Faith and the Founding Fathers

by Adam Jortner

What did the Founding Fathers think about religion? And why did a group of practicing Protestants create a republic with widespread religious liberty? The 12 lectures included in this fascinating course provide multi-layered insights into the vision, philosophies, politics, and deep-seated faith of these brilliant leaders—in their own time, in their own words.

Listeners will examine the unorthodox religious journeys of men like George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Jay, as well as the profound and passionate faiths of John Adams, Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Rush. They’ll also explore the ways in which the Founders thought about mixing religion with political power, from establishing national fast days to disestablishing state churches.

Along the way, listeners will hear about the profound changes religious freedom created in America. The Faith and the Founding Fathers is the story of how liberty and religion wrestled with each other at the birth of the republic and created the forms and traditions of modern American religion.

Through these 12 lectures, listeners will come to fully understand the philosophies of the Founding Fathers as they:

• Investigate how religion responded to the American Revolution
• Travel back to pre-revolutionary American religion and encounter the renegades of the Great Awakening and the tenets of Puritans and Deists
• Learn how the American Revolution was influenced by the beliefs of everyone from John Adams to Charles Carroll
• Discover how religious liberty became enshrined as law
• Examine surprising effects of religious liberty that the Founding Fathers never anticipated, including the rise of new forms of Christianity and American revivalism
• Follow the rapid expansion of African American Christianity among both free and enslaved communities

Despite how far removed the faiths of the Founding Fathers are from us in the 21st century, Dr. Jortner’s explorations of their philosophies offer illuminating insights into modern politics, religious liberty, and the overarching role of religion in human civilization.

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Audiobook, American History, Historical, Christianity

Audible Audio

Published December 17, 2019

About the author

Adam Jortner studies the transformation of religious and political life in the early United States. His book, The Gods of Prophetstown: The Battle of Tippecanoe and the Holy War for the American Frontier, examines the rise of the Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa and his new religion on the Indiana frontier in the 1800s. Jortner argues that Tenskwatawa’s religious vision created a new definition of community and power that ultimately coalesced into a viable political alternative for Native Americans in the Old Northwest. The book follows the creation of this movement and its fraught relationship with the new United States and Indiana’s ambitious territorial governor, William Henry Harrison. The relationship between the two men ultimately shaped the War of 1812 and the fate of the American frontier. Gods won the 2013 James Broussard Best First Book Prize from the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).

His current research interests include new religions in the early republic, deism, witchcraft, the decline of magic, and Native American prophets; he currently teaches classes on American religion, politics, and the Age of Jefferson. He is working on a manuscript on the politics of miracles in the early republic.

Dr. Jortner has received fellowships from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Kentucky Historical Society, and the Redd Center for Western Studies.

Reviews

[Bob Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a bit biased. I took multiple history classes, including one on religion in America, with Adam Jortner when I was a history major at Auburn. Put simply, he has taught me more than a little of what I know about history and the present.

I would encourage anyone and everyone to take a few hours and learn about this topic. There are so many false narratives out there about the founders and religion’s role in early America that have no historical basis or are based on things words that have been wildly distorted. Here is a history lesson to help correct those problems from one of the very best.

And from an audiobook standpoint, the professor who preferred to teach through class discussions instead of standard lecturing is a great lecturer. Capable of holding your attention at all times and explaining all of it as simply as he can.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good I’m literally going to turn around and listen to it again. Can we please make listening to this a prerequisite for chiming in on literally any discussions having to do with the Founding Fathers
or the Constitution?!

[Lanie J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

very educational and took me a long time to get through it so i could fully dissect everything

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enlightening look at faith and the founding fathers from a strictly historical perspective, a welcome non-polemical approach. The bottom line as I understand it, is that there is no clear cut evidence, let alone proof, that the founding fathers (a wide swath of people) agreed about the role of religion in government, and in fact there are huge contradictions and disputes that belie anyones argument that they know their collective intention. From Audible: “What did the Founding Fathers think about religion? And why did a group of practicing Protestants create a republic with widespread religious liberty? The 12 lectures included in this fascinating course provide multi-layered insights into the vision, philosophies, politics, and deep-seated faith of these brilliant leaders—in their own time, in their own words. Listeners will examine the unorthodox religious journeys of men like George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and John Jay, as well as the profound and passionate faiths of John Adams, Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Rush. They’ll also explore the ways in which the Founders thought about mixing religion with political power, from establishing national fast days to disestablishing state churches.”

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook is part of the Great Courses series. In these lectures the professor discusses whether the Founding Fathers were deists, whether anyone at all can be called a Founding Father and so forth. He does it in such a way as to investigate the claims without taking sides. Whose side? Why... modern sides, of course. The only reason we care about what religion George Washington followed is to prove some point or another about what we should do today. Should we declare ourselves a Christian country? (I vote "no" on that one.) Should we punish those who declare themselves religious? (I vote "no" on that one too.) But knowing what the Founders thought and did can be helpful to pick our way through the landmines that is today's politics.

I liked the lectures. They kept my attention throughout. My only complaint is that the professor never pointed out that most of the key Founding Fathers knew they were in a special position, and that history would judge them, so one must be careful in reading about the things they say of themselves. After all, they were also speaking to the future readers.

I'd listen to these lectures again. Sure.

[Chad Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regardless of your political persuasion, "Faith and the Founding Fathers" is sure to be interesting, surprising and enlightening. I didn't have high hopes for this. It was just another The Great Courses book to add as I was grabbing some others. But it really exceeded my expectations.

The founding fathers had diverse opinions on religion. Many common stories turn out to be false. There's absolutely no reason to believe George Washington was kneeling in the snow, praying, at Valley Forge, for example. The views of the times were complicated and varied across different parts of what was going to become the US. Several religious groups had to struggle greatly in order to have any freedoms or respect as well - the way some were treated as quite shocking.

Our view of the relion of the founding fathers tends to be greatly oversimplified. It makes sense that the reality would be much messier - we only need to look at modern America to see how complicated different people's faiths can be, even when they say they follow the same religion.

This is the sort of history that should be taught in school. Again, I highly recommend this for everyone in the US.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faith and the Founding Fathers by Adam Jortner is a light, informative podcast-ey introduction to the religion of the generation that provided the architecture for the United States. In that regard, this is much the same as the other Amazon original great courses. There's not a lot of bite or comprehensive investigation here. Some of the conclusions Jortner asserts felt a little forced. That said, he engages with different topics that are rarely covered. Namely, why Christian minority faiths advocated for the disestablishment of state churches and the rather unfortunate attack on Jefferson's Democratic Republicans as anti-Christian. It was definitely useful and worth listening to if you're into the subject, but I do feel like Jortner had a particular thesis in mind running throughout the course.

83/100

[Evan Bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great specialized lecture series not only about the faith of the founders, but also the religious history that surrounded them. Loved Jortner's nuanced and analytical approach to what could be a touchy subject and cuts through the common myths that surround and pervade American culture. The history of the First and Second Great Awakenings were crucial backdrops for the founders’ quirky, unorthodox faiths such as Washington’s private devotions, Franklin’s pragmatic deism, and Jefferson’s own religious mash-up.

What really sticks is how these eighteenth century beliefs mirror today’s faith and politics debates. Jortner ties revivalist energy and Enlightenment thought to modern questions of public piety, pluralism, and religious liberty. In just a few engaging lectures, you’ll come away armed with fresh perspectives on America’s spiritual DNA, and why it still matters.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The proper role of religion in modern American society is an issue that generates strong feelings on all sides of the argument. Many people point to the Founding Fathers to support their views—often against people pointing to the Founding Fathers to support the opposite position. This quick Great Courses work does an excellent job of showing that faith and religion were matters of great contention at the founding of our nation as well. To summarize—the Founding Fathers did not share one faith and did not agree on the amount of influence that religion should have in their society. Some of those who supported banning the national government from sponsoring a religion had no difficulty with their state governments sponsoring one. It is, unsurprisingly, a complicated affair. And this course is a joy to listen to.

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Jornter's "Great Courses" lecture is a fair, impartial and fascinating history of 18th century religion in the United States and how it shaped the Constitution. During the period I listened to this I also started reading Forrest Church's "The Separation of Church and State", and found they complimented each other.

Jortner is a superb lecturer, and if his books are ever recorded as audiobooks, he'd be a good one to them. I also wish this lecture were in book form. I'd keep it on my shelf.

I have every intention of reading some of his other works. If he writes as well as he lectures (and I suspect he does), they'll be worth it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are excellent lectures from Dr Jortner (from the Great Courses) about the religious outlooks and beliefs of some of our founding fathers. Though I personally disagree with some of the good professor's conclusions (many of the founding fathers may have withheld their personal beliefs due to political expediency...much like today's politicians), the histories and background of key figures does reflect the general religious outlook of the early US. Will we ever be the truly secular country that Jimmy Madison envisioned in his/our constitution? Unfortunately, not in my lifetime.

[AttackGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps incorrectly named. More appropriately would be the progression of abuse and manipulation of the people by oppressors using religious preferences.

To imagine people condemn the Middle Eastern peoples oppression of others based on man made “religious” books. Seems Everyone has an idea of what “god” determines is right.

Way to funny to think people have any clue what “god” thinks, likes or dislikes. Such hubris. Guess that’s why it’s THEIR god.

[jbgbookgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic commentary on whether the founding fathers created a Christian nation with the revolutionary text or not. If you are using founding fathers’ ideology to support your religious take on whether this country is a Christian country or not, your understanding of the founding fathers is lacking. It’s erroneous to think they were a monolith of Christian believers hence we are a Christian nation. Like all history is, it’s more complicated than that.

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A very unbiased discussion of the role that faith did and did not play in the founding of the US. To cover such a sensitive topic in such a fair and neutral way was quite impressive.

The author is the narrator of the audiobook, and I almost always enjoy the book more when this is the case, and this was no exception.

[Neil Funsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well presented treatment of the several streams of spiritual beliefs of the people who made the revolution. Highlights how generalizations of what the Founders believe are misleading.

[AJ B · Rating 3 out of 5]

18:55 06/15/21
Audio
New Vernon, NJ

Some interesting tidbits and stuff to think about.

[Ember Air · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting and informative, however it was also very repetitive.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting lecture that discusses a part of History that adds an important context into the formation of our country.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually read Boston tea party the hidden history. It was not listed on good reads yet.

[Michele Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting series of lectures

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 Stars

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview of what some of the founding fathers' religious beliefs were. He also covers some of the events of the day that conveyed the feelings of the country.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent. One of the best Great Courses audiobooks I’ve listened to on Audible. I’d recommend it to everyone.