TruthBook Religious News Blog

Monday, March 3, 2008

By Sally Pollak
Free Press Staff Writer

Book Review: "Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America's Founding Fathers" by Gary Kowalski.

The book focuses on the beliefs and interests of six men who were influential and instrumental in the founding of the nation: Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

These leaders, Kowalski said, were "original and idiosyncratic religious thinkers." Kowalski said he would characterize all of them in two ways:

Religious naturalists: The men found God in nature rather than scripture or the traditional revelations.

Religious liberals: They believed that faith should flourish, but it should do so in the private sphere -- within a certain "inviolable zone of personal freedom that neither the state nor the church can intrude upon," Kowalski said.

Kowalski's interest in researching and writing about the faith of the founding fathers was driven by what he thinks are common misperceptions about who these men were and what they believed in. There are many people who believe the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation by a group of men who were devout believers in the bible, Kowalski said.

He learned that the founding fathers were curious thinkers with an interest in science and philosophy. They were comfortable asking questions that yielded ambiguous and complex answers. Their insistence on the separation of church and state was intended to help religious freedom and religious diversity flourish -- and an effort to prevent the submission of certain religions by a dominant faith, Kowalski said. They were religious pluralists who believed the nation benefited from a diversity of faiths.

"I think the founders would be disturbed by the way journalists and voters seem to be applying a religious screen to the presidential candidates," he said. "They were discreet about their religious beliefs, and never paraded them for purposes of gaining votes. They'd be dismayed to see the way candidates are expected to profess their piety as great church-goers -- as though that's a qualification for public office. The idea that God identified with some party platform would've been completely foreign to their thinking."

Kowalski used a combination of primary and secondary sources for his research. Private correspondence, including condolence letters sent when family members died, revealed insights into the men's beliefs, he said.

Kowalski writes that Washington "deliberately avoided using the word 'God' in his public statements."

He notes that Jefferson put together his own bible, the first version titled "The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth." In his bible, Jefferson eliminated miracles -- including the virgin birth.

Adams, who was interested in scientific inquiry, had a particular interest in astronomy. He speculated about life on other planets and the connectedness of the universe, writing that "it is highly probable every particle of matter influences and is influenced by every other particle in the whole collected universe."

"The founders believed and hoped that religion would be a cohesive social force," Kowalski said. "They believed that all denominations share some of the same values -- justice, love, mercy -- and that religion lists us above narrow self-interests in its concern for the public good."

Labels: America, Founding Fathers, Gary Kowalski, George Washington, John Adams, Liberal, naturalism, religion, Sally Pollak, Thomas Jefferson