As I recall a very dry yet educational book. A review pending once I review my notes...

David Holmes argues in this book that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, and Benjamin Franklin were Deists and not orthodox Christians. At most this is a summary with very little supporting evidence to his argument. I would have thought the book was better if he had argued the case using the founding father's own words. Very little of that was done. Of course, I have no trouble believing Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were Deists, I've read enough on them to know God was not a personal being to them. The case for Washington being a Deist was weak, in my opinion. It was mostly based on the fact that he was not confirmed and did not receive communion in the Episcopal Church. John Adams and his wife Abigail were apparently Unitarian so they probably were what Holmes categorizes as Christian Deists.

Its an interesting read, just not enough meat to it.

Did not affect my rating, but the Epilogue felt very tacked-on and irrelevant.

The history of religion in America has always been a favorite topic of mine. Unfortunately, there is a lot of crap out there on this topic. Thankfully, "The Faiths of Our Founding Fathers" does not fall into that category. This was a fantastic book on the religious views of our Founding Fathers. It helps to debunk many of the traditional myths that most Americans still embrace. I would reccomend this book to anyone that is interested.

Great book that discusses the believes of the founding fathers individually. Pretty insightful

Assigned for a class on religion in the US, this book was meant to educate on the founding fathers and did not disappoint.

The book goes through a brief history of Colonial religious life, laws, and belief before delving into the founding fathers. David L. Holmes focuses on five "unorthodox" founding fathers including Washington and Benjamin Franklin as those who weren't of the mold that the Christian Right would have us believe. He also discusses their wives, some orthodox Christians, and then discusses the role of religion in the second half of the 20th century.

A great book for any person interested in how the religious liberties in the US came to be and why the discourse of religion is the way it is today.

The author acknowledges the difficulty in truly understanding an individual's personal beliefs based on correspondence, church attendance, and participation in the rites of baptism or confirmation. Yet this is what all of his own research is based on. So what do we really have? There is also no recognition of the role of society and peers in the participation of religious activities, nor the possibility of modification in belief secondary to personal growth and change. I guess I was expecting a thoughtful investigation of the role of faith in the documents written by these founding fathers---more of a document analysis. My mistake. However, in my humble opinion, the epilogue that recounts the faiths of Ford, Carter, Clinton and the HW and GW Bush has no place here.

It was cool to see how similar, yet how different, the founding fathers' faiths were. I was confused by the last section describing Regan, Clinton, and the Bushs' religions, though--I expected this book to be specifically about the founding fathers' & their families' beliefs.

Interesting book that seems well researched and cited. My only issue is that the author seemed desperate to place all the major characters into the Deist camp. I have no problem with them being Deist, or not, but it seemed clear early on that there was an agenda here. He highlighted three "founding fathers" that he felt were orthodox, but seemed to be deliberately attempting to have those be some of the less well known actors. All of the most famous, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, etc. were lumped into the same category while he at the same time repeated the mantra that it's impossible to pin down and truly characterize their, or any historical figures, true beliefs.

Worth it for the insights into how they acted if not it's conclusions, it's an easy read, and it's short.

I just really like American history and the aesthetics/ reading about influences of Protestantism on our culture.

A nice short introduction to some of the prevailing religious views and ideas during the late 18th-century. It gives background info as well as specific biographical info. The author seems biased to the idea that most founding fathers were Deists...but not without evidence!

I could see myself using this book for homeschooling in the future, as it is pretty accessible and would be easily read by a highschool student.

A reasonablly accurate history of religion in American politics. Sorely needed in this age of David Barton's insanity and revisionist history.