Ok, not that compelling.

I had heard the author speak on this subject when I was in college, and had meant to read his book for awhile. I really enjoyed it. What struck me was the variety of religious experiences among the Founders. A key take-away: Be skeptical about any modern attempts to generalize about the founding fathers' religious views.

A nice little intro to the religious concerns and perspectives of the Founders by one of my undergraduate professors.

It may take a while for me to finish this to qualify for a final review, due to my lazy diversion to works of casual fiction. Still, I find the topic fascinating, especially in light of current unenlightened views on the relationship between government and religion. When people treat government as religion has been historically treated, and have faith in it to solve the problems of their daily lives, then what?

This easy read begins with an overview of religious life in the American colonies in 1770. The Fathers he focuses on are Franklin, Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Samuel Adams, Elias Boudinot, and John Jay. Holmes proposes a three category rubric for describing their religious beliefs: Non-Christian Deism, Christian Deism, and orthodox Christianity. His analysis of the Fathers in view is that only Samuel Adams (whose father was a brewer), Boudinot, and Jay were clearly orthodox Christians. I think our pictures of the religious views of Madison and Washington are a bit fuzzy. But Holmes probably categorizes them correctly.

A good short work presenting an overview of a contentious topic.

This book is not meant to be a serious historical study -- there are other good books in that vein. Instead, this book selects the more well-known of the leadership in the American colonies and post-revolutionary period and summarizes their relationships with and statements on churches, God and sometimes, religion in general. They range from Jefferson, clearly antagonistic to organized religion, to Abigail Adams, a lifelong conventional Christian.

The book excels in presenting the wide range of religious beliefs in the colonies and the impact an individual's beliefs could have on life there.

Because the author is working against the constraints of keeping it short and light, some parts of the book tend to skim over areas in which documentation is light. This can be annoying during the read but is in keeping with the book's target audience, the non-technical general reader interested in the topic. However, the book has a excellent bibliography, sectioned by topic (e.g., "General Works," "Deism," "Benjamin Franklin" &c) for those readers who want more depth.

The author was Walter G. Mason Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary until 2011. He writes with sure knowledge of his topic.

This fine book shows the religious landscape in the colonies in the late 18th century, demonstrates where the Founding Fathers' beliefs fit into that landscape, and counters claims that the Founders created a "Christian nation." Holmes arguments about Founders' beliefs rest both on what they wrote and on their behavior - when they went to church, what churches they attended, their recorded habits of prayer and sacraments - thus avoiding relying on later authors' assessments of Founding Fathers' theological positions. Holmes shows that these men were mostly deistic, though their wives were sometimes more conventionally Christian in their behavior. One can infer from Holmes's book that if early presidents had been chosen today, with all voting - not just property-holding white men - the nation would have taken a different path.

Very enlightening and worthwhile for those who think all the founding fathers were strong Christians as we are typically led to believe.

In these times of unabashed in-your-face religious hypocrisy I’m finally getting around to reading a book that all Tea Baggers and Conservatives should read, not that I’m either, but I appreciate the historical understanding.

A very tight, readable overview of the dramatically varied religious landscape of colonial America and the diversity of religious views of (some) of the founding fathers. With all of the tomes devoted to similar themes, I was grateful for a simple breakdown. Holmes definitely writes with an agenda: to discredit theories held by the Christian right that the founders intended the nation to be anchored in Christianity. He is very eager - almost desperate - to prove that many of the founders were actually Deists and thought a lot of the Bible is malarkey, and he somewhat oversimplifies what is actually a more complicated subject.

I found quite a bit of new information, but it was a slog of a read.

This book along with the Moral Minority take an interesting look at religion in the life of many of our founding fathers. Unlike what many would have us believe not all the founding father were pious and many did not believe that God directed them or others in their lives or affairs of state.