Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-02-26
WASH|NGTON'S FAITH
IN CHRIST AHES7ED
DR.. McKim Refutes Statement That
First President Was
"Deist."
To the Editor of The Star:


To the Editor of The Star:
In view of the statement recently re-
ported in Tho n,,b,;c nress that Wash.
--.+ - ~.
Ais'oh was not a coilihuiiieaiil =. 'ns
church-indeed, that he was not CHRIS
tan believer but a deist it seems proper
TO recani,u,ate briefly the evidence upon
t,,; ,,,.;.
inls subject.
tirst-Was Washington a Shristial %
3. deist in his belief"
The Century dictionary defines a deist
.k. 60, ,,, ,h,. ,ho-. 10 a
ohe wno mus
ood, OUT no DtNlhe iroFluehce soN
ing the affairs of men; one who holds
that God is not only distinct from the
,yorld h,, .ts., s.rar,ted from il" Now
" "'' -. ,.,, -.
'ne uoc'fi''e oi L'Nii'e -. iu. 70
almost passion with washington. ne
ascribes his escape from the perils OF
battle tn Divine Providence. He ascribes
an ~. ,ai,t,a.,, s,,,caseas 70 Divine P-oyt-
- nc ~ :,
dence- lie ascrioes tne success " eAe
revolutionary cause to DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
Truly Washington, If deist. was of
!: UNIQUE tvpe-all alone in his class!
Was IL the habit of deists at that period
to fast ali day strictly, as Washington
diary shows that he did, on more than
one occasion when a public fast was
proclaimed? Or TO attend regularly upon
the services of the Christian church. and
to insist upon his officers and men in
the army doing the same? o: to practice
the habit of secret PRAYER as there is
overw helmjnG testimony that he did--for
example that of his aids Col. Temple
and Cen Knox and Gen. Porterfield and
his nephew and private secretary Robert
Lewis
That lie daily and diligently read the
Bible is attcsted by his wife by George
Washington Gusts and others. In his
early career AS a sodie. he had sharp
correspondence with Gov Dinwddie be-
e;luse Of the latter's delay in sending a
chaplain to the regiment; and, in the
absence of one he himself conducted
prayers i'll camp in at least three different
camping grounds. He read the burial
service over Gen. Braddock, and ascribes
his own marvellous escape f. ON death to
the special p evidence of God
Between his marriage in 1859 and the
outbreak of the revolutionary war. this
peculiar deist was engaged very zeal
ously tas the old Truro Nestry Book
shows in planning for and building and
furnishing churches providing for send
ing a young man to England to take
orde.s. and in ways too numerous to
mention. acting just as if he were a
Christian believer And when the storm
of war broke. and Washington was
called TO command the armies Of the pa
t'iots he continued to mask his deism,
and in numerous public orders and pri-
vata letters to express the sentiments
which usually Indicate Christian belief
For instance. in a private letter to Gen
Nelson. ne says: THE hand of p owl
donce has been so conspic uouS that he
must be worse than an infidel that lacks
faith. and more than wicked that has
not gratitude enough to acknowledge his
obligations.
In view of such utterances the assertion
that V-ashin ton was N reality a deist
constitutes a very serious assault upon
the honesty and integrity of .at great
est of American patriots. for he is on
record in words OF his own as a believer
IN the Christian religion. and in the Dr.
IL he was not a Christian but deist at
the time he wrote the words to which 1
refer, then he was a hypocrite and a de-
ceiver of his countrymen The words to
which allude occur in his address to the
governors of the states in 17S3 He makes
reference to the MANY blessings enjoyed
by America-above ali. the pure and be-
nign light of revelation''-and exhorts to
and pacific temper which were the char
acteristics of the Divine Author of our
blessed religion"
There lies on my table as 1 write a copy
is facsimile of the Original manuscript
IN Washington's own handwriting, en-
titled THE Daily Sacrifice There is a
prayer for each day of the week. Here
day morning
Pardon nv sins: remove them as far
as the east is from the west, and accept
me for the merits Of Thy Son, Jesus
christ -
The alternative is clear and unayoid-
able: either washington believed in the
Christian religion as revelation from
God and in Jesus Christ as its Divine Au-
thor or he counterfeited that belief and
is convicted a deceiver and 8. hypocrite.
Secondly, was Washington a communi-
cant of the church?
That he was baptized in the Episcopal
church; that he was an active vestryrnau
OF the same all his life; that he was a
peculiarly regular attendant upon the
service of the church-these things can