The Personal God of George Washington

Due to his unquestioned importance, Washington’s religious beliefs have preoccupied Americans for over two centuries. On the one hand, there are those well-meaning Christians who think proving Washington was a Christian will validate the founding and confirm that the United States was, is, and ever shall be a “Christian nation.” On the other hand, there are those who think his alleged deism strips the founding of all religious meaning, revealing an overwhelmingly secular and even anti-religious event with no intellectual or moral roots in the Western and Christian heritage.