The role of religion in the founding of the United States remains a contentious and often misunderstood subject, a debate historian Gregg Frazer finds himself at the center of.
Frazer, a professor of history and political studies at The Master’s University, a Christian institution in Santa Clarita, California, notes that his nuanced perspective rarely satisfies either side of the argument.
“Neither side really wants to hear what I say,” Frazer explains. He asserts that the nation’s founders did not establish a Christian republic, pointing out that several key figures either rejected core Christian doctrines or held beliefs vague enough to fuel ongoing historical debate. This often disappoints his fellow Christian audiences.
However, Frazer also counters the portrayal of the founders as purely rationalist deists—those who believe in a God who created the universe and then withdrew—or anti-religious skeptics. He emphasizes that most founders were religious in some capacity.
This long-standing debate over the founders’ religious intentions has gained renewed intensity with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
Amid the “America 250” celebrations, some Christian activists and authors are intensifying their claims that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation. This narrative finds support from the current administration, with President Donald Trump promoting “America Prays,” culminating in a May 17 gathering on the National Mall in Washington.
Cabinet officials have also issued Christian messages in their official capacities, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth proclaiming that “America was founded as a Christian nation … in our DNA.”
Critics and advocacy groups are actively pushing back against this narrative. “Most — nearly all — serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense,” states Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Despite this, a 2022 Pew Research Center report indicated that six in 10 U.S. adults surveyed believe the founders originally intended America to be a Christian nation.
The enduring relevance of the founders’ beliefs and intentions is rooted in what historian John Fea, author of “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?”, calls a “usable past.”
Fea, a fellow at the Lumen Center, explains, “We go into the past looking for what we want in order to advance a particular political or cultural agenda.” While public officials did offer prayers for the new republic at significant historical moments, Fea suggests that issues like taxation and representation were more central to the Revolution.
Historian Mark David Hall, author of “Did America Have a Christian Founding?”, offers a different perspective, arguing that Christianity did significantly impact the founding. He contends that while core founders might not have held traditional Christian beliefs, many other founders did, and their faith shaped their ideas for forming the new republic.
“There’s plenty of evidence Christianity had an influence,” Hall asserts. He points to the founders’ emphasis on human dignity, which aligns with the biblical teaching of humanity created in God’s image. The system of checks and balances, designed to prevent power concentration, also reflects teachings about human sin that would have permeated a largely Protestant culture. Hall also notes that some early presidents and Congresses issued proclamations for prayer and thanksgiving, though some faced opposition.
Furthermore, some states sponsored churches for decades after the Constitution’s ratification, suggesting founders did not believe religion should be absent from public life. They believed faith was crucial for fostering moral, responsible citizens, promoting “toleration without eliminating the importance of real religious commitment on the part of differing adherents,” as Frazer wrote in his book, “The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders.”
The Constitution itself contains no reference to any specific religion beyond the date — “in the year of our Lord” 1787. It explicitly forbids religious tests for officeholders, and the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom while prohibiting the “establishment” of a national religion. Twentieth-century Supreme Court rulings later applied the First Amendment to the states based on the Fourteenth Amendment, which bars states from denying citizens’ rights. Frazer argues that the Bible is not cited as a source for governing principles in the documented proceedings of the Constitutional Convention or in the influential Federalist Papers. He suggests the founders drew on Enlightenment thinking for concepts like human equality, accountable government, and freedom of religion, noting that early critics faulted the Constitution’s lack of religious content.
In contrast, the Declaration of Independence does contain religious language, stating that rights come from the “Creator” and appealing to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Frazer observes that Thomas Jefferson and other founders skillfully used terms acceptable to Christians as well as followers of other religious and philosophical movements.
At the time of the Revolution, most colonists were Protestant, though church participation had been declining. Rationalistic approaches to religion significantly influenced many college-educated and propertied elite men, including those who drafted the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Frazer notes. Freemasonry, a fraternal order based on beliefs in a universal God and morals, also played a role. While some founders, such as John Jay, Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry, were devout Christians, others, including key figures like Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, believed in God but not in Jesus’ divinity. George Washington maintained an active role in his Episcopal church but avoided sacraments and was also an active Freemason.
However, contrary to popular belief, most founders were not deists. Frazer instead describes many as “theistic rationalists.” George Washington, for instance, believed that divine “Providence” saved his life in battle and intervened on America’s behalf, a belief he shared with many others. “They did believe in an active God,” Frazer concludes. Even skeptics among them believed religion was important for forming virtuous citizens. Many scholars contend that the First Amendment ultimately created a kind of religious free market, allowing Christianity and other faiths to flourish to this day.
