1-year terms

27. 27 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) ◦ 1785 – 1789  Minister to France  Did not attend Constitutional Convention  Proposed Constitution  Flawed without Bill of Rights ◦ 1789 – 1793  1 st Secretary of State (George Washington) ◦ 1793 – 1797  “retired”

28. 28 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) 1797 – 1801 ◦ 2 nd Vice-president  President John Adams  Quasi-War  1798 – Alien and Sedition Acts 1801 – 1809 ◦ 3 rd President  Revolution of 1800

29. 29 Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) Died: July 4, 1826 ◦ 50 th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence ◦ Same day as John Adams

30. 30 Jefferson’s Religion Jefferson Bible 1803: The Philosophy of Jesus 1819: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth ◦ 1895: Discovered in Library of Congress ◦ 1904: Published by Congress

31. 31 Jefferson’s Religion Jefferson Bible D. James Kennedy (1930 – 2007) ◦ Evangelical preacher and Christian broadcaster ◦ Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church ◦ Founder:  Explosion International,  Coral Ridge Ministries  Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale  Knox Theological Seminary,  Center for Reclaiming America for Christ ◦ Founding Board Member: Moral Majority

32. 32 Jefferson’s Religion Jefferson Bible D. James Kennedy (1930 – 2007) ◦ Jefferson = a “nominal” Christian ◦ Jefferson Bible = Not a Bible  Abridgement of the Gospels created by Jefferson in 1804 for the benefit of the Indians.  “Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted From the New Testament for the Use of the Indians”  There is no evidence that it was an expression of his skepticism

33. 33 Jefferson’s Religion Jefferson Bible Tim LeHaye ◦ Evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker ◦ Left Behind series ◦ Faith of our Founding Fathers

34. 34 Jefferson’s Religion Jefferson Bible Tim LeHaye ◦ “Thomas Jefferson, the closet Unitarian, had nothing to do with the founding of our nation (he was in France being humanized by the French skeptics of the Enlightenment at the time) was no friend of faith.”

35. Jefferson’s Religion Most Historians: ◦ Enlightenment philosophers who shaped Jefferson’s approach to knowledge, reason and freedom of religion Jefferson’s Writings ◦ Philosophical underpinings are evident 35 Anger Concept of Heresy Crime of expressing unauthorized religious thought

36. Jefferson’s Religion “I am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” Christ’s teachings are “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” Urged “getting back to the plain and unsophisticated precepts of Christ.” 36

37. Jefferson’s Religion The History of the Corruption of Christianity ◦ Joseph Preistley (1733 – 1804)  Raised a Calvinist  Founder of Unitarianism ◦ Christianity: perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind and aggrandizing their oppressors in church and state 37

38. Jefferson’s Religion Christianity:  perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind and aggrandizing their oppressors in church and state Ruined almost from the beginning ◦ Gospel writers ◦ St. Paul ◦ Council of Nicea (325)  Trinity  Immaculate Conception  Divinity of Jesus 38

39. Jefferson’s Religion Christianity:  perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind and aggrandizing their oppressors in church and state Protestant Reformation ◦ Calvinism  “Insanities of Calvin”  “Straight jacket alone was their proper remedy”  Undermined morality 39

40. Jefferson’s Religion Christianity:  perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind and aggrandizing their oppressors in church and state “Priests” (All clergy and theologians) ◦ Pervasively corrupt ◦ Organized religion opposed to freedom ◦ Historical and Personal 40

41. Jefferson’s Religion 41 The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But

42. Jefferson’s Religion “I am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” Christ’s teachings are “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” Urged “getting back to the plain and unsophisticated precepts of Christ.” 42

43. Jefferson’s Religion Deism: Two Fundamental Tenets 1. Knowledge based in Reason ◦ Rejection of biblical revelation ◦ Spiritual journey led by reason, not faith ◦ Religious truth ◦ # 1 Religious Value: human equality/freedom 43

44. Jefferson’s Religion Deism: Two Fundamental Tenets 2. God exists ◦ For Jefferson:  Reason: “evident proofs of the necessity of a superintending power to maintain the Universe in it’s course and order.  Not exactly the “Divine Watchmaker” 44

45. Jefferson’s Religion Against blind faith Anti-Christian Anti-religion In favor of reason- based belief Pro-Jesus Pro-God 45

46. Jefferson’s Religion Enlightenment Philosophers Personal Spiritual Journey 46

47. Jefferson’s Religion If Jefferson’s primary religious value was freedom … … slavery? 47

48. Jefferson Memorial Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free 48 ; nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion have drawn indelible lines of distinction between them.

49. Jefferson and Slavery Aristotle ◦ Politics and the Nicomachean Ethics  “From the hour of their birth, some men are marked out for subjection, others for rule.”  Slavery is the natural condition for some people Jefferson ◦ Declaration of Independence  “All men are created equal…” 49

50. Jefferson and Slavery Declaration of Independence  “All men are created equal…”  Slave trade  “execrable (detestable) commerce”  “assemblage of horrors”  “cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberties”  Committed the US to the abolition of slavery  Continental Congress struck the statement 50