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Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America's Founding Fathers
Revolutionary Spirits confronts many of the later myths about the religious views of America’s Founders, and brings to life their complex creeds and personalities. It offers clear and candid portraits of Franklin, Washington, Paine, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison as both religious reformers and political rebels, and reclaims their spiritual inheritance for today.
- GenresHistory
224 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 24, 2012
For anyone concerned about how the nation's founders felt about the division of church and state, this is an essential read by an enlightened minister.
October 12, 2016
This is a very accessible book, which takes a biographical approach to explaining the spectrum of religious thought amongst the founding fathers. we hear about George Washington's Masonic committments, how he began avoiding the word God in his writings in favor of longwinded Masonic constructions, like Grand Architect of the Uni...
I take issue with some of the authors explanations of Masonry but I learned to trust his insight as the book progressed. Especially when the author discusses sectarin bickering in the colonies, something Washington apparently loathed. I never realized that the Guy Fawkes figure symbolizes the Pope, I always assumed it was one of the bombers. Washington apparently forebade these rites because he was senstive to the insult to his Catholic soldiers, and did not want to inflame the French allies.
Thomas Paine is one of my personal heroes, although I don't share is religious committments. I always thought he was a guy who got a raw deal from the American Revolution, but I have since discovered that most of the men who fought got a raw deal-see David Liss, The Whiskey Rebellion and read the life story of "Haim" Salomon. I did not know that Common Sense was sold as a nonprofit funraiser for the Continental Army's mittens, or tat Paine was plagued by poverty his entire adult life. There is an interesting dicussion of Huygen's Celestial Worlds discover'd, 1698. Apparently Paine was quite the inventor and natural philosopher, and gave thought to the utility of God furnishing worlds with rational inhabitants, who would have little truck with the Bible which seems to assert that humanity is the prime race of beings. Paine's religion was one of ethical practice and he, like many of the founding fathers was tolerant of any religion that made men good. Paine apparently admired Confucius, as did James Madison. I was unaware that he designed a suspension bridge of iron, which ultimately led to him languishing in a French prison unransomed by Washington. Worth reading a biography of Paine I think, inspired by Kowalski. Or Perhaps returning to reread The Age of Reason, thirty years after I first saw it.
John Adams is next and he did not care for the Order of Cincinati, the officers hereditary club or Continental Army officers. I knew nothing of this Order until very very recently, and I wonder to myself-is the Daughters of the American Revolution a spin off or a less elitist organization? To return to Adams, who did not like them for their elitism, he strove to address the apologists dichotomy of revealed religion vs natural religion. revealed religion uses the Bible as the ultimate authority, whereas Natural religion uses observation and experience to determine things like the age of the world. Post modern thinkers simply dismiss this war of "appropriate authority" too lightly because it was very passionate at the time and it remains so for fundamentalists who refuse to entertain Darwin. It's a much longer conflict of values than we tend to consider, even if it can abruptly be dismissed by asserting that the Bible cannot be used as a science text. But Darwin is far in the future--this conflict that had been on going since the dawn of the Enlightenment. It's interesting to note that John Locke is the first person discussed. Adams apparently studied under John Winthrop, the Hollis professor of Maths at Harvard. I wonder how closely in relation this John Winthrop was to the governor of Connecticut, also John Winthrop (Jr.) Regardless it's fascinating t find out that Adams enjoyed visiting William Hershel in London.
Thomas Jefferson is duscussed in all of his secret compartments, his distaste for African slaves whilst carrying on with one of them, his distaste for slavery whilst doing nothing about it, his love of a thousand things and his progress in but a few. He liked Seneca, a popular model for this generation. As was Cincinnatus, but the author doesn't talk about the one both Adams and Jefferson often bitter rivals both resembled. There is a good discussion of the Jefferson Bible, something largely edited out of my extremely secular early education. Jefferson viewed Jesus as a great leader, but that his words had become infused with Neoplatonism, mostly in the mouth and hands of Paul. Athanasius infused Christianity with the Trinity a "metaphysical insanity" p143. So he made a very personal guide out of the New testament fragments he respected as genuine, sanitized of miracles and the immaculent conception story, probably lifted from Greek mythology. In doing so he probably spent more time with Scripture than others less scandalously defined as heathens. Despite this, he was not as Chrisitan toward his human chattel as other salveowners such as George Washington, who freed his slaves in his will. Or Philip Graham of Maryland, Virginian Richard Randolph on inheriting them, Jefferson's neighbor, Richard Coles, who sent them to Illinois. He followed them to supervise the 160 acres given to each as a start up. Coles was James Madison's cousin and Madison wanted to follow in his footsteps but found himself compromised by a gambling stepson who ran up debts. He instead was more enthusiatic about Liberia. Jefferson freed some of hisslaves but most were sold to settle his debts. A note here in addition to what this book tells us-debt, national and personal was a normal condition in this period of history, an accepted part of commerce and trust amonst businesssmen. Gambling not so much.
Madison was intersting mostly in that he wrote against state sponsored religion because of the bad track record of state Churches in Christian responsibility. We tend only to think of it in terms of protecting dissident voices and minds, but the separation of church and state is designed to protect institutional religion from corruption. Madison was heavily influenced by George Fox, the Quaker through his wife Dolly.
Good book.
I take issue with some of the authors explanations of Masonry but I learned to trust his insight as the book progressed. Especially when the author discusses sectarin bickering in the colonies, something Washington apparently loathed. I never realized that the Guy Fawkes figure symbolizes the Pope, I always assumed it was one of the bombers. Washington apparently forebade these rites because he was senstive to the insult to his Catholic soldiers, and did not want to inflame the French allies.
Thomas Paine is one of my personal heroes, although I don't share is religious committments. I always thought he was a guy who got a raw deal from the American Revolution, but I have since discovered that most of the men who fought got a raw deal-see David Liss, The Whiskey Rebellion and read the life story of "Haim" Salomon. I did not know that Common Sense was sold as a nonprofit funraiser for the Continental Army's mittens, or tat Paine was plagued by poverty his entire adult life. There is an interesting dicussion of Huygen's Celestial Worlds discover'd, 1698. Apparently Paine was quite the inventor and natural philosopher, and gave thought to the utility of God furnishing worlds with rational inhabitants, who would have little truck with the Bible which seems to assert that humanity is the prime race of beings. Paine's religion was one of ethical practice and he, like many of the founding fathers was tolerant of any religion that made men good. Paine apparently admired Confucius, as did James Madison. I was unaware that he designed a suspension bridge of iron, which ultimately led to him languishing in a French prison unransomed by Washington. Worth reading a biography of Paine I think, inspired by Kowalski. Or Perhaps returning to reread The Age of Reason, thirty years after I first saw it.
John Adams is next and he did not care for the Order of Cincinati, the officers hereditary club or Continental Army officers. I knew nothing of this Order until very very recently, and I wonder to myself-is the Daughters of the American Revolution a spin off or a less elitist organization? To return to Adams, who did not like them for their elitism, he strove to address the apologists dichotomy of revealed religion vs natural religion. revealed religion uses the Bible as the ultimate authority, whereas Natural religion uses observation and experience to determine things like the age of the world. Post modern thinkers simply dismiss this war of "appropriate authority" too lightly because it was very passionate at the time and it remains so for fundamentalists who refuse to entertain Darwin. It's a much longer conflict of values than we tend to consider, even if it can abruptly be dismissed by asserting that the Bible cannot be used as a science text. But Darwin is far in the future--this conflict that had been on going since the dawn of the Enlightenment. It's interesting to note that John Locke is the first person discussed. Adams apparently studied under John Winthrop, the Hollis professor of Maths at Harvard. I wonder how closely in relation this John Winthrop was to the governor of Connecticut, also John Winthrop (Jr.) Regardless it's fascinating t find out that Adams enjoyed visiting William Hershel in London.
Thomas Jefferson is duscussed in all of his secret compartments, his distaste for African slaves whilst carrying on with one of them, his distaste for slavery whilst doing nothing about it, his love of a thousand things and his progress in but a few. He liked Seneca, a popular model for this generation. As was Cincinnatus, but the author doesn't talk about the one both Adams and Jefferson often bitter rivals both resembled. There is a good discussion of the Jefferson Bible, something largely edited out of my extremely secular early education. Jefferson viewed Jesus as a great leader, but that his words had become infused with Neoplatonism, mostly in the mouth and hands of Paul. Athanasius infused Christianity with the Trinity a "metaphysical insanity" p143. So he made a very personal guide out of the New testament fragments he respected as genuine, sanitized of miracles and the immaculent conception story, probably lifted from Greek mythology. In doing so he probably spent more time with Scripture than others less scandalously defined as heathens. Despite this, he was not as Chrisitan toward his human chattel as other salveowners such as George Washington, who freed his slaves in his will. Or Philip Graham of Maryland, Virginian Richard Randolph on inheriting them, Jefferson's neighbor, Richard Coles, who sent them to Illinois. He followed them to supervise the 160 acres given to each as a start up. Coles was James Madison's cousin and Madison wanted to follow in his footsteps but found himself compromised by a gambling stepson who ran up debts. He instead was more enthusiatic about Liberia. Jefferson freed some of hisslaves but most were sold to settle his debts. A note here in addition to what this book tells us-debt, national and personal was a normal condition in this period of history, an accepted part of commerce and trust amonst businesssmen. Gambling not so much.
Madison was intersting mostly in that he wrote against state sponsored religion because of the bad track record of state Churches in Christian responsibility. We tend only to think of it in terms of protecting dissident voices and minds, but the separation of church and state is designed to protect institutional religion from corruption. Madison was heavily influenced by George Fox, the Quaker through his wife Dolly.
Good book.
August 7, 2020
I didn’t agree with the argument the author was making. This was fine (and even beneficial to read) when I had more of a background on the subject, but I realized once I got to chapters about people I was less familiar with (Thomas Paine) it was harder for me to sift through and discern my own thoughts. I decided to put it down in favor of reading something else. Might be good to come back to after I have done more reading on this subject.
Read about half during summer 2020.
Read about half during summer 2020.
October 8, 2017
I want to memorize parts of this book, just so I always have a good counter-argument ready whenever someone trots out the idea that our 'founding fathers' intended to create a specifically Christian nation. Nope. They did not. At least not according to all the quotations and examples and brief life histories that Kowalski has gathered in this friendly, easy to read book of early U.S. history.
Read
August 6, 2011Not bad. Kowalski is a Unitarian minister who treated the subject fairly. I'm not fond of the method of end notes where the author does not enumerate, listing by page number instead. As this is the method Kowalski used, I wasn't fond of his cites. Nor was I impressed with his notations; when I see statements in quotes, I expect to also see sources. Such was not the case for most of the quotes attributed to the various Founders. I also checked a couple of dates that didn't sound right and they were not right, so beware using this as a resource. Still, it was an entertaining read though had nothing I hadn't read in other books.
April 2, 2019
insight into who the founding fathers were and how that impacted what we have
"The founders tended to be interested in religion for the same reason they supported education, as a means toward fostering a more peaceful, prosperous, and ethically minded republic. They believed virtue would gradually replace vice as surely as knowledge displaced ignorance and philosophy outpaced superstition. With good sense ruling the mind, good conduct would indubitably follow. Civilization would progress." p. 25
I guess they didn't count on politics!
"The founders tended to be interested in religion for the same reason they supported education, as a means toward fostering a more peaceful, prosperous, and ethically minded republic. They believed virtue would gradually replace vice as surely as knowledge displaced ignorance and philosophy outpaced superstition. With good sense ruling the mind, good conduct would indubitably follow. Civilization would progress." p. 25
I guess they didn't count on politics!
July 9, 2008
This was really interesting. I enjoyed the analysis of each Founder's writings and speeches and actions. It was helpful to hear about each Founder's work outside of his Founding work.
August 25, 2018
How interesting that most of these men, were they in politics today and their religious views to become known, would likely be hounded out of office by hypocrites.
March 30, 2013
Concise book on founding fathers and their rational and practical points of view. They were no religious zealots, but open minded freethinking enlightened forward thinking statesmen
March 21, 2015
This elegant little book is powerful and beautiful. Enlightening, and a good remedy for what ails this Republic.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews