Fox News runs a banner:
Now, I don’t know exactly what it means to be ‘raised a Christian’. But I do know that it is more significant whether you are a Christian than whether you were raised as one. And, on that score, let’s take a look at some of our early presidents.
George Washington (1789-1797)- Washington was not a communicant (meaning he did not take communion in the Anglican church). In fact, his minister asked him to stop attending Sunday services because his failure to take communion was too conspicuous.
John Adams (1797-1801)- Adams was devout Unitarian. In other words, he did not believe in the Trinity.
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)- Jefferson was so hostile to traditional Christianity that he wrote his own version of the New Testament with all the miracles stripped out.
James Madison (1809-1817)- James Madison was a Deist, although he did attend an Episcopalian church during his presidency.
James Monroe (1817-1825)- James Monrroe was a Deist, although he did attend an Episcopalian church during his presidency.
John Quincy Adams (1925-1829)- Like his father, Quincy Adams was a Unitarian.
So, we’ve now covered the first forty years of the Republic without encountering a president that believed in the trinity or the divinity of Christ. It is not until the election of Andrew Jackson that we find our first Christian president, as that term is normally understood.
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) was raised a Presbyterian but he showed little interest in religion until later life and did not ‘join’ the Presbyterian church until after his presidency.
Martin Van Burn (1837-1841) was a member of the Dutch Reformed church, but his actual faith has been questioned. However, as least ostensibly, he was the first president to both belong to mainstream protestant church during his presidency and not express doubt about the trinity or Christ’s divinity. It only took 48 years for this to happen.
William Henry Harrison (1841) only served as president for a month, but he appears to have been a mainstream Episcopalian.
John Tyler (1841-1845)- was a Deist.
James Polk (1845-1849)- Polk was a Presbyterian that converted to Methodism on his death bed. He’s our first unambiguously devoutly Christian president. It only took 56 years.
To skip ahead a bit Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) read and quoted the Bible and attended church occasionally, but he never joined a church nor did he ever express adherence to orthodox Christian views. His successor, Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), is considered the least religious president of all time.
So, I guess my question to FOX News is: would you rather have a president that doesn’t believe in the Trinity or the divinity of Christ or one that does? How someone was raised hardly seems relevant in light of our nation’s history.
