The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Future of America: The Deist Deception

Interview 50

Were America’s Founding Fathers not truly Christians, but in actuality, Deists?

That question and related others are being asked more and more frequently these days as the United States shakes its fist at God and rebels against His Word. The 412 Church senior pastor and host of the Hope For Our Times video program, Tom Hughes, has written an insightful book titled America’s Coming Judgment: Where is Our Hope? in response to this crucial question. We were blessed on Christ in Prophecy to have Pastor Tom as our guest on our television program to discuss this vital topic.

The Deist Deception

Nathan Jones: What about those who deny our Christian heritage in America by claiming that the Founding Fathers were Deists? Deism meaning the view that God wound up the universe and then left, therefore mankind has been abandoned with no personal God active in the world’s affairs. Is that true? Were the Founding Fathers Deists?

Tom Hughes: I hear that all the time, especially from Atheists. They often claim our nation’s founders were not Christians, but instead were Deists. They claim only a very few founders were actually Christians.

Just the opposite! Most of the Founding Fathers were Christians. They were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. History proves only a few were Deists, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, who were the most famous of the Deists. There’s two of them. In truth, there really weren’t very many.

Most of the #FoundingFathers were #Christians. They were believers in the Lord #JesusChrist. #History proves only a few were Deists. Click To Tweet

As for those few founders who actually were Deists, again meaning God wound up the universe and now man is left up to his own devices, even Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin still understood that the Bible had to be the nation’s guide. They understood the truth that was contained in the Bible, even if they didn’t agree with the miraculous events recorded in the Bible.

For example, Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the Bible by cutting out the words that he didn’t like and kept the rest. Jefferson removed all of the miracles from the text. He didn’t believe in the miraculous and thought miracles were an absurd addition to the Scriptures, so he got rid of them. And yet, Jefferson still understood that the Bible contained true moral principles and he understood the need for mankind to live by them in order to function successfully.

Dr. Reagan: Yes, both Jefferson and Franklin in their writings emphasized the fact that our nation simply could not have the kind of democratic government they were setting up without a strong spiritual base. Whether the founders were true Christians are not, each still firmly believed the nation required a spiritual base founded on Judeo-Christian values, or this system would eventually cease to work.

Nathan Jones: Didn’t Jefferson when he said, “My heart trembles when I reflect that God is just,” meant that our republic could not exist unless we were a moral nation founded on God? Our third president was no fan of organized religion, but he did believe in the foundational necessity of godly virtue.

Dr. Reagan: Speaking of Jefferson, Tom, you put a lot of emphasis in your book on the Declaration of Independence. Why?

Tom Hughes: The Declaration of Independence stands as our nation’s charter. In fact, I think it was Michael Farris whom I quoted in my book who as a constitutional attorney affirmed that our Declaration of Independence is our nation’s charter. A charter charts the course for a ship. It maps the course across the ocean. So, we have the Constitution of the United States which tells us how the nation is supposed to operate based on certain laws, but all of those laws must follow the charter. The Declaration of Independence exists as America’s map.

Everything we do in government and law must be interpreted according to the Declaration of Independence. Ultimately, in looking at the Declaration of Independence, we understand it was written to declare the colonies independence from Britain’s King George, while at the same time declaring our dependence upon God and our submission to God. So, the Constitution ultimately must be interpreted under the guidelines of the Declaration of Independence, and the declaration is dependent upon the auspices of a moral God and Creator. Therefore, in a way, our Creator inspired our founding documents.

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

1 CommentLeave a Comment

  • The question of whether there is hope for America, first of all, seems to smack of replacement theology. Isreal actually had a covenant relationship with God as you gentlemen know quite well — I don’t recall any such bargain with any other country.

    When was America a “Christian country”? When was Israel a “Jewish country”? Had Israel embraced God’s desire in 2 Chronicles 7:14, it would have been theologically Jewish. Likewise, if America had not had such a grizzly theologically shameful history, it may have passed for a Christian country.

    But our requirements for pleasing God are grossly below God’s expectations — of course, God knows we can do no better unless we literally walk in the guidance of His Spirit as in John 16:8, for example — which is the opposite of the anti-Christ’s (1 John 4:3) modus operandi. Otherwise, there is no righteousness among men. Thus the thousands of churches that dotted the landscape in the US, in many cases, (obviously not all) was a sham as far as representing God.

    Under the Old Covenant, God preferred Mercy over Ritual; the same applies to the modern world, such that God preferred the love of 1 Corinthians 13 more than constructing church
    buildings with apparently no concern for one’s fellow man. I am equally perplexed about people’s clamoring for a Revival — reviving what? A time in the past when America and not the “individual” was “spiritually” uplifted?

    So, what is there about any country in the fallen state that would compel God to hold it in such high esteem as He held Daniel, for example? From the beginning, it’s always been a mere Remnant that constituted the true Ecclesia — not America proper — as His elect will be drawn from every corner of the earth.

    Thus, the particular ideological persuasion of a handful of fallen men, such as the writer’s of the Constitution, couldn’t possibly make a bit of difference, especially when the New Covenant had to do with the “individual” and not the culture, which John 3:3 clearly indicates — notwithstanding, John 3:5 has been reduced to what is tantamount to a “necessary” ritual with its roots in Mosaic law — I have seen people in abject terror because they haven’t been immersed in physical water. There’s something wrong with this picture.

    Thus we cannot be pleasing to God and be so woefully bereft of actual spirituality which produced the reality of John 4:24.

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