Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Walters on America's Deist Founding

Here. Kerry Walters of Gettysburg College is one of the leading promoters of the Deist Founding thesis. Ed Brayton takes him to task, arguing for a more accurate and nuanced view.

One thing I liked about Walters' article is the discussion of Bishop James Madison (President Madison's first cousin). I'm not sure whether BJM was orthodox. However he did promote Enlightenment theories, like the perfectibility of man, seemingly at odds with traditional Christianity and intermixed them with his "Christian" theology.

Bishop Madison was the kind of "Christian" that Jefferson liked. Here is Jefferson's letter to BJM, dated Jan. 31, 1800.

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