Concerning my remarks about George Washington... In the remarks that we know are authentic and actually came from the hand of the Father of Our Country, we do not find him addressing God in direct and personal terms as he is purported to have done in the "Prayer Journal" that was published in 1919. Consider his Inaugural Address:
“…[I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications
to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of
the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge.”
Washington's First Inaugural Address is one of the most important documents related to the founding of our nation. It's up there with the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers.
Look at how Washington addresses God - this reveals a great deal of his own theology. God is not "Our Father which art in heaven..." Instead, God is "that Almighty Being..."
For whatever reason, Washington throws in a reference to the divine council of the gods (
Councils of Nations), but despite their alleged abilities to influence the course of human national affairs, Washington attributes all of the hard work at nation building to "The People of the United States." And notice; "The People of the United States" are given an equal billing with that impersonal deistic God, "the Almighty Being."
Frank Grizzard, a senior editor of the George Washington Papers collection at the University of Virginia has had to almost devote his career to debunking the George Washington Prayer Journal myth. There is no "Prayer Journal" as your source cited in any of the collections of Washington's letters.
Tim LaHaye - he of "left Behind" wealth, claims to have hired handwriting experts who "authenticated" the hand written "Prayer Journal." However, the FBI was called in to examine the document and they pronounced it a forgery. It was first "discovered" in 1891 and then took on legs of its own after its 1919 publication.
With regard to Benjamin Franklin, there are
many myths related to his "Christian faith" as well.
These men were deists. They believed in the so-called "Watchmaker" God. An "Almighty Being" Who created the universe but Who is so transcendent and remote that He doesn't really interact in our affairs in any real personal way. That's why, when it came time to win their freedom and to create a new nation, "The People of the United States" were called upon to act, to fight and to forge a new nation.
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