Were the Founding Fathers Christians who just believed the church was corrupt or did they not believe in Christianity?

Answer 1

No matter what quotes the revisionists find, there is overwhelming evidence that almost all of the founding fathers believed in the Judeo-Christian Diety and were members of established churches even though some made statements that were critical of organized religion. Here is a list of the religious affiliations of all the men who helped create and signed the three most important documents establishing the United States of America:

• Signers of the Declaration of Independence
• Charles Carroll Maryland Catholic
• Samuel Huntington Connecticut Congregationalist
• Roger Sherman Connecticut Congregationalist
• William Williams Connecticut Congregationalist
• Oliver Wolcott Connecticut Congregationalist
• Lyman Hall Georgia Congregationalist
• Samuel Adams Massachusetts Congregationalist
• John Hancock Massachusetts Congregationalist
• Josiah Bartlett New Hampshire Congregationalist
• William Whipple New Hampshire Congregationalist
• William Ellery Rhode Island Congregationalist
• John Adams Massachusetts Congregationalist; Unitarian
• Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts Congregationalist; Unitarian
• George Walton Georgia Episcopalian
• John Penn North Carolina Episcopalian
• George Ross Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• Thomas Heyward Jr. South Carolina Episcopalian
• Thomas Lynch Jr. South Carolina Episcopalian
• Arthur Middleton South Carolina Episcopalian
• Edward Rutledge South Carolina Episcopalian
• Francis Lightfoot Lee Virginia Episcopalian
• Richard Henry Lee Virginia Episcopalian
• George Read Delaware Episcopalian
• Caesar Rodney Delaware Episcopalian
• Samuel Chase Maryland Episcopalian
• William Paca Maryland Episcopalian
• Thomas Stone Maryland Episcopalian
• Elbridge Gerry Massachusetts Episcopalian
• Francis Hopkinson New Jersey Episcopalian
• Francis Lewis New York Episcopalian
• Lewis Morris New York Episcopalian
• William Hooper North Carolina Episcopalian
• Robert Morris Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• John Morton Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island Episcopalian
• Carter Braxton Virginia Episcopalian
• Benjamin Harrison Virginia Episcopalian
• Thomas Nelson Jr. Virginia Episcopalian
• George Wythe Virginia Episcopalian
• Thomas Jefferson Virginia Episcopalian (Deist)
• Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Episcopalian (Deist)
• Button Gwinnett Georgia Episcopalian; Congregationalist
• James Wilson Pennsylvania Episcopalian; Presbyterian
• Joseph Hewes North Carolina Quaker, Episcopalian
• George Clymer Pennsylvania Quaker, Episcopalian
• Thomas McKean Delaware Presbyterian
• Matthew Thornton New Hampshire Presbyterian
• Abraham Clark New Jersey Presbyterian
• John Hart New Jersey Presbyterian
• Richard Stockton New Jersey Presbyterian
• John Witherspoon New Jersey Presbyterian
• William Floyd New York Presbyterian
• Philip Livingston New York Presbyterian
• James Smith Pennsylvania Presbyterian
• George Taylor Pennsylvania Presbyterian
• Benjamin Rush Pennsylvania Presbyterian

• Signers of the Articles of Confederation
• Daniel Carroll Maryland Catholic
• Andrew Adams Connecticut Congregationalist
• Richard Hutson South Carolina Congregationalist
• Samuel Adams Massachusetts Congregationalist
• Josiah Bartlett New Hampshire Congregationalist
• William Ellery Rhode Island Congregationalist
• John Hancock Massachusetts Congregationalist
• Samuel Huntington Connecticut Congregationalist
• Roger Sherman Connecticut Congregationalist
• Oliver Wolcott Connecticut Congregationalist
• Thomas Heyward Jr. South Carolina Episcopalian
• John Penn North Carolina Episcopalian
• Francis Lightfoot Lee Virginia Episcopalian
• Richard Henry Lee Virginia Episcopalian
• Francis Lewis New York Episcopalian
• Elbridge Gerry Massachusetts Episcopalian
• John Banister Virginia Episcopalian
• James Duane New York Episcopalian
• Edward Langworthy Georgia Episcopalian
• Gouverneur Morris New York Episcopalian
• Nicholas Van Dyke Delaware Episcopalian
• Robert Morris Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• Cornelius Harnett North Carolina Episcopalian (Deist)
• John Dickinson Delaware Quaker; Episcopalian
• Henry Laurens South Carolina Huguenot
• John Hanson Maryland Lutheran
• Thomas McKean Delaware Presbyterian
• John Witherspoon New Jersey Presbyterian
• John Walton Georgia Presbyterian
• Nathaniel Scudder New Jersey Presbyterian
• William Clingan Pennsylvania Protestant, denomination unknown
• Joseph Reed Pennsylvania Protestant, denomination unknown
• Daniel Roberdeau Pennsylvania Protestant, denomination unknown
• Jonathan Bayard Smith Pennsylvania Protestant, denomination unknown
• Francis Dana Massachusetts Protestant, denomination unknown
• Samuel Holten Massachusetts Protestant, denomination unknown
• James Lovell Massachusetts Protestant, denomination unknown
• Henry Marchant Rhode Island Protestant, denomination unknown
• John Collins Rhode Island Protestant, denomination unknown
• Thomas Adams Virginia Protestant, denomination unknown
• John Harvie Virginia Protestant, denomination unknown
• John Mathews South Carolina Protestant, denomination unknown
• William Henry Drayton South Carolina Protestant, denomination unknown
• William Duer New York Protestant, denomination unknown
• Titus Hosmer Connecticut Protestant, denomination unknown
• Edward Telfair Georgia Protestant, denomination unknown
• John Wentworth Jr. New Hampshire Protestant, denomination unknown
• John Williams North Carolina Protestant, denomination unknown

• Names of signers of the US Constitution
• Daniel Carroll Maryland Catholic
• Thomas Fitzsimons Pennsylvania Catholic
• Roger Sherman Connecticut Congregationalist
• Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts Congregationalist
• John Langdon New Hampshire Congregationalist
• Nicholas Gilman New Hampshire Congregationalist
• Abraham Baldwin Georgia Congregationalist; Episcopalian
• William Samuel Johnson Connecticut Episcopalian; Presbyterian
• James Madison Jr. Virginia Episcopalian
• George Read Delaware Episcopalian
• Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Maryland Episcopalian
• David Brearly New Jersey Episcopalian
• Richard Dobbs Spaight, Sr. North Carolina Episcopalian
• Robert Morris Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• Gouverneur Morris Pennsylvania Episcopalian
• John Rutledge South Carolina Episcopalian
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney South Carolina Episcopalian
• Charles Pinckney South Carolina Episcopalian
• Pierce Butler South Carolina Episcopalian
• George Washington Virginia Episcopalian
• Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Episcopalian (Deist)
• William Blount North Carolina Episcopalian; Presbyterian
• James Wilson Pennsylvania Episcopalian; Presbyteran
• Rufus King Massachusetts Episcopalian; Congregationalist
• Jacob Broom Delaware Lutheran
• William Few Georgia Methodist
• Richard Bassett Delaware Methodist
• Gunning Bedford Jr. Delaware Presbyterian
• James McHenry Maryland Presbyterian
• William Livingston New Jersey Presbyterian
• William Paterson New Jersey Presbyterian
• Hugh Williamson North Carolina Presbyterian
• Jared Ingersoll Pennsylvania Presbyterian
• Alexander Hamilton New York Huguenot; Presbyterian; Episcopalian
• Jonathan Dayton New Jersey Presbyterian; Episcopalian
• John Blair Virginia Presbyterian; Episcopalian
• John Dickinson Delaware Quaker; Episcopalian
• George Clymer Pennsylvania Quaker; Episcopalian
• Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania Quaker; Lutheran

• Name of Non-Signing Delegate State Religious Affiliation
• Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut Congregationalist
• Caleb Strong Massachusetts Congregationalist
• John Lansing, Jr. New York Dutch Reformed
• Robert Yates New York Dutch Reformed
• William Houstoun Georgia Episcopalian
• William Leigh Pierce Georgia Episcopalian
• Luther Martin Maryland Episcopalian
• John F. Mercer Maryland Episcopalian
• Elbridge Gerry Massachusetts Episcopalian
• George Mason Virginia Episcopalian
• Edmund J. Randolph Virginia Episcopalian
• George Wythe Virginia Episcopalian
• James McClurg Virginia Presbyterian
• William C. Houston New Jersey Presbyterian
• William R. Davie North Carolina Presbyterian
• Alexander Martin North Carolina Presbyterian

AnswerAccording to most reports I have read and to my Church History professor at Seminary, only ONE "founding father" was a Christian. This one person was Roger Sherman. We take "Founding Father" to mean those who helped write up and construct the important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Most were believers in God but that doesn't constitue Christianity (despite what people want to tell you). This Christian idea of America was more of the influence of the Great Awakenings that came after the founding of America 1776 (also, America isn't considered to have really "started" when the Puritans came). AnswerA Christian pastor recently reported that 53 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were in fact "born again Christians". I hope that helps. AnswerThe following page is a collection of quotes from the Founding Fathers, in many cases from their own correspondences, which would indicate that most of them were not, in fact, Christians. They were Deists who believed in the hand of a higher power ("Divine Providence"), but DID NOT believe in the Christian God or other attempts to limit the scope of an intelligent Creator.

http://atheistalliance.org/library/Morris-founding_fathers.HTML

Although the site which hosts the page may have an agenda, the page itself and its quotes are extensively footnoted from indisputable sources.

Quotes: Thomas JeffersonMillions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth. -- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82 Quotes: Thomas PaineIt is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man. -- Thomas Paine, as quoted by Joseph Lewis in Inspiration and Wisdom from the Writings of Thomas Paine. Quotes John AdamsThe question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles? -- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 20, 1815 Quotes Benjamin FranklinIf we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. These found it wrong in the bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here and in New England. -- Benjamin Franklin, An Essay on Toleration ANSWERQUOTES EDWARD RUTLEDGE

"I find that i can agree fully with my good friend Patrick Henry when he said it can not be emphasized too strongly or to ofter that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ"

~Edward Rutledge

Answer 2

It depends on what you mean by founding the country on Christianity. Most of the founders were Christians. Some of them were Deists but it was a particular form of deism that was heavily influenced by Christianity and involved a deep reverence for the Bible as a source of divinely inspired guidance on moral matters. The founders thought men should be free and have a free government because their reading of the Bible told them that was right. They believed that God guided the destinies of men and nations and that men should seek that guidance from Him, including men in public office making official decisions. They believed that in order for a free society to remain free its people must be virtuous in their private and public lives and that Christianity and the Bible taught how to be virtuous. Thus they founded the country on Christian principles. That said, they did not believe that any specific church ought to be able to give orders to the federal government or that the federal government ought to force people to belong to or support a specific church. Several of the states though did have established churches and everyone thought that was just fine, anybody who didn't like that church didn't have to live in that state. So the country was not founded on any idea of rule by the church. Michael Montagne

Additional Comments:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Treaty of Tripoli - see link below:

Another :

Some Facts and Conclusions

• God wasn't on our currency until 1864(Well after the founding of the country)
• The word God does not appear a single time in the U.S Constitution.
• God was not added to the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, it was originally written in 1892.
• There is no mention of the proper noun "God" in the Declaration of Independence, only the proper noun "Nature's God". This was written by Thomas Jefferson who did not practice Christianity, he rather believed Jesus wasn't divine, but a good ethics teacher to base your life on.
• Morality is not based in Christianity as implied above, morality existed well before the bible.
• Democracy's namesake was atheist.

So, in a sense, democracy was founded on atheistic values, the strongest of which is freedom. The U.S is in no way founded on Christianity, or Christian beliefs, it was founded on basic conceptions of the human condition; the mechanism that spawns theism, not the opposite. Historically, religion was separated from government, and all was well, then Christianity gained momentum and converged with government starting in (at best) the mid 1800s. There is an overlap, but we started trying to (and succeeding) separate church and state again in the mid 1900s by constitutionally defining what had been commonly interpreted by a more philosophizing civilization as a given.

Additonal Comments:

It was religious men and women from the first settlers (Pilgrims) to the first established government that formed the foundations of the USA. All Presidents speeches speak to God guiding this country. Indeed, the 2nd President, in this form, spoke these words:

"...Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (from 'The Works of John Adams').

See related link on quotes from the founding fathers