The Founders on Religion: A Book of Quotations

Book Overview

What did the founders of America think about religion? Until now, there has been no reliable and impartial compendium of the founders' own remarks on religious matters that clearly answers the question. This book fills that gap. A lively collection of quotations on everything from the relationship between church and state to the status of women, it is the most comprehensive and trustworthy resource available on this timely topic.

The book calls to the witness stand all the usual suspects--George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams--as well as many lesser known but highly influential luminaries, among them Continental Congress President Elias Boudinot, Declaration of Independence signer Charles Carroll, and John Dickinson, "the Pennsylvania Farmer." It also gives voice to two founding "mothers," Abigail Adams and Martha Washington.

The founders quoted here ranged from the piously evangelical to the steadfastly unorthodox. Some were such avid students of theology that they were treated as equals by the leading ministers of their day. Others vacillated in their conviction. James Madison's religious beliefs appeared to weaken as he grew older. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, seemed to warm to religion late in life. This compilation lays out the founders' positions on more than seventy topics, including the afterlife, the death of loved ones, divorce, the raising of children, the reliability of biblical texts, and the nature of Islam and Judaism.

Partisans of various stripes have long invoked quotations from the founding fathers to lend credence to their own views on religion and politics. This book, by contrast, is the first of its genre to be grounded in the careful examination of original documents by a professional historian. Conveniently arranged alphabetically by topic, it provides multiple viewpoints and accurate quotations.

Readers of all religious persuasions--or of none--will find this book engrossing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691133832
• ISBN13: 9780691133836
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

religion in Early America

THE FOUNDERS ON RELIGION (2005) edited by John H. Huston John Huston has assembled a wonderful collection of quotes from the Founders on the subject of religion. Here are these men (and some women!) in their own words on sensitive issues. Many of the quotes are taken from private correspondence and reveal a side of these individuals that was not always publicly known. The quotes are arranged by subject and there is no commentary on the content outside of footnotes and the introduction. A lot of the time, discussion of the Founders' religious views is framed in a way to promote an agenda. One group states that they were Enlightenment rationalists who scoffed at religious ideas, while another group says that they were all Bible-believers who crafted in a Christian Nation. It is acknowledged that many of these men had differences of opinion when it came to the role of government or the ratification of the Constitution, so why not on religion? The fact is that some of our Founders were extremely devout and others were less inclined to give themselves that label. When they agreed it was never to a perfect degree; it rarely is with intelligent people. I do agree that the omission on Thomas Paine is quite striking, especially since he was very vocal regarding religious subjects. I am a Christian and I disagree with Paine's own opinions about religion, but it cannot be denied that he was a major intellectual force in early America. That being said, what is here is very good and is presented in a very easy-to-read manner. This is a very useful resource for anybody with even a casual interest in the subject.

A Handy and Valuable Resource

James H. Hutson has done anyone who writes or speaks about religion a huge favor. By collecting our founding father's thoughts on more than 70 religious topics, he has offered insight into the extrordinary minds and convictions of the people who founded this country. Quotations on the after-life, death of loved ones, divorce, child rearing, reliability of biblical texts, Judism and Islam are offered from founders who range from pious to unorthodox. Calling on the usual -- and even some unusual -- suspects Hutson offers quotations that transcend time. The utterances prove provacative, warm, funny, heartfelt and wise. Hutson even includes quotations from two founding mothers - Martha Washington and Abigal Adams. Well-researched, highly-usable and often amusing, this book is a must for history lovers and those who just like to think, write or discuss religion.

A book of quotations - not analysis of them

There is no question that many of the "Founding Fathers" were people of faith with deep religious convictions who felt the miraculous formation of this country was "guided by Providence." This is seen for one in The Declaration of Independance which references a "guiding higher power" several times. (Yet, the Constitution is silent about the same - go figure). In the search for historical context of such issues, this book serves the need for a reliable source of quotations that covers as wide a range of subject matter in an unbiased manner. The author is a professional historian with the Library of Congress and former faculty member of Yale and William and Mary Colleges and has scoured many primary sources to assemble this collection of quotes of many key figures in the early formation of this country. Not surprisingly, the overall approach and tone is highly academic with meticulous referencing. Part of the motivation of this new compilation is the author's professional frustration for existing "quote books" on the same topic which, according to him, are riddled in bias and piecemeal scholarship. Maybe, but this book sets a clear tone of historical scholarship according to accepted practices in the field that should be acceptable to people of all persuasions. It is important to realize this is a book listing quotations and not an analysis, distillation or commentary about them - or as to what they could imply today (for that, Jon Meacham's 2006 book, "American Gospel" is worth reading). The author merely presents the "data" and lets the reader come to his/her own conclusions. As such it is a valuable reference on the topic. What is unique about the organization here is that it is by TOPIC rather than by person being quoted. This allows one to zero-in on topics of most interest. For those most interested in chuch-state issues, several topics will give related quotes: America, American revolution, the Bible, Christianity, Christian nation, Church & State, Constitution, Law, Liberty of conscience, Providence, Freedom of Religion, Social unity of religion. If your interest is in the various faiths (or none) of the founders, topics include Athiesm, Calvinism, Catholicsm, Clergy, Ecumenicism, Creeds, Dieism, Episcopalians, Jesus, Jews, Presbyterians, Quakers, Unitarianism. Other unique topics that reveal some personal perspectives and beliefs are war, women, Islam, slavery, Native Americans, the afterlife, marriage, divorce and reason. There are a few limitations and challenges to this book. The first is the 18th-century language which can be a bit hard to assimilate. I had to read many quotes several times to get the jist (they seem to like run-on sentences). Second, there is no context given with the quotes (by design to limit the size). As a quote should only be as good as its known context, this is a limitation to further analysis. For example, many readers would want to see the entire context of Jefferson's famous letter

concise and fair

This is a nice little florilegium that will be useful to fair-minded readers. It's short enough to read at a sitting, and it's the work of a responsible professional -- none of the faked or doctored quotes that appear in similar compilations published by the religious right. Readers seeking context for these quotations will have to look elsewhere, as they are generally presented without commentary. Jefferson's "wall of separation" draws a bare footnote that directs the reader to a chapter in a recent monograph, but gives no hint of what will be found there. My only reservation about this is book is that omits Thomas Paine, except in that he appears as the target of two negative comments by other writers. Paine, the author of "Common Sense" and "The Crisis," surely has a far, far better claim to rank among the Founders than the likes of Elias Bodinot and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. He is also the only one of the Founders who actually published a book entirely devoted to religion that still has a place in the American literary canon: "The Age of Reason." Hutson's decision to suppress Paine's radical voice is a flaw in an otherwise excellent book.