The Faith Of George Washington: Was America’s First President A Christian?

George Washington is a man of a mythological stature. A stalwart man of war, 6-foot-2 with animal teeth and a seemingly endless supply of stories where he cheated death, Washington’s role is so much more than just a founding father or first president.

From the $1 bill to the naming of the U.S. capital to the busiest motor vehicle bridge in the world, Washington’s name and image are everywhere.

Washington is famously remembered as “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” and this sentiment still largely rings true. And 250 years after the nation’s founding, Washington is still remembered as a great leader and a great man.

But was he a good man? Did he understand morality? Did he have a relationship with divine goodness or submit to a higher power?

Washington’s embrace of slavery as a means to growing his wealth, his collaboration with deists and the general historical distance we have from when he lived have all caused historians to call into question the man’s relationship with Christianity.

As Independence Day approaches, on this week’s episode, culture critic Joseph Holmes investigates the faith of our foremost founding father in two separate conversations. In the first part of the episode, he interviews Peter Lillback about his national bestselling book, “George Washington’s Sacred Fire,” in which the author makes a strong argument for the case that Washington was a committed Christian. In the second part, Joseph speaks with Diederik Hoogstraten, screenwriter of the new film “Young Washington,” which comes out this Friday.

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Matthew Peterson is Religion Unplugged’s podcast editor and audience development coordinator. He took part in this past summer’s European Journalism Institute held in Prague, an annual program co-sponsored by The Media Project.