Founding Fathers Christian Quotes - Page 9

• We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.

  Samuel Adams

  Bible, God, Patriotic

  25 Copy quote

• Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean Hell.

  John Adams

  Religious, Mean, Would Be

  John Adams, Charles Francis Adams (1856). “The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.254

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• [Why] should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the Sacred Book that is thus early impressed lasts long; and probably if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind.

  Fisher Ames

  Book, School, Long

  Fisher Ames, John Thornton Kirkland (1854). “Works of Fisher Ames: With a selection from his speeches and correspondence”, p.406, Burt Franklin

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, creator of the Universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render him is doing good to his other children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Children, Believe, Men

  Benjamin Franklin (1905). “The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Written by Himself. Now First Edited from Original Manuscripts and from His Printed Correspondence and Other Writings”

  44 Copy quote

  Show source

• Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Atheist, Wall

  Reply to Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, and Stephen S. Nelson (committee of the Danbury, Conn., Baptist Association), 1 Jan. 1802

  28 Copy quote

  Show source

• I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

  Thomas Paine

  Atheist, Pain, Fear

  Thomas Paine (1819). “The Theological Works of Thomas Paine”, p.4

  35 Copy quote

  Show source

• Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.

  George Washington

  Christian, Religious, Differences

  George Washington, Edward Frank Humphrey (1932). “George Washington on religious liberty and mutual understanding: selections from Washington's letters”

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• The office of reformer of the superstitions of a nation, is ever more dangerous. Jesus had to work on the perilous confines of reason and religion; and a step to the right or left might place him within the grasp of the priests of the superstition, a bloodthirsty race, as cruel and remorseless as the being whom they represented as the family God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, and the local God of Israel. That Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God, physically speaking, I have been convinced by the writings of men more learned than myself in that lore.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Jesus, Mean, Writing

  9 Copy quote

• The date will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

  John Adams

  Sports, 4th Of July, Believe

  Letter to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776

  67 Copy quote

  Show source

• I would not dare so dishonor my Creator's name by attaching it to this filthy book.

  Thomas Paine

  Bible, Religious, Book

  9 Copy quote

• The religion-builders have so distorted and deformed the doctrines of Jesus, so muffled them in mysticism, fancies, and falsehoods.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Jesus, Fancy, Doctrine

  Thomas Jefferson, Allen Jayne (1984). “The religious and moral wisdom of Thomas Jefferson: an anthology”

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

  George Washington

  Education, Wisdom, Religious

  Noah Webster, George Washington (1806). “Elements of useful knowledge: containing a historical and geographical account of the United States”, p.217

  105 Copy quote

  Show source

• That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of the conscience; and it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.

  Patrick Henry

  Christian, 4th Of July, Exercise

  Virginia Bill of Rights article 16 (1776)

  19 Copy quote

  Show source