Other
"Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .
Great Quotes from the Founding Fathers
You've probably already seen these quotes from America's Founding Fathers -- they are frequently floated about the church and are quoted in books as evidence that this country's founders had in mind a Christian, or at least a religious nation.
"Whosoever shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world." -- Benjamin Franklin
"It is impossible
to rightly govern to world without God and the Bible." -- George Washington
"I have always said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands." -- Thomas Jefferson
"America is Great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." -- Alexis de Tocqueville (A visitng French observer).
Great quotes huh? They'd make a wonderful bulletin insert next Sunday, wouldn't they (that's where they appear most often).
And I assure you they are true. That is, the quotes themselves are true. But, while they are true sayings, there is no evidence that these people ever actually said them. Truth quoted falsely.
We evangelicals, desperate to believe that America was founded as a Christian nation, want our fathers to have said such things, so when we see such quotes, we immediate cut-and-paste them into our publications… and eventually sloppy writers stick them into popular books, And eventually sloppy scholarship puts them in semi-scholarly books.
But they can't be found in the primary research. These men should have said such things. But they didn't, unless you can uncover the primary source.
Can you?
Ready to see some solid reliable quotes?
So what do you think?
To contribute to the thinking on this issue
e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu
By Keith Drury, 1999. You are free to transmit, duplicate or distribute
this article for non-profit use without permission.