What George Washington Really Believed

Look up at the ceiling of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and you'll see a pantheon of gods. On the perimeter is Minerva, with helmet and spear, symbolizing science.  Neptune straddles a chariot led  by seahorses. Vulcan, the god of the forge, stands imposingly near a  canon.  And there in the center of the rotunda is the greatest god of  them all. No, not Zeus – George Washington.

The painting, “The Apotheosis of Washington,” reminds us of a special challenge when assessing the faith life of George Washington: he was deified so early that it’s nearly impossible to separate fact from wishful thinking. For instance, it turns out that the source for the  story about Washington praying on bended knee at Valley Forge – which inspired many a patriotic painting – was the biography by Parson Weems, the same  creative fellow who made up the fictitious tale about young GW  chopping down the cherry tree. Weems described a witness, coming upon Washington near the camp. "As he approached the post with a cautious step, whom should he behold, in a dark natural bower of ancient oaks, but the commander in chief of the American armies on his knees at  prayer!" Later historians discovered that the man to whom the story was ascribed apparently hadn’t begun working at Valley Forge until  several years later. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence  that Washington prayed, so Weems may have made up a story that captured some actual Washingtonian quality.

Not surprisingly, modern culture warriors have painted Washington as one of their own. To conservatives, he’s a veritable Disciple in a powdered wig. According to conservative minister D.  James Kennedy, Washington had a "fervent evangelical faith."   Secularists, on the other hand, prefer to think of Washington as the first member of the ACLU and a Deist at best. "Religion seems to have played a remarkably small role in his own life," writes Brooke Allen.

What do the knowable facts show? A portrait not likely to be  satisfying to either extreme in the culture war – a spiritual man who believed God was protecting him and the nation, and yet who showed disinterest in and sometimes disdain for important facets of Christianity.

Washington was raised in an Anglican family along the Potomac River in Virginia. He owned two pews in Pohick Church, seven miles from Mount Vernon, and one in Christ Church in Alexandria. He was one  of 12 vestrymen in the Truro parish, Virginia – active from  1763-1774 and a more casual member until 1784, according to David Boller, who wrote one of the most balanced assessments of  Washington's religious life.  Washington served on the building  committee, helped with collections and performed other requisite  duties.

He was a casual observer of the Sabbath and a semi-regular attendee of church – a little more than once a month, according to Boller's review of Washington's diaries. For instance, Washington attended church four times in the first five months of 1760 and 15 times in the year 1768.  Sometimes bad weather prevented him from making the lengthy trip but  there's also evidence that Washington visited friends, traveled or  went foxhunting instead of to church.  One has the sense that were he  alive today, he'd absolutely head to church, unless friends were gathering to watch an important football game.

Continued on page 2: Washington's communion controversy... »