Hall, Mark David. Did America Have a Christian Founding?, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2019.
Many of you have been taught that America was founded by deists who desired a strict and strong separation between church and state. Is that true? Mark David Hall gets right to the question in the title of his latest book. Drawing from personal letters, speeches, laws, early state constitutions, and other documents, Hall works to set the record straight on the reality of the Founding Fathers’ religious convictions.
Book readers usually begin at the beginning, but the introduction to a book is not always essential reading. In the case of this particular book, however, the introduction is one of the most important chapters in the entire volume. Hall opens by asserting that scholars and popular authors who assert that America’s founders were deists are wrong and their “claims are patently and unequivocally false.”
But, if Hall’s assertions are so obvious, why has the false narrative about the founders hung around for so long? It could be that the prevailing worldview among academic elites and authors of American history is secular. It could also be that no one has taken the time to carefully define what a Christian founding would look like. Hall offers five possible definitions of what would constitute a Christian founding
- The founders identified themselves as Christians, which they clearly did. In 1776, with the exception of about 2000 Jews, every colonist identified himself or herself as a Christian–about 98% were Protestants and the remaining 2% were Roman Catholic.
- The founders were all sincere Christians. Sincerity is difficult to define and difficult for scholars, or anyone else, to judge.
- The founders were orthodox Christians. Some of the founders were orthodox Christians and were outspoken about their orthodox beliefs (Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Jay, Roger Sherman, and John Witherspoon, for instance), while others were not. But, the lack of historical records on most of the founders related to their orthodoxy would make it difficult to gauge this question with certainty. “But, there is no evidence to suggest that many or most of the founders rejected orthodox Christianity or that they were deists.”
- The founders acted like Christians in their private or public life.
- The founders were influenced by Christian ideas.
Hall goes on to argue that the fifth definition is the one that he finds most reasonable. However, he also shows that many of the other definitions were common among the Founding Fathers as well.
After the introduction, Hall builds his case with five chapters who’s titles are self-explanatory.
Chapter 1: The Myth of the Founders’ Deism
Here, Hall shows that there is little evidence to suggest that Deism was common among the founders and ample evidence to suggest that it was not. He shows that only Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen, and Thomas Paine ever publicly identified as deists. He goes on to show that two others, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, privately embraced deism.
Chapter 2: The United States Does Not Have A Godless Constitution
Many have argued that the United States’ constitution is a secular or godless document because God is not featured prominently in the text of the constitution. However, Hall shows that God is not completely absent from the constitution. For instance, Article VII proclaims the the document was framed “in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth.” The Constitution also contains three different oath requirements and “most founders could not conceive of oaths in anything other than religious terms.”
Chapter 3: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the First Amendment
Hall uses chapter three to address the question of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. He shows that Jefferson’s influence has been exaggerated and that Madison was not as consistently in favor of the separation of church and state as a few pull-quotes may suggest. He also points out that the language, “separation of church and state” was never enshrined in any law, but was a quote from Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association (Connecticut) affirming his commitment to their religious liberty.
Chapter 4: The Founders Believed Civic Authorities Should Protect, Promote, and Encourage Religion and Morality
The Founding Fathers believed that all people had the fundamental right to worship freely as their conscience directed them. But, they also encouraged religious belief and morality because they believed it to be important and necessary for a healthy, democratic society. In short, the prevailing worldview at the time of the founding of the US (which would have also been the prevailing worldview of the Founding Fathers) believed that morality in this life was dependent upon rewards or punishment in the next life. For instance, George Washington not only supported the idea of a chaplain corps as created by the Continental Congress, he demanded that chaplains be included at the regiment level and not at the brigade level. Washington also “expected, but did not order his officers to attend divine services, and enlisted men were apparently free to worship or not as their consciences dictated.”
Chapter 5: Christianity, Religious Liberty, and Religious Exemptions
By the end of the revolutionary era, “every state offered significant protection of religious liberty. The federal Constitution did not contain a religious provision, only because its supporters believed the national government did not have the delegated power to pass laws interfering with religious belief or practice.” The founders wanted to protect religious liberty, but it was not just the liberty of the majority that would be protected. Hall points out that the Free Exercise Clause have mostly benefited members of small religious groups that have little political power.
Conclusion
Hall has written an important book that should be read by Christians and non-Christians alike. If you have a high school or college student, read this book and then pass it along to them. America was founded as a nation by Christian people with Christian convictions. It doesn’t appear that the intentions of the founders were that Christianity should be the only religion practiced in America. However, Hall convincingly argues that the faith of the founders was overwhelmingly–though not completely–Christian.
Just as Christians had a say in creating the system of American government, Christians should continue to have a role in the public sphere. Hall’s book will help Americans–especially Christian Americans–to better understand their founders faith and the way that faith affects the founders vision for America today.
