Bible Baptist Church

On May 12, 1779 George Washington told a gathering of Delaware Indians, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.  This will make you a greater and happier people.”

Jared Sparks (1789-1866), who was a noted historian and later became President of Harvard, wrote a 12-volume exposition on the life of George Washington (he also did a 10-volume work on Benjamin Franklin).  After years of research and looking through all writings, correspondence, etc. he wrote the following conclusion, “To say that he [George Washington] was not a Christian would be to impeach his sincerity and honesty”.

John Marshall, who fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War and served with him at Valley Forge (and later became Chief Justice of the supreme court), said of Washington, “Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man”.

George Washington’s adopted granddaughter, Eleanor (Nelly), wrote the following in a letter dated February 26, 1833, “I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity.  His life, his writing, prove that he was a Christian”.

Isaac Watts, a temporary landlord of George Washington, one day came upon the General as he was kneeling in prayer.  Not wanting to interrupt, he stood motionless until Washington finished and went on his way.  Upon returning to his house Watts told his wife, Sarah, “If George Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived – and still more shall I be deceived, if God do not, through him, work out a great salvation for America”.

At the end of the Revolutionary War General George Washington approached Chaplain John Gano of the continental Army, and said:  “I have been investigating the Scripture, and I believe immersion to be the baptism taught in the Word of God, and I demand it at your hands.  I do not wish any parade made or the Army called out, but simply a quiet demonstration of the ordinance”.  So, on April 19, 1783, in the presence of 42 officers and men Washington was baptized by Gano in the
Potomac River.

The words and actions of the President himself, along with the testimony of those who knew him best, affirm him to be a man of the Christian faith.  It would be “the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity”.

Is it realistic to demand or expect our political leaders to be God-fearing Christian men? In the Bible, in Exodus 18:21, the Lord (via Jethro, Moses father-in-law) gives three requirements for those who would be “rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens”. He says that these leaders should meet three qualifications: fear God, be men of truth and hate covetousness. In Moses day it must have been possible to find enough men who met these requirements or God would not have given them. But that was a long time ago. Is it realistic to have these same expectations today?

John Jay (1745-1829) was one of our Founding Fathers. He was President of the Continental Congress, one of the writers of the Federalist Papers, our First Supreme Court Chief Justice (appointed by George Washington) and later Governor of the State of New York. He said this: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers”.ⁱ

That it was possible, not so long ago, to elect and appoint men of Christian faith is evident by the requirements of several of our States as given in their Constitutions:

State Constitution of Delaware (September 20, 1776)

Article 22

Every person, who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall take the following oath, or affirmation if conscientiously scrupulous of taking an oath, to wit,

“I, ______________ will bear true allegiance to the Delaware State, submit to its constitution and laws, and do no act wittingly whereby the freedom thereof may be prejudiced.”

And also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit,

“I, ______________ do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.” ⁱⁱ

State Constitution of Pennsylvania (September 28, 1776)

Chapter VI Article I

And each member [of the legislature] before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.

“I do believe in one God, the creator and governour (sic) of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.”ⁱⁱⁱ

State Constitution of Massachusetts (March 2, 1780)

Chapter VI, Article I

Any person chosen governor, or lieutenant-governor, counsillor (sic), senator, or representative, and accepting the trust; shall, before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office, make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.

“I, ________________ do declare, that I believe the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion of its truth; and that I am seized and possessed, in my own right, of the property required of the constitution as one qualification for the office or place to which I am elected.”^iv

State Constitution of Maryland (August 14, 1776)

Article 35

That no other qualification ought to be required on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this state, and such oath of office as shall be directed by this convention, or the legislature of this state, and the declaration of a belief in the christian religion.^v

State Constitution of North Carolina (December 18, 1776)

Article 32

That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testament, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this state. ^vi

These state constitutions make it evident that it was possible at the founding of our nation to both expect and demand that our political leaders be men of Christian faith. Is it still realistic and possible 230+ years later?

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”