"In the Hands of a Good Providence": Religion in the Life of George Washington

by Mary V. Thompson

Attempts by evangelical Christians to claim Washington and other founders as their own, and scholars' ongoing attempts to contradict these claims, are nothing new. Particularly after Washington was no longer around to refute them, legends of his Baptist baptism or secret conversion to Catholicism began to proliferate. Mount Vernon researcher Mary Thompson endeavors to get beyond the current preoccupation with whether Washington and other founders were or were not evangelical Christians to ask what place religion had in their lives. Thompson follows Washington and his family over several generations, situating her inquiry in the context of new work on the place of religion in colonial and postrevolutionary Virginia and the Chesapeake. Thompson considers Washington's active participation as a vestryman and church warden as well as a generous donor to his parish prior to the Revolution, and how his attendance declined after the war. He would attend special ceremonies, and stood as godparent to the children of family and friends, but he stopped taking communion and resigned his church office. Something had changed, but was it Washington, the church, or both? Thompson concludes that he was a devout Anglican, of a Latitudinarian bent, rather than either an evangelical Christian or a Deist. The meaning of this description, Thompson allows, when applied to eighteenth-century Virginia gentlemen, is far from self-evident, leaving ample room for speculation.

Genres: History, Religion, Biography, Politics, Christianity, American History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2008

Reviews

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an outstanding analysis of Washington’s religion. Understanding his views on religion is especially important, as he once stated, “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.” So with regards to religion, what precisely did Washington believe?

Just exactly what the book concludes about Washington’s religion is covered well both in its summary and the generally excellent reviews accompanying the book. Rather than repeat these concepts, however, I would just like to mention a couple excerpts and backgrounds:

1st excerpt: “Eminently practical, a [Virginia Anglican] believer’s faith would reveal itself through actions….” “Doing one’s duty was a statement of faith and the product of a sincere devotional life.”

Background: “Latitudinarianism” is the term the author uses to describe Virginia Anglicanism. Wikipedia states that Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologians – clerics and academics – from the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England, which was Protestant). In particular, they believed that adhering to very specific doctrines, liturgical practices, and church organizational forms, as did the Puritans, was not necessary and could be harmful: "The sense that one had special instructions from God made individuals less amenable to moderation and compromise, or to reason itself." Thus, the latitudinarians supported a broad-based Protestantism.

Also of note: Washington’s great-grandfather John left England in 1756 for the colony of Virginia, because his father, Lawrence, had been an administrative rector for the Anglican church. Lawrence and his family had become impoverished as a result of retribution carried out by the Puritans, the winning side in the English Civil War, ending in 1751. John, trained as a tobacco merchant, saw a chance for a new start in part-ownership of a ship trading with America. The ship was destroyed after running aground in the Potomac River, and John wound up marrying the daughter of the nearby tobacco plantation owner.

2nd excerpt: The book ends with a telling quote about Washington’s character: “if he [Washington] was not a Christian, he was more like one than any man of [the] same description, whose life has been hitherto recorded.” In other words, given the book’s other commentary, Washington, a man of immense character and integrity, lived his religion more by practicing it than preaching it.

As a fellow author, I'd say this book is well done and highly recommended.

[MaryAnn Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and thoughtfully written, Mary V. Thompson does an excellent job of examining the religious life of our first President. Though he did not openly profess to any particular faith, he believed in God. Washington was an exemplary leader of this country. He was be examined in the context of his times and not ours which many today are wont to do. He used the word Providence often; it was common in his day. I believe, due to his liberality in religious spheres, President Washington was embracing all religions as having one God but different approaches.

[Gerry Baird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently obtained a copy of this book to use for a paper I am writing on the topic of George Washington's religion. As far as I am aware, it is the only work besides "George Washington & Religion" by Paul F. Boller (1963) that focuses exclusively on Washington's religious beliefs. Of the two, I found this one to be the superior work. The conclusions were better supported, and important evidence was brought to light that Boller either overlooked or chose not to include.

This book included significant original research and insightful interpretations. For example, many historians have searched in vain for evidence that George Washington engaged in regular Bible study. Since they were unable to find a "shout it from the rooftops" declaration from Washington himself on the subject, they have concluded that Washington was a deist or a luke-warm Christian. Thompson took a very different approach, first by including eyewitness accounts from Tobias Lear about Washington's family bible study, then by investigating the books and artwork present in the Washington household. Finally, she identified numerous Biblical references in Washington's personal letters, many of which are so obscure that someone unfamiliar with the Bible could hardly have written them.

As a Christian, I have long believed that Washington was not a deist.
As a student of history, I wanted to know the unbiased truth. Thanks to this inspired work, I have been able to reconcile these previously conflicting beliefs.

[Richard Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all that we know about George Washington, his faith has remained a mystery. The main reason for this is Washington himself, whose natural reticence is no more apparent than in the matters of his soul. Sifting through his papers for evidence of his beliefs is a daunting task, but Ms. Thompson does an admirable and evenhanded job and sheds new light on an old subject. She provides the proper context for Washington's beliefs by exploring the religious environment in which he lived - 18th century Virginian Anglicanism. To those who claim Washington was not a Christian she counters than they provide a narrow definition for Christianity, namely a modern-day evangelical Christian. She posits that Washington was a Christian who saw his actions as a statement of faith, rather than mere words. He supported the Church, was a regular churchgoer, was familiar with the Bible since childhood, bought dozens of Christian sermons, took the oath as a Godfather eight times, and was a constant donor to charities. Ms. Thompson is in a unique position to address this issue with her extensive familiarity with Washington's papers as the Research Historian at the Collections Department of the Mount Vernon. She brings to light many of Washington's early writings which demonstrates his familiarity with the Bible and contains references to Christ. Does she claim to know the exact state of Washington's soul? No, she humbly answers... but the preponderance of evidence points to a self-effacing Christianity.