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Tag: Nature of God

Second Annual Message to Congress, President Thomas Jefferson, 1802

Second Annual Message to Congress, President Thomas Jefferson, 1802

Thomas Jefferson December 15, 1802 Even though he supported separation of church and state and criticized much religion, Jefferson still seemed to believe that God protected America. December 15, 1802 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: When we assemble together, fellow-citizens, to consider the state of our beloved country, our just attentions are first drawn to those pleasing circumstances which mark the goodness of that Being from whose favor they flow and the large measure…

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Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Smith, February 21, 1825

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Smith, February 21, 1825

Thomas Jefferson February 21, 1825 In his later years, Jefferson offers his religious and moral creed to the son of a friend. This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The writer will be in the grave before you can weigh its counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has requested that I would address to you something which might possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life you have to run, and I too, as…

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Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, June 26, 1822

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, June 26, 1822

Thomas Jefferson June 26, 1822 Jefferson believed that Christianity no longer reflected the true teachings of Jesus. DEAR SIR, — I have received and read with thankfulness and pleasure your denunciation of the abuses of tobacco and wine. Yet, however sound in its principles, I expect it will be but a sermon to the wind. You will find it as difficult to inculcate these sanative precepts on the sensualities of the present day, as to convince an Athanasian that there…

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Letter from John Adams to Samuel Miller, July 8, 1820

Letter from John Adams to Samuel Miller, July 8, 1820

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John Adams July 8, 1820 Toward the end of his life he recounts his religious explorations and concludes, “I believe with Justin Martyr, that all good men are Christians.” You know not the gratification you have given me by your kind, frank, and candid letter. I must be a very unnatural son to entertain any prejudices against the Calvinists, or Calvinism, according to your confession of faith; for my father and mother, my uncles and aunts, and all my predecessors,…

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Letter from John Adams to Benjamin Rush, January 21, 1810

Letter from John Adams to Benjamin Rush, January 21, 1810

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John Adams January 21, 1810 Adams declares God to be “the first good, first perfect, and first fair” and defines Christianity to include all Christian denominations. [Thomas Paine’s] political writings, I am singular enough to believe, have done more harm than his irreligious ones. He understood neither government nor religion. From a malignant heart he wrote virulent declamations, which the enthusiastic fury of the times intimidated all men, even Mr. Burke, from answering as he ought. His deism, as it…

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Who Are the Best Keepers of the People’s Liberties? By James Madison, 1792

Who Are the Best Keepers of the People’s Liberties? By James Madison, 1792

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James Madison December 22, 1792 In what was otherwise a political polemic, Madison writes a few sentences (the 7th paragraph) that express a personal belief about faith: that humans have little capacity to understand God’s plan. National Gazette, December 22, 1792 Republican. — The people themselves. The sacred trust can be no where so safe as in the hands most interested in preserving it. Anti-republican. — The people are stupid, suspicious, licentious. They cannot safely trust themselves. When they have established government they…

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Letter from James Madison to Frederick Beasley, November 20, 1825

Letter from James Madison to Frederick Beasley, November 20, 1825

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James Madison November 20, 1825 Madison’s description of why he believes in God is somewhat abstract. I have duly recd the copy of your little tract on the proofs of the Being & Attributes of God. To do full justice to it, would require not only a more critical attention than I have been able to bestow on it, but a resort to the celebrated work of Dr. Clarke, which I read fifty years ago only, and to that of…

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Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Elizabeth Hubbart

Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Elizabeth Hubbart

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Benjamin Franklin February 22, 1756 Though he later called himself a Deist, Franklin shows in this condolence note his belief In a soul and afterlife. “Why then should we grieve that a new child is born among the immortals?” Philadelphia, February 22, 1756. Dear Child, I condole with you, we have lost a most dear and valuable relation, but it is the will of God and Nature that these mortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is to enter…

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Benjamin Franklin’s Request for Prayers at the Constitutional Convention

Benjamin Franklin’s Request for Prayers at the Constitutional Convention

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Benjamin Franklin July 28, 1787 The Constitutional Convention had been meeting for five weeks, and had hit a perilous deadlock. The large states were insisting that congressional representation be based on population; the smaller states wanted a one-state-one-vote rule. The entire effort to create a stronger union was in jeopardy. Eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin, quiet during most of the deliberations, then addressed the group. According to James Madison’s notes, here is what happened next. Mr. President The small progress we have…

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Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion by Benjamin Franklin, November 20, 1728

Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion by Benjamin Franklin, November 20, 1728

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Benjamin Franklin November 20, 1728 Franklin had difficulty imagining that the Supreme Being could possibly be interested in the petty needs – or prayers – of Earthlings. Yet He believed that humans have a powerful need “to pay Divine Regards to SOMETHING.” So, ever the engineer, Franklin concluded that God created a system of deputy gods, one for each solar system. Despite his Puritan upbringing, he envisioned a warm, loving God. “I should be happy to have so wise, good…

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