26 Ibid., vol. 3, 9-14-1775.
27 Ibid., vol. 35, 3-3-1797.
28 Ibid., vol. 4, 3-6-1776.
29 Ibid., vol. 5, 5-15-1776.
30 Ibid., vol. 37, 9-22-1799.
31 Our founders were sometimes explicit in their use of the name of Jesus Christ in their public proclamations for prayer and fasting or thanksgiving, and at other times they were implicit in their Christian understanding. For examples of the explict use of Christ’s name in a public yet holy context consider the following (which all can be found in Journals of the Continental Congress, on the dates specified):
In March 1776, the Congress said for a day of prayer and fasting, “. . . it becomes the indispensable duty of these hitherto free and happy colonies, with true penitence of heart, and the most reverent devotion, publickly to acknowledge the over ruling providence of God; to confess and deplore our offences against him; and to supplicate his interposition for averting the threatened danger, and prospering our strenuous efforts in the cause of freedom, virtue, and posterity. . . .Do earnestly recommend, that Friday, the Seventeenth day of May next, be observed by the said colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and, by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous displeasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness; . . .That he would be graciously pleased to bless all his people in these colonies with health and plenty, and grant that a spirit of incorruptible patriotism, and of pure undefiled religion, may universally prevail; and this continent be speedily restored to the blessings of peace and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate the latest posterity. And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations, to assemble for public worship, and abstain from servile labour on the said day.”
A Congressional Thanksgiving Proclamation on November 1, 1777 declared: “Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; . . .they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favour, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the governments of these states respectively. . . and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth “in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
Yet most often there is only an implict use of the name of Jesus Christ in such public proclamations. But they clearly do not imply a deistic intent since they either use honorific titles for Jesus Christ, or, they make clear that they are referring to Christianity.
The Congressional Proclamation in March 1782 is most remarkable because of the interest of the Congress in the expansion of the Christian religion. It says, “. . .that He would incline the hearts of all men to peace, and fill them with universal charity and benevolence, and that the religion of our Divine Redeemer, with all its benign influences, may cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.”
In other Congressional Thanksgiving Proclamations, one can find a clear emphasis upon Christianity: In 1779, “. . .and above all, that he hath diffused the glorious light of the gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of his eternal glory. . . .prayer for the continuance of his favor and protection to these United States; to beseech him. . .that he would grant to his church the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his holy spirit on all ministers of the gospel; that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth. . . .” In 1780, “. . .to cherish all schools and seminaries of education, and to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.” In 1783, “. . .and above all, that he hath been pleased to continue to us the light of the blessed gospel, and secured to us in the fullest extent the rights of conscience in faith and worship… to smile upon our seminaries and means of education, to cause pure religion and virtue to flourish.” In 1784, “And above all, that he hath been pleased to continue to us the light of gospel truths, and secured to us, in the fullest manner, the rights of conscience in faith and worship.”
Reverend Dr. John Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister from New Jersey, President of the College of New Jersey in Princeton, and a member of Congress. He was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. In 1782, he composed one of the Continental Congress’ national calls for a day of thanksgiving: “. . . to testify their gratitude to God for his goodness, by a cheerful obedience to his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness.” Note that in his mind as an orthodox minister in the Presbyterian tradition, “true and undefiled religion” was a synonym for Christianity. Also, following the common custom of the day, Witherspoon did not directly mention the name of Jesus Christ in his proclamation, but this clearly had no anti-Christian or deistic intent.
A similar example of the implicit reference to Christianity is in the Reverend Dr. Jedidiah Morse’s brief history of Washington. Morse was an orthodox Christian New England clergyman who published America’s first scholarly geography text. Not only did he correspond with Washington about this scholarly enterprise, but he also shared his sermons, which Washington read and approved, which we will consider in the chapter on Washington’s sermons. He also published a brief history of Washington’s life, which was actually the anonymous version of David Humphrey’s notes on Washington. On p. 36 of Morse’s “Life of Washington,” we find the following “Federal Prayer” which reflects the “implicit” Christianity as just considered in Witherspoon’s call for thanksgiving. It says, “FATHER of all! Thou who rulest the armies of Heaven above; look down upon us we beseech thee, and bless all orders of men in this lower world. In a particular manner we pray for our own country: Bless the Congress of these United States, and all our rulers; May they rule wisely, love mercy, and do justice at all times. Unite us more and more we beseech thee; lead us in the right way, and make us a great and a happy people. Bless all religious orders of men, O our heavenly Father! Enlighten their minds, subdue superstition, and grant that they may all unite to worship thee in truth, with one heart and one voice. Send discord far from us, we beseech thee, both from church and state, and give us hearts of unity and peace. Hasten the happy time when thy will shall be done here on earth, as it is done in Heaven: When sin and sorrow shall be no more: When all the inhabitants of the earth shall be blessed; and join in songs of praise to thee the only wise God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
32 The dates on the title pages of the Almanacks that are extant are 1761, 1765, 1768, 1769, 1771, 1772, 1774. Each of them states “in the year of our Lord God.” See these dates in Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, ed. The Diaries of George Washington (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976-79) [online] [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html].
33 This was likely due to protest over the Stamp Act which was passed in 1765, and the additional cost this added to almanacs (See A Tale of the Huguenots, or Memoirs of a French Refugee Family. Translated and compiled from the original manuscripts of James Fontaine, by one of his descendants, with an introduction by F. L. Hawks. (New York: John S. Taylor, 1838), P. 257: “But what hath given a most general alarm to all the colonists upon this continent, and most of those in the islands, and struck us with the most universal consternation that ever seized a people so widely diffused, is a late Act of the British Parliament, subjecting us to a heavy tax by the imposition of stamp duties on all manner of papers requisite in trade, law or private dealings, on pamphlets, newspapers, almanacks, calendars, and even advertisements, etc. etc.;”). It is also possible that the Virginia Almanack was only sold with the stamp, and Washington may have chosen not to buy it with a tax stamp affixed. It is clear that the Washington family was opposed to the Stamp Act. Four Washington family members signed a resolution in protest of the Stamp Act. Bishop Meade writes:
The following address and resolutions of the patriots of the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the year 1765, immediately after the passage of the Stamp Act, properly belongs to the article on Washington parish, Westmoreland. It was drawn up by Richard Henry Lee, whose name is first on the list. It is said to have been the first public association in the land for the resistance to the act.
Roused by danger, and alarmed at attempts, foreign and domestic, to reduce the people of this country to a state of abject and detestable slavery, by destroying that free and happy constitution of government under which they have hitherto lived,— We, who subscribe this paper, have associated, and do bind ourselves to each other, to God, and to our country, by the firmest ties that religion and virtue can frame, most sacredly and punctually to stand by, and with our lives and fortunes to support, maintain and defend each other in the observance and execution of these following articles.
First. – We declare all due allegiance and obedience to our lawful Sovereign, George the Third, King of Great Britain. And we determine to the utmost of our power to preserve the laws, the peace and good order of this colony, as far as is consistent with the preservation of our constitutional rights and liberty.
Secondly. – As we know it to be the birthright privilege of every British subject, (and of the people of Virginia as being such,) founded on reason, law, and compact, that he cannot be legally tried, but by his peers, and that he cannot be taxed, but by the consent of a Parliament, in which he is represented by persons chosen by the people, and who themselves pay a part of the tax they impose on others. If therefore any person or persons shall attempt, by any action or proceeding, to deprive this colony of those fundamental rights, we will immediately regard him or them as the most dangerous enemy of the community; and we will go to any extremity, not only to prevent the success of such attempts, but to stigmatize and punish the offender.
Thirdly. – As the Stamp Act does absolutely direct the property of the people to be taken from them without their consent expressed by their representatives, and as in many cases it deprives the British American subject of his right to trial by jury; we do determine, at every hazard, and paying no regard to danger or to death, we will exert every faculty to prevent the execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever within this colony. And every abandoned wretch, who shall be so lost to virtue and public good, as wickedly to contribute to the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this colony, by using stamp paper, or by any other means, we will, with the utmost expedition, convince all such profligates that immediate danger and disgrace shall attend their prostitute purposes.
Fourthly. – That the last article may surely and effectually be executed, we engage to each other, that whenever it shall be known to any of this association, that any person is so conducting himself as to favour the introduction of the Stamp Act, that immediately notice shall be given to as many of the association as possible; and that every individual so informed shall, with expedition, repair to a place of meeting to be appointed as near the scene of action as may be.
Fifthly. – Each associator shall do his true endeavour to obtain as many signers to this association as he possibly can.
Sixthly. – If any attempt shall be made on the liberty or property of any associator for any action or thing done in consequence of this agreement, we do most solemnly bind ourselves by the sacred engagements above entered into, at the utmost risk of our lives and fortunes, to restore such associate to his liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his property.
In testimony of the good faith with which we resolve to execute this association, we have this 27th day of February, 1766, in Virginia, put our hands and seals hereto.
In Bishop Meade, Old Churches And Families of Virginia, vol. II, p. 434, appendix No. VI.
34 Boller, George Washington and Religion pp. 74-75 says, “Unlike Thomas Jefferson—and Thomas Paine, for that matter—Washington never even got around to recording his belief that Christ was a great ethical teacher. His reticence on the subject was truly remarkable.”
35 Washington mentions Christmas 41 times. His special love for Christmas reflects his victory at the Christmas Day surprise attack on the Hessians in New Jersey (WGW, vol. 6, 12-28-1776, “I have the pleasure to inform you of the success of an enterprize, which took effect the 26th. Instant at Trenton; On the night of the preceding day, I cross’d the Delaware with a detachment of the Army under my Command, amounting to about 2400.) It also shows the impact of his final return from the war to Mount Vernon at the end of the war on Christmas Eve. (WGW, vol. 27, 2-1-1784, “I did, on the 23d. of December present them my commission, and made them my last bow, and on the Eve of Christmas entered these doors an older man by near nine years, than when I left them, is very uninteresting to any but myself.”) But it also highlights an emphasis of his childhood education, which we will explore in the chapter on Washington’s childhood education.
36 WGW, vol. 30, 4-1789. This text from Washington seems to refer to man’s depravity seen in the abuse of a divinely given religious organization—the temple worship—which resulted in the crucifixion. See Matt. 26:57-68; 27:1-10, 41-44. Washington’s childhood training, which we will consider in the chapters on Washington’s childhood and Washington’s childhood education, included an understanding of the redemptive sufferings of Christ.
37 In a later chapter, we will see that Easter and the Resurrection appear in his childhood training. We will also consider his Anglican tradition’s teaching on the Resurrection, and how that manifested itself in Washington’s adult life.
38 WGW vol. 4, 12-8-1775; 24, 4-21-1782; 26, 6-8-1783; 35, 12-19-1796.
39 Ibid., vol. 30, 4-30-1789.
40 Ibid., vol. 28, 6-30-1786; 37, 4-25-1799.
41 Ibid., vol. 32, 1-27-1793; 3-6-1793.
42 Ibid., vol. 26, 6-8-1783.
43 Ibid., vol. 6, 12-6-1776; 37, 11-22-1799.
44 Ibid., vol. 30, 4-30-1789.
45 Ibid vol. 37, 8-28-1762.
46 Ibid., vol. 28, 6-30-1785; 29, 5-2-1788; 30, 7-6-1789, note;.
47 Ibid., vol. 29, 8-15-1787.
48 Ibid., vol. 35, 5-15-1797.
