So Boller and Lillback both agree that Washington believed in an active Providence. George Washington was a theist, not a Deist.īut Boller rejects Washington's "Christianity" because, as he put it,į to believe in the divinity and resurrection of Christ and his atonement for the sins of man and to participate in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are requisites for the Christian faith, then Washington, on the evidence which we have examined, can hardly be considered a Christian, except in the most nominal sense. Here Lillback rightly objects that terming such theology "Deism" when that term, to too many modern ears, connotes a non-interventionist God, is problematic. Indeed, Boller admits that Washington's Grand Architect "Deist" God was an active intervener. Thompson both have written books in the 300 page range that prove Washington's belief in an active Providence. And Lillback didn't need to write 1200 pages to demonstrate Washington believed in an active personal God. Though some notable scholars have so claimed, Boller did not.
Lillback does answer the claim that GW was a strict Deist, that is one who believes in a non-interventionist God and categorically rejects all written revelation. Most "Christian America" scholars asserting Washington's devout Christianity simply ignore such evidence, like for instance that Washington refused to take communion in his church such that his own minister termed him a "Deist" or "not a real Christian" for this. To his credit, Lillback's is familiar with almost every claim Boller makes and seeks to answer them. And Boller claims Washington some kind of "Deist," that evidence lacks for his Christian orthodoxy.
Boller to James Flexner, who claim Washington was some kind of Deist.īoller's "George Washington & Religion," among respected historians, is the generally accepted standard-bearer work of scholarship on the matter. No, this book aims squarely at respected scholars, notably experts on Washington's life, from Paul F. Most ordinary folks will not, like me, finish or even read a fraction of a 1200 page book with 200 pages of fineprint footnotes. That "the masses" are buying the book in great numbers is ironic.
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