Thomas Jefferson is a brilliant, mis-understood and inconsistent historical figure. His eloquent writings formed the basis of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia constitution among others. He is mis-understood by many people today as he is lumped by many into a superficial bucket of founding fathers who "built our country on Christianity" as many Fundamentalists would tell it. His behavior was inconsistent in that he wrote documents that proclaimed equality but kept slaves for most of his life.
As the "High Priest of Deism", he represented a system of thought shared by many of the founding fathers. Deism, in the 18th century, could range from the concept of "God as disinterested creator" to that of "closet atheist".
Deism in the theistic sense can be described as a belief in a supreme being that, Newtonian style, designed a self-sustaining Universe, set it in motion and moved on to bigger and better things. An agnostic form for the supreme being might be common, but the concept still held to that of external being vs. integrated energy in the style of Star Wars or some New Thought theology.
It was very difficult to be an atheist in the 18th century. The Deist moniker perhaps allowed many who were to clothe their beliefs in something more acceptable, while privately maintaining a more humanistic philosophy that was also consistent with the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason.
Jefferson opposed any form of Platonic or NeoPlatonic philosophy. He was supremely rational and distrusted "government by the priesthood". His Natural Theology descended from Aristotelian thinking and proposed that God was to be found by experiencing the natural world and avoiding hyper-imagination that might be found in thought that evolved from Platonic roots. Jefferson created the famous Jefferson Bible, which was a treatment of the Gospels with all miracles, superstition and supernatural content removed.
Despite his lack of respect for weak-headed religion, he was known to give to all denominations in his city in equal measure. Jefferson was painted as a diabolical atheist by his political enemies who had no problem using slippery slope fallacious arguments to defame his character for political gain. At the time, many evangelicals (mostly Calvinists in those days), predicted that outbreaks of murder, rape, sex and violence would occur if Jefferson were elected president. Ironically, this same constituency was delighted with the separation of church and state that mad its way into the constitution.
Jefferson, Adams and other prominent Revolutionary figures found their way to Deism in different ways. Jefferson and Adams were somewhat polar opposites. Jefferson had some history and ties to the Anglican church, but approached philosophy from a strictly rationalist viewpoint. Adams was something of a reformed Puritan, muddling his way through Congregationalist, then Unitarian church attendance during his lifetime.
Sadly, despite Jefferson's ideals and clear rationalism, his personal life was riddled with inconsistencies. It is difficult for us to understand the choice to keep slaves while espousing equality in his writings. However, it is also hard for us to understand the degree of prejudice that was woven into the consciousness of the time regarding the inferiority of people of color. We have to be careful judging historical figures through our modern perspectives and context.
Showing posts with label Adams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adams. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
John Adams and Founding Fathers Theology
This post comes from a lively and stimulating discussion I participated in recently. Many thanks to the insightful, intelligent, thoughtful and engaged individuals who shared that hour with me and helped push our consciousness forward.
John Adams was a seminal figure in American history. He was known for his quick temper. He was both a friend and enemy to Thomas Jefferson at different points in his life. He and Jefferson died within hours of each other precisely on July 4, 1826. He was perhaps more traditionally religious than many of the other founding fathers, although he favored the free thought variety as encapsulated in Congregationist and Unitarian traditions. However, he attended and respected other more conservative traditions as well.
Adams believed that any religion was better than no religion, but that none of them have all the truth. He did not believe in the divinity of Christ, nor many of the supernatural aspects of the bible, but was closer to the deist concepts that were gaining momentum during the time of the enlightenment period and in the environment of liberal reason in the colonies at that time. He was educated at Harvard, where deism was a strong undercurrent of theistic conception.
Many of the founding fathers were deists rather than traditional Christians. Their beliefs tended toward liberal free thought and were highly critical of the Catholic and perhaps conservative Protestant traditions. Adams was consistent in this regard. However, he showed a propensity to defend any form of religion when attacked by more extreme rationalists such as Thomas Paine.
Unitarians and Congregationalists were the dominant denonimations during the lifetime of Adams. Interestingly enough, the Baptists at one point came to the defense of Unitarians when they were being persecuted by other more Puritanical groups. This seems the reverse of what we'd expect in the modern United States.
Jefferson and Washington held similar beliefs to Adams. While Washington was extremely private regarding his theological concepts, he was known to quit going to a particular church once they wanted to require him to partake of communion. It is well-known that Jefferson rejected the Old Testament as well as the more supernatural and mythological aspects of the Bible. Jefferson even penned his own version of the New Testament, removing the miracles and retaining the core of Jesus's teachings.
Adams once remarked that the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes contained all of his religion. This lean and focused theological approach is similar to Lincoln's, who once remarked that "when I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, that's my religion". How close is this to a recent popular song that offers "My religion is a smile on a dog".
How far have we come away from the liberal, thoughtful, free-thinking, open-minded mentality of many of the prominent founders of the United States? How do modern mega-churches with their simplistic sound bites, superficial scriptural interpretations and narrow intellectual sources compare to the quiet space where the true source is found? Were Adams and other enlightenment thinkers positive models we should understand better or is their brand of liberal reason only part of the whole that must include intuition, instinct and emotion as well?
We narrowly escaped becoming a theocracy, as many other voices during the time of our country's founding wanted to include language more specific to particular theological positions in the governing documents. We should be thankful that separation of church and state prevailed and we can be truly free to think, do and grow intellectually and spiritually (or not) as we are individually led.
John Adams was a seminal figure in American history. He was known for his quick temper. He was both a friend and enemy to Thomas Jefferson at different points in his life. He and Jefferson died within hours of each other precisely on July 4, 1826. He was perhaps more traditionally religious than many of the other founding fathers, although he favored the free thought variety as encapsulated in Congregationist and Unitarian traditions. However, he attended and respected other more conservative traditions as well.
Adams believed that any religion was better than no religion, but that none of them have all the truth. He did not believe in the divinity of Christ, nor many of the supernatural aspects of the bible, but was closer to the deist concepts that were gaining momentum during the time of the enlightenment period and in the environment of liberal reason in the colonies at that time. He was educated at Harvard, where deism was a strong undercurrent of theistic conception.
Many of the founding fathers were deists rather than traditional Christians. Their beliefs tended toward liberal free thought and were highly critical of the Catholic and perhaps conservative Protestant traditions. Adams was consistent in this regard. However, he showed a propensity to defend any form of religion when attacked by more extreme rationalists such as Thomas Paine.
Unitarians and Congregationalists were the dominant denonimations during the lifetime of Adams. Interestingly enough, the Baptists at one point came to the defense of Unitarians when they were being persecuted by other more Puritanical groups. This seems the reverse of what we'd expect in the modern United States.
Jefferson and Washington held similar beliefs to Adams. While Washington was extremely private regarding his theological concepts, he was known to quit going to a particular church once they wanted to require him to partake of communion. It is well-known that Jefferson rejected the Old Testament as well as the more supernatural and mythological aspects of the Bible. Jefferson even penned his own version of the New Testament, removing the miracles and retaining the core of Jesus's teachings.
Adams once remarked that the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes contained all of his religion. This lean and focused theological approach is similar to Lincoln's, who once remarked that "when I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, that's my religion". How close is this to a recent popular song that offers "My religion is a smile on a dog".
How far have we come away from the liberal, thoughtful, free-thinking, open-minded mentality of many of the prominent founders of the United States? How do modern mega-churches with their simplistic sound bites, superficial scriptural interpretations and narrow intellectual sources compare to the quiet space where the true source is found? Were Adams and other enlightenment thinkers positive models we should understand better or is their brand of liberal reason only part of the whole that must include intuition, instinct and emotion as well?
We narrowly escaped becoming a theocracy, as many other voices during the time of our country's founding wanted to include language more specific to particular theological positions in the governing documents. We should be thankful that separation of church and state prevailed and we can be truly free to think, do and grow intellectually and spiritually (or not) as we are individually led.
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