“Cabalistic Christianity, which is Catholic Christianity, and which has prevailed for 1,500 years, has received a mortal wound, of which the monster must finally die. Yet so strong is his constitution, that he may endure for centuries before he expires.”
— John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814
“What havoc has been made of books through every century of the Christian era? Where are fifty gospels condemned as spurious by the bull of Pope Gelasius? Where are forty wagon-loads of Hebrew manuscripts burned in France, by order of another pope, because of suspected heresy? Remember the Index Expurgato-rius, the Inquisition, the stake, the axe, the halter, and the guillotine; and, oh! horrible, the rack! This is as bad, if not worse, than a slow fire. Nor should the Lion’s Mouth be forgotten. Have you considered that system of holy lies and pious frauds that has raged and triumphed for 1,500 years.”
— John Adams, letter to John Taylor, 1814, quoted by Norman Cousins in In God We Trust: The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), p. 106-7, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief
“God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world.”
— John Adams, “this awful blashpemy” that he refers to is the myth of the Incarnation of Christ, from Ira D Cardiff, What Great Men Think of Religion
“... the Common Law existed while the Anglo-Saxons were yet pagans, at a time when they had never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced or knew that such a character existed.”
— Thomas Jefferson, letter to Major John Cartwright, June 5, 1824.
“In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the want of it.”
“I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“The founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected [Washington; Adams; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; Adams; Jackson] not a one had professed a belief in Christianity.”
“Among all our presidents from Washington downward, not one was a professor of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism.”
— The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson, an Episcopal minister in Albany, New York, in a sermon preached in October, 1831. One might expect a modern defender of the Evangelical to play with the meaning of “Christianity,” making it refer only to a specific brand of orthodoxy, first sentence quoted in John E Remsberg, Six Historic Americans, second sentence quoted in Paul F Boller, George Washington & Religion, pp. 14-15
Imagine current presidential candidates making such opinions heard out loud. They need to feign belief, like Obama.
— John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814
Evidence of anti-Catholicism? Yes. Pretty typical, when you consider that colonial and early post-colonial America were overwhelmingly Protestant, and the day and age still lent itself to a good deal of open conflict between sectarians.
Evidence of anti-Christianity per se? No.
John Adams, letter to John Taylor, 1814
Again, a statement address Catholicism, and incidentally, a sentiment which any Baptist in early America would have shared.
John Adams, “this awful blashpemy” that he refers to is the myth of the Incarnation of Christ, from Ira D Cardiff, What Great Men Think of Religion
At best an evidence of his Deism, not the type of atheism expounded by Ayn Rand.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Major John Cartwright, June 5, 1824.
Has nothing to do with Christianity at all, except to note the antiquity of the ancient Anglo-Saxon legal system. Not sure why you think this one is relevant at all.
Benjamin Franklin
It's commonly accepted that Franklin was a Deist, which again, does not substantiate your apparent belief that he was a Randian-style atheist.
The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson
Dr. Wilson is simply incorrect in his assertions. If Washington was "no professor of religion", then why was he baptised by immersion at the hands of his Baptist chaplain, John Gano - a baptism that Washington ASKED FOR? Likewise, John Quincy Adams, who had been President but a short time prior to this "sermon", was also noted for his Christian beliefs.
Sorry, but your arguments simply either don't stand, or else are irrelevant because they don't support the argument you seem to be trying to make. And besides, if you want to play the dueling quotes game, then how about these:
"The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God." (John Adams)
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." (John Adams)
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever." (Thomas Jefferson, incidentally suggesting he might have been a bit more theistic than a true Deist)
"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." (Thomas Jefferson)
" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." (Charles Carroll)
"God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel." (Benjamin Franklin, quoting the Bible even)
" have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me." (Alexander Hamilton)
"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” (John Jay) "What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ." (George Washington)
"Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity....and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system." (Samuel Adams)
"A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven." (James Madison)
"“I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them…we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this Divine Book, above all others, constitutes the soul of republicanism.” “By withholding the knowledge of [the Scriptures] from children, we deprive ourselves of the best means of awakening moral sensibility in their minds." (Benjamin Rush)
"“If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into our world would have been unnecessary.” (Benjamin Rush)
"Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience." (James McHenry)
Clearly, these men were not Randian atheists. The notion that the Founders were all a bunch of atheists is fantasy, and nothing more. Granted, I don't believe them all to have been Christians. I do not think that Jefferson, Franklin, or Madison were. I think Washington, Henry, Jay, and several of the "minor" ones were. Regardless, they all were animated by the sense and understanding that the Christian religion was the best foundation for civil society. Whether by conviction, or simply out of pragmatism, these men sought the promotion of Christian principles.
“Cabalistic Christianity, which is Catholic Christianity, and which has prevailed for 1,500 years, has received a mortal wound, of which the monster must finally die..."
Wrong on both counts. Not Cabalistic and not mortal.
Just shows you education and wacko liberals were problems in Massachusetts, then as now.
Your assertion remains unsupported.
With all the well-known references to the divine, the Creator and even "God" by name in our founding documents, you have a lot of work to do if you'd like to prove that the men who signed their lives to those documents did not believe in Him.
— John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814
I don't find that quote anywhere but on athiest blogs. Please reference a valid source for that.
However it is true that the Catholic church was in existence for over 1,500 years and now over 2,000 years.
The Apostle Peter was our first pope and the unbroken line of popes is historically traced to Pope Benedict.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
Peter established the church in 34 AD, as he was commanded to do by Jesus.
Mathew: "18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Peter died in Rome in 64 AD.
While we Catholics are certainly human and imperfect, the gates of Hell have yet to destroy it. God knows they try. So ntil I find that "perfect church", I'll be sticking to the church that God gave me.